PM: Armenian Parliament to review nationalisation of country’s key electricity firm

The draft for the nationalisation of CJSC "Electric Networks of Armenia" is already prepared and will be considered at an extraordinary session of the Armenian Parliament on July 1, as announced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Specifically, Pashinyan intends to put a certain package of the company’s shares up for public trading so that anyone interested can buy them. The issue was discussed with the leadership of the "Civil Contract" party, and then in Parliament and the government, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

He also mentioned that he recently attended the opening of the Homplex Hyper Mall shopping centre, where the power went out during the presentation.

"There are two possibilities — either sabotage, or the network is technically incapable of servicing new customers. In either case, the conclusion is the same — we need to move forward with the process that was mentioned earlier. This process should be carried out gradually but quickly," he said.

Notably, the owner of the CJSC is the Russian businessman of Armenian origin, Samvel Karapetyan, who was arrested on June 18. 

On June 17, Karapetyan publicly criticised the government’s campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church, particularly its attacks on Catholicos Garegin II, whom Pashinyan accused of violating his celibacy vow. Karapetyan’s statement, expressing support for the Church and warning of intervention “in our own way” if politicians failed to resolve the situation, was perceived by Pashinyan as a threat to state authority.

The next day, June 18, Armenian law enforcement raided Karapetyan’s Yerevan residence and detained him on charges of “public calls to seize power,” widely viewed as politically motivated. A court ordered a two-month pre-trial detention, and his legal team, led by lawyer Armen Feroyan, announced plans to file a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), calling the arrest unlawful. The timing of the arrest, just hours after Karapetyan’s remarks defending the Church, fueled suspicions that the nationalisation move was retaliatory.

By Khagan Isayev