Balasanian is the fifth person indicted over what the Investigative Committee calls an illegal privatization of municipal land by his family in 2014. Among the other suspects is his younger son Khachatur and Gyumri’s current Deputy Mayor Suren Janoyan. Both men are now under house arrest.
Balasanian Jr. was detained at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport last week as he was about to fly to the United States to visit his father who has reportedly been receiving medical treatment there.
The Investigative Committee spokesman, Gor Abrahamian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Thursday that the law-enforcement agency has instructed the Armenian police to track down Samvel Balasanian. He said the former mayor is accused of abuse of power and money laundering.
A lawyer for the Balasanian family refused to comment on the accusation. The current Gyumri mayor, Vardges Samsonian, and other political allies of the 70-year-old ex-mayor also remained silent about the criminal proceedings.
Balasanian, who is also a wealthy businessman, was first elected mayor of Gyumri in 2012. Although he decided not to seek another term in office in 2021, a bloc bearing his name participated in the last municipal elections and garnered most votes. But it fell short of a majority in the local council electing the mayor.
The Balasanian Bloc teamed up with Civil Contract, to install Samsonian, who is a relative of Balasanian, as new mayor. In return, two Civil Contract figures became deputy mayors.
They stepped down after the party led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian unexpectedly announced last December the end of the power-sharing arrangement. It said it does not want to be part of “shady governance,” implying that Balasanian is continuing to pull the strings in the city.
The ruling party has since made no secret of its desire to gain control of the municipal administration. The head of its Gyumri chapter, Karen Sarukhanian on Tuesday dismissed suggestions that the criminal charges levelled against Balasanian’s entourage are designed to facilitate such a power grab.
Civil Contract controls only 11 of the 33 seats in the Gyumri council, compared with 14 seats held by the Balasanian Bloc. The eight other councilors represent three opposition groups.
Pashinian’s party already managed to gain de facto control of the country’s third largest city, Vanadzor, in 2022 several months after being defeated in a local election. The election winner, Mamikon Aslanian, was arrested and prosecuted on corruption charges in December 2021. He was released from jail on bail in July this year.