Judge Faces Pressure with Threats of Video Release

According to reliable information from "Factinfo," pressures are being applied against Judge Anahit Tumanyan in the case of "Zangezur Mining" versus the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine. Furthermore, she is not only being threatened with possible punitive actions, but is also being blackmailed. The female judge has been threatened with the public disclosure of personal information and a recording that could also impact her family relationships.

As previously reported, the publication of the court ruling in the case was scheduled for last week but was postponed. According to "Factinfo," experts involved by the government have studied the aforementioned court case and concluded that the claims of "Zangezur Mining" are substantiated. They also stated that any forcible intervention to achieve a "successful" outcome in the case would have negative consequences on both the investment environment and in international courts, where there is a high risk of losing substantial sums of money.

However, discussions seem to have ultimately favored the lobbyists of Roman Trotsenko, and it has been decided to compel the court to reject the claim at all costs. The media reports: "According to our information, the judge has been warned about the existence of a personal recording, the publicizing of which would not serve her family interests. Instead, it has been promised that in case of a publication of a court ruling in favor of government interests, not only would the recording be forgotten, but she would also be encouraged and facilitated in her promotion and election to the Supreme Judicial Council."

As we have previously written, a senior American official urged Nikol Pashinyan not to “play games” with Russian oligarch Roman Trotsenko, whose name is included on the sanctions list set by the U.S. However, in recent years, Trotsenko and certain high-ranking officials from the Republic of Armenia have become so intertwined in various threads that cutting them off seemingly intimidates officials, and they are trying to protect the corrupt arrangements made in 2021 at any cost.

This is despite the fact that, according to a source from diplomatic circles, the government has been warned that several American and European organizations are monitoring Trotsenko’s actions to seize control of Armenia’s mining sector.

The court case being discussed is actually about “throwing out” a minority shareholder of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine and seizing the business from them. The progress of this case is an important indicator, as foreign experts say, which European and American investors will use to gauge the protection of minority shareholders' critical rights.

In fact, the lawsuits of "Zangezur Mining" against "ZPMP" are being monitored in relation to significant violations of minority shareholders' rights, including the right to obtain information, the right to conduct financial and economic audits, the right of preferential treatment, the right to obtain effective tools of participation in the management of the combine, and the right to the distribution and receipt of dividends, which at this moment remain at the whim of Roman Trotsenko and have not been distributed.

As for the government’s other minority shareholder in the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine, represented by the "ANIF" foundation, as previously reported, the foundation’s participation in the management of the combine is of an imitative nature. In any case, we have not received any evidence from ANIF contradicting this.

In fact, in light of the above, “Don’t flirt with Trotsenko” carries much deeper meaning, while the terms “playing games” could have much worse and far-reaching consequences, as the treatment of the minority shareholder by the Russian-origin oligarch under Nikol Pashinyan’s rule and the disregard of legal interests is fundamentally significant for foreign, particularly American and European investors, regarding the assurance of their business interests in the Republic of Armenia, and this is where the “root of the problem” lies.