Armenia has upheld the nationalization of a Russian billionaire's company

The Constitutional Court of Armenia has upheld the nationalization of Electric Networks of Armenia, a company owned by Russian businessman and billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. The constitutionality of the July 3 bill amending the laws "On Energy" and "On the Public Services Regulatory Authority" has been upheld.

Earlier, Armenian authorities revoked the license of Tashir Capital, a company owned by Karapetyan, to manage Electric Networks, despite the prohibition of the international arbitration in Stockholm. The billionaire's family is demanding $500 million in compensation from Armenia through international arbitration.

As a reminder, Samvel Karapetyan, in addition to Armenian, holds Russian and Cypriot citizenship. He was placed in a pretrial detention center in Yerevan in June 2025 and then transferred to house arrest. The reason for this was his defense of the Armenian Apostolic Church, following Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's criticism of it. A businessman who advocates for Armenia's close integration with Russia is accused of calling for a coup d'état. His defense dismisses the charges as baseless.

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