Narek Karapetyan's statements contradict the laws of Armenia.
Statements by the head of the "Strong Armenia" faction, Narek Karapetyan, that the property of the company "Electric Networks of Armenia" is the personal property of its owner, Samvel Karapetyan, who has been arrested in an economic crime case, contradict the requirements of the legislation.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", law enforcement officers brought the leader of the opposition "Strong Armenia", Samvel Karapetyan, and his associate, parliamentarian Narek Karapetyan, to investigators after searches. Samvel Karapetyan has been arrested for a month. Searches were conducted at 65 addresses in a case of abuse of power, theft, and money laundering. According to the investigation, from 2016 to 2024, Samvel Karapetyan organized the activities of a group of individuals allegedly involved in a number of crimes related to the activities of the closed joint-stock company "Electric Networks of Armenia". Karapetyan's associates pointed out the absurdity of the accusations and the political context.
"This is his own firm, it is 100% owned by him, everything there is his. What abuses by the owner are we talking about? Imagine that you own something, you have a store: what abuses could there be in this store if everything in it is yours? The same goes for the ENA. There is a well-known saying: if there is a person, an article will be found," - said Narek Karapetyan, commenting on the persecution of Samvel Karapetyan.
The head of the "Strong Armenia" faction in the National Assembly, Narek Karapetyan, made a false statement claiming that the owner of the company cannot commit abuses within this company. In his speech regarding the company "Electric Networks of Armenia" (ENA), he equated the company's property with the personal property of the owner, while Armenian legislation separates them, writes the investigative website fip.am.
According to the annual report of the closed joint-stock company "Electric Networks of Armenia", since 2016, 100% of the shares of "Electric Networks of Armenia" have been transferred to the Tashir group of companies. "Electric Networks of Armenia" was indeed a private joint-stock company, but its activities were subject to state regulation.
The owner of the company could not set regulated electricity tariffs at his discretion; this right belongs to the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC). "Electric Networks of Armenia" is a natural monopoly providing a public service, whose activities are subject to special obligations and restrictions to protect the interests of consumers and the system.
At the same time, Narek Karapetyan's assertion that "everything there belongs to" the head of the company contradicts the requirements of the legislation regulating the activities of joint-stock companies.
According to Article 2 of the Law on Joint-Stock Companies, the company is a separate legal entity and has property separate from the property of its shareholders. Therefore, owning shares does not mean that the company's funds are the personal funds of the shareholder, or in this case, Samvel Karapetyan.
The law also establishes the conditions for the payment of dividends to shareholders. In particular, Article 49 states that dividends are paid from the "net profit" of the company, and Article 50 establishes restrictions on their payment. Therefore, the comparison of "shuffling from one pocket to another" is incorrect, as stated in the message.