Pashinian has been fiercely attacking Tsarukian and the two other opposition heavyweights, former President Robert Kocharian and Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian, during his campaign rallies. He pledged to “take out” them when he was confronted by a disgruntled voter in Yerevan on May 18. Law-enforcement authorities have refused to act on what critics see as death threats.
Two days later, Pashinian announced the impending nationalization of Armenia’s largest cement plant belonging to Tsarukian. He went on to promise to “return to the people” the tycoon’s properties, notably a hilltop villa just outside Yerevan, in case of winning the June 7 elections.
“By 2031, Gagik Tsarukian's mountaintop home should become a care center for the elderly,” the premier declared.
Campaigning in Yerevan’s western Malatia-Sebastia district, Tsarukian said that these statements will not stop him from trying to unseat Pashinian together with other opposition contenders.
“How can you do that for the sake of assets?” he told reporters. “You would forever become an enemy of the nation. Tsarukian is not that kind of entrepreneur. I have been informed that they [the authorities] are making preparations, began collecting [confiscation] papers two months ago. But I’ve said that I can never betray my homeland for the sake of property.”
Tsarukian also insisted that even if Pashinian wins reelection he will not cut any deals with the latter in order to save his assets.
Prosecutors already moved to confiscate the assets, including the cement plant, in 2023, invoking a controversial law that allows the state to seize money, property and companies deemed to have been acquired illegally. The confiscation has to be sanctioned by court. No such court ruling is known to have been handed down so far.
Tsarukian, whose Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) used to have the second largest group in the country’s parliament, helped Pashinian become prime minister in 2018 but fell out with him a few a months later. The 69-year-old tycoon was charged with vote buying and held in detention for a month shortly after demanding the premier’s resignation in 2020. He was acquitted in March this year at the end of a lengthy trial.