Armenia's constitutional court approves nationalization of Karapetyan's company

YEREVAN. March 12 (Interfax) - The Constitutional Court of Armenia has ruled that the amendments passed by the parliament to allow the nationalization of Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), owned by the Russian businessman and president of Tashir Group Samvel Karapetyan, are legal.

The amendments to the laws on the public services regulator and on the energy sector were passed on July 3, 2025. The Court's ruling was published on Thursday.

On March 5 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told journalists that his government decided to fully nationalize the company.

In November 2025 the country's public services regulatory commission stripped ENA of its license to distribute electrical power.

Karapetyan has been under house arrest since January 19, 2026.

He was arrested on June 18, 2025 and charged with calling for a coup. On October 13 his charges were expanded to include money laundering on a massive scale through abuse of office or related influence.

The businessman was arrested after statements to protect the Armenian Apostolic Church from the anti-church campaign of Pashinyan's government.

In February his Strong Armenia party nominated Karapetyan as a candidate for prime minister.

The next parliamentary election is due on June 7.

Armenia is a parliamentary republic. The prime minister is appointed by the political force which has won a majority of seats in parliament.