Air Arabia to sue Armenia over Fly Arna dispute

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YEREVAN, July 19. /ARKA/. The oldest Emirati airline, Air Arabia, intends to file a lawsuit against Armenia, arbitration news website Global Arbitration Review reported on Friday./pp

The dispute concerns the Armenian national carrier Fly Arna, established as a joint venture between Air Arabia and ANIF in 2021, the outlet noted./pp

Previously, the Armenian government declared the Fly Arna airline project a failure. ANIF (which has also been liquidated due to financial problems) owned 49% of Fly Arna, with an equal share held by Air Arabia's 100%-owned subsidiary International Business Company, and the remaining 2% by Lebanese-Armenian businessman Varoujan Nercessian./pp

The state-owned Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) was established in 2019 to attract foreign investments under the Entrepreneur + State partnership model. ANIF's activities spanned renewable energy, agriculture, healthcare, services, and tourism./pp

In its first four years, the fund implemented ten investment projects in collaboration with Armenian and foreign investors./pp

However, about a year and a half ago, problems surfaced within ANIF, particularly with its 2022 financial statements and balance sheet due to discrepancies in documentation of the fund and its subsidiaries. In November 2023, the terms of ANIF chairman Tigran Avinyan and two other board members were prematurely terminated./pp

By late 2023, issues with reporting, transparency, and corporate governance were identified. Consequently, the government revised the fund’s mandate, reorganized its structure, and replaced its management team./pp

On May 23, 2024, the Armenian government decided to liquidate ANIF. The authority to manage the fund’s 100% state-owned shares was proposed to be transferred to the State Property Management Committee of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia./p br br