Armenian president supports premier in AAC issue, no ENA  nationalization in Armenia 

ArmInfo.  Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan gives assurances that the issue of nationalization of the company "Electric Networks of Armenia" (ENA), owned by Russian businessman of Armenian origin Samvel Karapetyan, is not being discussed. This was stated by Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan in an interview with RTVI in response to clarification  on why the Armenian authorities are not implementing the decision of  the Stockholm Arbitration Court on ENA.

Initially, Khachaturyan assured that the Armenian parliament did not  adopt a law allowing the nationalization of Karapetyan's company.  According to him, the law was written completely differently. "This  is not the nationalization of the Electric Networks.  In general, the  state has the right to nationalize anything, especially a structure  that is of paramount importance for the country, for the economy, and  electric networks," he said.

He reiterated once again that the question of nationalization is not  on the table and today "only the management has changed, now it is  external management, as is customary in Russia now." According to  him, such management is now generally accepted and this is normal.

"I will tell you something else: the information that we receive... I  also look, officially I do not receive anything... the information  that I see on the Internet, in other places, I understand that it was  simply there - I am already giving an assessment as an economist - a  monopoly, purely, a one hundred percent monopoly right with the  decision of all issues in violation of many legislative acts of the  Republic of Armenia.  There, of course, it has a monopoly right to  distribute electricity in the country, but it must work according to  state procurement laws, but it turns out that in the purchase of  certain of it, in the solution of certain problems, organizations are  involved that have a direct or indirect relationship with Karapetyan,  and this is unacceptable for us," the President of Armenia assured.  Touching upon the criticism of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan for arresting Samvel Karapetyan and putting pressure on the  Armenian Apostolic Church in conditions where the Church is separated  from the state, Khachaturyan assured that "it was not Nikol Pashinyan  who started the war, but the Church - the Church, which should have  separated itself from politics and simply on the side, of course, can  speak out or make some statements."

"But when the Church advocates for the removal of the Prime Minister,  2020, this is the beginning. After that, when a church minister  officially declares war on the government last year, last year, what  does this mean? Who started it? We need to think about it, why they  started it, what were their goals," Khachaturyan asked.

"I don't think that Pashinyan as the Prime Minister will interfere in  their affairs. It's a different matter as a believer Pashinyan, this  needs to be separated, this is the difference.  And therefore I can  say that in reality he is doing the right thing. I think that, on the  contrary, we need to work, as the current government is doing. We  need to work hard, we need to work a lot, this concerns all of us,  because, in fact, if we want to become a strong and prosperous  country...", Khachaturyan added.

Samvel Karapetyan was detained on the night of June 18 in Yerevan by  Armenian law enforcement agencies after he expressed support for the  Armenian Apostolic Church. In response to this, there were open  threats from the Prime Minister. On the night of June 19, the Yerevan  Court of General Jurisdiction arrested Samvel Karapetyan for two  months. He is being held in the Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary  Institution (the famous "KGB basement" in the building of the  National Security Service of Armenia). He is accused of publicly  calling for the seizure of power in the country. Karapetyan does not  admit guilt. In addition, in July, the head of the Tashir Group of  Companies was charged with new money laundering.

On August 15, the Anti-Corruption Court, early in the morning, after  almost 10 hours of considering the investigator's petition, extended  Karapetyan's arrest for another two months.