Fingers in the socket: Armenian authorities seize business of disgraced entrepreneur

The Armenian parliament has approved the nationalization of the Electric Networks energy company, which belongs to the detained businessman Samvel Karapetyan. The opposition calls what is happening a state racket, and on the evening of July 4 it intends to hold a large-scale protest. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Caught in the net

The Electric Networks Company (ESA) is engaged in the transmission and distribution of electricity in Armenia. According to official data, 1 million consumers use the services of this structure, 36 thousand km of power lines are at its disposal. Since 2015, it has been controlled by the Tashir Group of Companies, headed by Russian-Armenian entrepreneur Samvel Karapetyan.

In mid-June, the Armenian authorities began talking about the urgent need to transfer the company to state ownership, and in early July, the parliament began to consider this issue in detail. The initiative group has developed amendments to a number of laws that suggest that the government will receive a preferential right to purchase the ESA, the value should not exceed the market value.

At the same time, the discussion in Parliament turned out to be extremely stormy. Opposition MP Hovik Aghazaryan said that privatization in some cases is much more effective than nationalization. According to him, the example of the Yerevan Brandy Factory, which survived due to the transfer to private hands, is typical. "What is really happening now? With these steps, the current authorities are attempting to deepen anti—Russian sentiments in Armenia," he said.

After these words, representatives of the ruling party threw a bottle at Aghazaryan, then a scuffle broke out, which was barely broken up. Following a lively discussion, on July 2, the deputies approved the amendments in the first reading, and on July 3 they adopted the final version of the document. At the same time, only pro-government parliamentarians supported nationalization, while the opposition called what was happening a state racket.

Samvel Karapetyan's lawyer, Aram Vardevanyan, then stated that the legislative changes were unconstitutional, aimed at interfering with property rights and violating the regime of protection of foreign investments. He also recalled that the Armenian Public Services Regulatory Commission had not reported any violations in the work of the ECA. In turn, Karapetyan's family promised to file a lawsuit with international arbitration authorities.

Victory of the Tricolor

ESA's problems began in mid-June. Then Samvel Karapetyan spoke out in support of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has been under attack by the authorities for a long time. In one of his statements, the businessman stressed that the "small ruling group" had forgotten the thousand-year-old Armenian history, and promised to intervene in the situation if necessary.

After these events, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted several statuses on social networks, in one of them he called Karapetyan a scoundrel, in another he promised that the entrepreneur "will have the taste of the state in his mouth." Officially, the businessman was accused of publicly calling for the seizure of power, the security forces detained the billionaire after an hour-long siege of the mansion, after which the court arrested him for two months.

Then the pressure on business structures began. Nikol Pashinyan then said that first of all it was necessary to "quickly and effectively" nationalize the energy company. In addition, several Tashir Pizza restaurants were closed. In early July, security forces raided the head office of Tashir Group in Yerevan, and two employees were arrested.

At the same time, Karapetyan himself sent several letters to freedom through his lawyers. In one thing, he promised to help all those unjustly detained. In another, he harshly criticized the policy of the current authorities. "They have turned our small but fantastic country into the epicenter of a geopolitical confrontation. Being surrounded by hostile states and demonstrating exceptional political short—sightedness, they quickly hurried to get rid of Russia," he said.

At the same time, the country's authorities continue to exert unprecedented pressure on the Church and the opposition. At the end of June, an attempted coup was reported in Yerevan, and Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan and Mikael Ajapakhyan, as well as supporters of the Holy Struggle movement and the Dashnaktsutyun party, were detained in this case.

Against this background, opponents of the Armenian authorities announced that they would hold a large-scale protest in Yerevan on the evening of July 4. "The government believes that it can silence the Armenians with its lawlessness, repression and persecution. It can't. Spiritual Armenia will defeat the "new Armenia", it will be the victory of the tricolor over the black and white flag, and the Temple over the street," the appeal says.

It is characteristic that some current government officials, including the mayor of Masis, David Ambartsumyan, also announced their support for the action. The newspaper Graparak writes in this regard that the ruling party is alarmed by the emerging protest consensus. On the evening of July 3, an extraordinary session of the Armenian parliament was held, at which deputies adopted a special statement "On the inadmissibility of seizing power by violence."

What the experts say

Kavkazologist Artur Ataev believes that the current authorities are solving two tasks with the help of the nationalization of the ESA.

— Firstly, they switch financial flows to themselves. Secondly, they strengthen their political positions and neutralize the influence of Samvel Karapetyan, who was considered their opponent. I don't think any of this is going to cause any serious protests right now. We see that the opposition movement simply does not have enough people, there is not enough street crowd," he explains.

Armenian political analyst Tigran Kocharyan says that the nationalization of the ENA will affect relations between Yerevan and Moscow.

— Samvel Karapetyan was equally close to both countries, for a long time he was an important link, now his role is being leveled. The Armenian Apostolic Church, which also maintains good relations with Russian religious centers, is also under attack. In general, a lot will depend on the action scheduled for July 4th. If a significant number of people take to the streets, the policy may need to be reviewed. If not, then the current line will continue," he believes.