Tashir Group, a large business conglomerate owned by Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, received approval from the Armenian government on August 24 to take over the management of the country's state-owned electricity transmission company, according to Arka news agency.

Tashir Group already owns the national electricity distribution company, Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), and the largest thermal power plant in the country. Furthermore, it plans to build two large hydroelectric plants as part of an investment initiative organised by the Armenian diaspora.

Karapetyan took over ENA from Russia's state-owned energy company Inter Rao in 2015, after months of protests against proposed electricity tariff hikes and amid grievances that the Russian company had mismanaged the utility.

Tashir Group has vowed to clean up the heavily indebted utility and to put it on the path to profitability. The group's grip on the Armenian electricity sector has been tightening; after Inter Rao's exit in 2015, another Russian company, RusHydro, announced that it would pull out of Armenia in April.

Vartan Gevorgian, Armenia's deputy energy minister, said during a cabinet meeting on August 24 that integrating transmission and distribution would make the sector more efficient, and that Tashir Group would invest in refurbishing the transmission network.

Karapetyan the businessman is said to have close relations with the country's prime minister, Karen Karapetyan (no relation); at the latter's behest, the former helped set up an investment fund of rich ethnic Armenians earlier this year to boost foreign investment in the impoverished country. According to Forbes, Karapetyan the businessman is worth some $3.5bn, having made his fortune in real estate in Russia. His businesses now span a wide spectrum of activities, including agri-business, manufacturing, construction, retail and others. 

Gevorgian insisted, however, that the five-year management agreement concerning the transmission company was contingent upon Tashir Group's submission of an investment plan by the end of the year, which the government would have to approve.