Sargsyan's brother returns $18.5 million to Armenian government

Brother of ex-president Armenian Serzh Sargsyan, Aleksandr Sargsyan, has made $18.5 million payment to the Armenian government budget.

Civilnet reported that the amount was mentioned in a response to its written inquiry sent to the office of the Prime Minister.

In September, then acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Aleksandr Sargsyan pledged to withdraw $30 million he kept in a local bank and return the amount to the state budget.

Pashinyan said it was the money Aleksandr Sargsyan extorted from local businesses during his brother Serzh Sargsyan’s 2008-2018 rule. He claimed that Armenian businessmen were forced to give Aleksandr 50% stakes in their lucrative firms.

The Office of Prime Minister said that during the investigation into criminal cases initiated against Alexander Sargsyan, the latter voluntarily donated the amount equivalent to $18.5 million to the state budget, ARKA reported.