Government claims credit for an achievement it is not responsible for

The report on the progress and outcome of the transitional Government program mentioned the establishment of six small hydropower companies in the energy sector last year, presenting their activities as the achievement of the government. In reality, however, the mentioned HPPs have nothing to do with the government and its activities.

“The achievement”

In its report, among other achievements, the government noted: “In the reporting year, 6 small HPPs have started to generate electricity with a total capacity of 16.5 MW.”  The Fact Investigation Platform sent an inquiry to the government asking which hydropower plants they meant, and the dates for issuance of their licenses.

In response to our inquiry, the government sent the names of the HPPs and the dates of licenses acquired. The government meant the following HPPs: “Gornar”, “Her-Her”, “Sahakyan SHPP-2”, “Kajarants”, “Chknagh” and “Jermuk-1” HPPs.

The law

According to Article 43 of the RA Law on Licensing, the Public Services Regulatory Commission, which, according to the law, makes decisions based on the powers vested in it and is independent within its jurisdiction, is the body responsible for providing licenses for power generation. In other words, the PSRC is in no way dependent on the Government.

In essence

Studying the list of hydropower plants sent to us from the government, it turned out that Gornar HPP, which is owned by Green Energy Concern Ltd, obtained its license during the former authorities (on March 18 last year) for a period of 15 years, and the water use permit was issued in April 2016. By the way, previously, Hetq published a rather extensive article, showing the link between the founder of the company operating the HPP and Serzh Sargsyan’s brother Narek Sargsyan.

“Her-Her” HPP, which is owned by “Her-Her Hydropower Station” CJSC, got a license on May 8 last year, and a water use permit on April 9.

The other 4 HPPs obtained their licenses during current authorities (as noted above, by a body independent from the government), and the water permits had been obtained during former administration. It means that the activity of the HPPs had been planned a long time ago, and the only “achievement” of the new government is that it did not suspend their activity.

To sum up, in its report, the Government highlights an indicator that is not related to the activities of the current government.