The Public Services Development Commission of Armenia (PSRC) yesterday (19 January) approved the sale of Russian group Rostelecom’s Armenian subsidiary Rostelecom Armenia (formerly GNC-ALFA) to Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) – owned by the Tashir Group of Samvel Karapetyan – and the Russian Arman Hunanyan, via a new joint company registered in Cyprus (Molitro). The estimated value of the deal is USD25 million with further funding touted to upgrade and modernise networks and infrastructure. It is understood that the new owners have earmarked CAPEX of between AMD1.5 billion and AMD1.8 billion (USD3.1 million and USD3.7 million) over the next five years with a specific aim of developing the telco’s presence in the provinces.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in November 2021 Rostelecom revealed via a filing to the PSRC that it was poised to offload its Armenian subsidiary to ENA through an offshore holdings company called Molitro. The Tashir Group already has a presence in the Armenian telecoms market, owning a 16% stake in Ucom.