NEW OWNER DETAILS INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIAN POWER GRID
By Shakeh Avoyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 10 2007
The new Russian owner of Armenia’s national power distribution company
officially committed itself on Tuesday to investing almost 27 billion
drams ($74 million) in the aging network in the next three years.
The investment plan of the Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA) was
submitted to and promptly approved by the Public Services Regulatory
Commission (PSRC) in accordance with a law regulating the work of
utilities. The company, owned by Russia’s Unified Energy Systems
(UES) utility, intends to purchase new equipment, expand the network’s
capacity, and upgrade its safety.
The deputy chairman of the state regulatory body, Nikolay Grigorian,
said the capital investments make electricity supplies to households
and commercial users more reliable. "They submitted this investment
program in order to meet the quality standards defined by us,"
Grigorian told RFE/RL.
The Armenian electricity network underwent a radical restructuring
during the early and mid-1990s that helped the country to emerge
from a severe energy crisis. The Armenian government controversially
sold it to a British-registered company, Midland Resources Holding,
in 2002, citing the need to attract hundreds of millions of dollars
in capital investments in the Soviet-era network.
Midland in turn decided to resell ENA to UES in September 2005. The
state-run Russian giant completed the $73 million takeover a year
later, boosting Russia’s already strong presence in the Armenian
energy sector. Alexei Rapoport, the UES vice-chairman, said last
September that his company will invest $20 million in ENA during the
first year of its operations.
Grigorian said that the ENA management has not yet asked the PSRC to
allow it to raise electricity prices. "They see no such need for the
time being," he said. "But of course after making those investments
they will ask the commission to adjust the tariffs accordingly."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
