Armenia’s Budget as the “Velvet” Government’s Private Cash Register: Lucas Leiros’ Investigation

There is one immutable pattern: the louder they shout about fighting corruption, the more closely one should watch who is managing the money and how. Because experience shows that slogans rarely coincide with reality, and sometimes even serve as its direct cover. Armenia’s history after 2018 belongs precisely to this category.

The April 13, 2026 publication by Brazilian journalist Lucas Leiros is, in this respect, not so much a sensation as an occasion to look at what is happening without revolutionary romanticism. His piece concerns a system formed around Nikol Pashinyan’s family which, if we are to believe the data presented and the testimonies of the sources, is quite effectively “appropriating” state resources.

Let us immediately note: this is not a court ruling, but a journalistic investigation based on sources, some of whom are anonymous. However, the problem is that when numbers, surnames, and the logic of processes coincide in such texts, it is no longer possible to dismiss them with a “this is all propaganda” attitude. There are simply too many coincidences.

Stagnation Instead of Purification

After the events of 2018, which entered the political vocabulary as the “Velvet Revolution,” Armenia was indeed carried around on people’s hands for some time, in the good sense of the word. International organizations recorded a decrease in the level of corruption, indices were rising, and public trust was also increasing. It seemed that this was the new model. However, as usually happens, the euphoria did not last long.

Already in 2021, according to the data cited by Leiros, the dynamics came to a halt. The Corruption Perceptions Index stopped at a level below 50 points, while trust in anti-corruption policy was reduced by almost half. And this is precisely the case when the absence of movement is worse than a decline. Because it means not a fight, but stabilization. But not stabilization of the anti-corruption system — stabilization of a system for the redistribution of corrupt financial flows.

“Atlix”: An Invisible Company with Visible Turnover

A central place in Leiros’ piece is occupied by the company “Atlix,” whose co-founder and CEO, according to his data, became the prime minister’s eldest daughter, Mariam Pashinyan, in September 2025. Formally, this is an entity without a public history, without a website, without accountability, and without a clear business model. In practice, however, if we are to believe the sources cited by the author, it is involved in multibillion-dram contracts.

Thus, in one of the episodes described, it is claimed that in a tender announced by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports for the technical inspection of 74 schools, “Atlix” was the only participant and received a contract worth approximately 1.2 billion drams (around $3 million). Moreover, according to anonymous informants, the actual work was allegedly carried out only partially, while a significant portion of the documents was template-based. These claims have not been confirmed by court decisions, but they occupy an important place in the overall picture described by the author.

Even larger figures are circulating in the context of cooperation with the ministries of high-tech industry and healthcare.

In the first case, the issue concerns access to financing programs worth billions of drams.

In the second case, it concerns “consulting services,” the value of which, according to information from sources, could have exceeded 20 billion drams (more than $50 million).

It is emphasized that the transparency of these contracts raises questions, while oversight of their implementation, according to the informants’ claims, is merely formal.

“Learning Is Fashionable,” or “Fashionable” Squandering of the Budget

A separate layer is formed by the “Learning Is Fashionable” movement, which is associated with Anna Hakobyan. Leiros claims that through it, “Atlix” received around 6 billion drams for consulting services between October 2025 and March 2026, which amounts to approximately $16 million. Moreover, the format of the events — closed meetings without complete video recordings — is considered by the author an indirect argument for non-transparent activity. Being closed in itself, of course, is not evidence of violations, but within the logic of the investigation, it fits into the overall pattern.

Old Names in New Schemes

The publication pays particular attention to businessman and former parliamentarian Samvel Aleksanyan, whom Leiros calls a key partner in the alleged operations. According to the version put forward by the sources, financial flows connected with “Atlix’s” activities could have passed through the offshore entity PASALBA LTD, registered in Cyprus.

It is precisely here that the most sensational claims appear: supplies of ferrous and precious metals worth around $69 million to the United Arab Emirates over the course of six months, and a possible connection to the illegal circulation of weapons — amounting to as much as $86 million.

A Revolution Against Corruption That Ended… in Corruption

What is most surprising in this whole story is not even the figures and surnames. What is most surprising is the contrast. The very contrast that, honestly, is already beginning to make your face twitch. Because only yesterday, from podiums, squares, and screens, they were telling us about the unwavering fight against corruption, about the new Armenia where “they will no longer steal,” about the bulwark of democracy and the triumph of the law. And today, if we are to believe the data that has been voiced, we are witnessing the opposite phenomenon — a system in which money is squandered at such a pace that the previous times begin to seem almost like an era of modesty.