YEREVAN. – The oligarchs of Armenia will attempt to compensate for their expenses to be caused by the increase in the price of electricity.

Economist Gagik Makaryan, who is also Chairman of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia, stated the aforementioned at a press conference on Thursday.

“If their large business will have to pay additional several tens of thousands of dollars, they simply will increase their shadow accounting by 1 or 2 percent because they are unlikely to agree to sacrifice their revenues,” said Makaryan. “They will do everything to secure income from anywhere, and in all likelihood, they will call for the help of the ‘roof’ they have in the NA [i.e. the National Assembly] and ‘above.’”

On August 1, electricity prices have risen in Armenia. The government, however, will subsidize this price hike solely for the population, and not the large businesses. The subsidies will continue until an audit is conducted at the Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC.