The parliamentary group of the Armenian National Congress Party (ANC) has initiated collection of signatures to set up a parliamentary commission to study the electric power tariffs. 44 MPs' signatures are need.
However, ANC Faction Head Levon Zurabyan said at a press conference that the ANC does not cherish big hopes for creation of the commission. "But we should not twirl thumbs. We should respond to the Electric Networks' initiative to raise the electric power tariffs. This is simply unacceptable. We are even ready to hold actions of civil disobedience. I am sure if some 2,000 people hold actions of protest, the authorities will have to give up the idea of raising the electricity tariffs," said Zurabyan. He links the solutions to this and other similar problems to the need to shift the power in the country.
For his part, ANC Faction Secretary Aram Manukyan pointed out several examples demonstrating the attempts to legalize the robbery initiated by the distribution networks. He said that ENA takes a 40% fee for transmitting electric power. "This is not enough for the networks. The distribution networks decided to increase the fees by 21 AMD per KW/h," he said. He added that the ENA leadership and the authorities of Armenia are trying to exaggerate the structure's losses to justify the tariff growth policy. "For some reason, the operational costs of the system have grown from 26 bln AMD to 40 bln AMD. The payroll fund of the structure amid the alleged losses is 22 bln AMD," said Manukyan. He added that along with continuous statements about the losses, the ENA has spent 3.5 mln USD on various benevolent campaigns over the past year.
Manukyan pointed out that amid the dropping gas prices on the border, the electric power tariffs in the republic should have declined instead of growing. "Meanwhile, we are experiencing quite the opposite, as always," he said.
On May 8, Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) CJSC submitted an official application to the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) of Armenia to raise the electric power tariffs. ENA (subsidiary of Inter RAO) suggests increasing the daytime tariff to 58.93 AMD versus the current 41.85 AMD, and the nighttime tariff - to 48.93 AMD versus the current 31.85 AMD. The Public Services Regulatory Commission may consider ENA CJSC's application for 80 working days. In case the Commission satisfies ENA's request, it will become the third rise in the electricity tariffs for the past 2 years. In July 2013 electric power rose in price from 30 to 41.8 AMD, with the nighttime tariff growing from 20 AMD to 31.8 AMD. The second rise in the tariffs (by 4 AMD) was registered in summer 2014. The authorities of the country (in the person of Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan) are trying to shift the blame for the growth in tariffs to the "poor management of ENA CJSC". To recall, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Iosif Isayan said that ENA CJSC borrowed USD 220 mln against the guarantee of the Armenian Government. Consequently, if the company is unable to repay the loan, these obligations must be assumed by the taxpayers.