Residents of Armenia would not object if RA debt was serviced by  those who attracted these funds - ENA Control Committee

ArmInfo.  It's a shame that RA Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan is unfamiliar with Armenia's current tariff policy. This was stated in a statement by the Control  Committee of Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC.

According to the Committee's statement, the Minister of Finance is  not even aware that both the principal and the interest on the loan  are paid by the owner of the CJSC from his own funds, and this does  not and cannot affect the cost of electricity. "We strongly urge you  to consult with specialists familiar with tariff policies before  publishing such messages. Regarding ESA CJSC's credit obligations, at  the time of its acquisition by the Tashir Group of Companies in 2016,  it already had enormous accumulated debts and was operating at  significant losses. We believe that the people of Armenia would not  object if the RA debt, amounting to approximately 5.4 trillion drams  (US$14 billion), were serviced by those who attracted these funds,  rather than being paid by Armenian citizens. Incidentally, in 2025,  Armenian citizens will pay a total of 390 billion drams to service  these obligations," the Committee said in a statement.

As a reminder, on November 17, the PSRC, by its decision, deprived  Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC of the right to transmit  electricity. On June 18, law enforcement agencies arrested and then  the court remanded in custody Samvel Karapetyan, a major businessman  and head of the Tashir Group of Companies, on charges of calling for  to overthrow the constitutional order. This only happened because the  latter, speaking in defense of the Armenian Apostolic Church, stated  in an interview that "we will intervene in our own way" if  politicians fail to fulfill this function. After Karapetyan's arrest,  the authorities effectively took control of ESA from the Karapetyan  family, appointing Romanos Petrosyan, a member of the Civil Contract  party, as its interim manager.