Nationalization of ENA would damage Armenia's image and investment environment, says opposition MP
YEREVAN, June 20. /ARKA/. An opposition member of the Armenian parliament Tigran Abrahamyan from I Have Honor bloc has warned that nationalization of the national power distribution company Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), suggested earlier this week by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would heavily damage Armenia's image and investment climate.
Nikol Pashinyan announced his intention to nationalize ENA after the company's owner, Russia-based Tashir Group President Samvel Karapetyan was detained by law-enforcers after the businessman announced his support for the Armenian Apostolic Church. He was accused of “public calls to seize power.” A court in yerevan allowed to arrest him for two months.
"Encroachment on private property will ultimately cause great damage to Armenia's image and its investment environment.. In international practice, encroachment on property is considered one of the most serious crimes, and in this regard, the problem lies in the fact that it will cause great damage to Armenia's image and, most of all, its investment environment," Abrahamyan said at a press briefing.
He added that business representatives will begin to analyze what could happen to them if they say something that does not fit within the framework of the authorities' considerations.
“That is, this is the most dangerous thing imaginable in Armenia in terms of economic and investment blows,” Abrahamyan said.
He also said that he could not imagine the procedure for nationalizing ENA because it is not a legal process, and it is unclear how it will be implemented — by a government decision or at the parliamentary level.
The Electric Networks of Armenia is part of the Tashir Group of Companies, owned by Samvel Karapetyan. It manages medium and low voltage distribution networks in Armenia, serving 1 million subscribers in the country.
Earlier, Karapetyan visited the Catholicos of All Armenians in Echmiadzin in connection with the attacks of the Armenian authorities on some top hierarchs of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who are accused by Pashinyan of breaching celibacy.
Karapetyan expressed his support to the Patriarch and noted that the current unacceptable situation would be resolved through the involvement of political figures. “If politicians fail, we will participate in our own way,” Karapetyan said.
After that, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote several harsh posts on social media about Karapetyan.
A few hours later, Karapetyan was detained by security forces at his mansion in Yerevan. As part of the criminal case, he was charged with “public calls to seize power.” By court order, he was arrested for two months. Karapetyan's lawyers say that their client does not admit the charges and intend to appeal the arrest.-0-
