Samvel Karapetyan wins ENA nationalization case against Armenian government in international court - lawyers' statement
YEREVAN, July 23. /ARKA/. Samvel Karapetyan and his family have won an urgent arbitration case in an international court against the Armenian government in the nationalization case of Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA).
"The arbitration case was initiated by Karapetyan's family at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) in accordance with the procedure established by the Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Cyprus on the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments dated January 18, 1995. A representative of the Armenian government also participated in the process," the message on the Facebook page of Samvel Karapetyan's Defense Council says.
The report states that on 22 July 2025, an urgent arbitration tribunal appointed by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce ordered the Government of the Republic of Armenia to refrain from applying the provisions of the recently adopted Armenian Laws “On Energy” and “On the Public Services Regulatory Commission” to “Electric Networks of Armenia” CJSC, as well as from any further steps to expropriate the company.
The tribunal concluded that urgent interim measures were necessary, since the actions of the Government of Armenia raise serious doubts about their compliance with the agreement on mutual protection of investments between Armenia and Cyprus.
The decision also states that “in the absence of such interim measures, it will be difficult for the claimants to obtain full compensation for their losses if they lose control over the company or, even worse, cease to be its owners.”
The decision of the urgent arbitration tribunal is binding on the Government of the Republic of Armenia.
The Electric Networks of Armenia is part of the Tashir Group of Companies, owned and managed by Russia-based billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. It operates medium and low voltage distribution networks in Armenia, serving about 1 million subscribers.
Since 2016, the Tashir Group is said to have invested about $680 million in the modernization of Electric Networks of Armenia alone, with another $150-200 million invested in the creation of new capacities.
Samvel Karapetyan was arrested in Armenia on June 18 on charges of publicly calling for the seizure of power after a meeting with Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan then announced shortly afterwards a plan to nationalize ENA, stating that the process would be carried out in accordance with legislation.
On July 3, 2025, the Armenian parliament adopted government-initiated amendments to certain laws allowing the facility's nationalization.-0-
