Author: Maghakian Mike

Strong Armenia bloc premier candidate Samvel Karapetyan: Let PM Pashinyan swea

Maghakian Mike
News.am, Armenia
May 22 2026

Strong Armenia bloc premier candidate Samvel Karapetyan: Let PM Pashinyan swear he won’t resettle 300,000 Azerbaijanis in Armenia

Let [Armenian PM Nikol] Pashinyan swear on [Azerbaijani president Ilham] Aliyev that he will not resettle 300 thousand Azerbaijanis in Armenia. Strong Armenia bloc’s prime ministerial candidate, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, who is under house arrest, stated this during a meeting with a group of media editors Friday.

“They [i.e. the incumbent Armenian authorities] are putting pressure on the weak; it all starts from here. The attack on the state occurs when they see that the head of that state is pursuing the wrong policy, that he is a coward and a liar. This [i.e. Pashinyan] has proven three times that he brings war, that he is a coward, that he is strong only on the bus, but he is powerless everywhere else. He has ruined relations with the main allies [of Armenia], there is nowhere to expect help. And can we afford to fight against everyone? He is a little liar, he lies to everyone—to the people, it is time for the [Armenian] people to understand this. He brings evil to the country. In the future, the settlement of 300 thousand Azerbaijanis [in Armenia],” Karapetyan noted.

Regarding the remark that this morning Pashinyan announced guarantees that this would not happen, Karapetyan asked what exactly Pashinyan can guarantee.

“Let [him] swear on Aliyev that he guarantees. I even agree, let him swear on [Azerbaijani army officer Ramil] Safarov [who had brutally killed Armenian army officer Gurgen Margaryan with an axe]. He [i.e. Pashinyan] was guaranteeing Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)]; we saw what happened with Artsakh. He was shouting, then he abandoned Artsakh. After [the] 2020 [Artsakh way], Armenia’s authorities do not participate in any decision regarding Armenia and Artsakh. They have a leader, whatever he decides, it will be implemented. They are just a tool in the work of expelling Armenians from the country,” Samvel Karapetyan said.

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RFE/RL – Karabakh Activist Remanded In Custody After Row With Pashinian

Maghakian Mike
May 21, 2026


Armenia – Karabakh activist Artur Osipian argues with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Yerevan, May18, 2026.

An Armenian court refused to free on Thursday an exiled activist from Nagorno-Karabakh who was arrested after publicly arguing with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and being insulted by the latter in Yerevan on Monday.

Pashinian was approached by Artur Osipinian as he campaigned in the city’s northern Arabkir district for the June 7 parliamentary elections. Osipian asked him questions and criticized his policies on Karabakh, sparking a furious reaction from him.

Moments after his supporters and bodyguards dragged away Osipian, Pashinian picked up a megaphone and rushed towards the Karabakh Armenian man, shouting insults and threats also addressed to “Karabakh pseudo-elites.”

“You should have died when there was the Karabakh issue. Why are you alive at all, you scumbag?” cried the premier.

Osipian, who publicly campaigned against Karabakh’s last leadership before the region’s recapture by Azerbaijan, was arrested and indicted following the incident. Armenia’s Investigative Committee claimed that he disrupted public order and obstructed the ruling Civil Contract’s election campaign. It also charged him with calling for a violent attack on Pashinian in a social media post in March.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, more than a dozen Western-funded civic organizations rejected the accusations as “illegal, baseless and politically motivated” and demanded Osipinian’s immediate release. They insisted that he simply exercised his freedom of speech and never advocated violence.

The court ignored the appeal, allowing investigators to hold Osipian in pretrial custody for the next two months.

Armenia – Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian argues with a voter in Yerevan, May 18, 2026.

During his campaign tour of Arabkir, Pashinian also lost his temper after being confronted by several other disgruntled citizens. They inccluded Arpine Soghoyan, a gynecologist whose brother, senior military medic Hrant Papikian, went missing during the 2020 war in Karabakh. Soghoyan blamed Pashinian for her loss and accused him of having “stolen my fatherland.”

Pashinian responded by linking the middle-aged woman to the leaders of Armenia’s three main opposition groups and pledging to “take out” them. His outbursts drew strong condemnation from the opposition.

Aram Vartevanian, a senior representative of billionaire Samvel Karapetian’s Strong Armenia bloc, on Thursday petitioned Prosecutor-General Anna Vartapetian to order criminal proceedings against Pashinian. Vartapetian’s office told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that it has forwarded the demand to the Investigative Committee. It made clear earlier that the prosecutors will not investigate the legality of what critics see as death threats voiced by Pashinian.

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Pro-Kremlin actors launch large scale disinformation campaign targeting Armeni

Maghakian Mike
Euronews
May 20 2026
By Noa Schumann & Tamsin Paternoster

For several months, Armenia has been the target of a wide-ranging Russian disinformation campaign ahead of its parliamentary elections in early June. Researchers say the operation is among the most extensive in recent years. The Cube examines how and why false claims have been circulating.

A large-scale pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign is targeting Armenia ahead of its parliamentary elections on 7 June, researchers say.

In total, 343 fake videos were published by early May, prompting analysts to describe the operation as one of the most extensive in recent years — second only to the campaign observed during Moldova’s 2025 election.

According to researchers, the campaign began in early March and was part of “Matryoshka” — a pro-Kremlin disinformation operation that has increasingly used artificial intelligence.

Among the fabricated videos, a central narrative claims that a victory for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose campaign focuses on a pro-European direction, could trigger a war between Armenia and Russia.

The collective Antibot4Navalny, which studies bot networks, said it had identified more than a dozen fake videos featuring Pashinyan and French President Emmanuel Macron, which repeatedly promote the false claim that the two leaders struck a “secret deal”: French backing in the election in exchange for Armenia launching a war against Russia after a victory.

On 11 May, one video falsely claimed that Pashinyan’s press secretary had confirmed the presence of NATO instructors in Armenia, and that, following the parliamentary elections, he would “provoke a military conflict with Russia.”

However, fabricated media reports are not the only tool used in this disinformation campaign. Researchers say bots are also spreading false claims on social media platforms such as X in an apparent effort to undermine Pashinyan.

No evidence supports these allegations. It is also worth noting that, although some of these posts garnered tens of thousands of views, researchers say the figures were artificially inflated.

The aim of the campaign

The election campaign has unfolded against a backdrop of growing cooperation between the EU and Armenia, highlighted by the first EU–Armenia summit held in the country in early May.

Several senior European figures attended, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and France’s President Macron.

The meeting was marked by a shared commitment from both sides to strengthen bilateral relations.

“Today’s EU–Armenia summit sends a clear signal of the EU’s firm commitment to deepen our relations with Armenia, and to strengthen cooperation across many new areas, bringing Armenia and its people closer to the European Union,” Costa said.

During the summit, Pashinyan said Armenia was entering “a new period of peace, of consolidation of a democratic regime, and this really, certainly creates a good environment for the development of our bilateral relations.”

Two months after the campaign began — and just days after the summit — Russian President Vladimir Putin drew a comparison between Armenia and Ukraine during a press conference in Moscow on Victory Day, warning that Armenia could face similar consequences if it pursued closer integration with the EU.

“We are all currently feeling the consequences of the situation in Ukraine. How did it all begin? With Ukraine’s accession — or rather attempted accession — to the EU. That was the first step, the very first,” Putin said.

He added that subsequent developments — including political upheaval and conflict — stemmed from that initial move, calling it “a serious problem”.

On 26 March 2025, the Armenian parliament voted by a large majority to launch a process towards EU accession, in a move backed by Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party.

Moscow, however, has repeatedly accused Western actors of interference. As early as January, Russia claimed the EU was encouraging the Armenian government to rig the parliamentary elections.

On 20 January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said financial support pledged by the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to Armenia amounted to a “sincere” confession and an “admission of guilt”.

Those claims echo accusations made during Moldova’s recent elections, which were ultimately won by pro-European forces.

Matryoshka and Storm 1516

Alongside the Matryoshka campaign targeting the election, another pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign, known as Storm-1516, is also spreading false narratives targeting Pashinyan on social media, according to researchers from the South Carolina-based Clemson University’s Media Forensics.

Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND, and France’s Viginum agency, a government body monitoring disinformation campaigns, describe Storm-1516 as a Russian information manipulation network that used coordinated disinformation campaigns with the aim of destabilising democratic institutions.

According to Clemson’s research, the campaign has been active since January and spread false claims about Pashinyan’s election promises, in addition to allegations that Pashinyan used $11 million (€9.5 million) in funds from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), earmarked for digitalisation, to covertly finance his campaign.

According to Ella Murray, a digital influence analyst at Clemson, Storm-1516’s methods in the Armenian campaign show they are evolving.

“Particularly, they have expanded their stable of influencer networks and fake marketing bots,” she said. “Additionally, they have started using accounts purporting to be local and country-specific.”

“Russian campaigns are targeting Armenia for the same reasons they interfered in elections in Moldova and Hungary,” Murray continued. “They want to discredit pro-Western candidates and reassert regional influence.”

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Armenia moving closer to EU every day, says foreign minister

Maghakian Mike
Politics13:40, 19 May 2026
Read the article in: العربيةEspañolفارسیՀայերենქართულიRussianTürkçe

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Tuesday lauded what he described as the “effective outcomes” of the inaugural Armenia-EU Summit held earlier in May in Yerevan.

Mirzoyan addressed the issue during a joint press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart, Kęstutis Budrys, responding to a question about perceptions in the EU regarding Armenia’s approaches following the summit.

He said that Armenia is moving closer to the EU every day.

“Armenia’s approaches have always been dynamically presented both to the EU and to partner member states. This summit was no exception. It is no secret that Armenia is moving closer and closer to the EU every day. There are all the opportunities for this, and there is the number one prerequisite for it — the European aspirations of the Armenian people, which were expressed, for example, through last year’s civic initiative that eventually turned into a law adopted by the National Assembly,” the Armenian FM said.

Last year, the Armenian parliament adopted a bill on EU integration, calling on the government to launch the process of EU accession.

The inaugural Armenia-EU Summit took place on May 5, a day after the 8th European Political Community Summit, which was also held in the Armenian capital.

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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Listen to What Vladimir Putin Is Saying About Armenia

Maghakian Mike
The National Interest
May 19 2026

Listen to What Vladimir Putin Is Saying About Armenia

May 19, 2026
By: Joseph Epstein

Putin and other Kremlin insiders are threatening a hybrid warfare campaign to bring down Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan. The Trump administration should back him up.

For years before Russia invaded Ukraine, Western leaders reassured themselves that longtime Russian President Vladimir Putin was merely posturing. The consensus held that Russia’s all-out propaganda blitz—talking heads on state TV denying Ukrainian sovereignty, calls for referendums in the east, and warnings of Euro-Atlantic encroachment—was empty political posturing and was not meant literally. Even weeks before the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, now rightly remembered as a stalwart hero of Ukraine’s defense, insisted that Russia’s threats to invade were mere rhetoric. Until they were not.

The same vocabulary is now being aimed at Armenia, and last week, Putin took it on himself. Days after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan explicitly announced that Armenia was not Russia’s ally in the war on Ukraine, Putin warned that the country is “now living through everything that is happening on the Ukrainian track”—a path that began with Ukraine’s move toward the EU and ended in “the coup d’état, the Crimea story, the position of southeastern Ukraine, and military actions.” As an alternative, Putin proposed an overt referendum on whether Armenia should break with Russia, followed by “a soft, civilized, and mutually beneficial separation.”

The threat behind Putin’s words could not have been clearer. Even so, others within his orbit went a step further. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged that Yerevan had been drawn into an “anti-Russian orbit” by the European Union—the same framing of Euro-Atlantic encroachment into the historical Russian sphere of influence that the Kremlin used to justify its war on Ukraine. Not to be outdone, Russian state propagandist Vladimir Solovyov argued for Russia to expand its “special military operation” into Armenia.

What Is Russia Planning in the Caucasus?

The South Caucasus was, until recently, Moscow’s domain. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 to punish Tbilisi’s Western pivot. To the south, the Kremlin played off Armenia and Azerbaijan against one another—guaranteeing Armenia’s security while selling weapons to Azerbaijan—in order to keep the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict frozen, and thereby maintain its regional indispensability. That arrangement collapsed in late 2020, when Azerbaijan retook most of Nagorno-Karabakh after a six-week war, and again in 2022, when Moscow tied up its capacity in Ukraine. After Azerbaijan retook Nagorno-Karabakh in its entirety in 2023, a regional detente set in, and both Yerevan and Baku began turning to other mediators. The August 8, 2025 peace summit—which placed Washington at the center of the South Caucasus for the first time — was the final blow to a Russian position already in retreat, and the foundation of an American one.

This is Washington’s problem. The ongoing situation in Armenia is the first stress test of a major, though under-celebrated, achievement of President Donald Trump’s second administration. The Armenia–Azerbaijan peace deal put the United States in operational control of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) corridor spanning the two countries, benefiting both and significantly improving the US position in the South Caucasus. If the Kremlin engineers a change of government in Yerevan by whipping up hardline anti-Azerbaijan sentiment in Armenia, the deal goes back on the table, and so does America’s foothold.

The Middle Corridor—the trade route connecting Europe to Central Asia—is the only major commercial artery that bypasses Russia, China, and Iran simultaneously. That matters because Central Asia holds some of the world’s largest untapped reserves of rare earths. The United States currently depends on China for roughly 70 percent of its rare earth supply, a dependency Beijing has already weaponized in trade disputes. Lose Yerevan, and TRIPP shuts down.
A Russian invasion of Armenia at this stage is highly improbable. Russian forces are tied down in Ukraine. Moreover, Russia and Armenia do not border each other: in order to reach Armenia, Russian forces would need to pass through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, or Iran, each posing its own military or political problem.

What is more likely—and in fact already underway—is an intensified hybrid campaign to bring down Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and reinstall a Kremlin-aligned government in Yerevan. The Kremlin’s opening is the June 7 parliamentary election. Pashinyan’s principal challenger is the political vehicle of Samvel Karapetyan—a Russian-Armenian billionaire enriched by Russian state contracts who has lobbied for closer ties with Moscow, railed against the peace deal, and is now under house arrest on charges of plotting a coup.

How America Can Stop a Russian Takeover in Armenia

Fortunately, the United States has a major asset in the fight against Russia for influence in Armenia: the Armenian people themselves. The Armenians have not forgiven Russia for standing aside as Azerbaijan retook Nagorno-Karabakh, and they remember that every leader since independence except Levon Ter-Petrosyan governed in Moscow’s pocket. The demand for a Western pivot is real.

Washington has tools to make that pivot durable. The United States can build out a strategic transit partnership centered on TRIPP and support Armenia’s nascent AI and technology sector. Each prospective investment or partnership does double duty: economic upside for Armenians, geopolitical insulation against Moscow.

Washington also has tools against the Kremlin’s preferred candidate. Executive Order 14024 authorizes the Treasury Department to sanction individuals who “undermine democratic processes or institutions in the United States or abroad” for the benefit of the Russian government. The same authority was used against Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party. Karapetyan fits the same description: a Russian-state-contracts billionaire campaigning for closer ties to Moscow.

The strangest piece of this puzzle sits in Washington itself, where the Armenian-American diaspora organizations that should be the strongest advocates for a US–Armenia partnership are working against it. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), the Armenian diaspora’s main lobbying organization in the United States, has remained generally bipartisan for most of its existence, recognizing that a strong US-Armenia relationship cannot be maintained in the long run if the movement aligns openly with one political party. Yet ANCA policy director Alex Galitsky recently accused Trump of “genocidal ethnic cleansing of [Nagorno-Karabakh],” “genocide in Palestine,” and “threaten[ing] genocide against Iran”—language that aligns the organization with the American far left and amplifies Iranian-aligned talking points. ANCA has also organized legislators to undermine the peace deal, including Senator Adam Schiff, and amplified Robert Amsterdam, a Kremlin-aligned lobbyist who represents Vadim Novinsky, the Ukrainian oligarch who fronted Moscow’s effort to weaponize a breakaway Orthodox faction against Kyiv on charges of “Christian persecution.” Amsterdam has appeared with Karapetyan’s nephew on right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson’s program to recast Karapetyan as a defender of Christianity persecuted by his own government. The Kremlin is using the same playbook it used against Ukraine—talking out of both sides of its mouth to different fringe audiences—with a new target in mind.

Pashinyan is not a perfect leader. Yet for all his various faults, he is attempting to take Armenia out from under Moscow’s thumb. He deserves America’s support, and the diaspora organizations running interference for the Kremlin must be treated as exactly that.

The West’s mistake on Ukraine was not ignorance, but disbelief. For years, Moscow shouted what it thought of Kyiv’s drift westward, and Western capitals minimized the rhetoric. Armenia now sits at the edge of the same pattern. The language is intimately familiar to anyone who listens, and the pressure campaign is already underway. The date is June 7. Washington has time to lock in the gains of the peace deal and anchor the South Caucasus in a Western orbit—but only if it understands that when the Kremlin repeats itself, it means it.

About the Author: Joseph Epstein

Joseph Epstein is the director of the Turan Research Center, a senior fellow at the Yorktown Institute, an expert at the N7 Foundation, and a research fellow at the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University. He also sits on the advisory board of the Alekain Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing education to women and girls in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. He specializes in Eurasia and the Middle East, and his work has been featured in various outlets such as Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, the Atlantic Council, Novaya Gazeta, RFE/RL, Foreign Policy, and others.

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Armenia will decide on EU or EAEU membership through public vote, deputy PM sa

Maghakian Mike
Panorama, Armenia
May 16 2026

Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan has said Armenia realises it cannot simultaneously hold membership in the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), adding that any future decision on leaving the Russia-led bloc would ultimately be made by the Armenian people.

“We clearly understand that Armenia cannot be a member of both the EAEU and the EU at the same time, and it is obvious that at some point in the future we will need to make an appropriate decision,” Grigoryan told Russian state news agency TASS on Friday.

“That decision will, of course, be made by the citizens of Armenia. At present, there is no such necessity,” he said.

Grigoryan stressed that Armenia remains a committed member of the EAEU and continues to participate fully in the organization’s discussions and decision-making processes.

“Armenia is a full-fledged member of the EAEU, conducts cooperation constructively, and fully participates in discussions and all decision-making processes,” he said.

On May 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Yerevan should decide “as early as possible” whether it intends to pursue EU membership or remain in the EAEU, suggesting that an “intelligent divorce” would be possible if Armenia ultimately chose the European path.

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Armenian and Georgian railway operators discuss passenger services

Maghakian Mike
Georgia11:55, 13 May 2026
Read the article in: فارسی, Armenian, Georgian, Russian, Türkçe

Armenian and Georgian railway operators have discussed passenger transport cooperation and agreed on measures to expand and improve cross-border rail services between the two countries, including scheduled express and tourist train operations for the upcoming seasons.

South Caucasus Railway said in a press release that during talks with Georgian Railways, the two operators reached a number of agreements.

It said that a decision has been made to operate an express train on the Yerevan–Batumi–Yerevan route during the 2026 summer season. The parties have confirmed a schedule providing for departures on alternate days between June 14 and October 1, 2026. The railway operators have also agreed on the prompt exchange of passenger information in order to reduce train dwell time at border checkpoints during passenger clearance procedures, the South Caucasus Railway company said.

In addition, the parties have reached an agreement to operate a Yerevan–Batumi–Yerevan tourist train service between July 4 and 12 at the request of the Czech company “Gepard Express.” A group of tourists, primarily from the Czech Republic, is expected to travel on this route, with accommodation provided in South Caucasus Railway carriages and scheduled en-route stops allowing passengers to visit key tourist attractions in Armenia and Georgia. The company also noted that the South Caucasus Railway successfully organized a similar service for the first time in 2025.

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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Nikol Pashinyan’s property and political path. what did the CP leader declare?

Maghakian Mike

“Zhoghovurd” daily writes: “Ahead of the National Assembly elections to be held on June 7, 2026, ArmLur.am continues to present the biographies and property declarations of the leaders of the nominated political forces. This time, the spotlight is on Nikol Pashinyan, who is number one on the pre-election list of the “Civil Contract” party. It should be noted that the party participates in the elections under number 16.


What property does Nikol Pashinyan have?


According to the declaration of property, income, expenses and interests of 2024, Nikol Pashinyan, who has held the position of Prime Minister since May 8, 2018, has no real estate. However, the declaration states that he actually owned a private house in Yerevan for 90 days or more.


 


In Pashinyan’s declaration, there is also a loan of 49 million 350 thousand drams given to “Ijevanatun” CJSC. He had a bank deposit of 726,900 drams, and the balance of his bank accounts was around 477,000 drams. Cash funds amounted to 700 thousand drams and 500 dollars.


 


 


 



According to the statement, during 2024 Nikol Pashinyan’s total incomes amounted to more than 80 million 235 thousand drams. About 17 million drams of that amount were wages. He also declared a donation of 6 million drams from his wife, Anna Hakobyan.


 


Loans received from different banks are also mentioned in the declaration. As of the end of the year, the balance of the principal amount of loans and borrowings amounted to more than 48 million drams, of which 44 million 415 thousand drams is a liability received for the purpose of purchasing an apartment.


 


The Prime Minister also declared travel expenses and accommodation expenses for the purpose of recreation in the amount of more than 5 million drams.



Pashinyan also announced his participation in “Mer Tparan” company, where he has a 50 percent share. That participation was acquired back in 2009. Pashinyan is the chairman of the board of the “Civil Contract” party.


For comparison, in the 2021 declaration, Pashinyan’s bank deposits were about 3 million drams, bank account balances were 27 thousand 701 drams and 3.84 dollars, and cash funds were 790 thousand drams and 1800 dollars, and total income was about 13.6 million drams. At that time, the loan obligations amounted to about 1.2 million drams.


 


Nikol Pashinyan’s political and journalistic path


Nikol Pashinyan was born on June 1, 1975 in Ijevan. He studied at Yerevan State University, but was expelled in his final year due to political reasons.


Since the 1990s, he has been engaged in journalism, working in various newspapers, including “Lagir”, “Molorak” and other periodicals. In 1998, he founded the “Oragir” daily newspaper, which was later closed by the court’s decision. From 1999 to 2012, he was the chief editor of “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily newspaper.


His political activities were also accompanied by criminal prosecutions and imprisonment. In 1999, he was sentenced to one year in prison, but the sentence was postponed. After the events of March 1, 2008, he spent more than a year underground, and in 2009 he voluntarily presented himself to law enforcement and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. He was later released under amnesty.


In 2012, he was elected a member of the National Assembly on the list of the “Armenian National Congress” bloc. In 2013, he founded the “Civil Agreement” political association, which later became a party.


In 2017, he was again elected as a deputy and head of the parliamentary faction on the list of the “ELK” alliance. On March 31, 2018, the “My Step” movement started in Gyumri, which in April-May turned into a mass protest movement and led to a change of government.


On May 8, 2018, the National Assembly elected him as the Prime Minister. In December of the same year, he headed the list of the “My Step” bloc and received the support of the majority of voters in the elections. In 2021, amid the internal political crisis, he resigned in order to hold early elections, but after the elections on June 20 of the same year, the “Civil Agreement” party won again, and Nikol Pashinyan was reappointed as Prime Minister.


Thus, ahead of the 2026 elections, Nikol Pashinyan stands before the public not only as the head of the government for eight years, but also as a politician whose activities and decisions continue to be one of the most discussed and controversial topics in society. On the one hand, he presents himself as the leader of the “velvet revolution” and the author of systemic changes, on the other hand, the years of his rule have been accompanied by war, territorial losses, severe internal political crises and ongoing social divisions. Against this background, public interest in his property status, income and financial obligations only grows, especially in the conditions when the government continues to talk about transparency, anti-corruption fight and social justice.


Details in today’s issue of “Zhoghovurd” daily.

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Armenian startup ArchiWise AI speeds up real estate decisions

Maghakian Mike
High Technologies19:25, 11 May 2026
Read the article in: Armenian:

The initial stage of decision-making in the construction and real estate development sector is often lengthy, complex, and risky. ArchiWise AI, a startup founded by Armenians, aims to transform precisely this phase by bringing together the key analyses required for real estate development within a single platform and enabling developers, investors, brokers, and architects to make faster and more informed decisions.

Created based on the idea of Chris Vardanyan and Avag Simonyan, ArchiWise AI is an artificial intelligence-powered platform designed to manage the most complex decisions in the real estate development process – even before property acquisition and the launch of design work. It combines preliminary site analysis, zoning and legal restrictions, financial feasibility scenarios, permit viability assessments, as well as analyses of natural and market risks. The research is conducted individually for each land parcel.

Currently, ArchiWise AI operates in the U.S. market, though its founders say the technology is universal and could eventually be applied in other countries, including Armenia. Although the project is being launched in the United States, the team primarily works from Armenia.

“We started with one market to simplify the process, but the technology is universal and can be applied in any country,” the founders noted.

“In the real estate sector, we often have to make decisions quickly, but those decisions are not always sufficiently well-grounded. In many cases, delays lead to lost deals,” Chris Vardanyan said, emphasizing that the startup’s idea emerged from his own experience. He has decades of experience in the real estate industry.

According to him, the problem became especially acute at stages when rapid access to information about urban planning restrictions, permitted construction, or approval probabilities was required.

The platform addresses several key challenges. The first is land search. Previously, developers had to rely on brokers and wait weeks for proposals. Now, they can describe their requirements on the platform and receive suitable options almost instantly.

In addition, the system provides data on zoning regulations, permitted development, ownership, and other critical parameters related to land parcels. It enables investors and developers to uncover the true profitability potential of a site, anticipate and avoid fatal obstacles at an early stage, and choose the most viable and commercially efficient development path.

ArchiWise AI also displays potential risks on the map, including those related to floods, fires, earthquakes, and other factors, while also providing demographic and economic data. However, according to the founders, the platform does more than simply collect information – it also analyzes the data and offers the most optimal solutions.

“The platform answers several key questions: where to build, what to build, and whether the project is likely to be approved. What previously took weeks or months can now be done in minutes,” Vardanyan stated.

According to the co-founder, the platform’s operation is based on multilayered legal data at the federal, state, and local levels. The system builds a knowledge base for each city and provides responses based on that data. At the same time, it also analyzes precedents to assess how likely similar projects are to receive approval in a given area.

Nevertheless, the founders emphasize that the platform does not provide absolute guarantees.

“Even official documents can contain errors. We ensure maximum accuracy, but we also show the sources so users can verify the information,” Vardanyan said.

The platform was presented during an industry discussion held at CBRE’s headquarters in Glendale – the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment company. According to the founders, the response was more positive than expected. Participants included representatives of both major companies and local government bodies interested in the platform’s capabilities.

Speaking about the future, the founders are convinced that artificial intelligence can significantly transform the entire real estate development chain.

“Within a few years, it will be possible to carry out the entire cycle – from land search to project approval – on a single platform. Project approvals should not take months or years. The goal is for a person to understand within minutes what is possible and what needs to be adjusted,” Vardanyan noted.

At present, ArchiWise AI is cooperating with several major organizations and has more than a dozen partner companies. The company is currently in an active growth stage. It has already secured initial investment and is preparing to enter a new phase.

At the same time, the team is working on a new solution that will also automate the review of architectural drawings, significantly reducing the time required for the process.

Read the article in: Armenian:

Published by Armenpress, original at 
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What will happen at the end of the campaign?

Maghakian Mike

Correctly understanding the situation on the first day of the campaign and drawing the right conclusions from it will predetermine the image of June 7.

1. Developments are determined not by the high rating of the opposition, but by the low rating of the government. This significantly changes the situation, because the tools for fighting the opposition will not solve the main problem, but will lead to new scenarios.

2. The truest consolidation took place in the opposition camp, because it is not about persons or positions, but about principles. Society has fixed this.

3. The people, all layers of the society want changes.

4. The government obstructs the programmatic debate. This is the first time in the history of Armenia. There is one explanation. By and large, the government has nothing to say, nothing programmatic to offer its own people. And he will do everything to prevent other people’s programmatic way of working. You should not fall into this trap.

5. Wait for the “Moldovan” scenario, beware of the “Romanian one”. It is not excluded that the government, through the courts, will prevent the participation of this or that force and/or after losing the elections, will try to cancel them. Let’s remember that the new National Assembly does not assume its powers immediately. Therefore, we should be ready for such developments.

6. The great chance of forming a new solid government in Armenia is due to the fact that the current government does not have the explicit support of any social stratum. This is nonsense, such a thing does not happen. The government loses in all social strata, it loses in Yerevan, in other cities and also in villages.

7. Pashinyan created new artificial social classes. he is the head of the layer under the premierists and the infoterror. It is very important to understand this in order to be able to choose the right targets for work. It is necessary to speak with the state system in the right terms and work patiently against the information terror.

8. And one of the most important principles. to be honest with each other, within the opposition, and with society.


Vahe Hovhannisyan
Alternative projects group




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