An investigative report by Infocom.am revealed that a significant portion of the campaign donations made to the ruling Civil Contract party ahead of Yerevan's municipal elections in September were of questionable origin. The contributions, ranging from 1 million to 2.5 million drams, the maximum allowable under Armenian law, were attributed to nominal donors, including individuals connected to senior government officials, business figures, and ordinary residents of Yerevan. Many of these residents claimed to be unaware of the substantial sums sent to Pashinyan's party on their behalf through a commercial bank owned by Khachatur Sukiasyan, a wealthy businessman and pro-government lawmaker.

Similar doubts arise even in the case of other, more affluent donors. Among them are five former officials from the Armenian Ministry of Emergencies. The 2.5 million drams donated by each of them represents a sum comparable to their annual salaries. Other donors are employed by companies owned by businessmen believed to have close ties to Armenia’s current leadership.

During his government’s question-and-answer session in the parliament on February 7, Armenian PM Pashinyan was questioned about the alleged campaign finance irregularities. He preferred not to address the donations flagged as suspicious by investigative journalists, although he refuted any claims of financial transparency within his party.

“Did the investigative reporters obtain that from intelligence services?”. It is a report based on information taken from the official websites of Armenian state bodies. Can transparency be any different from that?” Pashinyan stated. 

Pashinyan's referenced websites appear to lack details on campaign contributions to his party. Civil Contract consistently withheld its donor list despite repeated requests from journalists and civic organizations. Only after legal action by the Yerevan-based Center for the Freedom of Information in December did the ruling party agree to disclose the information.