Interim manager of ENA makes personnel changes in the electric facility
YEREVAN, July 24: /ARKA/. Romanos Petrosyan, the interim manager of the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), has made a number of personnel changes to the company's management.
Levon Hovhannisyan has been appointed Deputy General Director of Sales. He has about 25 years of professional experience in public administration and in the private sector.
Armen Shahnazaryan has been appointed Deputy General Director and Director of Economy and Finance. He also has about 25 years of professional experience in the financial and private sectors.
David Sargsyan has been appointed Deputy General Director and Director of Security and Supervision. He has about 25 years of professional experience in the public administration system and in the field of security.
Arman Smbatyan has been appointed Deputy Director of Sales and Director of the Yerevan City Energy Sales Service. He has about 20 years of professional experience in the public administration system and the private sector.
'The objectives of these changes is to prevent the risks of deliberate creation of an energy crisis; ensure public order, eliminate possible risks threatening state security; eliminate the concealment of abuses in ENA and prevent further abuses,' the interim manager says in a Facebook post.
Romanos Petrosyan was appointed temporary manager on July 18 by the decision of the Chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission.
The Electric Networks of Armenia is a part of the Tashir Group of Companies, which is owned and managed by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. ENA operates medium and low voltage distribution networks in Armenia, serving about 1 million subscribers.
Since 2016, Tashir Group has invested about $680 million in the modernization of Electric Networks of Armenia alone, and another $150-200 million was invested in the creation of new capacities. By 2034, it is planned to increase the total volume of investments in the energy system of Armenia to 540 billion drams.
On July 22 the Stockholm arbitration tribunal has blocked the Armenian government from proceeding with plans to nationalize a major electricity provider owned by Samvel Karapetyan, who is currently jailed.
Karapetyan was arrested in June on accusations of calling for a power seizure after he publicly supported the Armenian Apostolic Church in its conflict with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration. Following the arrest, Pashinyan declared it was time to nationalize Karapetyan’s company, Electric Grids of Armenia, and the Armenian parliament passed laws allowing the state to seize it.
In response, the Karapetyan family filed a lawsuit at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), citing a 1995 bilateral investment treaty between Armenia and Cyprus.
The SCC ruled that Armenia must halt any efforts to enforce the new legislation or confiscate the company, warning that such actions would hinder the family’s ability to recover damages if they lose control. This ruling is binding on the Armenian government.-0-
