Epress.am News from Armenia
The march against the rise in electricity prices in Armenia started, as most protest marches in the Armenian capital do, at the Freedom Square in Yerevan, where thousands of people, including leading opposition figures, representatives of non-governmental organizations, as well as ordinary citizens concerned with the prospect of the tariff hike, rallied on Wednesday, May 27.
At the start of the action the demonstrators were trying to figure out who the organizers of the rally were and were looking towards the rostrum on the stage in front of the Opera building in anticipation for the leaders' speeches. However, no strongly-marked leaders emerged in the course of the march.
Around 7.30 PM a young activist announced from the stage that since 2009 electricity prices in Armenia have increased by approximately 70%, and the protest rally had one message: not a penny more, no compromises.
The march was also attended by former employees of Nairit chemical plant, wearing t-shirts that read “Save Nairit,” as well as small and medium business owners who have been protesting against the new law “On Turnover Tax.”
During the entire course of the rally one of the activists waved an anarchist flag, while at the forefront demonstrators held a huge banner reading “High Voltage.”
The demonstrators marched through central Yerevan streets towards the Prime Minister's office at the Republic Square, chanting slogans such as “We are not going to pay off your debts!”, “You owe us!”, “No to robbery in our own homes!”, “Serzhik, leave!”, “Free, independent Armenia,” and many more. Drivers on the streets honked in solidarity with the march participants.
Reaching the Republic Square, the demonstrators held a short sit-in in the center of the square before resuming the march towards Freedom Square.
Recall, in May 2015, Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) appealed to the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) with a claim to increase the tariff for electricity supplied to consumers by 17 drams per a kilowatt-hour of energy. The opponents of the price hike argue that its purpose is to pay off the company's accumulated debt of $ 250 million.
