Site of Electric Yerevan Protests Re-Opens to Traffic

After a 15-day blockade of Baghramian Avenue, one of the main central streets in Yerevan, police today re-opened the road to traffic but only after several arrests were made as some demonstrators refused to leave.

Organizers of the demonstration confirmed that 46 activists had been detained while there have also been reports of at least one demonstrator being hospitalized.

Defiantly, demonstrators are calling on citizens to hold another demonstration this evening in the city’s Freedom Square.

The protests in Yerevan started on June 19 following the decision of the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to approve the application of Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA), owned by Russian energy giant Inter RAO UES, to raise the rates of electricity by 16%.

The demonstrations, which at their peak involved tens of thousands of protestors, began to subside after Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated on June 27 that an investigation would be conducted into the electricity price hike.

Alastair Watt