Category: 2017

The Armenia Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency Fund (R2E2) is moving ahead with plans to begin construction on a 55 MW utility-scale photovoltaic solar plant in the Gegharkunik region east of Lake Sevan by 2019.  This month marked an important milestone as 10 consortia were short-listed as part of a prequalification process ahead of final bidding.

Out of 21 applicants, the 10 successful international consortia (and their country of registration) were:

1. TBEA Xinjiang Sunoasis (China) & Subsolar Energy (Netherlands)
2. Phelan Energy (South Africa) & Korea Electric Power (South Korea)
3. Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital (India) & Risen Energy (China)
4. Metka (Greece) & Energy Phoenix (Lebanon)
5. Access Infrastructure Central Asia (UAE), Eren Renewable Energy (France) & TSK Electronica (Spain)
6. Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (Netherlands) & FSL Solar (Spain)
7. Acciona Energia (Spain)
8. Building Energy Development Africa (Italy) & H1 Holdings (South Africa)
9. Sky Power Global (Cayman Islands) & Enerparc Projects (Germany)
10. ContourGlobal (Cayman Islands)

Readers may remember ContourGlobal as the New York-based company that purchased the three hydro plants in Syunik marz (province) composing the Vorotan Cascade in 2015.

The tender process will continue through 2018, at which time the successful candidate to design, finance, build, own, and operate the new plant will be chosen based on price competitiveness.  Financing up to $60 million is being made available by The World Bank as part of an initiative to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

The project is referred to as Masrik-1, after the village of Mets Masrik, near Vardenis, where it is to be located.  It is envisioned as the first and largest of six solar plants to be procured by R2E2.  Although it will be the first utility-scale solar plant in Armenia, smaller roof-top installations have gained popularity in recent years.  The American University of Armenia hosts both photovoltaic panels that generate electricity, as well as solar water heating panels that directly and efficiently heat water, offsetting natural gas demand.

For a country with no oil reserves and an aging nuclear plant, new investment in renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydro plants is of strategic importance to ensure long-term energy self-sufficiency.

The consequences of 25-year-obedience

Bible says: in the beginning was the Word. That is the speech. That is the language. And if in the beginning were speech and language, then those are more powerful than anything else. This is the reason Russia, who stubbornly and gradually has been depriving Armenia of the sovereign state components of the Third Republic over the past 25 years, wants to deprive us from the most powerful components: the speech and the language.

The Armenian economy has long been controlled by Russia. And even if there are separate non-Russian economic units, anyway the energy system (gas, electricity) belongs to Russia, which implies a severe limit to the economic unit’s ability to make independent decisions.

Armenia’s levers of political decisions are also in the hands of Russia. Soon, after the compulsory procedures are over, Russia will have leverage to influence the RA Armed Forces as well. It is about the Armenian-Russian joint military unit. With the participation of Russian troops in the Armenian Army parades on the Independence Day of the Republic of Armenia, Russia has shown its influence in the Armenian army. The creation of a joint military unit gives a serious legal basis for that influence. So, this is a painful reality for Armenia: our economy is not ours, we do not decide for our policy, we are not the only ones who make decisions in our armed forces. There are only the speech and the language, that still belong to us on the state level, which is being distorted on TV, on billboards and signboards, but anyway it’s ours.

And Russia, who stubbornly and gradually has been depriving Armenia of the sovereign state components of the Third Republic over the past 25 years, has understood why Armenia still exists after all. Because the most powerful components still belong to Armenia: the speech and the language. And it is not surprising that Russia is trying to seize this powerful “weapon”. The surprising aspect is the pride of our authorities who claim that the proposal to make Russian as a state-official language is unacceptable. And no one says why we are so weak that they make such an obscure offer to us.

For example, in Australia there are communities where the immigrant receives additional points for residence certificate if, besides English, he is also fluent in Armenian, Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian and Estonian. But Russian officials do not think of proposing Australia to make Russian as official language. And such a proposal is made to Armenia, because today the officials who defend the last constituent of our sovereignty have done nothing, when Russia considered the rigged elections for 25 years as legitimate, has sold weapons for billion dollars to Azerbaijan, has seized the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, raised the price of Russian natural gas supplied to Armenia.

They do nothing even after becoming a member of EAEU by the compulsion of the Russian Federation and their silent obedience, whereas the provisions of the EAEU contract stipulate that Russia is obliged to reduce the price of gas supplied to Armenia by 30%.

Our officials did not do anything when the Russians sent the young man with suspicious behaviour to Gyumri to serve, and so on. For example, if some day Russia decides that in its interests Armenia should become a member of the “Islamic Cooperation” organization, should we again obey like in last 25 years? It is regrettable that the Armenian opposition forces are not always consistent in their opposition to Russia either, and in some cases, they are more pro-Russian than the authorities. Evidence is the opposition’s stance on ratifying the EAEU membership agreement. In this sense, the position of today’s parliamentary opposition is not encouraging either. The lack of a unified position of the parliamentary opposition on the EAEU is more than vivid.

Russia also sees this and increases its appetite. But unfortunately, our authorities “do not see” Russia’s growing appetite and do not make conclusions. Our chess-lover and chess-wise officials are not trying to understand what will the next step of Russia be.

Mushegh Ishkhan said, “The Armenian language is Armenians’ home”. The flourishing corruption and injustice in Armenia “sponsored” by Russia has given birth to emigration which is emptying the country. But not everyone leaves. And now the Russian state, seeing that there are still home keepers, tries to simply eliminate the main pillar of that house, the Armenian language.

Nelly GRIGORYAN

STEPANAKERT, Artsakh (A.W.)— On July 20, representatives of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Western United States’ “With Our Soldiers” program met with the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Artsakh Republic Ashot Ghulian, reported Stepanakert based Aparaj newspaper.

In welcoming the representatives, Ghulian shared his appreciation for the program and commended the work being done for the soldiers, who are protecting the frontlines and Artsakh families. He stressed that Armenia’s future relies on the safety of Artsakh as well as the global ties between Armenians around the world.

Ghulian added that the soliders at the frontline are not only serving Artsakh, but also Armenia and the diaspora.

Among some of the matters discussed during the meeting included the strengthening of Armenia-diaspora relations, the domestic political situation of Artsakh, and the  regional development of Artsakh.