Robert Amsterdam: Weaponization  of property rights threatens  Armenia`s future and security

ArmInfo. Property rights are not a political toy, as noted by international human rights activist and lawyer Robert Amsterdam.  He stated  that as an  international lawyer who has spent more than 40 years defending  individuals subjected to political persecution and state pressure, as  well as private company owners, he has repeatedly witnessed how  economic catastrophes begin.

"What is happening in Armenia today around the Electric Networks of  Armenia (ENA), the Yerevan Ararat Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory, Ararat  Cement, and Multi Wellness is familiar to me down to the smallest  detail. This is a classic case of creeping expropriation," Amsterdam  emphasized. When the government, for political reasons, questions the  activities of strategic and private companies, turns criminal and tax  proceedings into instruments of pressure, and transfers the  management of private assets to state bodies through the courts (even  amidst international arbitration decisions), this constitutes a  direct violation of property rights, according to the human rights  activist.

If these processes are not stopped, he believes they will result in  billions in losses at the expense of taxpayers. "International  arbitration courts (ICSID, UNCITRAL) do not tolerate politically  motivated expropriation. States that follow this path ultimately lose  and are forced to pay enormous compensation from the budget, that is,  from the pockets of their citizens," Amsterdam noted.

Furthermore, according to him, no serious international investor will  invest a single dollar in a country where the rules of the game  change for political reasons and private property can be seized at  any moment.

"ENA and other large companies are not just assets; they are the  economic backbone of the country.  "Turning property rights into an  instrument of political revenge is a blow not to individual  entrepreneurs, but to the future and security of Armenia," he said.