"Electric Grids of Armenia" to be sold not because of its financial status, experts believe

The Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) "Electric Grids of Armenia" cannot be unprofitable. This opinion was expressed by Armenian experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". Political analyst Andrias Gukasyan believes that the sale of the company may turn into international corruption scandal. Economist Tatul Manaseryan offers to sell shares of the energy company to Armenian citizens.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Russian holding company "Inter RAO UES" contacted the Armenian government with an offer to purchase 100% of shares of the CJSC "Electric Grids of Armenia". The Armenian authorities have given the preliminary agreement to sell 100% of shares of the CJSC "Electric Grids of Armenia" to the "Liormand Holdings Limited" Company registered in Cyprus: at the meeting held on September 17, the Cabinet of Ministers made a decision to examine the contract of sale.

The protests have been connected with the increase in electricity tariffs, and the very increase is only a consequence, but the reason for the increase in electricity prices was in the losses accumulated by the "Electric Grids of Armenia" for the past three years. This opinion was expressed by political analyst Andrias Gukasyan, a member of the board of the civil movement "Arise, Armenia!"

According to economist Vaagn Khachatryan, the former Mayor of Yerevan, the sale of the "Electric Grids of Armenia" is the result of the political agreement between the leaders of Armenia and Russia. Vaagn Khachatryan believes that the protest actions were a pre-planned scenario to justify the sale of the "Electric Grids of Armenia".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.