Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) has brought corruption charges against yet another senior official from Yerevan’s municipal administration, raising further questions about governance under Mayor Tigran Avinyan’s leadership.
Arsen Karoyan, head of the municipality’s public utilities department, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with abuse of power. However, a Yerevan court refused to allow the ACC to keep him in detention, instead releasing him on bail.
As of Wednesday evening, the ACC had yet to disclose details of the accusations, which Karoyan denies. His lawyer, Vahagn Hakobyan, suggested the charges stem from a dispute over the national electric utility’s requests to supply electricity to a “particular address.” Karoyan’s department allegedly declined these requests multiple times before ultimately approving them.
Karoyan’s arrest follows a series of corruption-related detentions targeting senior officials in City Hall. Last month, two other high-ranking members of Avinyan’s office—one overseeing public order and another involved in construction permits and land allocations—were arrested on bribery charges. The ACC has remained tight-lipped about the specifics of these cases, fueling speculation about the depth of corruption within the municipal administration.
This latest arrest is part of a broader pattern. In July, law enforcement detained the head of Yerevan’s Arabkir district, Aram Azatyan, on bribery charges—allegations he denies. Azatyan, reportedly a close ally of Avinyan, is now set to stand trial alongside 12 others. Similarly, in November, investigators raided the administration of Yerevan’s central Kentron district, leading to the arrest of four local officials on corruption-related charges.
Despite these mounting scandals, Avinyan, a senior member of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s ruling Civil Contract party, has not been publicly questioned in any of the investigations. As corruption cases continue to surface within his administration, concerns grow over whether these probes are addressing deep-rooted systemic issues—or merely scratching the surface.
