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The Federation Council of Russia is closely following the situation in Armenia where protests are underway. The upper house of Russian parliament does not rule out that foreign NGOs may be behind the rallies, Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee for Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev told to ‘Russia 24’ TV Channel, RIA Novosti reports.

The Committee member Igor Morozov earlier said that the current events in Armenia closely resemble the first phase of the coup in Ukraine. “At that time the Ukrainian opposition also declined to meet with President Yanukovich and started appealing to the European community. Politicians from Europe began to address protesters with their speeches ,” the senator said.

On June 23, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President, said referring to rallies staged by ‘No to Robbery’ civic initiative in Armenia against the power price hike that Russia is closely following the developments in Armenia and is hopeful that the situation will soon be settled under the law, RIA Novosti said.

As was reported, Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) Company earlier submitted a bid to the Public Services Regulatory Commission about a rise in electricity tariffs. The parliamentary opposition considers it unfounded and serving the interests of that company. The current night-time tariff for the population is 31.85 drams per one KWh, the daytime tariff is 41.85 drams. The bid of ENA proposed raising the tariffs to 48 and 58 drams respectively. Yet the Commission satisfied the bid of ENA only partially on June 17. The tariffs in Armenia will increase by 6.93 drams, and not by 17 drams. The Commission’s decision will take force on August 1, 2015. The decision led to non-stop protests organized by ‘No to Robbery’ civic initiative. Protesters demand that the head of state revoke the Commission’s decision, which at the same time does not suit the management of ENA – a daughter company of Russia’s RAO UES. Protesters stress that their rallies are social by nature.