New Case Against Serzh Sargsyan Sent to Court

The Criminal Procedure initiated by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has established that between 2000 and 2018, Serzh Sargsyan, while holding the positions of Minister of Defense, Prime Minister, and President of Armenia, contrary to the law, used his official position to establish companies through trusted persons and participate in the management of commercial entities. He facilitated the involvement of M. B., an individual with whom he had close ties, and M. B.'s affiliated companies in the establishment of a bitumen plant in the Surenavan community of Ararat region, aimed at meeting Armenia's needs through foreign investments.

To implement this plan, Sargsyan's trusted person M. B. founded a new company on February 20, 2006, in conjunction with two Russian companies registered in Cyprus. Sargsyan, through M. B., participated in the establishment and management of this company and instructed that 50% of the company's shares be registered in the name of M. B.'s company, while the other 50% was registered to the two Russian companies.

Subsequently, Sargsyan demanded that M. B. transfer 22.5% of the newly established company's shares, which belonged to M. B., as a bribe to a company founded by his nephew and the son of the second President of Armenia. To comply with Sargsyan's demands, on March 14, 2008, M. B. sold this portion of his company shares through a formal transaction to the aforementioned individuals' company, and also made an investment in the newly established company.

In 2013, due to the failure of the newly established company's operations, the foreign investing companies aimed to sell their shares in that company. Consequently, Sargsyan, effectively managing the process, instructed M. B. to apply to a banking institution in Armenia owned by his close associate for a loan of $14,000,000 to return the investments made by the Russian companies, which M. B. did.

After that, Sargsyan and M. B. aimed to sell the assets of M. B.'s companies, including the newly established company. At the same time, Sargsyan decided to leverage this transaction to benefit the business activities conducted by his daughter's husband and related organizations. As a result, M. B. founded a new company to which the assets of the other companies were transferred, including 23 gas stations in Yerevan and the regions, a petroleum products base, and the bitumen-producing plant located in Surenavan community of Ararat region.

On August 22, 2015, a company affiliated with Sargsyan's daughter's husband acquired 100% of M. B.'s newly founded company for $40,000,000, thereby obtaining a monopoly on the importation of gasoline into Armenia.

Afterward, Sargsyan instructed M. B. to provide the son of the second President of Armenia a particularly large amount of $6,000,000 in exchange for the 22.5% shares that had previously been transferred as a bribe through a formal transaction to his nephew's company. Upon Sargsyan's request, M. B. transferred this substantial sum based on a fraudulent loan agreement provided to him by Sargsyan.

During the pre-trial investigation, Sargsyan was charged with receiving a particularly large bribe and illegally participating in entrepreneurial activities contrary to the law. The pre-trial investigation has concluded, and the materials of the case have been sent to the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia with an indictment.