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US Takes Direct Action In Armenia

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  • US Takes Direct Action In Armenia

    US TAKES DIRECT ACTION IN ARMENIA

    Vestnik Kavkazussia
    Nov 29 2013

    29 November 2013 - 9:46am

    By David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

    It seems that the US has taken direct action in Armenia after
    its refusal to sign the association agreement with Europe. The
    delegation headed by Armenian Minister for Finances David Sarkisyan has
    concluded talks in Washington and outlined a set of important fields
    of cooperation. First of all, Armenia and the US have started the
    process of liberalizing the visa regime. Secondly, US Contour Global,
    a hydro-energy company, plans to invest $180 million in Armenia.

    The Eastern Partnership was initiated by Poland and Sweden with
    US encouragement. Strategy-makers in Brussels wanted it to weaken
    Russian influence on the post-Soviet space. Six post-Soviet states
    of Eastern Europe and South Caucasus were involved in the partnership
    with Europe. Belarus was quickly dissociated from the partnership for
    the undemocratic policies of Alexander Lukashenko. Ukraine, Moldova,
    Georgia and Armenia expressed a readiness to association agreements
    and the DCFTA when Europe proposed a new format of cooperation in 2010.

    Yerevan suddenly expressed the will to join the Customs Union on
    September 3. Ukraine halted the process of signing the agreement with
    the EU for the sake of 'national security.' Communists in Moldova
    started mass protests against the 'window to Europe' opened by the
    government. Thus, Georgia will be the only one to sign the association
    agreement and the DCFTA in Vilnius. For a set of reasons, Washington
    predicted the scenario. And, of course, it made its own steps to
    preserve and increase influence in the states refusing association. In
    the case of Armenia, the idea was realized in the energy sector.

    Although neither the US State Department, nor the Armenian government
    have said directly, it is clear that they mean the Vorotan Complex of
    Hydro Power Plants. 100% of its shares belong to the government. The
    company owns the Tatev, Shamb and Spandaryan Dams on the Vorotan
    River, producing 404.2MW with an average annual projected output
    of 1.16KW/h. The nuclear energy block in Armenia produces 407MW of
    electricity, for comparison. So the cascade needs modernization.

    The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the
    International Finance Corporation (IFC) will partly finance the process
    together with Contour Global. The investments will be the largest in
    the Armenian economy from US company and the first US investments in
    the energy sector of Armenia.

    Curiously, Russian private and state companies remain the monopolists
    in Armenian energy. What matters at this point is the reaction to
    the upcoming deal because Russian investments will be mixed with the
    US finances for the first time. Some experts in Armenia assume that
    the US are switching to the phase of active economic cooperation,
    ceding the political aspect to Russia.

    http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/economy/48113.html

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