Conflicting opinions on Armenian hydropower plant’s sale

An Armenian opposition MP and a former president of the Central Bank have expressed conflicting opinions on the sale of the Vorotan Hydro plant to a US company.

Speaking to Tert.am, Vahagn Khachatryan, a lawmaker of the opposition Armenian National Congress, described the deal as a national security threat, while Bagrat Asatryan, who chaired the Central Bank in the 1990’s, said he welcomes the new investor.

The US power company ContourGlobal has acquired the Armenian hydropower plant for $180 million. After the transaction, it unveiled plans for investing an additional $70 million to make it the largest single US private investment in the country.

“Vorotan was not originally intended to be an ordinary power plant; it was built with the purpose of managing the entire energy system. Secondly, the Vorotan hydro power plant also guaranteed Armenia’s energy security. Hence, in that regard, it is strategically important for the state to maintain the Vorotan hydropower plant in its hands,” Khachatryan said, considering the sale transaction absolutely unnecessary.

As for the justification that the plant needed investments, the opposition MP expressed his strong disagreement to that, noting that foreign investments were quite affordable for Armenia in the past couple of years. He said the power plant’s condition was not so deplorable as presented.

Khachatryan said he thinks that Armenia has thus fully lost its energy independence. “There are, as a matter of fact, corruption risks here, and there will definitely be ones. So no wonder the deal was clinched now,” he said, pointing out to the personal interest factor.

Asked why the company was sold to the United States not Russia, Khachatryan replied, “It is first of all necessary to ask why [it was sold] to that particular company? Or whether there wasn’t any public auction, and what standards served as grounds for concluding a sale with that company.”

Khachatryan said he thinks the transaction to be the result of private talks. “The deal fuels suspicion in all of us. All that may lead to the assumption that there is something behind it,” he noted.

Commenting on the transaction, the former Central Bank president said he is positive about the new investor’s potentials to apply its professional skills and experience in Armenia.

“It is actually an alternative to the Russian investments in the energy sector, which I find positive, to be frank,” he said.

Asatryan said he positively treats the fact that the company was bought by a US investor. “I hope there was a normal competition, and the Americans themselves wished to purchase [the power plant],” he noted.

Addressing the energy security factor, the economist said he doesn’t see any risks. “There is a Russian investor in Armenia, so here comes the American investor,” he added.