An Armenian oligarch who US diplomats once compared to Donald Trump has spent tens of thousands courting UK Eurosceptic politicians over the past two years.

Gagik Tsarukyan MP is one of Armenia’s richest men, and his political party occupies the second largest number of seats in parliament. He has no known assets or interests in the UK.

Today, openDemocracy can reveal that Tsarukyan’s political party has used a loophole in UK political donation legislation to host over a dozen Conservative Eurosceptics at his luxurious Multi Grand hotel and casino complex outside Armenia’s capital, Yerevan. These politicians are on the free-market, Eurosceptic wing of the party.

Tsarukyan’s guests, who have been profuse in their praise of the tycoon, include Lord Maude, a former cabinet minister now in the House of Lords, former MP James Wharton and Lord Callanan, currently minister of state at the Department for Exiting the European Union. Since leaving government, Maude and Wharton have taken up positions as Brexit advisers in the private sector.

Every year, UK politicians take millions of pounds’ worth of overseas trips paid for by foreign governments and non-governmental organisations.

“The fact that these anti-European politicians regularly enjoy the hospitality of one of Armenia’s richest men raises serious questions about their actions and motives back home,” says Labour MP Ben Bradshaw. “British politicians should not be for hire, and these individuals should come clean about their involvement in Armenia.”

A 2018 report by Transparency International UK highlights an exemption in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act which permits donors without a strong link to the UK to pay registered individuals’ overseas travel expenses. This can lead to UK parliamentarians legitimising corrupt and repressive foreign governments via overseas trips, the organisation says.

Speaking to openDemocracy, Steve Goodrich, senior research officer at Transparency International UK, said: “It is prudent that parliamentarians undertake sufficient due diligence to ensure their status is not being used to burnish the reputations of those with something to hide.”

There is no evidence that the individuals entertained by Tsarukyan lobbied on his behalf or promoted his interests in the UK.

Apart from where stated, none of the politicians has responded for comment.

Tsarukyan’s ambition

Gagik Tsarukyan, 62, has built a business empire in Armenia comprising construction, mining, brandy and beer production, as well as hotels and casinos.

The Prosperous Armenia party, set up in 2004, is seen by many as a vehicle for Tsarukyan’s political ambitions. “From roughly 2012 to 2017, Tsarukyan was seen as the main political challenger to [president and later prime minister] Serzh Sargsyan,” says Emil Sanamyan, a fellow at the University of Southern California’s Institute of Armenian Studies.