Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced plans on Wednesday to nationalize Armenia’s sole electric utility, just hours after its Russian-Armenian owner, billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, was arrested on charges widely seen as politically motivated.
Karapetyan was detained on accusations of inciting the violent overthrow of the government, a day after he harshly criticized Pashinyan’s controversial campaign to unseat Catholicos Garegin II and other senior figures in the Armenian Apostolic Church. Pashinyan, in a series of angry social media posts, all but admitted he ordered law enforcement to act in response to the criticism.
“The time has come to nationalize the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA),” Pashinyan declared on Facebook the following morning. “It will happen quickly.”
In a separate post, the prime minister accused ENA of deliberately triggering a “near energy crisis” in an alleged attempt to stoke public discontent with his administration. He appeared to reference periodic power outages that have affected various parts of the country in recent weeks. ENA has denied responsibility for most of the disruptions.
Karapetyan’s Moscow-based Tashir Group purchased ENA from Russia’s RAO UES in 2015. The conglomerate claims to have invested over $680 million into Armenia’s outdated power distribution infrastructure since then. According to company figures, Tashir has also reduced transmission losses by more than half and saved $30 million annually since 2016—contributions that helped keep electricity rates stable.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, Pashinyan confirmed that a draft law proposing the nationalization of ENA has already been circulated in the Armenian parliament. He did not, however, offer specific details about the legislation.
Opposition leaders swiftly condemned the move, warning that a forced takeover would be illegal and catastrophic for Armenia’s economic standing.
“This would have a severe negative impact on our investment climate,” said Tigran Abrahamyan, head of the opposition Pativ Unem faction.
Artur Khachatryan of the Hayastan alliance echoed the concern, warning of a deteriorating business environment and potential capital flight.
Although Pashinyan has repeatedly claimed to have eradicated systemic corruption and established a fair playing field for businesses, Armenia has yet to attract significant foreign investment during his seven-year tenure as prime minister.
In what appeared to be a related development, the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) announced on Wednesday that ENA has been fined 10 million drams (approximately $25,000) for “technical and commercial violations” discovered during an inspection in February. PSRC Chairman Mesrop Mesropyan denied any political motive behind the fine.
Mesropyan was nominated by Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party and confirmed as head of the regulatory body by parliament last November.
