Pashinian pledged to “quickly” nationalize Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) in a June 18 Facebook post made hours after Karapetian was arrested in Yerevan following his strong criticism of Pashinian’s campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The Armenian parliament controlled by the ruling Civil Contract party hastily approved on July 2 a government bill allowing the government to “temporarily” take over ENA’s management before forcing the company’s owner to sell it within three months. A political ally of Pashinian heading the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) approved last week the government’s choice of the “interim manager” of ENA pending the regulator’s consideration of government allegations that Karapetian’s Tashir Group has mismanaged the electricity distribution network. Tashir as well as Armenian opposition groups have dismissed the allegations, saying that the takeover is part of Pashinian’s crackdown on the tycoon.
According to Karapetian’s legal team, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) ruled late on Tuesday that the Armenian government must refrain from implementing the bill and taking “further steps” to nationalize ENA. A statement released by it said the arbitration body called into question the government’s compliance with a 1995 agreement on mutual investment protection signed by Armenia and Cyprus.
Tashir, which owns ENA through a shell company registered in Cyprus, accused the government of violating that agreement when it announced on June 30 plans to file an international lawsuit against Yerevan.
“This verdict shows that justice exists in the world and it is not carried out through Facebook, as is the case in Armenia now,” Narek Karapetian, the jailed tycoon’s nephew and the ENA chairman, said on Wednesday.
Karapetian insisted that the Arbitration Institute ruling also means the government cannot “change the composition of the ENA management.”
Pashinian’s office disputed this claim when it reacted to the ruling later in the day. A statement released by it said the government’s decision to appoint Romanos Petrosian, a senior member of the ruling Civil Contract party, as ENA’s “interim manager” is beyond the “scope” of the ruling and will not be revoked.
The statement did not comment on other aspects of the Arbitration Institute’s decision. It said vaguely that while the government respects the decision “everyone is also obliged to be guided by the laws of the Republic of Armenia and international treaties that define the rules and procedures for the recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards.” Narek Karapetian responded by accusing the government of not complying with the ruling.
Petrosian fired ENA’s acting chief executive, Davit Ghazinian, and signaled other personnel changes earlier this week. Ghazinian described his sacking as illegal.
ENA is the largest of Tashir’s companies in Armenia. The bulk of Karapetian’s business assets, estimated by the Forbes magazine at $4 billion, are located in Russia where the 59-year-old tycoon has lived since the early 1990s.
Karapetian was initially prosecuted for allegedly calling for a violent overthrow of Pashinian’s government. He was also charged with tax evasion, fraud and money laundering after pledging to fight for regime change in Armenia and set up a new opposition group for that purpose. He denies all the accusations levelled against him.