The state alcohol and tobacco regulator, Rosalkogoltabakkontrol, accused the Proshian Brandy Factory (PBF) of fraud earlier this week. In particular, it said, an “unplanned inspection” of brandy imported by the PBF to Russia found that it was not distilled from grapes. The agency said it has therefore asked a Russian economic court to annul the company’s license.
The company based in Proshian, a village just west of Yerevan, downplayed the measure on Wednesday, claiming that it only applies to its official distributor in Russia.
“The factory operates in a normal mode, carries out production operations without interruption and continues to export its products to international markets, including the [Eurasian Economic Union] countries,” the PBF said in a statement to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
For his part, Pashinian seemed to deny political motives behind the legal proceedings against the PBF when he spoke to journalists on Thursday.
Rosalkogoltabakkontrol reported the proceedings just days after Putin’s talks with Pashinian in Moscow during which he publicly warned that Yerevan’s moves to eventually join the European Union are “not compatible” with Armenia’s continued membership in the EEU, which gives Armenian exporters tariff-free access to the Russian market. Putin also said that Pashinian’s administration should not bar pro-Russian opposition groups or politicians from running in Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk threatened the next day far-reaching retaliatory measures against what he described as the Armenian government’s efforts to push Russia’s state-owned railway monopoly and other major companies out of Armenia. And in what looked like another related development, the head of Russia’s state agricultural watchdog reported a major tightening of its controls on multimillion-dollar imports of food and flowers from Armenia.
Russia is the principal market for agricultural products as well as alcoholic beverages exported by Armenia. According to most recent available data, Armenian brandy exports reached $311 million in 2024. Russia absorbed 83 percent of them.
Armenia’s overall exports to Russia totaled almost $3 billion last year. By comparison, Armenian firms exported $667 million worth of goods to European Union member states.