168: Taking business is becoming legal in Armenia

The operation to disarm political opponents is gathering new momentum in Armenia. For a long time, it is no news to anyone that, regardless of legal assessments, we are dealing with political reprisals carried out by the government, which is carried out by seizing people’s property and businesses, and redistributing property.

The right to property, which is a protected right all over the world, is seriously threatened in Armenia. Business, even big business, is not protected from the arbitrariness of the authorities. The head of the government, without trial and judgment, can publicly announce the confiscation of people’s property, the seizure of property, and the next moment the entire state system goes into action to carry out those instructions. They do not care about law and justice.

This is a clear terror towards business. Suppressing business, confiscating people’s property will cost the state and the economy, no matter how it is interpreted and presented. The time will come to answer for it and return the “debts”.

It is not even necessary to talk about jeopardizing the economic environment and investments.

We see how after the elections the government is in a hurry to complete the process of confiscating the HEC belonging to Samvel Karapetyan. They submitted a draft decision on recognition of public overriding interest in 100 percent of the company’s shares.

After the planned negotiations did not materialize within three months, it was clear that the government would go the way of confiscating the owner’s property by recognizing a superior interest. Regardless of what justifications will be put under this, it is clear that it is entirely political. On the way of political reprisal, they first took over the management of the company with baseless reasons, then revoked the license, deliberately failed the planned negotiations, and now, by recognizing a superior interest, they are going to complete the operation of seizing the owner’s property.

The government justified the decision to recognize the HPP as a priority interest by the fact that in the current situation it is necessary to immediately ensure the uninterrupted power supply of the population, as well as the normal operation of social and strategic facilities and the stability of the energy system.

“Electricity distribution networks, by their very nature, are a strategic infrastructure, the failure of which can cause large-scale social, economic and security consequences,” they wrote in the draft decision.

It’s been more than ten years since the HEP has been private, they just remembered that it is of exceptional importance and should be recognized as a priority in order to ensure the uninterrupted power supply of consumers and the stability of the energy system. It seems that until now the consumers were deprived of the uninterrupted supply of electricity, the energy system was unstable, and only after the arrival of the government manager, the uninterrupted energy supply of the consumers was restored, and the threats to the stability of the system were eliminated. The official data shows how after the arrival of the governor of the government, the target indicators of energy supply, whose purpose is to ensure stable and reliable energy supply, were defeated.

Both the quality of power supply and the target indicators of blackouts and shutdowns have been defeated. But no one is responsible for that. Meanwhile, with the same reasoning, with the active intervention of various state bodies, the management of the HEP was taken away from the owner and the license of operation was revoked.

Even now, the head of the government justifies himself that the shutdowns have decreased in recent months. And who can guarantee that it is so? If in the past there were counterbalancing mechanisms, the government manager and the PSC have been working together for a long time. In such a situation, for the sake of purpose, any index can be drawn to justify all the illegality that takes place in this whole process of depriving the owner of his property.

Recognizing the overriding interest, the political power will complete the operation to seize the HEP. But this whole horror will not end there. The time will come to answer for all this in international courts and courts, to pay compensation. Don’t think that recognizing a superior interest is the end of everything.

Within the framework of political reprisals, widespread checks have been started in the companies belonging to Gagik Tsarukyan and his family. After “Prosperous Armenia” announced its goals to participate in the elections and remove it from power, it was remembered that Gagik Tsarukyan once acquired “Ararat Cement” and the lands and properties related to it through illegal means and legal violations. The prosecutor’s office immediately made “discoveries” and began to sew up criminal cases.

They didn’t talk about it for eight years, they didn’t do anything to return the state property acquired by “illegal” means, they started working on the eve of the election.

Who would believe that there is no political basis behind this?

On the one hand, they implemented the law enforcement system, on the other hand, the tax system, which has long been a tool to punish businesses that deviate from the political line of the government. On the grounds that he discovered tax irregularities in the “Shangri La” casino belonging to Gagik Tsarukyan’s family, the Minister of Economy, in an urgent mode, deprived the latter of its license.

The General Prosecutor’s Office filed lawsuits against other businesses, including the “Multi Group Concern”, that are close to Gagik Tsarukyan.

We will soon see how far they are going to go and whose businesses they will attack in the near future. One thing is obvious: all this will not go well, the consequences will be borne by the state and the people.

HAKOB KOCHARYAN

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