ArmInfo. Short-term political dividends could jeopardize long-term economic development. Haykaz Fanyan, head of the ACSES Analytical Center, shared his assessment, touching on the Armenian government's intentions regarding the Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC.
Specifically, today, at a working meeting with Romanos Petrosyan, interim manager of the ENA CJSC, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he considers the full nationalization of Electric Networks of Armenia a "desirable option." This would mean that the infrastructure would be state-owned and managed by a professional company under government control. Additionally, Pashinyan emphasized that this could lead to financial issues. Whether the state will acquire ENA will depend on the price. According to the Prime Minister, the company's true value has decreased since its license was revoked. "If we see that for some reason this is too costly, as we still have to pay to acquire the company, this amount will essentially be an expense from the state budget. If we see that these expenses are unjustified, then we must seek a new investor through transparent procedures," the Prime Minister said.
"In recent years, the increase in state involvement in the economy has not been beneficial for us (waste removal from Yerevan, transport, ZCMC, Viva Armenia, Lydian Armenia, the State Fund for Universal Health Insurance, ENA). Moreover, it involuntarily brings to mind Russia in the early/mid-2000s, when the Russian people welcomed the "nationalization" of strategic assets (for example, Yukos, AvtoVAZ), but ultimately, instead of a market economy, they ended up with something resembling "state capitalism".
What should we do? We must ask ourselves: what is our economic paradigm, what economic model do we want to see in the country in 10 years... this should also be one of the cornerstones of the economic development strategy that needs to be developed in the near future," economist Haykaz Fanyan wrote on social media.
