Samvel Karapetyan (businessman)

For the Armenian historian, see Samvel Karapetyan (author).
Samvel Karapetyan
Born (1965-08-18) August 18, 1965[1]
Kalinino,[1] Armenian SSR, USSR
EducationYerevan Polytechnic Institute
OccupationProperty developer
SpouseMarried
Children3
Awards

Samvel Karapetyan (Armenian: Սամվել Սարգսի Կարապետյան; Russian: Самвел Саркисович Карапетян; born August 18, 1965) is a Russian-Armenian billionaire businessman who owns the Tashir Group conglomerate.

Early and personal life

Samvel Karapetyan was born on August 18, 1965, in the town of Kalinino (now Tashir, Lori province) in the Armenian SSR.

Karapetyan graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Yerevan Polytechnic Institute in 1986.

He is married, with three children (two sons and a daughter), and lives in Moscow.[2][3] Karapetyan's son, Sarkis, and daughter, Tatevik, are top managers of Tashir. Tatevik also heads the area of cinema chain development.[4] He owns an 85 meter Lurssen superyacht named ACE.[5]

His brother, Karen Karapetyan, is a politician in Armenia from the Republican Party of Armenia and a former member of Armenia's parliament.[6]

In November 2017, he was appointed the president of the football club FC Ararat Moscow.[7]

Business and philanthropy

Karapetyan moved to Russia in the 1990s and in 1997, he became the president of the Kaluga-based Kalugaglavsnab OAO, which provides logistics services, particularly to Russia's state gas company Gazprom.[8] He then expanded into Moscow's real estate market.[8] In 1999, he established the Tashir Group, a conglomerate of industrial, construction, supply and delivery companies, hotels, restaurants and other firms numbering more than 200 in total and employing more than 30,000 people.[1][8]

Karapetyan's Tashir Group has made a number of investments and philanthropic endeavors in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh. Tashir Group owns two large shopping complexes in Yerevan, as well as a major Armenian electricity company, Electric Networks of Armenia, among other enterprises.[8] In 2013, Karapetyan financed the construction of a new hospital in Stepanakert, capital of the Republic of Artsakh.[9] At the end of October 2020, Karapetyan vowed to rebuild the maternity hospital of Stepanakert City that was destroyed by the Azerbaijani bombardment on October 28.[10] In September 2021, he announced that Tashir Group plans to invest $600 million to expand and modernize Armenia's energy sector.[11]

In June 2020, Karapetyan paid part of the 2 billion dram bail for ex-president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan's release from custody.[12]

Controversies

In January 2018 Karapetyan was named by the US Treasury Department in the Putin list, consisting of 114 senior political figures and 96 oligarchs, all of whom rose to prominence under Russian President Vladimir Putin.[13][14]

In April 2021, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan opened a criminal case against Karapetyan for allegedly illegally transporting weapons to Nagorno-Karabakh, which Karapetyan denied.[15] Karapetyan was arrested on 18 June 2025 for allegedly making public calls to usurp power, violating Part 2 of Article 422 of Armenia’s Criminal Code.[16] Karapetyan had publicly defended the Armenian Apostolic Church after Nikol Pashinyan accused Karapetyan and senior clergy members of undermining the state. Karapetyan said "A small group, having forgotten Armenian history and the millennia-old legacy of the Armenian Church, has attacked both the Church and the Armenian people. I have always stood with the Armenian Church and the Armenian people. If political leaders fail, we will intervene in our own way".[17] Pashinyan stated that it was "likely" that the Russian government was using Karapetyan to wage a "hybrid operation" in the "hybrid war" against the Armenian government, and trying to find a "Ivanishvili 2.0" for Armenia.[18]

After Karapetyan's arrest, Russia said it "[did] not wish to interfere in Armenia’s internal affairs, but [are] watching everything related to a Russian national with the utmost attention". Karapetyan said from prison that his arrest was done at behest of the Azeri government, which had issued an arrest warrant for him four years ago. He said the government had destroyed Armenia's external security, ruined relations with Russia and with its military partners and "sold the public illusions" about "dreams of peace".[18] Former president Robert Kocharyan denounced the arrest as a "national disgrace" and described Pashinyan's actions as "anti-national and unlawful".[18] Tigran Abrahamyan, secretary of I Have Honor Alliance said the arrest appears to be aimed at removing support for the Church and "will achieve nothing."[18]

A week after his arrest, primate Bagrat Galstanyan was arrested and charged with plotting a coup to overthrow Pashinyan 's government with a group of ~1,000 ex-military and police loyal to him.[19]

Awards

In 2011, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan awarded Karapetyan with the Mesrop Mashtots Medal "for significant contribution to the promotion of national interests, long term and fruitful pro-Armenian activities, dedication to the development and advancement of the Republic of Armenia and provided services."[20]

Wealth

According to Forbes, his net worth in September 2021 was estimated at $5 billion.[21] In March 2013 Karapetyan became the richest ethnic Armenian in the world, overtaking Armenian-American businessman Kirk Kerkorian.[22][23]

Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Wealth ($ billion) 0,75 1,4 1,6 3,8 4,3 4,0 3,1 3,4 3,7 3,7 2,5 3,3 1,1 2,7 2,9
Ranking (in the world) 879 804 353 345 418 549 564 606 568 836 1143

References

  1. ^ a b c "Самвел Карапетян Биография". Vedomosti (in Russian). Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Հպարտ եմ, որ հայ եմ. Սամվել Կարապետյանի զրույցը Forbes-ի հետ". CivilNet (in Armenian). 16 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Forbes profile: Samvel Karapetyan". Forbes. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Samvel Karapetyan". forbes.com. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  5. ^ TARMAC, L'AMI DU (2020-07-09), ACE 85M 2012 Lürssen Yachts Owner Samvel Karapetyan Russia For sale EUR145 millions 09 07 20 Golfe de St Tropez, retrieved 2021-08-13
  6. ^ "Sargsyan appoints brother of billionaire as new Armenian PM | The Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin". Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  7. ^ Президентом ФК ”Арарат” избран Самвел Карапетян (in Russian). FC Ararat Moscow. 17 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d Danielyan, Emil (2017-11-02). "Russian-Armenian Tycoon Expanding Influence in Armenia". eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  9. ^ "Tashir group invests USD 22 mln in new medical center in Stepanakert". mediamax.am. 2013-09-24. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  10. ^ "Tycoon Samvel Karapetyan vows to rebuild Stepanakert hospital after Azeri air strike". armenpress.am. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  11. ^ "Samvel Karapetyan plans to invest nearly 600 million USD in Armenia's energy sector". armenpress.am. 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  12. ^ "Российские бизнесмены выплатили залог за экс-президента Армении". РБК. 20 June 2020.
  13. ^ Sheena McKenzie, Nicole Gaouette and Donna Borak (30 January 2018). "Full list of Russian oligarchs released by US". CNN. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  14. ^ "Samvel Karapetyan and Danil Khachaturov in US black books". arka.am. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  15. ^ "Tashir group of companies says Azerbaijani accusations against Samvel Karapetyan are outrageous". arka.am. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  16. ^ Novruz, Akbar. "Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan arrested in Yerevan". Azer News. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  17. ^ Minoyan, Hoory. "Armenian authorities target businessman Samvel Karapetyan amid church dispute". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  18. ^ a b c d "Moscow attempting 'Ivanishvili 2.0' operation in Armenia, says analyst". JAM.news. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  19. ^ Papachristou, Lucy. "Armenia arrests archbishop over alleged coup plot". Reuters. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  20. ^ "President Serzh Sargsyan attended the ceremony of inauguration of the research compound of Matenadaran - Domestic visits - Updates - The President of the Republic of Armenia". www.president.am. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  21. ^ "Samvel Karapetyan". Forbes. 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  22. ^ "Russian-Armenian beats U.S.-Armenian on latest Forbes billionaire list". ArmeniaNow. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  23. ^ "World's richest Armenians according to Forbes; Kerkorian no longer leads list". Tert.am. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
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