Tag Archives: Armenia

Armenia and Iran to boost electricity-gas swap

OCT. 4 2015, YEREVAN (The Conway Bulletin) — At a meeting in Tehran, the Iranian and Armenian energy ministers said they will increase the volume of their gas-for-electricity swap deal, deepening relations between the two neighbours.

Alireza Kameli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Export Company, told local media that Iran is ready to supply as much as 2.3b cubic metres of natural gas yearly to Armenia through the existing 140km long pipeline. According to Armenian government figures, Armenia currently imports less than 400m cubic metres of gas every year from Iran. By comparison, Armenia imports roughly five times as much gas from Russia as it does from Iran every year.

“Armenia is currently unable to take full advantage of the capacity of the pipeline because of the lack of necessary infrastructure,” Mr Kameli said alluding to the lack of electricity infrastructure in Armenia.

Still the the two sides are working together on extending Armenia’s electricity transmission network. Armenia is building a third high-voltage transmission line, part-funded by Iran. According to the Armenian ministry of energy, the country currently exports 1.8b kWh of electricity to Iran every year, a volume that can be increased up to 6.9b kWh.

Electricity is one of their biggest exports for Armenia. It’s also become highly political. This year thousands of people protested in Yerevan against proposed price rises. The government eventually agreed to subsidise the price rises.

And this month, the government agreed the sale of the electricity distribution network by Russia’s Inter RAO to an Armenian billionaire.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Armenia’s Ucom to be handed to Orange

OCT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Ucom, best known for its fibre optic cable business, said it wanted to hand Orange Armenia to three banks to guarantee its liquidity during the increasingly tough economic climate. The Armenian mobile regulator said it will consider the decision later this week. The loss-making Orange Armenia was owned by French company Orange until Ucom bought it in August.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Armenia keeps interest rates high

OCT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia will keep its interest rate at 10.25% or higher in the medium term to beat rising inflation and maintain stability, media quoted Nerses Yeritsyan, deputy chairman of Armenia’s Central Bank, as saying. Regional pressures have dented economic growth across the S.Caucasus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)

Azerbaijan accuses Armenia over N-K violence

SEPT. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s ministry of defence accused Armenian backed forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh of killing three Azerbaijani soldiers. The accusation marks another escalation in tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Armenia accused Azerbaijan of killing civilians last week.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Billionaire buys Armenia’s electricity network

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian utilities company Inter RAO sold Armenia’s electricity network for an undisclosed amount to the Moscow-based Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. The deal has come as a surprise.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Veolia wants Armenian water

SEPT. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Veolia, the French utilities company, is looking to extend its control of Armenia’s water and sewage systems, Gor Grigoryan, CEO of Yerevan Jur which is already managed by a Veolia subsidiary, said. Armenia is re-organising its water and sewage companies. Next year, Yerevan Jur will merge with the Armenian Water and Sewage Company. There are three other similar companies in Armenia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Armenian reserves fall

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Currency reserves held by Armenia’s Central Bank have dropped to $1.646b from $1.703b at the start of the month, despite it insisting that it was not intervening in the currency market to support the dram. A year earlier, the CBank’s currency reserves measures $1.75b.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Divisa Capital enters Armenia

OCT. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — UK-based Divisa Capital bought Laboratory of Financial Technologies, an Armenian financial services provider, for an undisclosed amount. Mushegh Tovmasyan, CEO of Divisa Capital, said that he wanted to use the company’s new Armenian foothold to target the Eurasian market.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Remittances slow for Armenia

SEPT. 29 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances to Armenia from abroad dropped by 38.8% in the first eight months of the year to $114.8m compared to the same period in 2014 , the Armenian Central Bank said. Russia provides nearly 80% of all Armenia’s remittances. It has been coping with the fallout from a collapse in oil prices and sanctions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)

Armenian billionaire buys electricity network from Inter RAO

YEREVAN, SEPT. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a surprise move, Russian state-owned electricity company Inter RAO sold the Armenian utility company Electric Networks of Armenia JSC (ENA) to Tashir Group, a Russian real estate holding owned by Armenian-born billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.

ENA is the 100% owner of Armenia’s electricity distribution network giving Mr Karapetyan major influence in his homeland where electricity has become a political issue. This year Forbes Russia ranked him as the 26th richest person in Russia with an estimated wealth of $4b.

The sale provides Inter RAO with an exit from Armenia where it had wanted to increase the price of electricity by 17% to make up for the drop in the value of the dram currency. This price increase angered people and thousands demonstrated in Yerevan, forcing the government to promise to subsidise prices.

Rumours that Inter RAO were looking for a buyer had been circulating since mid-September and had focused on Mr Karapetyan. He confirmed the deal in short statement.

“Tashir Group takes full responsibility for the management of the ENA,” he said.

Mr Karapetyan is the brother of Karen, a member of the Armenian parliament.

He immediately promised that his purchase of ENA would not mean that electricity price rises were back on the agenda.

“On a parity basis with the government of Armenia, the company will [compensate part of] the difference between tariffs before and after indexation on Aug. 1 2015,” he said.

And the deal had the backing of the Armenian government which wanted to reduce anti-Russia sentiment that had built up over the proposed electricity price rises. Russia is a key ally of Armenia.

Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan said: “Meeting with our request, within a short period of time Tashir group negotiated and signed a contract with Inter RAO for the purchase of energy assets, for which we express our gratitude.”

Details of the deal were not disclosed. Tashir Group has a high profile in Armenia. It owns around three dozen shopping malls, hotels and office blocks in Russia and Armenia, including one which houses 400 birds, reptile and amphibians.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 250, published on Oct. 2 2015)