An Armenian company re-exporting mobile phones to Russia has become the country’s largest corporate taxpayer in the first half of 2025, highlighting how some local businesses continue to benefit from Western sanctions against Moscow.
According to the State Revenue Committee (SRC), the government collected roughly 33 billion drams (about $86 million) in taxes from Mobile Center, a major electronics importer and official distributor of global smartphone brands including Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi. The company also sells computers and other electronics.
Mobile Center surpassed Armenia’s traditional economic heavyweights—including its natural gas distributor, largest mining firm, banks, and fuel and tobacco importers—many of which have historically dominated tax revenue rankings. It was the second-largest taxpayer in 2024, and its tax payments have since increased by 45 percent.
The company is owned by the family of Samvel Aleksanyan, a prominent Armenian businessman with vast interests across the country’s retail and import sectors. Like many Armenian firms, Mobile Center has capitalized on the sanctions regime that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by routing restricted Western goods into Russian markets.
This re-export trade, which includes not only mobile phones but also cars and other consumer electronics, has helped drive Armenia’s economic boom over the past two years. Another electronics firm, Pretty Way, ranked ninth on the SRC’s list, contributing 11.3 billion drams in taxes during the first half of 2025.
However, the economic windfall from sanctions-driven trade appears to be waning. According to Armenia’s Statistical Committee, overall exports dropped by more than 50 percent year-on-year to just $3.8 billion in the first half of 2025. Imports also fell by nearly 39 percent.
Yerevan-based economist Suren Parsyan attributes the sharp decline in foreign trade to Armenia’s fading role as a channel for Russian gold and diamond exports, particularly to markets like the United Arab Emirates.
Armenia’s trade with Russia—the country’s single largest trading partner—shrank significantly, from $6.7 billion in January–May 2024 to just $2.8 billion over the same period this year.
While Mobile Center’s rise to the top of the tax charts reflects the profitability of Armenia’s position as a trade intermediary, it also underscores the temporary and fragile nature of this growth. As global enforcement tightens and demand shifts, the sustainability of Armenia’s sanction-driven economic gains remains in question.
