Lawyer Roman Yeritsyan, commenting on discussions surrounding Artsakh Fruit, said that former Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan was not serving in office at the time and therefore was not informed about the fate of the funds.

Earlier, the Artsakh Information Headquarters stated that, in light of information circulating in public platforms regarding the withdrawal and use of 36 million drams from the account of Artsakh Fruit CJSC, a separate and detailed report would be presented by the Acting President of Artsakh.

“Given the broad public interest, I would like to clarify that I and our law office handled the court case aimed at lifting the freezes imposed on the bank accounts of Artsakh Fruit CJSC. ... I do not know how the funds were ultimately used, though I assume they were used for their intended purpose. Our involvement was limited to providing legal services at the request of the company’s director, with whom President Shahramanyan had no connection. Moreover, Samvel Shahramanyan was not holding office during that period and therefore was not even informed about the fate of the funds,” Yeritsyan wrote.

He noted that the court had found the blocking of the company’s funds unlawful and had ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

“We secured a final victory in the case in May 2026, when the Court of Cassation refused to accept for proceedings the cassation appeal filed by AraratBank CJSC. Accordingly, the information claiming that the money was withdrawn on the tenth day of Ashot Danielyan’s tenure does not correspond to reality. After the successful outcome of the case, I personally have no information regarding the withdrawal or use of the funds. I can only state that the bank did not allow Artsakh Fruit CJSC to carry out non-cash transactions, meaning cash withdrawal had no alternative.

I also declare that Artsakh Fruit CJSC had obligations to many Artsakh Armenians related to salaries, salary-equivalent payments, and liabilities arising from various transactions. Therefore, the legal services we provided were also intended to support Artsakh Armenians,” Yeritsyan wrote.

Arthur Osipyan, chairman of the Artsakh Revolutionary Party, has accused Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan of involvement in corrupt dealings and claimed that a 5 billion dram construction contract was awarded to Shahramanyan’s brother without a competitive tender.