Gagik Tsarukyan's Criminal Past and Moscow Financing: 'The Insider'

‘The Insider’ focuses on opposition figure and leader of the ‘Prosperous Armenia’ party, Gagik Tsarukyan, who is also preparing for elections.

The article recalls the dark pages of Tsarukyan’s past, noting that in 1979, during his service in the Soviet militia, he was convicted of robbery and the gang rape of Russian tourists, although he was later acquitted by the court after the collapse of the USSR.

The article also emphasizes that in 2004, in Yerevan, then-editor of ‘Haykakan Zhamanak’, Nikol Pashinyan, accused Tsarukyan of ordering the explosion of his ‘Niva’ vehicle, a claim that has yet to be officially proven.

Tsarukyan, who built his primary capital in Armenia through cognac and dairy production, also has three companies in Russia that engage in elite construction (‘Tikhivz’, ‘Z Invest’, and ‘Elite Stroy’). His party signed a cooperation agreement with ‘United Russia’ back in 2019.

The leaks from the archives of the Russian Presidential Administration contain a copy of Tsarukyan’s passport and the financial estimates for his 2017 election campaign, which, according to ‘The Insider’, evidence that significant amounts of money have previously been allocated to the ‘Tsarukyan’ alliance from Kremlin special funds, although some of those funds were likely embezzled by Moscow officials.