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Under the current Armenian government, which claims to fight the practice of favoring relatives, friends or associates, nepotism has now taken roots in the international arena, Pastinfo reports.

Citing the findings of its investigation, the media outlet says that a company representing Armenia’s interests in international arbitration cases is chaired by a fellow student of Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia’s Representative on International Legal Matters.

The Office of Armenia’s Representative on International Legal Matters previously told Pastinfo that immediately after its establishment in September 2019, the office made a decision not to hire a local law firm given that, among other things, advice on lawsuits concerning Armenia’s legal system was provided by the Department for the Protection of Armenia’s Interests in International Arbitration and Foreign Courts. The Armenian government has hired the international law firms CMS, Steptoe & Johnson, Alliance Law Partners, Baker McKenzie, Lalive and Foley Hoag to defend its interests in international arbitration cases.

"The standings of the applicant companies in the rankings for international legal consulting firms, as well as their presence in countries that play a key role, among other things, in terms of the place of arbitration and the enforcement of arbitration awards, are also taken into account. A focus is placed on the previous cooperation with the given company, especially if the new case is related to any previous dispute, where Armenia’s interstates were represented by the firm," the office noted.

Nevertheless, Pastinfo has revealed elements of corruption in the selection of those companies, stating the Foley Hoag co-chair has close ties with Yeghishe Kirakosyan.

“In particular, Foley Hoag co-chair Constantinos Salonidis and Yeghishe Kirakosyan were fellow students who studied together at the U.S. Georgetown University in 2009-2010,” the media outlet reported.

“Thus, it turns out that now Yeghishe Kirakosyan transfers a large sum of money to his fellow student at the expense of the Armenian state budget. The costs of representation in arbitration courts are quite high and could reach several hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Pastinfo stressed.