2 Apartments, 16 Million Annual Income and More: What the Deputy Minister of Justice Declared

According to the "Zhoghovurd" newspaper, Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan was appointed on February 22, 2023. Before taking up the position of deputy minister, Karapetyan was the head of the Council of Europe's project "Support for the Implementation of Judicial and Legal Reforms in Armenia" from 2017 to 2018.

From 2019 to 2022, he led the Council of Europe's regional program "Promotion of the Legal Profession in Accordance with European Standards" in Eastern Partnership countries. With no significant biography in the field of justice, Karapetyan seems to have come to the justice sector perhaps inevitably, but not randomly.

According to the declaration of income, real estate, expenses, and interests for 2023, Karen Karapetyan has declared 2 apartments in a multi-apartment building, one of which was acquired in 2018 in the Arabkir administrative district, while the other, obtained as a donation in 2020, is located in the Kentron administrative district.

The Deputy Minister of Justice has declared a 2011 model Volvo car acquired in 2019. The deputy minister has bank deposits totaling 2,965,000 AMD, bank balances of 6,000 EUR, and nearly 1,800,000 AMD.

His declared income for the reporting year amounted to 16,542,000 AMD, of which 12,757,000 AMD was remuneration from the Ministry of Justice of Armenia. Since Karapetyan was the head of the Council of Europe’s project "Strengthening Institutional Capacities Against Corruption in Armenia" during 2022-2023, he received 7,000 EUR in salary from the Council of Europe.

Of his declared income, 1,000 EUR is compensation from insurance by Henner GMC, while 22,000 AMD is a loan from ‘HayAeconom’ bank. As of December 31 of the reporting year, the outstanding balance of the principal for the loans and borrowings received by the deputy minister was 9,802,000 AMD. From the loan history, it is understood that the remaining principal for the apartment mortgage was 21,000 EUR.

The government has a goal of bringing specialists like Karen Karapetyan to Armenia to please Europe, which seems to be working.