Discussion of Yerevan Water Company Bid Tariff Rise Postponed

DISCUSSION OF YEREVAN WATER COMPANY’S BID FOR DRINKING WARER TARIFF
RISE POSTPONED FOR ONE MONTH

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Public Services Regulatory
Commission on April 28 posponed for one month the discussion of the
Yerevan Water Company’s bid that proposes increasing the current
tariff of drinking water of 125 drams for 1 cubic meter to 178.2 drams
(0.39 USD). The discussion was postponed at the request of Chairman of
the State Water Industry Committee of the RA Ministry of Territorial
Administration Andranik Andreasian and Director of the Yerevan Water
Company Serzh Popoff. According to A. Andreasian, this postponement
was due to some technical difficulties related to the transfer of
Water Canal’s property. He explained that the transfer of 30 thousand
property items in Yerevan Water Canal’s balance sheet to another
company is quite a difficult process. To recap, Yerevan Water Canal
Company was leased for 10 years by General Des Eaux Company, which in
its turn set up Yerevan Water. Asked if the commission’s refusal to
satisfy the bid is not considered a violation of the agreement
provisions on tariffs which were stipulated in the tender package of
General Dea Eaux, A. Andreasian said: “I think that all the necessary
preconditions have been ensured and all the steps taken so that the
commission will be able to make a respective decision. The whole
tender pakage was prepared jointly with the commission and the whole
process was agreed on beforehand.” According to the commission’s draft
decision, the tariff is set at 146.8 drams.