An investigation published by the independent Russian outlet The Insider on Tuesday has alleged that Russian–Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan had links to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), while also outlining faces behind Moscow’s efforts to influence Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections on 7 June.
The investigation cited leaked offline databases allegedly showing that when Karapetyan was issued an international passport in Russia in 1999, his workplace was mentioned in the Information Centre of the FSB.
The investigation comes as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly accused his main opponents in the upcoming elections, including Karapetyan, of being ‘foreign agents’.
‘This note means that if a citizen is to be checked, the FSB must be contacted first. The Interior Ministry operative told The Insider that these markings are usually reserved for foreigners working under FSB supervision or for confidential informants’, The Insider elaborated.
Responding to the report, Karapetyan laughed at the allegations, suggesting people should ‘not give them the time of day’ and accused Pashinyan of being behind the publication.
Separately, during a press conference on Tuesday, his nephew Narek Karapetyan accused Pashinyan’s government of using state funds to pay The Insider to run the story. He also claimed that The Insider was ‘famous for its shadow financing’.
Samvel Karapetyan is currently under arrest on charges that include calling for a coup and money laundering. Despite being legally ineligible to run as a holder of Russian and Cypriot passports, he has nevertheless been named the candidate for prime minister of the Strong Armenia alliance.
Under Armenia’s existing constitution, candidates for MPs from which prime minister will be chosen, must exclusively hold Armenian citizenship and have resided in the country for the previous four years.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
The investigation also detailed Karapetyan’s business empire in Russia, which he built after moving to the city of Kaluga in the early 1990s — a reference frequently invoked by Pashinyan, who has repeatedly referred to him as the ‘Kaluga oligarch’.
‘His personal fortune is currently estimated at $4.1 billion, and he promised to invest several million in promoting Strong Armenia’, The Insider reported.
It also quoted a source ‘familiar with the billionaire’s inner circle’, which said that Karapetyan had never previously got involved in politics.
‘His business was building bridges with officials and security officers and making money — although he never refused the Kremlin’s sensitive financial requests. Apparently, he was put under serious pressure and was forced to create the Strong Armenia bloc as a counterweight to Pashinyan’, The Insider’s source said.
According to the report, after coming to power in 2018 through the Velvet Revolution, in Moscow, ‘Pashinyan was given the operational codename “Boroda” (‘beard’), and Russian intelligence began actively collecting material to compromise him’.
The report described Karapetyan, along with businessperson Gagik Tsarukyan, running in the election with his Prosperous Armenia party, as ‘Russia’s candidates’.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
During his meeting with Pashinyan on 1 April, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that in Armenia there were ‘many political forces that have a pro-Russian position’ and that Russia would like them to ‘be able to participate in this domestic political work during the elections’. He appeared to be referring to Karapetyan.
The Insider described Tsarukyan as a frequent visitor to ‘high-level offices in Moscow’ and that his party, back in 2019, signed a cooperation agreement with Russia’s ruling United Russia party.
According to the report, leaks from Russia’s now-disbanded Directorate for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries included copies of Tsarukyan’s passport as well as financial estimates related to his 2017 election campaign.
‘The money was sent to Yerevan from a special fund on Staraya Square, where the Russian presidential administration has its headquarters’, the report said.
The Insider also referenced longstanding controversies surrounding Tsarukyan, one of the richest people in Armenia, who runs business abroad, including Russia, including his 1979 conviction for robbery and the gang rape of two Russian tourists.
It additionally recalled a 2004 car bombing targeting Pashinyan, then editor-in-chief of the Armenian Times newspaper. At the time, Pashinyan accused Tsarukyan of orchestrating the attack over critical reporting, though the case remains unsolved.
Aside from Karapetyan and Tsarukyan, the report also explored the Russian state bodies and officials who have been attempting to influence the upcoming parliamentary elections and defeat Pashinyan. It noted that the Armenian portfolio for the Russian government is handled by Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Overchuk.
The report noted that Overchuk ‘on a near weekly basis, warns Yerevan of major economic problems if it continues moving closer to the EU and the US’.
The latest such comment came on Tuesday, with Overchuk telling state-run media outlet TASS Russia would discuss ‘Armenia’s status’ in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) during a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on 29 May in Astana.
Investigation into Narek Karapetyan
Separately, Armenian authorities have launched an investigation into reports that Narek Karapetyan, the leading candidate of the Strong Armenia alliance, allegedly concealed having Russian citizenship while registering for the parliamentary elections.
Narek Karapetyan has denied the allegations, claiming that he never held any other citizenship aside from Armenian.
On Wednesday, he noted that he had tasked his lawyers to obtain clarification from Russia on the citizenship documents, suggesting they contained an error.
The Strong Armenia Alliance said it would file lawsuits against representatives of the ruling Civil Contract party for spreading what it called ‘disinformation’ about both Karapetyans.
The alliance also said any compensation received from such lawsuits would be directed toward renovating the Sevan Mental Health Centre, in an apparent jab at Pashinyan.
