ENA manager explains lower rating 

ArmInfo. Moody's rated Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) a point higher than Armenia's sovereign rating. It seemed strange to me that a company with a state license had a rating higher than the sovereign's. This was stated by  Romanos Petrosyan, interim manager of ENA CJSC, in a conversation  with journalists on September 20, commenting on the news that Moody's  Ratings recently downgraded ENA's long-term corporate rating (CFR)  from Ba2 to Ba3 and its probability of default rating (PDR) from  Ba2-PD to Ba3-PD, with a negative outlook.

"On the other hand, this is, again, my personal analysis. I believe  the rating downgrade is also related to revelations, to certain facts  that came to light thanks to the interim manager's activities.

As for the rest of the process, I am acting within the powers granted  to me by law. This package of laws is currently being challenged in  the Constitutional Court, and while there's no decision, no judicial  decision, naturally, everything is legal and legitimate; there's  nothing out of the ordinary," he said.

Responding to the comment that the government had already left one  judicial decision concerning international arbitration unfinished,  Romanos Petrosyan responded: "It wasn't a judicial decision, but a  decision that was supposed to be enforced by domestic courts, after  which it would become mandatory. I don't want to comment on this  further."

The ESA's interim manager denied reports that he receives a salary of  approximately 7 million drams.

"This information is incorrect, and I'll tell you more. It's personal  information, and I don't want to publish it, but you'll also see it  in my declaration." "To those who cite such figures: I and the team I  appointed have refused the multi-million and tens of millions of  drams in bonuses received by these entities and have allocated them  to more than 1,000 people who are below the minimum social threshold  of the ESA," he stated.

Referring to the power outage in central Yerevan, which led to a  10-point traffic jam in the capital and the delay of the opening of  the 17th Yerevan International Music Festival, Petrosyan noted: "The  ESA energy infrastructure is so worn out that it is impossible to  implement breakthrough changes in one, two, three, five, or six  months."

"But I can assure you that the outages, which lasted an hour and a  half, would have lasted perhaps three or six hours if not for  government intervention. Secondly, there was also a certain error on  the part of one of the contractors affiliated with the same owners,  which led to the outages. As a result, layoffs will take place at ESA  itself on Monday, and the partner will be subject to sanctions  stipulated by the contract," Romanos Petrosyan responded.

According to Moody's Ratings, the downgrade of ESA's ratings reflects  increased exposure to state influence and regulatory risks as a  result of legislative amendments adopted in July 2025, allowing the  government to nationalize the company and the regulator to initiate  established administrative procedures in certain cases. "While  Moody's does not anticipate any negative scenario impacting its  creditworthiness, it notes that recent legislative and regulatory  changes indicate ESA's increased exposure to risks related to the  regulatory and business environment. As a result, Moody's no longer  considers the company's rating to be at a higher level than the  sovereign rating of the Armenian government (Ba3, with a stable  outlook)," the document states.