A controversial brother of former President Serzh Sargsyan on Monday condemned as illegal a $30 million payment to the state demanded from him by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Speaking at a September 11 rally in Yerevan, Pashinian said that Aleksandr “Sashik” Sargsyan holds the lump sum in one of his bank accounts in Armenia. “I demand that Sashik Sargsyan publicly pledge that within one week he will withdraw that $30 million and return it to the state budget,” he said, speaking in the context of his government’s declared fight against corruption.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General said on Monday that this and other personal assets of Sargsyan were frozen in July as part of a criminal investigation conducted by the National Security Service (NSS). It did not give any details of that investigation. The NSS likewise declined to elaborate.
In a written statement, Sargsyan insisted that both Pashinian’s demand and the freezing of his bank account are illegal. He argued that the authorities have not come up with any proof that the money in question was earned illegally. The 62-year-old also accused the prime minister of breaching bank secrecy guaranteed by Armenian law.
Sargsyan made clear at the same time that he will be ready to donate “a part of the financial means legally belonging to me” to the state if his and his family members’ assets are unblocked. But he gave no numbers.
Pashinian’s press secretary, Arman Yeghoyan, reacted cautiously to Sargsyan’s statement. “We need to wait for further developments,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Sargsyan, has repeatedly caused controversy in the past with his flamboyant behavior and insults addressed to opponents of Armenia’s former governments. He is thought to have significant business interests.
Critics have long accused him of abusing his brother’s power to accumulate his wealth. Some of them have alleged that during Serzh Sargsyan’s 2008-2018 rule Armenian businesspeople were routinely forced to give Aleksandr 50 percent stakes in their lucrative firms. The new authorities in Yerevan have publicized no evidence of that yet, however.
In his statement, Aleksandr Sargsyan claimed that he first made a fortune in Russia where he lived from 1985-1995. “I returned to Armenia with a large sum, after which I did not stop doing business for a single year,” he said.
Sargsyan was twice briefly detained by law-enforcement bodies for questioning after Pashinian swept to power in May in a wave of mass protests that brought down his brother’s government. He was not formally accused of any crime.
Instead, the authorities brought criminal charges against his two sons. One of them, Hayk Sargsyan, was arrested in July on charges of attempted murder and illegal arms possession which he strongly denies. The other son, Narek, fled the country shortly before being charged with kidnapping.
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