Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Armenian opposition leader accused the government of the robbery and illegal sale of the state property.

Head of the parliamentary fraction Armenian national congress Levon Zurabyan said the authorities gift the state properties instead of preserving them. He in particular noted the plans on sale of the Vorotan hydroelectric power plant to a U.S. company.

The Armenian government completely held the Vorotan until it decided to sell the plant to the American ContourGlobal company in November, 2013. The government agreed to sit at the negotiation table after the company offered $180 million in investment for the large cascade hydroelectric power plant.

"Privatization of the Vorotan plant is a sample of criminal transaction," Zurabyan noted.

He added that the government is trying to convince the public on transparent denationalization of Vorotan.

Zurabyan went on to say that the reports on the privatization of the Vorotan plant are just a piece of paper aimed to deceive the Armenian people.

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern told journalists on September 11 that the deal to sell the Vorotan hydro cascade to the American ContourGlobal company is at the negotiation stage. He expressed his hope for the successful completion of the deal, and called the Armenian government not to cancel the talks.

Several important fields of the industry in Armenia are controlled by the foreign companies. Russian, British, American companies hold the industrial fields of national significance such as gas, gold, electricity under the mutual agreement with the Armenian government.