Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday dismissed Armenia’s top government lawyer after he cautioned officials to comply with an international court order blocking the government’s takeover of the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA).
The decision came weeks after Pashinyan announced plans to nationalize ENA, owned by jailed billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. Parliament approved legislation on July 2 allowing the government to assume temporary control over the utility. The Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC), led by a close ally of Pashinyan, began enforcing the measure by replacing ENA’s management with government loyalists.
Karapetyan’s Tashir Group responded by launching arbitration proceedings in Stockholm. The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) issued an interim order requiring Yerevan to halt the takeover and refrain from changing ENA’s leadership pending a verdict. Despite the ruling, the government pressed ahead with the management reshuffle.
Earlier this month, Liparit Drmeyan, the government’s chief lawyer in international courts, warned the PSRC in writing that Armenia was legally bound to respect the SCC order. Questioned about the warning during a press conference on Thursday, Pashinyan rejected any internal dissent. “I am the government … no one can have a position that contradicts my position,” he said, threatening to fire officials who disagreed. Drmeyan was removed the following morning.
The move drew a sharp reaction from ENA’s board chairman, Narek Karapetyan, who said Pashinyan’s statement would strengthen Tashir’s case. “One more such statement, and our final victory in the arbitration court will be inevitable,” he wrote on social media. The conglomerate is seeking up to $500 million in compensation, calling the nationalization an illegal expropriation driven by political motives.
Opposition leaders also condemned Pashinyan’s declaration. Levon Zurabyan argued the prime minister’s claim contradicted Armenian law, which requires cabinet decisions to be made collectively. He said he will submit a “crime report” to Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetyan, though he acknowledged he does not expect action, calling her a “pocket prosecutor.”
Pashinyan, meanwhile, insisted that Armenia has “won in the arbitration court,” without elaborating on the claim, and vowed not to comply with the SCC ruling.
