A senior Russian official, Revaz Yusupov, told the RBC news agency on Tuesday that the state consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor initiated the temporary ban, citing the need to “prevent possible harm to the life and health of Russian citizens.” In his words, some 338,000 bottles of water produced by Armenia’s Jermuk Group from February 17 through March 5 will be taken off the Russian market pending the findings of an ongoing safety inspection.

Jermuk sales were already blocked in Russia in late 2024 following the death of a man in the Russian city of Vladikavkaz who was said to have drunk the water. Russian health officials claimed at the time that it may have been contaminated with vinegar acid. The Armenian company ruled out such a possibility. A Russian law-enforcement agency reopened a criminal investigation into the death last week.

Armenia’s Food Safety Inspectorate said later on Tuesday that it has not yet received any “official notifications” from the Russian side regarding the ban. A spokeswoman for the government agency told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that it is “taking measures to understand the situation and take appropriate steps.”

Jermuk Group did not immediately comment on the development. The company is controlled by Ashot Arsenian, a wealthy businessman who used to be very close to former President Serzh Sarkisian but now has a warm rapport with Pashinian’s political team. Arsenian’s son Vahagn was investigated for draft evasion before being elected mayor of the town of Jermuk on the ruling Civil Contract party ticket in 2021. Pashinian appointed Arsenian Jr. as governor of the surrounding Vayots Dzor province last year.

Meeting with the Armenian premier in Moscow on April 1, Putin 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. For his part, 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.

And in what looked like another related development, Russia’s state alcohol and tobacco regulator moved in the following days to revoke the import license of a major Armenian brandy manufacturer heavily dependent on Russia’s market. It accused the Proshian Brandy Factory of fraud.

Russia is the principal market for agricultural products as well as alcoholic and soft drinks exported by Armenia. Armenian exports to Russia totaled almost $3 billion last year. By comparison, Armenian firms exported $667 million worth of goods to European Union member states.

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