Armenia demands Russia extradite brother of ex-head of special services

Armenia has sent a petition to the Russian Federation for the extradition of Karen Vanetsyan, brother of Artur Vanetsyan, former head of the National Security Service.

The 55-year-old businessman, who holds Armenian and Swiss citizenship, was detained in the Russian capital on the evening of January 28. Back in 2018, the Armenian prosecutor's office opened a case against him under the article "Money laundering using official powers", and in November 2023 declared him wanted, Armenian media said citing the country’s Prosecutor General's Office, Caliber.Az reports.

According to the investigation, Vanetsyan bought for $15.5 million a 12.5 per cent stake in the Zangazur Copper-Molybdenum Combine, which actually belonged to the then Armenian Ambassador to the Vatican. The industrial tycoon allegedly enriched himself by $35 million as a result of all the illegal transactions.

A year ago, Karen Vanetsyan acquired the Russian business of the American agrotrader Bunge, an oil producer under the brands Ideal, Oleina and Maslenitsa. The deal lasted from September 2022 to February 2023. The businessman said that during the sale, the Americans threw off more than half of the value of the acquired assets, but did not name the exact amount. The authorized capital of his company after the purchase is 1.3 billion.

Armenian media and activists dissatisfied with Nikol Pashinyan's regime consider the case against Vanetsyan to be politically biased, created for the sake of gaining political points by the prime minister against the background of a fictitious fight against corruption.