RFE/RL – Armenian Government Faces More Demands To Reopen Tsarukian’s Firms

In a post-election crackdown promised by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Tsarukian was arrested on July 6 as law-enforcement authorities searched his villa outside Yerevan as well as the offices of dozens of companies making up his Multi Group conglomerate. They sealed off the offices, sending home thousands of people working there.

The authorities allowed one of those companies, Armenia’s main cement plant located in the southern town of Ararat, to resume operations on July 9 right after an angry protest staged by its workers. The other Multi Group firms are still standing idle, with no explanations given by the Armenian government or law-enforcement bodies.

Workers of several of those firms, including the country’s second largest brandy distillery, demonstrated in the following days, saying that they have been left without their sole source of income. They were joined on Tuesday by employees of the Multi Tabak cigarette factory. The mostly female protesters complained that the disruption prevents the factory management even from paying their June wages.

“We patiently waited for a week without taking any action,” one of them, Mariam Mkrtchian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “We now want to understand how long this uncertainty will continue. We realize that the company’s accounts are frozen and want to see that sorted out too because people are very dependent on their salaries.”

“Someone from the government must tell us how long this is going to last and when the problem will be solved,” said Mkrtchian, who described herself as her family’s main breadwinner.

“Some of our workers live in rented apartments,” said another worker, Armenuhi Yengoyan. “How are they going to pay their rent? … We can’t live like this.”

Similar protests continued at Tsarukian’s Multi Stone stone-cutting factory in Abovian, a town 15 kilometers north of Yerevan. Its protesting workers said they too have not been paid for June.

“Somebody must answer for all this,” said one of them. “Who should we appeal to?”

Armenia’s Investigative Committee, which is in charge of the criminal proceedings, declined to give the answers demanded by the protesters. The law-enforcement agency would also not say why those companies cannot resume their work just like the cement plant did.

So far the authorities have explained only the forced closure of that plant and Multi Wellness, a large fitness center located in central Yerevan. The State Revenue Committee has accused both companies of tax evasion, a charge strongly denied by Multi Group.

Tsarukian was arrested on different charges rejected by him as politically motivated. He is accused of defrauding Iranian business partners.

The tycoon’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) was one of the three main opposition groups that ran in last month’s disputed parliamentary elections. Pashinian pledged to imprison and “dispossess” their leaders before and after the June 7 elections.

Tsarukian’s representatives say Pashinian’s statements prove that law-enforcement authorities are acting on his illegal and politically motivated orders. Multi Group said on Tuesday that it is now assessing its legal options in the face of the company shutdowns.

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