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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reaffirmed on Tuesday the strategic approach regarding reforms at the electric utility – the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) CJSC.
Romanos Petrosyan, who was appointed by the government as interim administrator at ENA, briefed the Prime Minister during a televised meeting on the results of an internal investigation. Petrosyan said that the probe uncovered multiple falsifications and a fraudulent scheme involving overcharges.
ENA, the country's electricity distributor, is owned by Tashir Group of Companies, which belongs to Samvel Karapetyan, the Russian-Armenian business magnate who is currently jailed on charges of calling for a coup, which he denies.
The government had earlier appointed a temporary executive at ENA through emergency legislation, citing the company’s inability to fulfill its obligations and mismanagement. ENA has denied the accusations.
A regulatory body recently revoked ENA’s license. The head of the regulatory body said that negotiations will be held over the next three months with the company’s board of directors regarding the transfer of ownership rights.
During the meeting on November 25 with Petrosyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about two options regarding the ownership of ENA:
“The main objective is our strategic approach going forward regarding ENA. We have discussed it, and there are two possible options, which I have publicly mentioned. The first option is to fully bring ENA into state ownership through the established legal procedures, after which we would invite a professional manager in the sector to operate it. In other words, under a concession agreement principle, the infrastructure remains state-owned, it continues to be state property, but it is managed by a professional company, of course, under government oversight.
The second option, if we see that the first is unattainable for some reason—because, after all, acquiring the company would require a payment, which in effect is an expenditure from the state budget—then, if we conclude that this expense is not justified by the state budget, we would need to attract a new investor through a transparent procedure,” he said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that, from a strategic perspective, this issue will also be resolved through analysis of the information provided by the interim manager and in consultation with the Public Services Regulatory Commission.
“Special attention should be paid to the previous shortcomings of ENA regarding consumer rights, so that people can also feel the positive impact of the activities and these changes on them,” PM Nikol Pashinyan said, wishing Romanos Petrosyan success in his mission.