In a gesture of conciliation, while the movement against rising electricity prices is still mobilized in Yerevan, the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) has fined 60 million drams ($ 126,000) , Tuesday, July 7, the Russian company that manages the electrical distribution network of Armenia, for violation of consumer rights.
The measure announced by the PSRC, which penalizes the company today Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA) which she had last month approved the decision to proceed with a 17% increase in its rates, causing a spontaneous protest movement that shaking power, aims to show the objectivity of the Armenian government agency. ENA is indeed penalized for required early in the year advance payments of electricity bill to consumers living in newly built housing that needed to be connected to the electricity network. The controversial head of ENA, Yevgeny Bibin, had demanded such regulations in March plus connection costs collected from new customers. Eager to bail out funds dried up, the Armenian company owned a large Russian group had promised to deduct from their corresponding electricity bill are on the years to come. But most residents of these new homes have refused to pay the additional expenses required ENA pat, pushing the PSRC to seize this issue. Mr. Bibin said before the commission that it had corrected its decision on June 23, even though he felt she was justified in view of the gravity of the financial situation of his company.
“Is it right or wrong? It is in any case certainly bad for consumers, “he declared. Robert Nazarian, chairman of the PSRC, rejected the argument. “If you decide what is right or wrong, so why do you turn to this commission?” Exclaimed R.Nazarian adding: “You can give orders and ignore the laws and regulations of the Armenia “Y. Bibin had been absent from the previous meeting of PSRC June 17, which had resulted in the sharp rise in electricity prices in Armenia.
ENA for its part demanded an increase of 40%, well above the 17% so that the commission had selected the chagrin of the population, which held the PSRC accomplice of ENA. On June 22, thousands of demonstrators, mostly young, were blocking a major artery leading from the center of Yerevan at the presidential palace, calling for the outright cancellation of rising .The movement has strengthened, and daily demonstrations forced President Serzh Sargsyan to announce on June 27 that his government would subsidize energy prices to ensure that the electricity bill Armenian consumers is not increased because of this very unpopular measure.
He also announced an international audit of ENA to determine responsibility for the massive losses of the company, which would be due to widespread corruption within it. The officer of the company meanwhile rejects responsibility for their financial losses on mismanagement of Armenian providers. President Sargsyan was also suggested that the government could nationalize the ENA or home help Russian mother, Inter RAO to sell it to another group. Inter RAO had denied reports in the Russian press on June 29 by which the group is already in talks with potential buyers.
The spokesman of the ENA in Yerevan, Natalia Sarjanian, confirmed that denial on 8 July. Quoting unspecified sources, the newspaper Yerevan “Haykakan Zhamanak” had his side announced an imminent sale of the ENA to a company appurtenant to a Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetian.
Gari © armenews.com