Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Minister Davit Khudatian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Thursday that the company to determine the value of the shares to be expropriated will be an independent appraiser selected by the government.
He said, however, that no concrete steps have yet been taken to select the appraiser.
“No concrete steps are being taken at this point until the necessary regulations and conditions required for carrying out the appraisal are finalized,” Khudatian said.
The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure has published on the government’s e-draft platform a draft decision declaring Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) to be of overriding public interest, a move that would pave the way for its expropriation. The draft does not specify the amount of compensation to be paid to the company’s owners. It says only that the decision followed the owners’ rejection of the government’s purchase offer.
During the sale process, the government offered Karapetian’s family 23.5 billion drams (about $64.5 million) for the utility on condition that they return about 23 billion drams in dividends received from ENA over the past decade. The deal did not materialize.
Under the procedure outlined by Khudatian, ENA’s owners may also have the company’s value assessed by an independent appraiser of their choice and submit the results to the buyer.
“If the value of the shares has been assessed by both the buyer and the owner, the final value is determined by the average of the two appraisals,” Khudatian explained. “If there is more than one appraisal, the average of the values obtained through all appraisals is used as the basis.”
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service was unable to establish the position of ENA’s owners or whether they intend to commission a separate appraisal. Davit Ghazinian, the company’s former director, said he would respond to the issue later.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called for ENA’s nationalization last year shortly after Karapetian, the head of Tashir Group that owns the company, was arrested in June 2025 following his criticism of the government’s campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Karapetian was subsequently charged with publicly calling for the overthrow of the government, as well as money laundering, large-scale fraud and tax evasion. He denies the accusations, calling them politically motivated.
The Russian-Armenian businessman, who was moved to house arrest in December, set up a political party, Strong Armenia, which, in an alliance with several other opposition groups, challenged Pashinian’s ruling Civil Contract party in the June 7 parliamentary elections. Strong Armenia currently holds the largest opposition faction in the Armenian parliament.
The government forcibly took over ENA’s management in July 2025, accusing Tashir Group of mismanaging the power distribution network. Tashir rejected the accusations and appealed to the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.
Pashinian has said that, after nationalization, ENA will remain state-owned but will be placed under trust management.
“We have made a conceptual decision regarding ENA: it will be state property that will be handed over to trust management,” the prime minister said last month.
Asked whether the government’s position remains unchanged and whether it has held discussions with specific companies about managing ENA, Khudatian said: “The position will be set after the Armenian government adopts the relevant legal act.”