Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan addressed the recent ruling by the Stockholm arbitration tribunal regarding the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), stating that the tribunal has only issued an interim protective measure and has not yet begun substantive examination of the case.
Responding to whether the arbitration decision obliges the dismissal of interim ENA manager Romanos Petrosyan, Galyan stated this can only happen through a court decision, according to Panorama.am .
“No, it can only become enforceable based on a domestic court ruling. A party may apply to our national court to obtain such a decision for compulsory enforcement. Until then, it has no legal consequences,” she said.
Galyan added that when the arbitration proceeds to a full hearing—whether in 10 or 30 days—it will evaluate all aspects of the dispute and assess the purpose behind state actions.
She stated that Armenia operates under domestic laws and international conventions, and no violations within this framework are permissible.
“All potential risks, including those related to ENA, were assessed multilaterally within the government. The resulting decision was aimed at overcoming these high-level risks. The autonomous body made a decision on behalf of the state, and we are bound to respect it.
As for the relevant tribunal ruling, we will patiently await the substantive examination of the case. The government will present its arguments, and depending on the arbitrator’s response, we will reassess potential risks,” she said.
Mesrop Mesropyan, chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC), told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that the owners of ENA, the Karapetyan family, are still obliged to proceed with their planned investments.
He emphasized that the investment program, approved through 2034, remains mandatory. “They must continue investing as they would have done if no interim manager had been appointed,” he said, according to Sputnik Armenia.
The appointment of the interim manager followed a notification from Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Davit Khudatyan about concerns over management quality, technical servicing, service reliability, and investment efficiency at ENA.
When asked whether power outages would end with Petrosyan’s appointment, Mesropyan responded that the interim appointment has no direct impact on outages.
“Blackouts can occur before, today, or tomorrow. No manager, government official, or owner can guarantee prevention. What matters is how frequent and long outages are, and how quickly the consequences are resolved,” said the PSRC head.
Businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan and his family, under a two-month arrest, won the emergency arbitration case against the Armenian government’s attempt to nationalize ENA. On July 22, 2025, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce’s emergency tribunal ordered Armenia not to apply recent provisions from energy and regulatory laws to ENA and to halt further expropriation efforts.
The Armenian government responded to the July 22 ruling, stating that the dispute’s scope differs from the objectives behind appointing an interim manager. It affirmed respect for the ruling, while emphasizing compliance with Armenian law.
