Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian pledged to “quickly” nationalize the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) company on June 18 hours after Karapetian was arrested in Yerevan following his strong criticism of Pashinian’s campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church. He accused ENA of creating a “near energy crisis” in Armenia with the possible aim of increasing public discontent with his government.
Davit Ghazinian, ENA’s acting director general, denied the allegations, saying that Pashinian’s plans are politically motivated and could have “very bad” consequences for the country. He said ENA’s owner and management will resist the attempted seizure by “all legal means.”
“Samvel Karapetian will not give in until the end,” Ghazinian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Armenian opposition leaders likewise say that Pashinian is keen to punish Karapetian for dissent and does not care about consequences of his actions for the Armenian energy sector and the country’s attractiveness to foreign investors.
Karapetian’s Moscow-based Tashir Group claims to have invested at least $700 million in Armenia’s aging power distribution network and sharply cut its losses since buying it from a Russian energy giant in 2015.