Another Rally Against Electricity Fee Hikes Planned in Yerevan

Members of the "Stand Up, Armenia!" movement are calling on all those against electricity tariffs hike to gather on Friday in Yerevan.

YEREVAN (Sputnik) – Members of the "Stand Up, Armenia!" movement are calling on all those against the government decision to raise electricity tariffs in the country to gather on Friday in Yerevan.

According to the movement’s Facebook page, the protest is set to start at 18:00 Moscow time (15:00 GMT) in the Freedom (Liberty) Square, situated in the centre of Armenia’s capital.

Armenian authorities announced a planned 16.7-percent increase in household electricity tariffs on June 17. Two days later, mass protests against the rate hike began in Yerevan, with activists blocking the central Marshal Baghramyan Avenue and later attempting to march to the presidential residence.

Police used water cannons to disperse the rally. Some 240 people, including journalists, were taken to a police station, 18 people sought medical help.

Protests and sit-ins continued in Yerevan after the blocked march to the presidential residence.

Recently, a number of demonstrators expressed readiness to stop the protests – a move that came after Armenia’s government proposed to conduct an audit of electricity tariff increases and partly subsidize them.