Potential new owner of ENA is affiliated with Tashir group, newspaper
YEREVAN, September 18. / ARKA /. According to reports in Russian media, the potential new owner of Armenia’s national power distribution company - Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA) is closely connected to Russia-based Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.
On September 17, Armenian prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan told a Cabinet session that the state-controlled Russian company Inter RAO, the current owner of ENA- asked for the Armenian government’s ’permission to sell the utility to a Cyprus-registered Liormand Holdings Limited.
According to Russian business daily ‘Kommersant’, Liormand is owned by Marcuard Trust, an international asset management firm, which is registered in Cyprus and has an office in Moscow.
Kommersant says its CEO and co-owner Sinan Bodmer is on the board of directors of Fora Bank, owned by Samvel Karapetyan’s Tashir Group. The other co-owner - Hans-Joerg Rudloff - was a member of the board of directors of Russian state-controlled Rosneft oil company.
According to the Cypriot registry, Liormand is owned by a chain of companies, connected to Marcuard Trust Ltd, part of Marcuard Heritage, which has offices in Zurich, Moscow, Singapore and other cities. It was founded in 2003 by Adrian Guldener, Sinan Bodmer (CEO) and Hans-Joerg Rudloff.
Kommersant says these people’s careers are closely connected with Russia: the first two in the UBS Private Banking were in charge of Moscow and Eastern Europe, while Rudloff, as chairman of the board of directors of Barclay’s investment unit, was a member of the board of directors of Rosneft in 2006-2013.
On Thursday prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan instructed the Armenian ministries of energy, economy, finance and justice as well as the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to look into the proposed deal and conclude whether it should be cleared by the government.
Earlier reports in Armenian newspapers said that Karapetyan’s Tashir Group was reportedly close to buying the ENA this spring. Later, in May, energy and natural resources minister Yervand Zakharyan said Inter RAO was ready to sell its loss-making Armenian subsidiary.
The decision to sell ENA comes less than three months after Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) allowed the company to raise electricity prices by almost 17 percent, which sparked two-week nonstop demonstrations in Yerevan, forcing the government to subsidize power supplies in Armenia until the end of a government-commissioned audit of the utility, meant to determine whether the ENA has been mismanaged by Inter RAO.-0-
On September 17, Armenian prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan told a Cabinet session that the state-controlled Russian company Inter RAO, the current owner of ENA- asked for the Armenian government’s ’permission to sell the utility to a Cyprus-registered Liormand Holdings Limited.
According to Russian business daily ‘Kommersant’, Liormand is owned by Marcuard Trust, an international asset management firm, which is registered in Cyprus and has an office in Moscow.
Kommersant says its CEO and co-owner Sinan Bodmer is on the board of directors of Fora Bank, owned by Samvel Karapetyan’s Tashir Group. The other co-owner - Hans-Joerg Rudloff - was a member of the board of directors of Russian state-controlled Rosneft oil company.
According to the Cypriot registry, Liormand is owned by a chain of companies, connected to Marcuard Trust Ltd, part of Marcuard Heritage, which has offices in Zurich, Moscow, Singapore and other cities. It was founded in 2003 by Adrian Guldener, Sinan Bodmer (CEO) and Hans-Joerg Rudloff.
Kommersant says these people’s careers are closely connected with Russia: the first two in the UBS Private Banking were in charge of Moscow and Eastern Europe, while Rudloff, as chairman of the board of directors of Barclay’s investment unit, was a member of the board of directors of Rosneft in 2006-2013.
On Thursday prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan instructed the Armenian ministries of energy, economy, finance and justice as well as the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to look into the proposed deal and conclude whether it should be cleared by the government.
Earlier reports in Armenian newspapers said that Karapetyan’s Tashir Group was reportedly close to buying the ENA this spring. Later, in May, energy and natural resources minister Yervand Zakharyan said Inter RAO was ready to sell its loss-making Armenian subsidiary.
The decision to sell ENA comes less than three months after Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) allowed the company to raise electricity prices by almost 17 percent, which sparked two-week nonstop demonstrations in Yerevan, forcing the government to subsidize power supplies in Armenia until the end of a government-commissioned audit of the utility, meant to determine whether the ENA has been mismanaged by Inter RAO.-0-