Armenia: The Ararat Cement Plant will soon be taken into public ownership, according to the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in comments made ahead of Armenia’s parliamentary elections on 7 June 2026. The 0.9Mt/yr plant is owned by Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), the country’s largest opposition party.
The Prime Minister said that the nationalisation was in response to the ‘uncovering’ of what he called ‘mafia schemes’ operated by Tsarukyan’s son-in-law Karapet Guloyan, saying "Very soon, the business backbone of PAP leader Tsarukyan, the Ararat Cement Plant, will become state-owned and will belong to the Republic of Armenia, because the mafia scheme of Guloyan has been exposed.”
Pashinyan said that the government has already received a letter from the prosecutor's office stating that this property is subject to nationalisation. The authorities will shortly appoint a manager for Ararat Cement.
"I congratulate all the employees of the Ararat Cement Plant on their release,” said the Prime Minister. “From this moment on, they no longer need to follow any instructions from Tsarukyan or Guloyan, because their employer is now the Republic of Armenia.”
The move to nationalise Ararat Cement follows a similar situation with electricity distribution licences owned by Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), which was taken into public hands in November 2025.
