Karapetyan renounces Russian citizenship to participate in elections in Armenia

Russian entrepreneur and leader of the 'Strong Armenia' party, Samvel Karapetyan, has announced that he has initiated the process of renouncing all citizenships except for Armenian.

'Since I am participating in the elections and am confident in my victory, I have decided to start the process of renouncing these passports,' he said during the first court session, as reported by Armenian media.

As of April 2026, Karapetyan holds citizenships of Armenia, Russia, and, according to some sources, Cyprus.

Having citizenships other than Armenian is an obstacle to participating in the parliamentary elections in Armenia, which are scheduled for June 7.

Today, the first court session in the case of Karapetyan is taking place in Yerevan. The Investigative Committee of Armenia previously reported the completion of the investigation into a criminal case, within the framework of which Karapetyan has been charged with tax evasion, money laundering, embezzlement of property on an especially large scale, as well as public calls for the seizure of power.