Armenian regulator set to approve sale of Electricity Networks of Armenia
28.09.2015,
16:56
Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) will convene on Thursday to discuss one issue only- to permit the sale of the national power distribution company Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA).
YEREVAN, September 28. / ARKA /. Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) will convene on Thursday to discuss one issue only- to permit the sale of the national power distribution company Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA).
On September 17 he Armenian government announced that Russian energy holding Inter RAO, the owner of ENA, asked it to authorize the ENA’s sale to Liormand Holdings Ltd, a Cyprus-registered company. Prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan was said to have instructed several government ministries to look into the deal before a government decision on the matter.
According to a draft PSRC’s decision, it is going to approve the deal, which will come into force after the signing.
Armenia media reports said earlier the Cyprus-registered Liormand Holdings Limited is owned by a Russia-based ethnic Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.
The decision to sell ENA comes less than three months after Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) allowed the company to raise electricity prices by almost 17 percent, which sparked two-week nonstop demonstrations in Yerevan, forcing the government to subsidize power supplies in Armenia until the end of a government-commissioned audit of the utility, meant to determine whether the ENA has been mismanaged by Inter RAO.
The ENA has an estimated $220 million in outstanding debts to Armenian commercial banks and power plants.-0-
On September 17 he Armenian government announced that Russian energy holding Inter RAO, the owner of ENA, asked it to authorize the ENA’s sale to Liormand Holdings Ltd, a Cyprus-registered company. Prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan was said to have instructed several government ministries to look into the deal before a government decision on the matter.
According to a draft PSRC’s decision, it is going to approve the deal, which will come into force after the signing.
Armenia media reports said earlier the Cyprus-registered Liormand Holdings Limited is owned by a Russia-based ethnic Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.
The decision to sell ENA comes less than three months after Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) allowed the company to raise electricity prices by almost 17 percent, which sparked two-week nonstop demonstrations in Yerevan, forcing the government to subsidize power supplies in Armenia until the end of a government-commissioned audit of the utility, meant to determine whether the ENA has been mismanaged by Inter RAO.
The ENA has an estimated $220 million in outstanding debts to Armenian commercial banks and power plants.-0-
