Meghri Mayor Khachatur Andreasyan, a member of Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, is among eight people detained in a bribery investigation, Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee confirmed on September 9.

The case concerns alleged giving and receiving of bribes. The head of the Syunik regional division of the Eco-Patrol Service is also among those detained. Authorities have not yet released further details.

Andreasyan’s detention comes less than two months before Meghri’s October 25 municipal elections.

In the 2021 Meghri elections, Andreasyan came to power through a deal between Aram Sargsyan’s Republic Party and Samvel Babayan’s Liberal Party. Under the power-sharing arrangement, he took over as mayor in May 2024 as a Liberal Party representative.

He later left the Liberal Party and joined Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, and now heads its Meghri territorial organization.

His position within Civil Contract was reportedly already uncertain ahead of the October vote. Hraparak reported in August that local party figures had told Pashinyan that Andreasyan lacked broad support in Meghri and that Civil Contract was considering other candidates.

Andreasyan has also been in an open political dispute with former Meghri mayor Bagrat Zakaryan, who heads the Republic Party faction in the council. Zakaryan previously filed complaints with the Anti-Corruption Committee seeking scrutiny of municipal projects carried out during Andreasyan’s tenure.

The election comes as Meghri takes on growing strategic importance because of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP, which is planned to pass through the area and connect mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhijevan.

Andreasyan has publicly backed TRIPP and promoted its expected economic benefits for Meghri.

Just days before his detention, he participated in talks in Meghri with U.S. and Armenian officials and representatives of U.S. engineering firm AECOM involved in the project’s implementation. Photographs from the September 1-2 visit show Andreasyan taking part in the discussions.