Pashinyan Sacked International Legal Affairs Chief

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan dismissed Liparit Drmeyan, head of the Office of the Representative for International Legal Affairs, on August 29, 2025, Orda.kz reports, citing Civil Net.

The move came after rejecting an emergency ruling from the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal. The tribunal had ordered Armenia to halt its moves to seize the country’s sole power distributor, Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA).

The dispute centers on ENA, owned by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. He was arrested on June 18, 2025, on charges of calling for the government’s overthrow shortly after voicing support for the Armenian Apostolic Church.

On August 15, Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court extended his detention by two months, and in early September, an appeal against the extension was denied, according to NewsArmenia.

Following Karapetyan’s arrest, parliament advanced legislation allowing regulators to revoke ENA’s license and appoint state administrators without court approval. Critics warned that the move appeared to be retaliation and could harm Armenia’s investment climate, potentially triggering costly arbitration.

At his August 29 press conference, Pashinyan said: 

I am the government … no one can have a position that contradicts my position. If there are people in the government who have a stance that contradicts my own, they should write their resignation and leave the buildings immediately, and if not, I will remove them myself.

Drmeyan’s office had previously concluded that the arbitration ruling was legally binding.