The crackdown on Samvel Karapetyan comes as Yerevan eyes EU membership
The Armenian authorities have arrested Russian-Armenian billionaire and opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan for a second time, citing a litany of alleged financial crimes linked to his electricity distribution business. This comes as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has enjoyed strong EU backing, has floated applying for membership in the bloc next year, while facing fierce resistance over a controversial constitutional overhaul.
On Wednesday, Armenia’s Investigative Committee announced criminal proceedings against Karapetyan and 35 others on allegations of embezzlement, abuse of authority, and money laundering. Law enforcement officers searched 65 properties. Prosecutors alleged that the businessman oversaw a scheme that caused around $180 million in losses to Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), the country’s main electricity distributor.
On Thursday, a court ordered Karapetyan to be held in custody for one month. His nephew, Narek Karapetyan, who heads Strong Armenia – the largest opposition parliamentary faction, which calls for closer ties with Russia – accused Pashinyan of seeking to intimidate his political rivals into supporting constitutional changes.
He was referring to Pashinyan’s proposed new constitution, which the opposition believes would accommodate Azerbaijan’s demands by removing language that it interprets as a territorial claim to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan has rejected claims that Azerbaijan is dictating the overhaul, although Baku has made it a condition for signing a long-awaited peace treaty. Pashinyan’s ruling party needs at least six opposition votes to reach the two-thirds majority required to call a referendum.
Pashinyan and Karapetyan have long been at odds over Armenia’s future geopolitical path. In June 2025, the billionaire was detained for the first time after publicly defending the Armenian Apostolic Church and its leader, Catholicos Karekin II.
At the time, the prime minister demanded Karekin II’s removal, while Karapetyan warned that he could intervene in “our own way” if politicians fail to protect the church. The authorities interpreted the remarks as a public call to seize power. Karapetyan denies any wrongdoing, and the original case is ongoing.
Following Karapetyan’s arrest, Pashinyan’s government took over ENA, which Karapetyan’s Tashir Group acquired in 2015, citing alleged mismanagement, and subsequently launched nationalization.
Moscow has denounced the takeover. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said it looked “more like politically motivated retaliation” against a domestic political rival.
In June 2026, Pashinyan’s pro-EU Civil Contract party retained the parliamentary majority, securing 49.75% of the vote, and Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia finished second with 23.27%. Strong Armenia and other opposition groups refused to recognize the election results, calling them fraudulent.
Days before the election, Pashinyan received support from the EU, when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an assistance package for Armenia of more than €50 million to counter Russian trade restrictions. In 2024, Brussels also committed €270 million under a four-year plan to support Armenia’s economic development, institutional reforms, and the ex-Soviet country’s European integration.
While the EU supported Pashinyan, it refused to condemn the crackdown on Karapetyan, calling it a domestic matter. EU officials did not respond to a letter by Karapetyan’s lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, which accused Brussels of enabling political repression and embracing “double standards” on democracy.
On Tuesday, Pashinyan suggested that Armenia could apply for EU membership in 2027 or 2028, while acknowledging that Armenia will eventually have to choose between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union, where Russia plays a key role.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the two blocs are incompatible and that joining the EU could disrupt Armenia’s established trade links with Russia, which remains its largest trading partner and supplies it with natural gas at discount prices. In September, Putin urged Yerevan to clarify its intentions, stressing that Armenia has the sovereign right to determine its own future.
