Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian (Source: Press Office of the Government of the Republic of Armenia)

YEREVAN (ARKA)—Armenia’s government will keep its promise to subsidize the difference in consumers’ electricity bills caused by the recent increase in electric power prices, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian told journalists on Wednesday.

According to AbrahThis applies to the population and small and medium businesses.

“The government has sufficient financial resources to do that,” Abrahamian said. “We have promised to subsidize and we are fulfilling our promise.”

On June 17, Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) voted to raise electricity tariffs by 6.93 drams ($0.015 or 16.7%) per kilowatt-hour beginning on August 1. The decision gave rise to street protests in Yerevan and other cities in Armenia.

The “No to Plunder” civil campaign which organized the protests, blocked Marshal Baghramyan Avenue in central Yerevan with a two-week sit-in, demanding that the government reverse the price hike. Baghramyan Avenue was violently unblocked by the police during the early morning of July 6.

On June 27, following his meeting with Russian Minister of Transport Maksim Sokolov (co-head of the Russia-Armenia Intergovernmental Commission), President Serzh Sarkisian announced an audit of the Electricity Networks of Armenia, which originally sought a 40% increase in prices. Sarkisian also said that the government would pay the price increase for households pending the completion of the audit.