Will the Transparency Initiative be extended to the field of Armenian  energy?

ArmInfo.It is planned that the Transparency Initiative will be extended to the sphere of  Armenian energy. At a meeting on January 24, the country's parliament  continued discussions on amendments to the law "On Energy".

As one of the co-authors of the document, MP Artak Manukyan, noted in  his speech, the presented bill is intended to resolve issues related  to ensuring transparency in the energy sector and identifying the  real owners of small hydropower plants, hydro and thermal power  plants. At present, as the deputy recalled, within the framework of  the Transparency Initiative, measures are being applied to mining  enterprises, the same measures are envisaged to apply to energy  facilities. Artak Manukyan noted that if emphasis is placed on the  logic of transparency, accountability in relation to public  resources, then hydroelectric power stations, thermal power plants  and other public resources are also in this classification. "And we  proposed to make transparent the information on the part of the  shareholders of those who produce electricity, which includes SHPPs,  TPPs," Manukyan said. He added that the publication of the real  owners of energy facilities is subject to owners owning at least 10%  of the shares. Meanwhile, as Deputy Minister of Territorial  Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia Hakob Vardanyan  emphasized in his speech, the Government of the Republic of Armenia  proposed postponing the adoption of this bill for a period of 1-2  years, during which comprehensive decisions will be made. The fact  is, continued Hakob Vardanyan, that currently in the field of the  mining industry there are problems associated with the preparation of  declarations. In this regard, it is proposed to postpone discussions  until a later date until the Initiative fully works in the mining  industry, after which it will be possible to extend it to other  areas, including energy. "It is important to take a comprehensive,  rather than fragmentary, decision on this issue," the deputy minister  emphasized. It should be noted that currently there are 185 small  hydropower plants in Armenia, the real owners of which little is  known to the public, information about them periodically appears in  the media. So, according to available data, the former deputy from  the previously ruling Republican Party Hakob Hakobyan and his brother  own the Yeghegis 1 hydroelectric power station. A member of the  Prosperous Armenia faction, Vardevan Grigoryan, also has a  hydroelectric power station. Regarding the three hydropower plants  operating in the Hermon community, it is known that they are the  property of the head of the Vayots Dzor Diocese, Bishop Abram  Mkrtchyan, it is simply registered in the name of his brother and  colleague. The owner of the hydroelectric power station is also the  son of General Hovik Ohanyan - David Ohanyan. 50% of the Mina-Maya  company, which operates two hydroelectric power stations on the  Yeghegis River, belongs to the son of the brother of ex-president  Serzh Sargsyan - Narek Sargsyan. The son of the former Prosecutor  General and former chairman of the Investigative Committee, Aghvan  Hovsepyan, Narek Hovsepyan also has a hydroelectric power station -  he owns a stake in the Surb Hakhbyur hydroelectric power station. The  former Minister of Economics Suren Karayan and his brother Hazhak  Karayan, the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan Hayk  Suvaryan, have shares in the Vayots Dzor hydroelectric power station.  Hayk Suvaryan is also attributed to the Gokhtanik hydroelectric  station. Hydropower plants have former Syunik governor Surik  Khachatryan, chairman of the Free Democrats party Khachatur  Kokobelyan, former governor of the Lori region Henrik Kochinyan and  many other former officials. The vast majority of hydropower plants  have been built over the past decade.  Until 1999, their number in  Armenia did not exceed two dozen. From 1999 to 2008, during the  presidency of Robert Kocharian, a permit was issued for 50  hydroelectric power stations. After 2008, when Serzh Sargsyan became  the head of state, about 130 hydroelectric power stations were  already built.  Recall that the abuses committed by small hydropower  plants were in the spotlight of the prosecutor general after the  velvet revolution. Prosecutor's office  found out that most of the  small hydropower plants operating in Armenia for many years worked  with gross violations of the law, but the relevant officials of the  Ministry of Nature Protection did not take measures to correct them.  As a result, significant damage was caused to the legitimate  interests of the state and the environment. And Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan described the scope of the small hydropower plant as a  "giant sphere for abuse.  "The Extractive Industries Transparency  Initiative (EITI) is an international standard for transparency and  accountability in the extractive industries, oil and gas. Armenia has  become the 52nd country that is moving towards the implementation of  the Initiative standards - March 9, 2017 in Colombian Bogota was  approved Armenia's candidacy, after which, over the next 18 months,  she will have to submit the first EITI report, which will be approved  according to the standards of the international initiative. Mining  Industry of Armenia The Government of the Republic of Armenia  cooperates with the United States Agency for International  Development (USAID), the World Bank (WB) and other entities.  EITI is  a coalition of governments, companies, civil society, investors and  international organizations. It was created in 2002 at the initiative  of then Prime Minister of Great Britain Tony Blair at the conference  on sustainable development in Johannesburg. The goal of the  Initiative is to increase transparency and improve the quality of  governance in the extractive industries through periodic publication  of reports, compliance with standards and strengthening institutional  capacity. As part of the Initiative, extractive companies should  disclose the amount of their tax and non-tax payments to governments,  and governments should publish reports on their income. The  transparency of information on the amount of income achieved by EITI  standards allows parliaments of countries, non-governmental  organizations, as well as citizens themselves to control the  activities of companies and the Government. Such civilian control  will not only complicate abuse in this area, but will also contribute  to more efficient development of countries as a result of improved  economic conditions and more active attraction of foreign direct  investment. As international experience shows, mining companies only  benefit from greater transparency, thanks to the creation of equal  and predictable economic relations. Today, EITI covers 52 countries  that have submitted 332 fiscal reports, which brought profit to the  budget of the participants of the initiative in the amount of $ 2.3  trillion.