Pashinyan publicly called one of his opponents a "pro-Belarusian oligarch"

Gagik Tsarukyan. Photo: civilnet.am

Asserting not for the first time that these politicians gained more than 500 thousand votes by bribing voters, Pashinyan called on those who disagree with his approach to take to the streets.

"Kocharyan, the Kaluga oligarch [Samvel Karapetyan], and the pro-Belarusian oligarch [Gagik Tsarukyan] must be destroyed in their own lair. As long as I am prime minister, I will destroy them specifically, I will destroy them targetedly! I call on those citizens who disagree with this line to make a revolution in Armenia and change the government. As I said in '24, that the Karabakh movement would not continue — those who disagree, I urge to take to the streets. It is impossible to stop this process by other means," Pashinyan declared.

Pashinyan's statements came against the backdrop of an ongoing confrontation between the authorities and the opposition, which escalated after events surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and disputes over the future development of the Armenian state. Opposition forces regularly criticize the government for its security and foreign relations policies, while government representatives accuse opponents of corruption and using old oligarchic influence schemes.

Recently, parliamentary elections were held in Armenia, in which Pashinyan's "Civil Contract" party secured a confident victory, receiving more than 60% of the votes in the new parliament. The political force of Gagik Tsarukyan, referred to as the "pro-Belarusian oligarch," barely failed to overcome the electoral threshold and did not enter parliament.

Gagik Tsarukyan's ties with Alexander 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 Belarusian leader's son. During Lukashenka's official visit to Yerevan in 2010, the businessman presented his family with a 400-liter barrel of "Ararat" cognac. It is stored in the cellars of the Yerevan Brandy Company and, according to reports, is planned to be uncorked on the wedding day of Kolya Lukashenka, which has not yet taken place.

On June 10, three days after the elections, a criminal case was initiated against Tsarukyan on suspicion of tax evasion on a particularly large scale, and he was banned from leaving the country. The politician's lawyer considers the prosecution illegal and unfounded.

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