Epress.am News from Armenia
The Government of Armenia is very close to cancelling the sale of the Vorotan Hydro Cascade, reports local daily Haykakan Zhamanak, citing its own sources.
The newspaper reports that the final decision hasn't been made yet, but it can happen at any moment.
On June 29 of this year, a contract was signed between US company ContourGlobal Hydro Cascade and the Government of the Republic of Armenia, according to which the US company would pay $120 million to acquire the Vorotan Hydro Cascade and would make an additional $70 million investment.
The deal, according to that contract, was to have been sealed by mid-April; however, it still hasn't concluded and the money hasn't been paid yet. Neither the American party nor the Armenian government is providing comprehensive explanations as to what problems have arisen. Haykakan Zhamanak stresses that according to the unofficial view from the government, cancelling the deal, in fact, is driven not by economic, but foreign policy and other motives: the Vorotan Hydro Cascade would've been Armenia's only energy system acquired by a non-Russian company.
Recall, one of the 12 demands presented by Armenia's non-ruling parties to the authorities was to rule out sale of the Vorotan Hydro Cascade without the National Assembly's approval. Earlier, Armenian National Congress faction secretary Aram Manukyan said in parliament that, among other violations, the Vorotan hydro power plants were sold at an obviously low price.