On 11 August 2025, Mr. Samvel Karapetyan and his family formally initiated international arbitration proceedings, seeking to hold the Republic of Armenia liable for its takeover of CJSC “Electrical Networks of Armenia” (ENA).
The case is brought under the Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments signed by the Republic of Armenia and Cyprus on 18 January 1995.
The dispute follows a harassing campaign launched by the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan against Mr. Karapetyan and his business interests in Armenia, after Mr. Karapetyan publicly defended the Armenian Apostolic Church. Following the Prime Minister’s threats, police raided Karapetyan’s house on 17 June and arrested him on charges of publicly calling for the overthrow of the government. Mr. Karapetyan remains in detention.
On the same day, the Prime Minister announced that ENA, a major asset of the Karapetyan family in Armenia, would be taken over by the Armenian state. The government then moved rapidly to enact legislation permitting the takeover, with draft laws submitted to the National Assembly within days, and adopted into law within two weeks. Under these new laws, the Public Services Regulatory Commission quickly initiated administrative proceedings against ENA and appointed Mr. Romanos Petrosyan, former head of the State Control Service, as ENA’s administrator.
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To protect their investments, the Karapetyan family, first to put the Republic of Armenia on notice as is provided by the BIT and suggested holding negotiations. The Government of Armenia has deliberately failed to engage in any negotiations despite its international obligations.
The Karapetyan family then had to seek urgent relief from emergency arbitrator appointed by the SCC to protect their rights. On 22 July 2025, the emergency arbitrator ordered the Republic of Armenia to refrain from enforcing the new laws and taking any steps aimed at expropriating ENA. On 4 August 2025, the emergency arbitrator reaffirmed that the Republic of Armenia should comply with the award without delay. Despite these rulings, Armenian authorities publicly dismissed the award’s binding nature and continued their actions against ENA, with Mr. Petrosyan dismissing the company’s key managers and personnel.
In the request for arbitration, the Karapetyan family contends that the actions of the Republic of Armenia are arbitrary, discriminatory, politically motived and aimed at dispossessing the Karapetyan family of ENA. As such, these actions breach several commitments taken by the Republic of Armenia in the Armenia–Cyprus BIT. First, Armenia failed to guarantee fair and equitable treatment as well as full protection and security to the Karapetyan family and their investments in Armenia. Second, by assuming control over ENA, Armenia has effected an expropriation in violation of the treaty.
The Karapetyan family is seeking an arbitral award ordering the Republic of Armenia to compensate for the damage that they have already suffered and will suffer as a result of further actions of the Armenian state. The damage is preliminary estimated at USD 500 million and will be finally determined by the Arbitral Tribunal.
Samvel Karapetyan’s Defense Council
