ENA manager`s salary is U.S. $13,500

ArmInfo. Romanos Petrosyan, head of the State Control Service under the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, was appointed acting manager of Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC by the head of the Public Services  Regulatory Commission (PSRC) on July 18. He receives a salary of 5.2  million drams (approximately $13,500), according to the newspaper  Hraparak.

The PSRC has imposed the obligation to pay him this amount on  businessman Samvel Karapetyan, the owner of the PRC. Meanwhile, the  newspaper notes, Petrosyan received a salary of 790,000 drams at the  State Control Service.

"When Petrosyan transferred to ESA, he stated that he was joining in  the interests of the Republic of Armenia, with the goal of 'improving  the company's operations.' At the time, it seemed like a selfless  mission for the good of the state. However, now it increasingly seems  that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan simply wanted to take Elseti from  its owner, and Petrosyan to collect a salary with several zeros," the  newspaper writes.

As Hraparak notes, thus, on the eve of the elections, the country's  largest energy structure is coming under the influence of the ruling  Civil Contract party. "The authorities decided to keep Samvel  Karapetyan in prison, employ their associates in high-paying  positions, and mobilize the potential of approximately 7,000 ESA  employees in the interests of the ruling party," the newspaper  writes.

Romanos Petrosyan was appointed as the temporary manager of ENA  within the framework of administrative proceedings and the  application of preventive measures against Elseti. Petrosyan's  appointment took place against the backdrop of Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan's statements about the possible nationalization of the  company, which belongs to the Tashir Group of Companies.

On July 21, David Ghazinyan, Sales Director and Acting Head of  Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), was dismissed from his post. On  July 22, Samvel Karapetyan, the head of the Tashir Group of Companies  (previously arrested after expressing public support for the AAC),  and his family won an arbitration dispute against the Armenian  government over the nationalization of ENA. However, the Armenian  government, interpreting the decision of the Arbitration Institute of  the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce "in its own way", stated that "the  scope of the issues (dispute) considered in the urgent case differs  from the objectives of the decision to appoint a temporary manager  and the scope of actions that the latter must take." "While  respecting the interim measures applied by foreign arbitration  decisions, at the same time everyone is obliged to be guided by the  legislation of the Republic of Armenia and international treaties  establishing the rules and procedures for the recognition and  enforcement of arbitration decisions," the Armenian Cabinet of  Ministers said in a statement.

ENA Interim Manager Romanos Petrosyan, in turn, noted that the  arbitration award will only become legally binding in Armenia after  the corresponding court ruling, and on July 24, he began making the  first personnel changes to the management of Elseti Armenia.  RA  Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan, in turn, noted that the award of the  Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, rendered  in favor of Samvel Karapetyan in the arbitration case against  Armenia, is not subject to mandatory enforcement if it is contrary to  public order. She also assured that Samvel Karapetyan will receive  compensation in the event of ESA nationalization.

In 2015, the Russian company Inter RAO UES decided to sell its  electricity assets in Armenia, including ESA. The buyer was Liormand  Holdings Limited, which acquired 30% of the shares of Electric  Networks of Armenia, and the remaining 70% of the shares were bought  out by Tashir Capital.