YEREVAN. – The Special Investigation Service (SIS) has provided details as to why Robert Nazaryan, former mayor of Yerevan and ex-chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) of Armenia, was detained.

Accordingly, Robert Nazaryan, who chaired the PSRC from 2003-2018, was detained on suspicion of committing a crime as part of a criminal investigation being conducted by the SIS, which found evidence that in 2011, Nazaryan had abused his official power in the interests of establishing privileges for a particular company.

In particular, Nazaryan, had received the government's decision under the pretext of encouraging the development of hydropower in Armenia, but actually to establish privileges for a company owned by people affiliated with former President Serzh Sargsyan's son-in-law and Armenia’s former ambassador to the Holy See Mikayel Minasyan, and set a draft decision on the maximum capacity of up to 30 MW for small hydropower plants built on water pipelines, instead of the previously installed capacity of 10 MW.

Then, Nazaryan had participated in the adoption of the above-mentioned decision at the sitting of the PSRC.

According to the information obtained during the investigation, due to the above-mentioned actions of Robert Nazaryan and other members of the PSRC, the said company received an additional 7,052,065,099 drams from individuals and legal entities consuming electricity in Armenia.

The investigation of this criminal case continues.