Baku, Azerbaijan, June 29
Trend:
The participants of the protest action against the increase of electricity tariffs in Armenia, intend to hold a march on Yerevan's central streets and then return to the Marshal Baghramyan Avenue and stay there "until gaining a victory", the organizers of the protest action said.
"We have only one demand - to suspend the fulfillment of the decision on increasing the tariffs for electricity," the organizers of the protest action added, RIA Novosti reported.
Yerevan's central avenue, where the buildings of the presidential administration, parliament, the Constitutional Court and several embassies are located, have been blocked by the protestors for more than a week.
On June 23, the Armenian police broke up a rally in the center of the country's capital. The rally was held in protest against the increased electricity tariffs. The protests in the streets resulted in use of water cannons against people. Over 230 people got arrested as a result of violent crackdown, including journalists of Gala TV, the Radio Liberty's Armenian office, the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, the Hetq, News.am, Panarmenian.net news agencies.
On June 17, Armenia's Public Services Regulatory Commission, considering a request from the distribution company, Electric Networks of Armenia, which is a subsidiary of the Inter RAO UES, raised the electricity tariffs by 6.93 Armenian drams (about $0.015). This caused discontent among the population that believes the rise in the cost of electricity will lead to higher prices for essential goods and many services.