"Wake up, Armenia" movement that is demanding the reverse of the energy price hike decision will inform of its further actions on Aug 1, David Sanasaryan, a member of the movement, told ArmInfo journalist.
According to him, movement members are going to stick to their guns and continue the sitting strike in Republic Square. The PSRC's energy price hike decision will come into force starting Aug 1. As soon as this happens it will be impossible to demand its reverse from a legal viewpoint. The activist has not precluded that the movement might take radical measures tomorrow.
To note, "Wake up, Armenia" movement has been protesting in Republic Square since July 27.
To note, on June 17 the Public Services Regulatory Commission took a decision to raise the electric power tariffs by 6.93 AMD starting from August 1. As a result, the daytime tariff for the ultimate consumers will rise from the current 41.85 AMD per 1kWh to 48.78 AMD, and the nighttime tariff will grow from 31.85 AMD to 38.78 AMD per 1 kWh (including VAT). ENA CJSC had insisted on 17 AMD rise in the tariffs because of the company's debts. This decision has sparked public protests in the country. The decision even angered the political and public organizations and the opposition forces of Armenia that blame ENA for mismanagement. The Company, in turn, does not guarantee uninterrupted power supply to the country, unless the power rate is increased by 17 AMD. On June 27, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that the Armenian Government would assume the burden of the raised tariffs until the ENA audit was over. He also said that the ENA might be nationalized. For his part, David Harutyunyan, Minister-Head of the Armenian Government Administration, said that the audit at the ENA might last for 3-6 months. ENA's total debt is about 150 bln AMD.