Armenia’s National Assembly on Thursday passed the first reading of a bill to nationalize the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), a major electricity provider owned by jailed Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.
The vote saw 59 lawmakers in favor and 30 against. The bill will become law following a second reading and the president’s signature.
Karapetyan, who was arrested on June 19th, faces charges of inciting the seizure of power. His arrest came shortly after he publicly expressed support for the Armenian Apostolic Church (ACC) in its escalating feud with the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Government officials have also floated the idea of nationalizing Karapetyan’s other major holdings in Armenia, including Gazprom Armenia and the South Caucasus Railway, though no legislation on those assets has yet been introduced.
Karapetyan’s detention has added fuel to a broader political and cultural confrontation between Pashinyan’s pro-Western administration and the traditionally powerful Armenian Apostolic Church. Since coming to power in a 2018 color revolution, Pashinyan has pushed Armenia toward a liberal domestic agenda and a geopolitical shift away from Moscow, a long-standing ally and cultural touchstone for many Armenians.
The ACC has emerged as a vocal critic of Pashinyan, accusing him of abandoning ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and aligning itself with opposition forces.
Tensions escalated in May when Pashinyan accused the head of the Church, Catholicos Karekin II, of breaking his vow of celibacy and fathering a child, while also leveling further accusations against clergy and church leadership.
On June 25th, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the Sacred Struggle movement, was arrested alongside several opposition figures. Authorities allege they were plotting a coup involving “terrorist acts” aimed at toppling the government. Two days later, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was detained at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the spiritual center of the ACC.
The move to nationalize ENA is widely seen as both a punitive measure against Karapetyan and a warning to other influential figures aligned with the Church or critical of the current administration.