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Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
E-mail: root@acnis.am or info@acnis.am
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19 July, 2005
ACNIS Examines Armenia’s Energy Security
Yerevan — The Armenian Center for National and International
Studies (ACNIS) today convened a policy roundtable within the
framework of regional economic development and potential mutual
cooperation. The topic, problems and prospects of Armenia’s energy
safety, perspective is fairly urgent, and the meeting brought together
those in charge of the sector, experts, independent researchers,
and media representatives.
ACNIS research coordinator Stiopa Safarian greeted the capacity
audience with opening remarks. “Within the complex of national
security, the energy component has an undisputable importance
as energy policy touches not only upon important regional and
geopolitical problems but also on the vital interests of the country’s
residents. And no matter how much we rest assured that Armenia is
an electricity-exporting country, its safety still is not adequately
guaranteed because of the many yet unresolved problems in this sector,”
Stiopa Safarian stated.
Presenting Armenia’s conception of energy security and the main avenues
for its policy on the sector’s development, Armenia’s Deputy Energy
Minister Areg Galstian underscored the plans to be implemented by the
year 2025, as well as those which down the road aim to safeguard the
country’s capacity and energy safety. “At the heart of the strategic
plan for the sector’s progressive enhancement there are qualitative
indices: guarantee of energy independence; technologies which economize
energy; usage of domestic resources and alternative energy sources;
and others which have been cultivated by taking global experience into
account,” Galstian said, detailing the activities to be undertaken
in the next five years. The deputy minister also mentioned that the
Iran-Armenia gas line would be put to use within the same time span,
and projects would be brought to life which envisage the following:
raising the safety level of Armenia’s nuclear power plant; gas
supply to the entire; restoration of country; the heat-supply system;
operation of the hydro-electric plant at Meghri and the first reactor
of Yerevan’s thermo-electric plant; modernization of underground gas
storage; and the construction of small hydro-electric plants.
A policy intervention by Levon Yeghiazarian, director general of the
Scientific Research Institute of Energy, encompassed strategic issues
concerning Armenia’s energy security. Yeghiazarian deemed especially
important the necessity to advance concepts that include a database
for normative-technical documents, a development plan for the system,
price formation and tariff policy within the electricity market,
the fuel supply complex, investment programs, and the energy system’s
dependability and seismic safety. However, according to Yeghiazarian,
aside from global problems, all consumers are primarily interested
in the quality of service. “Since the field for legal relationships
between consumer and supplier is largely undeveloped, no one faces
responsibility when our household appliances break down as a result
of high voltage,” Yeghiazarian underlined.
In his address on “The Energy Legislation and European Union
Approaches,” Areg Barseghian, an expert in energy and transport
infrastructures from the Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice
Center (AEPLAC), pointed out that according to some parameters,
when it comes down to energy safety, Armenia’s legal field does not
meet the requirements of European Union laws. European legislative
acts which regulate markets in the spheres of oil and oil products,
electricity, gas, and nuclear energy are non-existent in Armenia.
“European legislation contains norms that are not defined by Armenia’s
law on energy, because these norms do not refer to the realities in
Armenia,” the expert continued. The incompatibility of the legislation
regulating the energy sector also bears an adverse effect on attempts
to satisfy consumer demand.
Is there any other alternative to the current conception of Armenia’s
energy security? Searching for an answer to this question, economic
policy analyst Gegham Kiurumian reached the conclusion that the
major guarantee for Armenia ‘s safety is hydro-energy development,
to which much attention is not being paid. “It is time to reject an
existence on an account of imported fuel and to put our hopes on our
own resources alone,” the analyst stressed, expressing concern at
the same time regarding insufficient usage of small hydro-electric
plants, solar energy, and other important domestic sources. According
to the figures presented by Kiurumian, Armenia lags behind most when
it comes to the annual amount of electricity supply per capita.
The formal interventions were followed by contributions by Levon
Vardanian from the Ministry of Energy; Edward Aghajanov, an economist
with the Armat Center; Haik Gevorgian, Haikakan Zhamanak daily’s
columnist on economic matters; Robert Kharazian, a member of the Public
Utilities Regulatory Board; independent expert Hrant Baghdasarian;
and many others.
Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS
serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy
challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet
world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic
thinking and a wider understanding of the new global environment. In
2005, the Center focuses primarily on civic education, conflict
resolution, and applied research on critical domestic and foreign
policy issues for the state and the nation.
For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80
or 27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; or e-mail root@acnis.am or
info@acnis.am; or visit