Samvel Karapetyan (left) with President Serzh Sarkisian and Yerevan Mayor Taron Markaryan at the opening of Tashir Group’s new mall in Yerevan on Nov 13
YEREVAN—The Tashir Group of Companies, which is owned by Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetian, announced that it plans to invest $1 billion in Armenia’s energy sector, in partnership with Armenia’s Investors’ Club and international financial organizations. It was also announced that the investment will create around 2,500 jobs.
Tashir Group Vice President Karen Darbinyan said the investment program will target two aspects of the energy sector—distribution networks and energy production—adding that the most important part of the project will be the investment made for the construction of the Shnogh Hydroelectric power plan, with an approximate cost of $200 million.
“Soon $900 million will be directed for the installation of electricity calculation devices and reconstruction of electric-energy infrastructures in ‘Armenia’s Distribution Networks,’” said Darbinyan.
Darbinyan also announced that the projects that will result from the investment will create approximately 2,500 new jobs in Armenia.
“The production of nearly 80 percent of devices which will be used as part of the investment program will be made in Armenia. According to preliminary data, we are talking about 2500 new jobs,” Darbinyan said.
According to the Tashir Vice-President, since 2016 the company has been negotiations with several international financial organizations to implement the investment program. Specifically, Darbinyan said, the group has held talks with the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“An agreement to secure nearly $160 million was signed. Today a memorandum of mutual understanding will also be signed with the Eurasian Development Bank to secure $100 million,” reported Darbinyan.
He also pointed out that the investment will be made without increasing Armenia’s tax burden.
Soon after public protests against the raising of electricity fees in Armenia in 2015, the Tashir Group purchased “Electric Networks of Armenia,” which was until then held by Russian investors.
The director of the ENA, Karen Harutyunyan announced Monday that 30 percent of the investments to be made in the “Electric Networks of Armenia” over the next 10 years will be allocated toward equipment modernization, with approximately $12 million expected to be spent in 2018.
Harutunyan said the upgrade will decrease electricity loss by 4 percent and cut the company’s expenditures by 50 percent.