Inter RAO Group and Armenian government to select audit firm for Electricity Networks of Armenia
06.07.2015,
17:02
Boris Kovalchuk, the chairman of the Inter RAO Group, a Moscow-based Russian energy holding company, said today Inter RAO Group and the Armenian government will conduct a joint tender to choose a firm to commission the audit of Armenia's power distribution company–the Electricity Networks of Armenia ( ENA), a subsidiary of RAO UES Group.
YEREVAN, July 6. / ARKA /. Boris Kovalchuk, the chairman of the Inter RAO Group, a Moscow-based Russian energy holding company, said today Inter RAO Group and the Armenian government will conduct a joint tender to choose a firm to commission the audit of Armenia's power distribution company–the Electricity Networks of Armenia ( ENA), a subsidiary of RAO UES Group.
In an interview with Tass news agency, Kovalchuk said the audit of the company may take about 3 months. He said Inter RAO Group may also sell the ENA.
"We are ready to sell any asset, if offered a good price and we are similarly ready to buy any asset, if the price suits us. Any option is possible,' he said.
Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said he expects Armenia's Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to pass ' a right decision' concerning the price of electricity ENA sells to consumers. In an interview with Tass earlier today he said "it is normal when an audit is commissioned to check the costs, because after all tariffs are regulated at the state level."
The Electricity Networks of Armenia enjoys a monopoly in the power distribution market of Armenia. Earlier Kovalchuk said in an interview with Tass that the reason behind difficult situation in the electricity sector of Armenia, where the decision to increase electricity tariffs provoked mass protests, was economic not political.
He said ENA paid Armenian power plants a higher r price for their electricity than it was supposed to without receiving corresponding “compensation from consumers.”
He said the situation became worse due to longer-than-anticipated stoppage of the Metsamor nuclear plant last year and decreased output by Armenian hydroelectric facilities due to dry weather. According to him, all this resulted into an ENA revenue shortfall of 37 billion drams ($78 million), Overall, ENA owes over $225 million to Armenian commercial banks and power plants. -0-
In an interview with Tass news agency, Kovalchuk said the audit of the company may take about 3 months. He said Inter RAO Group may also sell the ENA.
"We are ready to sell any asset, if offered a good price and we are similarly ready to buy any asset, if the price suits us. Any option is possible,' he said.
Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said he expects Armenia's Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to pass ' a right decision' concerning the price of electricity ENA sells to consumers. In an interview with Tass earlier today he said "it is normal when an audit is commissioned to check the costs, because after all tariffs are regulated at the state level."
The Electricity Networks of Armenia enjoys a monopoly in the power distribution market of Armenia. Earlier Kovalchuk said in an interview with Tass that the reason behind difficult situation in the electricity sector of Armenia, where the decision to increase electricity tariffs provoked mass protests, was economic not political.
He said ENA paid Armenian power plants a higher r price for their electricity than it was supposed to without receiving corresponding “compensation from consumers.”
He said the situation became worse due to longer-than-anticipated stoppage of the Metsamor nuclear plant last year and decreased output by Armenian hydroelectric facilities due to dry weather. According to him, all this resulted into an ENA revenue shortfall of 37 billion drams ($78 million), Overall, ENA owes over $225 million to Armenian commercial banks and power plants. -0-
