Tag Archives: electricity

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)

Armenia wants to boost electricity sales to Iran

SEPT. 23 2015, YEREVAN (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia wants to increase by four-fold electricity exports to Iran, a senior government official said, highlighting the important regional economic position that the Iranian government will hold once international sanctions are lifted, as expected, later this year or next.

At a policy meeting in Yerevan, Areg Galstyan, the Armenian deputy minister for energy and natural resources said a third electricity transmission line to Iran was being built that would increase exports.

“Now in a year we export 1.8b kilowatt hours of energy to Iran and the capacity can be increased to 6.9b. kWh per year,” he said at a press conference. “We hope that the construction of a third Armenia-Iran high voltage electricity transmission line will be finished in 2018.”

The growing trade and diplomatic relationship between Armenia and Iran has become increasingly important for the government in Yerevan. It is short of regional allies. Armenia and Azerbaijan are still officially at war over the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh and its ties with Turkey have been broken over allegations of a genocide 100 years ago, meaning that it has turned to Iran as partner.

And with Iran on the brink of being accepted back into the international community after a deal with the United States and others over its nuclear weapons programme, relation – trade, diplomatic and cultural – are set to grow.

Armenia sees itself as a growing regional electricity exporter. As well as increasing exports to Iran it also wants to increase them to Georgia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Kyrgyzstan to establish energy holding

SEPT. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan will establish a national energy holding next year, Kubanychbek Turdubayev, Kyrgyz minister of energy, said in a statement. The government has said that it hopes that a single energy holding would improve efficiency.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)

Georgia expects power investment

OCT. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia expects investments in its energy sector of $8b over the next few years, media quoted a Reuters interview with Ilia Beroshvili, Georgia’s deputy energy minister. Mr Beroshvili said that most of the investment would be in gas processing plants and hydropower.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 253, published on Oct. 23 2015)

China to build power plant in Georgia

SEPT. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Chinese Dongfang Electric plans to build a 150 MW thermal power station in Georgia, Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili said during a trip to Beijing. The cost of the project is estimated at around $200m. China has expanded its investments in the South Caucasus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Turkmenistan joins global atomic energy agency

SEPT. 17 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has become the 166th member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global body charged with developing and encouraging the safe use of nuclear power, media reported.

While Turkmenistan’s accession to the IAEA may not have any major policy implications it is another signifier that Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov wants to bring the country more into the international mainstream.

Turkmenistan normally stays away from joining international organisations.

IAEA members ratified Turkmenistan’s membership at their 59th annual summit in Vienna. also joining this year were the east African country of Djibouti, Guyana in South America and Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean.

Neutrality is enshrined in Turkmenistan’s constitution and not damaging this long-held policy would have been a key consideration for Mr Berdymukhamedov.

He has steadily moved Turkmenistan into the international mainstream, mainly to exploit Turkmenistan’s gas reserves.

It holds the world’s fourth largest gas reserves.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Turkmenistan opens new power plant

SEPT. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan inaugurated a power plant in the Darvaza district, 250km north of Ashgabat, an indicator of how the country is setting itself up as a power exporter.

Turkish company Calyk Energy built the plant and US-based General Electric provided the four gas turbines for the 500MW power plant.

The official Turkmen media reported on Mr Berdymukhamedov’s visit to the opening of the plant.

It said: “The President stressed that Turkmenistan is constantly investing in electricity power generation, which will allow it to increase the exports to meet the demand of world markets.”

Turkmenistan is developing its electricity generation capacity. Power plants are being built in Turkmen- bashi, on the Caspian Sea coast, in the Lebap province, on the border with Uzbekistan, and in Mary, in the south-east of the country.

Turkmenistan is already exporting electricity to Afghanistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Armenians protest electricity price rise

SEPT. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Armenia detained 50 people during a protest against electricity price rises for businesses. The government backed down after a series of protests in July and said it would subsidise a 17% price rise for residential property but that businesses would have to pay it.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Georgia approves Tbilisi electricity price rise

SEPT. 3 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Following earlier electricity price rises in Georgia’s regions, the state regulators approved a similar price increase in the capital.

For the Georgian Dream, the ruling coalition, the price rise means they have barely been able to fulfil one of their promises from the 2012 parliamentary election – to cut the price of electricity and to keep it low.

But, as Akaki Tsomaia, economics professor at the University of Georgia explained, the plunging value of the lari had forced the regulators to agree to the price rise.

“Georgia is experiencing a 45% depreciation of its currency against the US dollar. Electricity and gas providers in Georgia have no other way than to increase the price of these services. Otherwise we will definitely have a major electricity shortage,” he told the Bulletin.

Still, this assessment, which is widely shared, didn’t stop the opposition UNM party blaming the coalition.

“The absence of professionalism led us to this point,” UNM’s deputy chairperson Nika Melia told TV broadcaster Rustavi-2.

Electricity prices have triggered protests in the region, most notably in Armenia where thousands protested earlier this year and forced the government to waive price rises.

In Georgia which is known for its street level politics, however, the population seems to have accepted the rise more quietly although some people did expect protests shortly.

Vladimir, an IT specialist walking along Tbilisi’s central promenade said: “People will probably start next month once they get bills.”

Irakli, 37, who was waiting at a bus stop, agreed but he said that politics, was the key driver of social unrest.

“We’ve taken to the streets so much in the recent two decades, but for other reasons,” he said. “But it all accumulates and only needs one non- social spark to explode.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Power station extends in Azerbaijan

SEPT. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Trend news agency quoted a source in the Azerbaijani energy market as saying that the long-delayed extension to the Shimal power plant in Baku will finally be commissioned this year. The extension, which will double the capacity of the power station, was supposed to have been commission last year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)