Tashir Group Prez to Compensate for Rate Difference from Own Pocket

Before the start of today’s Armenian government cabinet session, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan declared that the auditing company looking into the recent electricity rate hike has concluded that the increase was justified.

The company that Abrahamyan cites as conducting the audit of Armenia’s financially strapped electric provider Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) is Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), which provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to public and private clients in 11 countries in the CIS region.

“We can thus say that the rates are justified and that no changes are necessary. At the same time, we have discussed the matter with the president of Armenia and have decided that the government will do its utmost so that the rates hikes do not hinder the normal daily life of our citizens, stated Abrahamyan.

The prime minister went on to say that it was high time for a change in management at ENA, and that given that the parent company INTER RAO had expressed a desire to sell the company, the Armenian government contacted the Tashir Group, a company with expertise in energy services, to discuss taking over ENA.

Abrahamyan then went on to thanks Tashir Group, and its president Samvel Karapetyan, for agreeing to obtain the energy assets of INTER RAO in Armenia in such a short time.

The prime minister added that Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission today approved the deal which obligates Tashir Group to incorporate international management standards in ENA within the next five years and to decrease its technological and commercial losses.

Samvel Karapetyan has also, according to Abrahamyan, expressed a willingness to use his personal assets to compensate for the difference in rates, up to 250 kilowatts, for the populace and small businesses until August 1, 2016. 

Photo: Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan