Armenian oligarch Tsarukyan summoned as witness in coup case

Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia party and one of the wealthiest people in the country, has been summoned as a witness as part of the investigation into an alleged coup plot revealed by the authorities in late June.

Tsarukyan was first announced to have been summoned by the Anti-Corruption Committee on Tuesday, with no additional details being offered as to why he was summoned.

On Wednesday, RFE/RL reported that Tsarukyan was questioned as a witness, but is not a defendant in the case.

Neither the committee nor Prosperous Armenia have issued any statements regarding Tsarukyan’s summoning.

In June, at least 15 were detained as part of an alleged coup plot against the government, including two high-ranking clergymen — Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan.

The authorities claim that Galstanyan’s anti-government movement, Holy Struggle, spearheaded the plot to overthrow the government. He was arrested on 25 June for allegedly plotting ‘terrorist attacks and a coup d’état’.

Ajapahyan, who was wanted for making public calls for usurping powers, surrendered himself to the authorities on 27 June, after police attempted and failed to apprehend him at Etchmiadzin Cathedral as supporters of the church prevented them from reaching the archbishop.

On 25 June, Civic.am, a news outlet affiliated with the ruling Civil Contract party, published a seven page document which it claimed was ‘the opposition’s coup plan’.

The documents, which OC Media was not able to independently verify, included Tsarukyan’s name, alongside the names of the recently detained Russian–Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan, former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, as ‘human resources’ to be used in the coup. The documents say the movement intended to conclude its operations on 21 September, Armenia’s Independence Day.

Tsarukyan has previously been under investigation for a variety of alleged crimes, including vote-buying, illegal business practices, and organising a fraudulent land transfer scheme.

Having begun his business career in food processing during the 1990s, over the course of the following three decades, Tsarukyan amassed a stake in a wide variety of industries throughout Armenia, including alcohol and food production, casinos, hotels, mineral extraction, pharmaceuticals, and most recently, bitcoin mining.

He has also had a large influence over sporting in Armenia, financially supporting a large number of athletes, sports centres, and serving as the head of the Armenian Olympic Committee since 2005.

Tsarukyan has also had a successful, if tumultuous, career in politics.

In 2022, he sponsored the construction of the 33-metre-high statue of Jesus Christ on Mount Hatis. The project sparked concern about the risks the proposed statue might pose to natural and cultural monuments on the mountain. Currently under construction, the project has yet to be completed.