MINISTRY OF ENERGY BECOMES OBSOLETE
Lragir.am
13 april 06
The Ministry of Energy of Armenia has already become obsolete and
can be dissolved, stated Edward Aghajanov, economist, April 12. The
reason is, according to him, the sale of the fifth generating unit
of the Thermal Power Plant to Russia, as well as the transfer of the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline to Russia, ensuring Russian monopoly in
the energy sector of Armenia.
The problem, according to him, is not the price at which the fifth
generating unit was sold. The problem is that a country’s energy
capacity cannot be entirely sold to another country. “The danger is
that Russia, in fact, controls not only energy generation but also the
network of distribution. Thus, Russia can form a rigid structure that
will shatter the energy security of Armenia,” announced the economist.
He says there was a better way of operating the fifth generating
unit. Iran had offered a loan of 150 million dollars to Armenia to
be repaid by energy, produced at the fifth generating unit within
20-25 years. And Armenia could have kept the fifth generating unit.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
