Civil Contract Party

The Civil Contract party was founded in 2015 and is the ruling political party in Armenia. The party is chaired by Nikol Pashinyan, who has served as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia since 2018. Pashinyan is listed in the party's beneficial ownership declaration as the official responsible for overseeing the party's general and ongoing activities.

Pashinyan was first elected Prime Minister in 2018 following Armenia's Velvet Revolution. Later that year, he resigned to dissolve parliament and call for new elections, which took place in December 2018. After the parliamentary elections, Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister for the second time.

Following the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020 and the ensuing political crisis in Armenia, Pashinyan resigned again on April 25, 2021, to pave the way for snap elections. The elections were held on June 20, 2021, in which the Civil Contract party won a parliamentary majority, and Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister for the third time. The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2026.

The Civil Contract party founded the online news website Civic.am, which operates as the party's mouthpiece. According to the party charter, the party has the right to establish mass media outlets and publishing houses in accordance with the law. The website is funded by the party budget and does not operate for profit. Civic.am does not disclose its ownership by the party on its website and contains no About Us section with information about its founder or editorial staff.

Notable journalistic investigations have revealed concerns about the funding of the Civil Contract party. In 2024, CivilNet and Infocom found that some individuals listed as donors in 2022 were unaware that donations had been made in their names. Many of the supposed donors did not have the financial means to make such contributions, and in some cases, donation amounts exceeded legally permitted limits.

According to these investigations, some party supporters or local self-government election candidates made donations on behalf of others. Prime Minister Pashinyan acknowledged that there was a problem but described it as political rather than criminal, and criticized journalists for not scrutinizing other parties' reports in the same way. Notably, Infocom.am obtained the Civil Contract party's financial report through a court order.

Law enforcement agencies launched two criminal cases related to these revelations on charges of accepting large-scale illegal donations, exceeding the maximum donation limit, and receiving donations from unauthorized sources. One of the cases has been terminated, while the other remains under investigation.

Media Outlets

Civic.am
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Facts

Affiliated Interests Family & Friends	Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Pashinyan is a journalist turned politician who founded Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper in 1999 and served as its editor-in-chief until 2012. From 2006 to 2008, he also served as director of Dareskizb LLC, the company that owns armtimes.com. He became Prime Minister of Armenia in 2018 following the Velvet Revolution.Since 1992, Pashinyan worked with various newspapers. In 1998, he founded the daily newspaper Oragir, which was shut down by court order in 1999 for political reasons. During his journalistic career, several criminal cases were initiated against him on charges of defamation and insult. In August 1999, he was sentenced to one year of conditional imprisonment. At the request of the international and Armenian journalistic community, the appellate court postponed execution of the sentence for one year, which resulted in the imprisonment not being carried out. Pashinyan began his political career as an opposition figure by participating in the founding of the Alternative socio-political movement in 2006. In the 2007 parliamentary elections, he was the top candidate on the Impeachment alliance list. During the 2008 presidential elections, he served as a member of Levon Ter-Petrosyan's campaign headquarters. After the events of March 1, 2008, he went into hiding for one year and four months while wanted by law enforcement. On July 1, 2009, he voluntarily surrendered to the prosecutor's office and was arrested. In January 2010, he was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of organizing mass disturbances. After serving one year and eleven months, he was released on May 27, 2011, under an amnesty. Following his release, he was elected to the National Assembly in the 2012 parliamentary elections on the proportional list of the Armenian National Congress alliance. In 2013, he founded the Civil Contract public-political association, which became a party in 2015. In the April 2, 2017 parliamentary elections, he was again elected to the National Assembly on the Yelk alliance's electoral list. From May 2017, he served as head of the Yelk parliamentary faction. In 2018, Pashinyan launched the My Step movement, which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan following the Velvet Revolution. Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister of Armenia and is currently serving his third term, which will conclude in 2026. His Civil Contract party is preparing to participate in the 2026 elections.

Data Unavailable	ownership data is not publicly available, company/channel denies the release of information or does not respond, no public record exists
Headlines	(Armenian) They Said It, They Did It: Suspicious Transactions and the Unknown Origin of Funds in Civil Contract's Pre-Election Donations, 2024, infocom.am, accessed 06.10.2025 (Armenian) Refutation Regarding the Publication About Artur Vanetsyan in the Zhamanak Newspaper, 2019, sns.am, accessed 04.10.2025
Meta Data	Information about the Civil Contract party and its leadership is derived from public records, party documents, and media reports. Information about the party's ownership of Civic.am was obtained from court documents in the Judicial Information System, where the party was listed as defendant with the notation Civic.am news website in parentheses. MOM Team confirmed this ownership through direct contact with Civic.am editorial staff. The party does not publicly disclose its ownership or operation of Civic.am on the outlet's website. Civic.am contains no About Us section identifying its founder or explaining its relationship to the Civil Contract party. The party's 2024 financial reports contain no itemized information regarding Civic.am's operational expenses. Notable journalistic investigations into the party's funding practices were conducted by CivilNet and Infocom in 2024. Infocom.am obtained the Civil Contract party's financial report through a court order, indicating that such information is not routinely made publicly available.
Sources	State Register of Legal Entities of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, accessed 04․08․2025 The State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia, accessed 04․08․2025 The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, accessed 04․08․2025 Judicial Information System, accessed on 04.08.2025
Documents (PDF)	Civil Contract party profile (Armenian) File Civil Contract party Beneficial ownership declaration (Armenian) File Civil Contract party CEO (Armenian) File Civil Contract party charter (Armenian) File Civil Contract party financial report (Armenian) Link File MOM request to Civic.am (Armenian) File