More than a decade of ambitious sector reform has led to a period of stability in the Armenian energy sector. The sector faces challenges more typical of a developed economy than an emerging one: policymakers' concerns have shifted from avoiding total system collapse to optimizing the energy...

Before the onset of the global financial crisis in late 2008, countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) experienced strong economic growth. Demand for electricity increased steadily with gross domestic product (GDP). GDP grew, on average, 6.5 percent between 2000 and 2007, and...

The level of performance of an electric utility is determined by the soundness of its financial situation, the efficiency of its technology, and the quality of service it provides customers. Its financial underpinning is a balance of costs and revenue (from customer payments, government, and...

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred unprecedented economic disruption globally. The full scope of the virus's impact on human health and economic activity remains to be seen, but two things are clear: (1) the most fragile economies, and most vulnerable segments of the world's population, are least...

Armenia's power sector has suffered many setbacks: in the late 1980s an earthquake that took its major nuclear plant off-line, and in the early 1990s the collapse of the Soviet Union, economic blockade, and repeated sabotage of a new gas pipeline-all of which severely disrupted fuel supply. The...

Armenia's energy sector has achieved a level of electricity reliability, service quality and efficiency of sector operations that stands out among countries participating in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Much of this can be attributed to a decade of regulatory reform including a...

In the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Armenia, like other former Soviet republics, began to struggle with the implications of its newfound independence. In the electricity sector, this meant learning how to manage and sustain a fragment of a system that had never been designed to function...

This report identifies the most viable heating options and related investment measures to meet heating demand in urban residential and public buildings in Tajikistan. The report provides an overview of the condition and performance of the urban heating sector and building stock, and assesses, in...