Over the weekend, law-enforcement officers raided the offices of Armenia’s premier online taxi service, GG, and seized several computers. This action came shortly after the company’s founder, Khachatur Grigoryan, encouraged public participation in the ongoing anti-government protests in Yerevan.
A decade ago, Grigoryan established GG and has since been a vocal supporter of the demonstrations triggered by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s territorial concessions to Azerbaijan, spearheaded by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan. In a bold statement on Facebook on June 12, Grigoryan declared, “if you ARE ARMENIAN, if you want me to respect you when you say hello to me.”
The following day, Arayik Harutyunyan, the chief of Pashinyan’s staff, criticized Grigoryan’s call to action, labeling it “offensive” and “unacceptable,” adding, “I hope that business will understand after this subversive movement that such expressions only harm business and do not create any added value in our society.”
Responding to this, Armenia’s Investigative Committee conducted raids on both GG’s headquarters and the residences of its senior executives two days later, under the pretense of a tax evasion investigation initiated a year prior. As of Monday afternoon, no formal charges had been brought against Grigoryan or any of the company’s executives.
In a statement issued on Sunday, GG described the criminal proceedings as “baseless and illegal,” suggesting a direct link to the company’s “active civic stance.” A company lawyer stated that the raids were a direct “continuation” of Harutyunyan’s remarks, revealing that the seizure of nearly all office computers could severely disrupt business operations, which include truck and package delivery services.
Archbishop Galstanyan also denounced the raids, calling them politically motivated attempts to intimidate those involved in the “struggle for truth.”
The Investigative Committee, led by one of Pashinyan’s trusted associates, refuted any political motivations behind its actions. However, it did not clarify why there was a delay of a year before executing the raids.
Despite the upheaval, GG’s Chief Operating Officer, Haykaz Aghayan, said on Monday that the company’s operations were swiftly restored after more than 20 office computers were confiscated. “The problem was solved due to the fact that we operate all over the country, have several offices with equipment which we can use as a replacement. So we’ve brought in alternative equipment, and everything is going well at the moment,” said Aghayan, reports Azatutyun.
He also noted an increase in taxi driver registrations and app downloads following the crackdown, suggesting a surge in public support for the company amid these challenges.
