Samvel Sargsi Karapetyan (; ; born August 18, 1965) is an Armenian-Russian billionaire businessman who owns the Tashir Group conglomerate.
Karapetyan was born on August 18, 1965, in the town of Kalinino (today Tashir) in the Lori region of Soviet Armenia. He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Yerevan Polytechnic Institute in 1986.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Karapetyan moved to Russia and in 1997, he became the president of the Kaluga-based Kalugaglavsnab OAO, which provides logistics services, particularly to Russia's state gas company Gazprom. He then expanded into the real estate market of Moscow. In 1999, he established the Tashir Group, a conglomerate of industrial, construction, supply and delivery companies, hotels, restaurants and other firms numbering more than 200 in total and employing more than 30,000 people.
One of the most prominent philanthropists in post-Soviet Armenia, Karapetyan is also one of the largest benefactors of the Armenian Apostolic Church. His Tashir Group has made a number of investments both in the Armenian Republic and the then-Republic of Artsakh. Tashir owns two large shopping complexes in Yerevan, as well as a major Armenian electricity company, Electric Networks of Armenia, among other enterprises. In 2013, Karapetyan financed the construction of a new hospital in Stepanakert, capital of the Republic of Artsakh. During the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Karapetyan vowed to rebuild the maternity hospital of Stepanakert that was destroyed by the Azerbaijani bombardment on October 28, 2020. In September 2021, he announced that Tashir Group plans to invest $600 million to expand and modernize Armenia's energy sector.
In November 2017, Karapetyan was appointed the president of the football club FC Ararat Moscow, which represented the Armenian diaspora in Russia. In June 2020, he paid part of the 2 billion dram bail for ex-president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan's release from custody.
In February 2026, the Strong Armenia party was formed to contest the June parliamentary election, with Karapetyan announced as party leader and candidate for Prime Minister. To assume office, Karapetyan would need to renounce foreign citizenships and secure the support of two-thirds of parliament to remove the residency requirement. KarapetyanâÂÂs speech at the party conference was done delivered through the use of artificial intelligence to comply with a court gag order.
In January 2018, Karapetyan was named by the US Treasury Department in the Putin list, consisting of 114 senior political figures and 96 oligarchs, all of whom rose to prominence under Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In April 2021, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan opened a criminal case against Karapetyan for allegedly illegally transporting weapons to Nagorno-Karabakh, which Karapetyan denied. Karapetyan was arrested by Armenian authorities on 18 June 2025 for allegedly making public calls to usurp power and transporting military equipments, violating Part 2 of Article 422 of Armenia's Criminal Code. Karapetyan had publicly defended the Armenian Apostolic Church. He stated that "a small group, having forgotten Armenian history and the millennia-old legacy of the Armenian Church, has attacked the Armenian people. I have always stood with the Armenian people. If political leaders fail, we will intervene in our own way." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan alleged that the Russian government was using Karapetyan to wage a "hybrid operation" in the "hybrid war" against the Armenian government, and trying to find a "Ivanishvili 2.0" for Armenia.
After Karapetyan's arrest, Russia said it "[did] not wish to interfere in ArmeniaâÂÂs internal affairs, but [are] watching everything related to a Russian national with the utmost attention." Karapetyan said from prison that his arrest was done at behest of the Azeri government, which had issued an arrest warrant for him four years ago. He said the government had destroyed Armenia's external security, ruined relations with Russia and with its military partners and "sold the public illusions" about "dreams of peace." Former president Robert Kocharyan denounced the arrest as a "national disgrace" and described Pashinyan's actions as "anti-national and unlawful." Tigran Abrahamyan, secretary of I Have Honor Alliance said the arrest appears to be aimed at removing support for the Church and "will achieve nothing."
A week after his arrest, primate Bagrat Galstanyan was arrested and charged with plotting a coup to overthrow Pashinyan's government with a group of ~1,000 ex-military and police loyal to him.
In 2011, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan awarded Karapetyan with the Mesrop Mashtots Medal "for significant contribution to the promotion of national interests, long term and fruitful pro-Armenian activities, dedication to the development and advancement of the Republic of Armenia and provided services."
According to Forbes, his net worth in September 2021 was estimated at $5 billion. In March 2013 Karapetyan became the richest ethnic Armenian in the world, overtaking Armenian-American businessman Kirk Kerkorian.
Karapetyan is married, with three children (two sons and a daughter). Karapetyan's son, Sarkis, and daughter, Tatevik, are top managers of Tashir. Tatevik also heads the area of cinema chain development. He owns an 85 meter Lurssen superyacht named ACE.