Former CEO of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF), David Papazian, wrote on Facebook that the government itself derailed several of the projects developed by his founding team.
“Nikol Pashinyan, who gravely abused the trust of many of us, faces another failure. He won’t succeed in blaming us for his and his government’s disastrous mistakes and shortcomings, which derailed some of ANIF’s programs,” Papazian said.
The Prosecutor General’s Office has launched public criminal proceedings against Papazian under articles relating to forgery, computer theft, and money laundering. On August 15, 2025, the prosecutor initiated proceedings under the Criminal Code articles 457 (forgery of documents and seals), 277 (computer theft), and 296 (money laundering).
ANIF’s largest investment was in the national airline project Fly Arna, which is now in the process of liquidation. On March 20, 2024, Pashinyan told parliament that the market had changed after the COVID-19 pandemic, new players had entered, and Fly Arna could not withstand competition, leading to failure. The state had invested 4.8 billion drams in the project.
