Tuesday, July 21 2015 11:23

 The Armenian government has taken a decision to sell "Vorotan Cascade HPP" to cover the losses of the "Electric Networks of Armenia". 

According to the source of "Haykakan Zhamanak" newspaper, the point of the losses has been resulted from the fact that the society has refused to pay the energy price hike. 

The debt of "Electric Networks of Armenia" CJSC has totaled 250 mln USD. The company has submitted an application to PSRC with a request to increase the energy price by 17 AMD. The application has been partially granted with 6.93 AMD energy price hike. 

To note, on June 17 the Public Services Regulatory Commission raised the electric power tariffs by 6.9 AMD to about 50 AMD per 1 kWh.  ENA CJSC had insisted on 17 AMD rise in the rate because of the company's debts. This decision has sparked public protests in the country.  The decision even angered the political and public organizations and the opposition forces of Armenia that blame ENA for mismanagement.  The Company, in turn, does not guarantee uninterrupted power supply to the country, unless the power rate is increased by 17 AMD. 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. "No to Plunder!" movement has been holding ralliues against the energy price hike since June 19. On June 27, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that the Armenian Government would bear the burden of the raised tariffs until the ENA audit was over. He also said that the ENA might be nationalized. For his part, David Harutyunyan, Minister-Head of the Armenian Government Administration, said that the audit at the ENA might last for 3-6 months.

Contour Global Hydro Cascade (U.S.) has been granted a license to run the Vorotan Cascade of HPPs for 25 years. The relevant decision was taken at today's meeting of the Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia (PSRC). The property of the Vorotan Cascade of HPPs (Armenia) has been sold to Contour Global (U.S.) for AMD 88 bln (USD 182 million). "Vorotan Cascade of HPPs" CJSC, which was a 100% state-run company before the deal, comprises three hydro-power plants (Tatev, Shamb and Spandaryan) with a total capacity of 404.2MW on the River Vorotan and its tributaries. The designed capacity of the Cascade is 1.16 bln kWh electric power per annum.