Updated: Document dated May 19, 2026 indicates Narek Karapetyan held Russian citizenship

The Fact Investigation Platform (FIP.am) has obtained a sealed and digitally signed document indicating that parliamentary candidate Narek Karapetyan held Russian citizenship as of May 19, 2026.

The document suggests that Karapetyan held Russian citizenship as of May 19, 2026.

As a reminder, on the evening of May 19, National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan published documents from Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities relating to the “Mospromekspluatatsiya” LLC. Screenshots released by Simonyan showed that Narek Karen (patronymic) Karapetyan was listed as a shareholder in the company and held Russian citizenship.

On May 20, Armenia’s Investigative Committee issued a statement indicating that Narek Karapetyan – parliamentary candidate and top candidate on the “Strong Armenia” party list – had concealed information about holding citizenship of a foreign state. Based on this, Armenia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs reported a crime to the Investigative Committee.

That same day, Karapetyan denied the allegations in a Facebook post. Later, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin also stated that Narek Karapetyan was not, and had never been, a Russian citizen.

Following Karapetyan’s statement, however, Simonyan said in another Facebook livestream that older records concerning Karapetyan had been removed from Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities. According to him, the relevant link was temporarily unavailable before an edited version of the records was republished in the registry.

The updated entry now states that Narek Karapetyan is a citizen of Armenia rather than Russia. The change was made on May 20.

What the document shows

FIP.am has obtained a document dated May 19, 2026 (page 3), bearing a seal and digital signature, identifying Narek Karapetyan as a Russian citizen.

In Russia, every taxpayer, including foreign nationals, is assigned a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). An online service allows users to determine a person’s TIN based on personal information. Through this system, Karapetyan’s TIN was identified as 772836376910. The query generates a digitally signed document sourced from Russian state agency.

Russia also runs a dedicated Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRUL), which provides information on the current status of legal entities upon request.

The document dated May 19, 2026 is an authentic extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, certified with the digital signature of the Federal Tax Service (FTS). The signature verification protocol is also at the disposal of FIP.am.

The signature can be verified through the egrul.nalog.ru platform and cross-checked using the e-trust verification service.

Documents suggest apparent constitutional violation by Karapetyan

Documents obtained by FIP.am indicate that Narek Karapetyan may have held citizenship of another country – in this case, Russia – during the past four years, which would be incompatible with the constitutional requirements for eligibility to serve as a member of Armenia’s National Assembly.

Article 48 of Armenia’s Constitution stipulates that everyone who has attained the age of twenty-five, has held citizenship of only the Republic of Armenia for the preceding four years, has been permanently residing in the Republic for the preceding four years, has the right of suffrage and has command of the Armenian language, may be elected as a Deputy of the National Assembly.

The EGRUL registry provides only the current status of a taxpayer at the time of the query and does not include a history of changes. However, FIP.am has also gained access to archived records concerning Karapetyan.

FIP.am has obtained four documents dating from 2023 to 2026 indicating that Narek Karapetyan held Russian citizenship. According to these records, Karapetyan possessed Russian citizenship at least since 2023.

Using Karapetyan’s TIN, it can be established that he has been listed as the founder of “Mospromekspluatatsiya” LLC since August 18, 2020. He was also the founder of “VOIG” LLC from March 29, 2023 until March 30, 2026.

When Narek Karapetyan became the founder of “Mospromekspluatatsiya” LLC on August 18, 2020, information regarding citizenship was not included, as Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities did not require such data at the time.

After citizenship disclosure became mandatory, founders’ citizenship data began appearing in updated registry entries. Information regarding Karapetyan’s citizenship first appeared on July 27, 2023.

The service also specifies the reason for the update: “Information regarding the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of founder Narek Karenovich Karapetyan – 772836376910 – has been added.”

In the archived copy of the July 27, 2023 extract, both Karapetyan’s TIN and citizenship status are listed as: “Citizen of the Russian Federation.”

In other words, according to Russian state records, Narek Karapetyan held Russian citizenship as of July 27, 2023.

Three additional documents indicating Karapetyan’s Russian citizenship are dated October 17, 2023; June 24, 2025; and May 19, 2026. These are substantively identical extracts issued on different dates.

Thus, one of the documents at the disposal of FIP.am, bearing a verified digital signature, contains a designation indicating that Karapetyan held Russian citizenship as of May 19, 2026.

Notably, this entry was removed from the Russian state agency’s platform after reports regarding Karapetyan’s citizenship began circulating in the media and were publicized by Alen Simonyan.

It is also known that, following the public controversy, the platform removed the entry and replaced it with an updated version changing Karapetyan’s citizenship status to: “Citizen of the Republic of Armenia.”

UPDATE

We deem it necessary to emphasize that in similar documents relating to “VOIG” LLC, founded in 2023, Narek Karapetyan’s citizenship had from the outset been listed as the Republic of Armenia. The same information appears in several other databases. However, this circumstance is not of particular significance, as Karapetyan’s Armenian citizenship itself is not in question.

It should also be noted that we were unable to identify data relating to Narek Karapetyan’s alleged Russian passport.

Read also: Exclusive documents indicate Samvel Karapetyan violated Armenia’s Constitutional ban on dual citizenship

Nane Manasyan
Roman Udot