Armenian MP asked the country`s Ministry of High Technologies to  verify the accuracy of information on the acquisition of Caucasus  Online LLC by Azerbaijani 

ArmInfo.Ani Samsonyan, a member of the Armenian parliament from the Bright Armenia faction, applied to the RA Ministry of High Technologies with a request to  check the reliability of the information that the Azeri company  Neqsol Holding became the owner of 100% of Caucasus Online LLC.

"According to Georgian press reports, Nasib Hasanov from Azerbaijan  bought the remaining 51% of Caucasus Online LLC. It is noted that he  previously acquired 49% of the company's shares. It is known that  this Georgian company provides 85% of Internet traffic in Armenia,  50% in Azerbaijan and 55% in Georgia.

This information caused concern of the Armenian public as the  acquisition of a large share of the company by a representative of a  hostile state can create problems for Armenia. I applied in writing  to the RA Ministry of High Technologies with a request to check the  reliability of this information and tell whether there may be a  problem with the security of the RA if the information is confirmed  ", wrote Samsonyan on her Facebook page.

Earlier, businessformula.ge reported that the owner of Caucasus  Online LLC Khvicha Makatsaria sold the remaining 51% of the shares of  the company to the Azerbaijani company Neqsol Holding. As a result of  the deal, Azerbaijani businessman Nasib Hasanov became 100% owner of  the company.

At the same time, the portal writes that this deal was also not  coordinated with the Georgian Communications Commission. Accordingly,  the commission considers Hasanov to be the illegal owner of <Caucasus  Online>. Since 2008, <Caucasus Online> has been the sole owner of a  1200 km long submarine fiber-optic cable, built by Tyco Electronics,  which provides transit Internet delivery from Europe to the South  Caucasus and the Caspian Sea region. Fiber optic cable is located at  the bottom of the Black Sea, which allows direct delivery of high  quality Internet from Europe to Asia.

For this very purpose, in 2019 Nasib Hasanov acquired from the owner  of <Caucasus Online> Khvicha Makatsaria a 49% stake in International  Online Networks LLC. The deal took place offshore, in particular in  the British Virgin Islands.

As Business Georgia wrote in August last year, Hasanov initiated an  unprecedented project in the South Caucasus. He wants to connect  China to Europe via a fiber-optic cable that runs through our region.  For this, he is negotiating with Georgia and Kazakhstan. According to  the project, the cable, which goes to Georgia from Europe, will pass  through Azerbaijan, further along the bottom of the Caspian Sea and  connect to the infrastructure in Kazakhstan, thereby connecting  Shanghai with Frankfurt, and the South Caucasus will be part of this  significant project.

The project runs counter to Russian interests, since China is  currently actively using Russia's terrestrial telecommunications  infrastructure for its Internet connection with Europe. In addition  to China, the trans- Caspian project makes it possible to sell the  Internet also in Central Asia and India.