ArmInfo. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia has initiated a draft law by which the government recognizes 100% of the shares of Samvel Karapetyan's "Electric Networks of Armenia" (ENA) company as a public priority. The relevant draft was published by the Commission for Energy and Electricity Development.
According to the bill published on e-draft.am, the measure is urgently required to guarantee uninterrupted power supply to citizens, maintain the operations of critical social and strategic infrastructure, and ensure the overall stability of the power grid.
The review period for the draft law runs until July 8. The decision is set to take effect ten days after its official publication, with a clause requiring the bill to be forwarded to the company's owners seven days after it enters into force.
ENA CJSC has been owned by Samvel Karapetyan’s Tashir Group since 2016. In 2025, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced plans to nationalize the utility provider following Karapetyan’s arrest and his public statement of support for the Armenian Apostolic Church. Parliament subsequently passed legal amendments to bring ENA back under state oversight, and the head of the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) appointed Romanos Petrosyan as temporary manager on July 18. Despite a ruling by the Stockholm Arbitration to maintain the current management board and refrain from expropriation efforts, Petrosyan began reshuffling top executive roles on July 24. On August 9, Narek Karapetyan, an ENA shareholder and CEO of Tashir Capital, filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court of Armenia against the PSRC and its chairman Mesrop Mesropyan, challenging the commission's authority to replace the company’s management.
By the decision of the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) dated November 17, 2025, "Electric Networks of Armenia" CJSC was deprived of its electricity transmission license. The decision cited violations that the commission identified in the company's operations. On March 3, 2026, Romanos Petrosyan, the temporary manager of ENA and a board member of the ruling "Civil Contract" party, stated that the state was preparing for the full nationalization of the shares of "Electric Networks of Armenia" (ENA) company by recognizing it as a priority public interest and paying compensation to the owner, "Tashir Capital" company. He specified that February 21 was the deadline for the government to make a proposal and conduct negotiations, resulting in a transaction where 100% of the company's shares were to be transferred to the state. At the same time, the temporary manager refused to disclose the specific value of ENA and the price offered by the government.
Meanwhile, Pashinyan had previously stated that under certain circumstances, the company's price could be reduced. The Prime Minister explained that the company had long been used for narrow personal purposes. Furthermore, according to available information, ENA is burdened with credit obligations, which were subsequently transferred to close associates and relatives without interest accrual. Meanwhile, David Kazinyan, a council member of the "Strong Armenia" party and former General Director of ENA, stated that the real value of "Electric Networks of Armenia" (ENA) is close to $1 billion, and the company's owners would not agree to sell it at an undervalued price.
