Robert Kocharyan on the Arrest of Samvel Karapetyan

The incident involving Samvel Karapetyan is an incredible act of ingratitude towards the philanthropic businessman. This view was expressed by the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, in an interview with Channel 5, emphasizing that by arresting Karapetyan, the authorities dealt a blow to the institution of charity.

"If Kirk Kerkorian had said something against me in 2007 due to my actions, what would I have done? Would I have arrested him just so he would come to Armenia? This is the extreme degree of foolishness. Samvel Karapetyan is a person whose philanthropic contributions can only be compared to Kerkorian’s, with the distinction that Kerkorian did not enter business in Armenia. However, Samvel Karapetyan has made significant investments and created thousands of jobs, allowing people to support their families thanks to his investments," Kocharyan said.

The second president noted that foreign investments in Armenia have sharply decreased, and in this context, "attacking a major investor causes great harm to Armenia." He considers the government's justification that Karapetyan was aware of the issues with the Electricity Distribution Company (EDC) and attempted to alter the circumstances unfounded.

"I know what condition the distribution networks were in when they were state-owned and were privatized during my time. It was a disgraceful situation, and the 'light man' was the most important person in Armenia because he was doing whatever he wanted on the ground, spinning the meter back and making money, while tens of millions of debts were piling up on the distribution networks. At that time, they were privatized, and the situation changed drastically," he pointed out.

Kocharyan remarked that Karapetyan's investments do not end with the EDC. "This is vendetta. Perhaps they will use this system for electoral purposes in the upcoming elections, for instance, making promises based on the distribution networks, and so on. They appoint managers but claim that Samvel Karapetyan should continue investing. This is a bad movie that will destroy the working system," Kocharyan emphasized.

Kocharyan is confident that the government will lose in arbitration court.