Ahead of the local self-government elections to be held on 25 October 2026, the Azat Qve observation mission reviewed the asset and income declarations of the candidates and parties running for the Stepanavan community council: Civil Contract, Strong Armenia, Hanrapetutyun (Republic) and Gortsarar. The review was based on data published by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).
The mission reviewed the declarations of 155 candidates and 4 parties, 487 pages in total, and cross-checked them against the candidate lists, the declarations registry of the Corruption Prevention Commission and media reports.
Key findings:
- 29 of Civil Contract’s 50 candidates and 15 of Gortsarar’s 35 candidates work in municipal or state institutions, including community leadership and heads of public institutions;
- 13 candidates declared more than AMD 10 million in drams alone, and 17 also declared funds in foreign currency; in several cases, declared funds exceed declared annual income several times over;
- 14 candidates submitted entirely blank declarations, and 42 candidates in total declared zero income;
- 16 declarations contain obvious errors or omissions, inconsistencies with other official sources, or sums sharply disproportionate to declared income;
- Civil Contract and Strong Armenia declared donations of about AMD 1.53 billion and 1.45 billion respectively without naming donors, while Gortsarar, which nominated 35 candidates, submitted a declaration with zero figures;
- only one of the 155 declarations was filled in electronically; the rest are handwritten, scanned documents.
Article 8(5) of the Electoral Code requires candidates and parties to submit asset and income declarations, but provides no clear mechanism for comprehensive verification of the data. As a result, voters receive only a partial picture of candidates’ finances.
The report presents facts and inconsistencies identified in the declarations and in open sources. They are not legal assessments and should not be read as findings of violations. Candidates are referred to by their list number or position.
The full report (in Armenian), with an overview of each list, an analysis of administrative-resource and conflict-of-interest risks, selected cases and recommendations, is available for download below:
