Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia party and president of Tashir Group, said Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC is not for sale. He said that even if such an option exists in theory, the company will not be sold.
His comments came after Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure on September 9 submitted for public discussion a draft government decision to recognize 100% of ENA’s shares as an asset of overriding public interest. Under the draft, the transfer of the company to the state is expected to be completed by October 2027.
Speaking at a briefing on Friday, Karapetyan said the Armenian government has already realized it cannot manage ENA and is now looking for people who can. If such people exist, he said, they should take the company and run it.
Asked whether ENA could be sold to a foreign owner, Karapetyan said the company would first have to be regained before it could be sold. “We can sell, but we will not sell. ENA is not for sale. They did not recognize the presence of overriding public interests and moved the issue to next year,” he said.
ENA’s status
On July 3, 2025, Armenia’s parliament passed legislative changes allowing the state to intervene in the management of Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC. Since July 18, 2025, Romanos Petrosyan has served as ENA’s temporary manager.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had earlier said ENA had de facto already been nationalized and would eventually pass into state ownership before being placed under trust management.
The company and the criminal case
Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC operates the country’s medium- and low-voltage distribution networks, serving about 1 million subscribers. Tashir Group has owned ENA since 2016. According to the group, around $680 million has been invested in modernizing the grids since then, with a further roughly $150–200 million directed to creating new capacity.
Karapetyan was detained on June 18, 2025 and later arrested, initially on charges of publicly calling for the seizure of power after a statement supporting the Armenian Apostolic Church. During the investigation, he was also charged with tax evasion, property embezzlement, money laundering and illegal business activity. Karapetyan denies wrongdoing, while his defense says the criminal case is politically motivated.
