YEREVAN. – The Armenian government wants to weaken the influence of investments in Vorotan Hydro Cascade, Deputy Energy Minister Ara Simonyan said in the parliament on Monday.

The government faced the same challenge while dealing with other loan programs: EBRD loan on rehabilitation of Sevan-Hrazdan Cascade and renovation of 17 of 110-kilowatt stations of the Electric Networks of Armenia by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

“We hope the new owner of Cascade and KfW bank will reach an agreement. We want the program to continue in the same way, but we would like just to weaken the impact of investment on the final rate,” Simonyan said.

The agreement on the sale of the Vorotan Hydro Cascade—which is a series of three hydroelectric power plants— to Contour Global was signed in January. 

A $180-million deal is the largest U.S. private investment in Armenia’s history and the first U.S. investment in Armenia’s critical energy sector.