Samvel Karapetyan Wins Arbitration Against Armenian Government Over Stateization of HETC

Samvel Karapetyan and his family have won an urgent arbitration case against the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The arbitration was initiated by the Karapetyan family at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) under the provisions of the Agreement on the Encouragement and Protection of Investments signed between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus on January 18, 1995. The representative of the Armenian government also participated in the arbitration proceedings.

On July 22, 2025, the urgent arbitration decided by the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce mandated the Government of Armenia to refrain from applying the provisions set forth by the recently adopted Armenian laws on “Energy” and “Public Regulatory Authority” regarding the Electric Networks of Armenia closed joint-stock company, as well as from further actions of nationalization pertaining to HETC.

The arbitration concluded that it was necessary to implement urgent protective measures, as the actions of the Republic of Armenia raise serious doubts about compliance with the mutual protection agreement of investments between Armenia and Cyprus. The arbitration also noted that “in the absence of immediate protective measures, it will be difficult for the claimants to receive full compensation for damages if they lose control over the company, or, worse, cease to be its owner.” The extraordinary arbitration decision is subject to compulsory enforcement by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.