RF Security Council: Pressure from Pashinyan targets not only Russian businesses, but also Armenian entrepreneurs who disagree with his policy
Pashinyan’s team intends to nationalize the company “Electric Networks of Armenia,” which belongs to a Russian businessman. This was stated in a commentary by Alexey Shevtsov, Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
“Since mid-2025, Pashinyan’s team has been consistently working toward the nationalization of “Electric Networks of Armenia, ” owned by a Russian businessman and the main political opponent of the Armenian authorities, S. S. Karapetyan. This effectively amounts to a corporate raid,” Shevtsov noted. “The Armenian parliament, controlled by Pashinyan, passed a law allowing the appointment of a temporary state administrator, but the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce suspended this decision and urged restraint from what is essentially expropriation.”
As the Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council pointed out, the Armenian government “takes a selective approach to the opinions of international organizations and intends to see the matter through to the end, stripping the leader of the largest opposition party of this asset, despite all attempts by the head of the Tashir Group of Companies to resolve these issues within the legal framework.”
“I should also note that the company is profitable; its tax contributions to the state budget in 2025 amounted to about $30 million, meaning it plays a critical role in the republic’s energy sector,” Shevtsov stated.
According to him, the Armenian authorities are trying to devalue Russian assets to force owners to get rid of them.
“We are recording signs that the next targets could be Russian industrial and infrastructure enterprises in Armenia,” he stated.
“We note that the pressure from official Yerevan is directed not only at Russian businesses, but also at Armenian entrepreneurs who disagree with Pashinyan’s policy and find themselves in the opposition,” Shevtsov remarked. As an example, he recalled that in July, large assets were seized from the leader of the “Prosperous Armenia” party, Gagik Tsarukyan.
