I Will Address Issues Step by Step: You Have Only Scratched the Surface, That's Why HETC Is in This Condition - Manavazyan

When discussing the embezzlement at HETC, many envision it only in terms of electricity overcharges. However, the mechanisms for siphoning money from the system have been diverse and much more profound. Starting today, I will begin to address these mechanisms step by step, based exclusively on facts. This was stated by Arusyak Manavazyan, a member of the Board of the Civil Contract party and a Member of the National Assembly of Armenia.

“While HETC was taking out loans at interest rates to finance its main activities and the maintenance of the system, during the same period, it also provided interest-free loans to affiliated companies. Specifically, the company ‘Tashir Capital’ received an interest-free loan of 6 billion 373 million drams, and ‘Hydro Invest Group’ was given 72 million drams. The general director of the first company is Narek Karapetyan, and the second one is run by the sons of former members of HETC's management. These funds were supposed to become investments for the modernization of worn cables, substations, and the entire electrical grid. Instead, they were siphoned off from HETC for the purpose of serving private interests, deepening the system's technical and financial issues.

As a side note, I noticed that Narek Karapetyan spoke about restoring the driving rights of those who had their licenses revoked due to intoxication. This is a typical example of how deeper facts are overlooked while attempting to divert the public with socially sensitive issues to garner dividends. Why has a company, HETC, which is a public strategic entity, provided your managed company with billions of drams in interest-free loans? Perhaps you frequently talk about state debt because you want the state to also borrow at interest rates and finance your personal businesses without interest. And lastly, if a person whose driving rights were revoked due to intoxication gets them back tomorrow and threatens the life of a citizen, who will be held accountable then? You have only scratched the surface of these matters, and that is why HETC is in its current state,” stated Arusyak Manavazyan.