Armenia's Prime Minister Rules Out Electricity Rate Hike Roll Back; Notes Dire Consequences to Economy

14:50, June 25, 2015

Commenting on the electricity rate hike protests in Yerevan, now in its third day, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan basically ruled out any roll back of a recent decision to hike electricity rates by 7 drams (1.5 cents) as of August 1.

“At the outset, I want to say that no government, including Armenia’s wishes any rate increase. However, the government is obligated to come to grips with certain objective realities that frequently differ from public perceptions,” Abrahamyan said.

The prime minister said that if electricity rates didn’t go up, thus compensating for real losses to the energy system, Armenia faced serious threats.  Read more... (341 words)

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