Transparency Initiative to cover the Armenian Energy sector

ArmInfo.The Armenian parliament at the meeting on April 17 in the second and final reading amended the law "On Energy".

As the co-author of the bill, MP of the National Assembly Artak  Manukyan said, it is proposed, in particular, to extend the  Transparency Initiative to the field of Armenian energy. According to  Artak Manukyan, the bill introduced 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 MP recalled, within the framework of the  Transparency Initiative, measures are being applied to enterprises in  the mining industry, 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 information on the part of shareholders  of those enterprises that produce electricity," Manukyan said. He  added that all owners are subject to publish the real owners of  energy facilities.

To note, currently there are 185 small hydropower plants in Armenia,  the society knows quite little about their real owners, information  about them periodically appears in the media. So, according to  available data, the former MP 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 owned by the head of the Vayots Dzor Diocese,  Bishop Abraham 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 hydropower plants on the  Yeghegis River, belongs to the son of the brother of former 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 Akhbyur hydroelectric power station.  Former Minister of Economy Suren Karayan and his brother Khazhak  Karayan, son-in-law of former Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan Hayk  Suvaryan, have shares in the Vayots Dzor Hydroelectric Power Station.   Hayk Suvaryan is also clamed to own Gokhtanik hydroelectric station.  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 also own  hydropower plants. 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 have already been built, and  today 185 small hydroelectric power stations operate on the rivers of  Armenia.

To recall, the abuses committed by small hydropower plants were in  the spotlight of the prosecutor general after the velvet revolution.  The prosecutor's office found 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 sector  for abuse."

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) - an  international standard for transparency and accountability in the  extractive industries, oil and gas. Armenia has become the 52nd  country that is on the path to implementing the standards of the  Initiative - on March 9, 2017, the candidacy of Armenia was approved  in Colombian Bogota. In developing a transparency policy for the  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 structures.

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.