Anti-Corruption National Initiative
ANTI-CORRUPTIONNATIONALINITIATIVE

The British Virgin Islands, Pepsi, and Armen Sarkissian

​The Pepsi project became not only one of the key assets of “Jermuk Group,” but also a point where the interests of representatives of big business and the country’s highest political leadership intersected. It was around this area that, several years later, publications emerged about the possible involvement of enthttps://armtimes.com/hy/article/51023ities linked to Armen Sarkissian, who would later become the President of Armenia.

​In 2014, information was being actively discussed in Armenian political and business circles that Armen Sarkissian, Armenia’s former prime minister and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom, who later became the country’s fourth president, had allegedly acquired 50% of the shares of “Jermuk Group.” Ashot Arsenyan publicly denied this information. Nevertheless, the rumors continued to be actively discussed, since a year earlier Armen Sarkissian had gained control over a large stake in Pepsi-Cola and the rights to manage the Pepsi brand in the South Caucasus, while in Armenia the sale of Pepsi products was already in the hands of the Arsenyan family.

​Arsenyan himself also denied any connection between Armen Sarkissian and the Pepsi project. However, when journalists reminded him that he himself had previously been involved in the sale of Pepsi products in Armenia, the businessman replied: “It belongs to my son.” When asked whether Armen Sarkissian had acquired a stake in that business, Arsenyan stated: “No, it is entirely ours.”

​A subsequent investigation by “Hetq” showed that there were indeed grounds for such assumptions. According to the publication, Armen Sarkissian controlled the group of “Highbury” companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. One of the companies in the group, “Highbury Food and Beverage Limited,” had held a 50% stake since 2013 in “Jermuk International Pepsi-Cola Bottler” LLC, owned by the Arsenyan family and engaged in the production of Pepsi beverages and natural juices.

In January 2017, the stake belonging to “Highbury” was transferred to another company registered in the British Virgin Islands, “Elsu Inc.,” which the “Hetq” investigators also linked to the Armen Sarkissian family.

Despite the public denials of reports about the sale of a stake in “Jermuk Group,” the “Hetq” investigation confirmed through documents the participation of companies linked to Armen Sarkissian in the Arsenyan family’s Pepsi project.

​Thus, the history of the Arsenyan family’s cooperation with the Pepsi project shows that the development of one of the largest areas of the business was accompanied by partnership with entities that the “Hetq” investigation linked to Armen Sarkissian, the future president of Armenia. The participation in this project confirmed by documents indicates the existence of joint commercial interests between the Arsenyan family and entities associated with the country’s future leader.

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