Armenian civic group launches petition to cut electricity tariffs

The Mer Dzevov (In Our Way) movement, founded by jailed businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, has launched a nationwide petition demanding a reduction in electricity tariffs, its representatives said on Wednesday.

“Today we are announcing the launch of a nationwide public petition calling for lower electricity prices,” Gohar Meloyan, a constitutional law expert and member of the initiative, told a press briefing.

Meloyan recalled that in May 2025 the Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA) had asked the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to reduce tariffs using 3 billion dram in accumulated profits, which it said resulted from more efficient management. The regulator rejected the request, citing the risk that the accumulated funds might decrease in the future.

“As the company’s owners correctly calculated, that amount was expected to grow, and in the second half of the year it has more than doubled. exceeding 6 billion drams,” Meloyan said, noting that Tashir Capital, ENA’s parent company, submitted a renewed request to the regulator on October 30.

She said the PSRC has not yet responded to the latest application.

“We, as the Our Way movement, are launching a nationwide signature drive in the form of a public petition,” Meloyan said, adding that the mechanism was introduced as part of the 2015 constitutional reforms to strengthen public oversight and accountability, enabling citizens to formally submit demands to the government.

Another representative of the movement, Artur Mikayelyan, said any Armenian citizen aged 18 or over may sign the petition. Once a sufficient number of signatures is collected, the petition will be submitted to the PSRC, which is legally obliged to respond within set deadlines.

Meloyan said the petition exists in both electronic and paper formats, but the movement has chosen to run the effort through paper signatures.