Armenian opposition accuses government of ZCMC seizure

Armenian opposition politician Narek Karapetyan on Sunday accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party of effectively turning the country’s largest mining enterprise into a partisan asset.

Addressing supporters in the southern city of Kapan, Karapetyan, a board member of the Strong Armenia party and its lead candidate in the June 7 parliamentary elections, questioned the government’s handling of the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC).

“They say the combine has been nationalized. Have you nationalized it, or turned it into a Civil Contract asset?” Karapetyan told the crowd.

He also accused the authorities of coercing teachers into attending the ruling party’s election campaign rallies, alleging that the current administration had adopted practices it once condemned while in opposition.

“What they once criticized has now come back to haunt them,” the politician said.

Karapetyan portrayed Strong Armenia as a youthful political force led by an already affluent figure rather than politicians who accumulate wealth after assuming office.

“For the first time in Armenia’s history, a leader is emerging who was already wealthy before entering politics,” he said, referring to businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan.

He further criticized the Pashinyan government for failing to establish a domestic copper-processing industry, arguing that Armenia continues to export raw materials abroad, particularly to China, only to import finished products later at higher cost.

“We are proposing qualitative change,” he said. “The mines of Kapan, Kajaran and wider Syunik Province should become the foundation of Armenia’s industrial renaissance.”

The opposition figure also defended Samvel Karapetyan against Defense Minister Suren Papikyan's recent remarks, stating that he had served in the military and provided substantial support to Armenia’s armed forces over the years.

In a pointed rebuke aimed at Pashinyan, Karapetyan noted that the prime minister had not served in the army and had visited the front only after the peak of the 2016 April war.