Minister: Armenia has opportunity not to implement decision of Stockholm Arbitration Court on the claim of Samvel Karapetyan's family
YEREVAN, July 24. /ARКА/. Armenia may not execute the decision of Stockholm arbitration tribunal that has blocked the Armenian government from proceeding with plans to nationalize a major electricity provider, owned by Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, said Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan.
Karapetyan was arrested in June on accusations of calling for a power seizure after he publicly supported the Armenian Apostolic Church in its conflict with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration. Following the arrest, Pashinyan declared it was time to nationalize Karapetyan’s company, Electric Netwroks of Armenia (ENA), and the Armenian parliament passed laws allowing the state to seize it.
In response, the Karapetyan family filed a lawsuit at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), citing a 1995 bilateral investment treaty between Armenia and Cyprus.
On Tuesday, the SCC ruled that Armenia must halt any efforts to enforce the new legislation or confiscate the company, warning that such actions would hinder the family’s ability to recover damages if they lose control. This ruling is binding on the Armenian government.
According to the minister, at this stage 'we are dealing with the application of a preliminary security measure, and not with the consideration of an arbitration dispute.'
When the international arbitration court considers the arbitration dispute, presumably in 30 days, it will then discuss all the details of the case and assess the goals," Galyan noted at a press briefing on Thursday.
According to her, the government discussed the risks associated with the ENA nationalization and qualified them as very high.
"We will patiently wait for the dispute to be considered in international arbitration. The government will present its arguments and when the international arbitrator touches upon the content of the dispute, we will assess the possible risks," Galyan said.
Regarding the appointment of an interim administrator for ENA, Galyan noted that the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration does not force the termination of the manager's powers. The Minister recalled that the purpose of appointing the state manager was to prevent possible risks.-0-
