Lukashenka's friend's party lacked about 160 votes from all of Armenia to enter parliament
Gagik Tsarukyan is definitively out. And under investigation.
Elections in Armenia. Photo: AP Photo/Anthony
The "Prosperous Armenia" party of Gagik Tsarukyan — a businessman who publicly calls Alexander Lukashenka his friend — did not pass into the National Assembly of Armenia based on the results of the June 7 elections. It lacked about 160 votes.
According to the final data from the Central Election Commission, "Prosperous Armenia" gained 3.989% — with the required 4% for parties. With a turnout of 1,476,769 voters, it turns out that Tsarukyan lacked approximately 160 votes.
The party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, "Civil Contract", won the elections — 49.745%. Next are Samvel Karapetyan's "Strong Armenia" bloc (23.271%) and Robert Kocharyan's "Armenia" bloc (9.923%). In total, 15 out of 18 political forces that participated in the elections did not overcome the minimum threshold.
Tsarukyan's ties with Lukashenka are long-standing and public. In May 2026, the businessman said: "Lukashenka is my friend, a native person to me." The Embassy of Belarus in Armenia is located not in the capital, but in the village of Arinj next to Tsarukyan's estate. The businessman owns a share in a Belarusian-Armenian cognac enterprise, and in January 2024, Viktor Lukashenka visited him.
One of Tsarukyan's gifts is directly related to the son of the Belarusian leader. During Lukashenka's official visit to Yerevan in 2010, the businessman gave his family a 400-liter barrel of "Ararat" cognac. It is stored in the cellars of the Yerevan Brandy Factory and, according to reports, is planned to be uncorked on the day of Kolya Lukashenka's wedding, which has not yet taken place.
On June 10, three days after the elections, a criminal case was opened against Tsarukyan on suspicion of tax evasion on an especially large scale, and he was banned from leaving the country. The politician's lawyer considers the persecution illegal and unfounded.
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