Garen Yegparian
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
The last week’s developments can almost be described as bizarre.
Over something as simple and basic as electricity rates (or tariffs as they’re being referred to in what I assume is a more Euro-English parlance) in the Republic of Armenia, a major street mobilization has erupted!
The basic facts are that the Russian owned electricity distributing company, ENA, requested a 40% rate increase. This is on the back of other rate increases over the last few years. The justifications claimed are to maintain infrastructure and increased fuel costs. However, even the RoA’s not-so-clean government has asserted that the losses ENA is suffering/will suffer from stem at least partially from corrupt practices. Couple all this with people not having much income, lots of poverty, and disgust with the ruling elites (oligarchs and everyone else), and you have a potent brew.
So, a lot of youth took to the streets of Yerevan to protest this proposed (and since approved) increase. The regime, in its “wisdom”
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