Russian businessman Samvel Karapetyan has launched an international arbitration case, seeking to hold the Armenian government accountable for what he describes as the expropriation of his company, Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), and to recover damages he estimates at $500 million.
“On August 11, Samvel Karapetyan and his family officially initiated international arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Armenia, seeking to hold it liable for the expropriation of CJSC Electric Networks of Armenia,” the businessman’s legal team said in a statement carried by Armenian media. “The family demands that the arbitration tribunal order Armenia to compensate both the damage already incurred and future losses, currently estimated at $500 million, subject to final assessment by the tribunal.”
The case is being pursued under the 1995 Armenia–Cyprus bilateral investment treaty on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments.
Allegations of Political Retaliation
According to Karapetyan’s defense council, the dispute stems from what they describe as politically motivated repression by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after the businessman publicly defended the Armenian Apostolic Church.
They allege that following threats from Pashinyan, police searched Karapetyan’s home, arrested him on charges of calling for the overthrow of the government, and that the same day the prime minister announced plans to place ENA — one of the family’s largest assets in Armenia — under state management. Soon after, Romanos Petrosyan, the former head of the State Control Service, was appointed to run the company.
