By Narine Ghalechian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — One month after President Vladimir Putin’s stern warnings to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian authorities have reportedly banned on sanitary grounds sales of Armenia’s most famous brand of mineral water.
A senior Russian official, Revaz Yusupov, told the RBC news agency on Tuesday, April 28, that the state consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor initiated the temporary ban, citing the need to “prevent possible harm to the life and health of Russian citizens.” In his words, some 338,000 bottles of water produced by Armenia’s Jermuk Group from February 17 through March 5 will be taken off the Russian market pending the findings of an ongoing safety inspection.
Jermuk sales were already blocked in Russia in late 2024 following the death of a man in the Russian city of Vladikavkaz who was said to have drunk the water. Russian health officials claimed at the time that it may have been contaminated with vinegar acid. The Armenian company ruled out such a possibility. A Russian law-enforcement agency reopened a criminal investigation into the death last week.
Armenia’s Food Safety Inspectorate said later in the day that it has not yet received any “official notifications” from the Russian side regarding the ban. A spokeswoman for the government agency told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that it is “taking measures to understand the situation and take appropriate steps.”
Jermuk Group did not immediately comment on the development. The company is controlled by Ashot Arsenyan, a wealthy businessman who used to be very close to former President Serzh Sarkisian but now has a warm rapport with Pashinyan’s political team. Arsenyan’s son Vahagn was investigated for draft evasion before being elected mayor of the town of Jermuk on the ruling Civil Contract party ticket in 2021. Pashinyan appointed Arsenyan Jr. as governor of the surrounding Vayots Dzor province last year.
