Gagik Zarukjan

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Gagik Koljaji Zarukjan ( Armenian Գագիկ Կոլյայի Ծառուկյան , in scientific transliteration Gagik Caṙukyan , other spellings are Tsarukian, Tsarukyan, Tsaroukian, Tsaroukyan ; born November 25, 1956 in Arindsch (Առինջ) near Abovjan ) is an Armenian entrepreneur, politician ( blossoming Armenia ) and Sports official.

Life

Business and Political Activities

There is no official information about what activity he pursued in the time between leaving school and studying. In 1989, at the age of 32, he finished his studies at the Sports Science Institute in Yerevan . According to official information, he then worked for a year as a heating technician at the "Institute for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine Yerevan", according to other information he worked as a sports trainer. After that he was director of the "Armenia Company" until 1992. In 1992 Zarukjan founded the largest livestock farm in Armenia.

In 1996 Zarukjan acquired 29% of the shares in the Kotajk brewery in Abovjan . In 1997 he bought a measuring instrument factory there, a chemical factory in the capital Yerevan and created the furniture store chain "MEK". In 1998 he took over the majority of shares in "Aviaservice" (an airplane meal factory) and founded "Aviasnud". 1999–2002 he built the Multi Leon gas station network . In 2000 he combined his company empire into the so-called Multi Group , the name reflecting the large number of business areas. In 2002, the newly founded companies Multi Stone (business area is the mining and export of stone), the Yerevan brandy, wine and liquor factory Ararat were added to this group , and Zarukjan was also awarded the contract for the privatization of Araratzement (the largest cement factory in the South Caucasus ). In June 2005 the Multi Group is said to have comprised a good 40 companies.

In the presidential elections in the spring of 2003 he supported the eventual winner Robert Kocharyan . According to the official results, 100% voted for Kocharyan in Zarukjan's home village Arindsch. Zarukjan, who was independent at the time, ran for parliamentary elections on May 25, 2003 in a constituency in his home region and won the direct mandate to be awarded. As a MP, he enjoyed immunity and was a member of the Standing Committee on Defense, National Security and Home Affairs. He was comparatively seldom to be found in parliament.

On November 22, 2003, Nikol Pashinyan , then editor of the opposition daily Haykakan Zhamanak , bombed the car . The attack happened on the evening in front of the editorial building at a time when Pashinyan was usually on his way home. He accused Zarukjan of masterminding the attack, as the newspaper reported that Zarukjan was illegally cutting forests in Zechkadzor. Zarukjan denied all allegations.

After the Armenian team returned from the 2004 Summer Olympics without a medal, Zarukjan, who himself was 1996 world champion and 1998 European champion in arm wrestling , was elected chairman of the Armenian National Olympic Committee on November 22, 2004 . In his inaugural address, he said: “If I notice in 2007 that we don't have any athletes who can get first or second in European or World Championships, then I will have to think about buying Uzbek, Russian or Georgian athletes to get the Armenian ones To see the flag waving [at the 2008 Olympic Games]. "

In the second half of 2005, Zarukjan set a record absenteeism among MPs. He was absent from at least 171 out of 205 votes. He gave his business activities as the reason. In January 2006, Zakurjan announced that he would found the “ Blossoming Armenia ” party.

Zarukjan's income in 2006 is believed to have been an estimated $ 150 million. On March 31, 2006, ArmInfo announced that Zarukjan had sold his shares in the Kotajk Brewery for US $ 4 million to Pierre Castel, who accordingly owns 100% of the shares.

In the parliamentary elections on May 12, 2007, his party Blossoming Armenia won around 15% and entered the National Assembly with 24 members . Zarukjan again won his constituency, in which no opposing candidate had even run. He was re-elected five years later.

In April 2011, Zarukjan was admitted to the National Security Council of the Republic of Armenia by decree of the President Serzh Sargsyan .

In March 2015 Zarukjan resigned from his position as party leader of the Blossoming Armenia and announced his departure from politics. But in December 2016 he returned to the political stage of Armenia.

In the early parliamentary elections in Armenia in December 2018 , Zarukjan was elected to the National Assembly of Armenia as the candidate of Blooming Armenia. His party got 8 percent of the votes cast.

Relationship with the Nikol Pashinyan government

After the change of power in Armenia in May 2018, the new political leadership around Nikol Pashinyan began to take political and legal action against oligarchs who were close to the ex-presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan. Zarukjan, who also belonged to the inner circle of the former rulers, was initially spared from criminal prosecution. On the contrary, he played a key role in organizing the early parliamentary elections in December 2018, which gave Nikol Pashinyan and his " My Step Alliance " the victory they had hoped for. But with the intensification of the Covid-19 pandemic in Armenia in June 2020, critical voices about the Pashinyan government's negligent handling of the crisis became louder and louder. Zarukjan accused the government of failing to fight the pandemic and called for its resignation because of "inefficient measures". The National Assembly of Armenia then lifted his parliamentary immunity. Zarukjan was charged with bribery and corruption in the April 2017 general election . On June 18, Pashinyan even proposed that Zarukjan's party be banned from parliament entirely. Criticism of this approach was expressed by Donald Tusk , chairman of the European People's Party and former President of the European Council , when he spoke of "democratic backsliding" in Armenia.

Private

Zarukjan is married and has six children. He has his own zoo on his estate with bears, deer, a tiger and a lion. He practices various strength and martial arts at a high level (he was world champion in 1996 and European champion in arm wrestling in 1998 ).

Web links

Commons : Gagik Tsarukian  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ilia KHRENNIKOV: Southern Caucasus: Great Armenia ( Memento of December 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), February 23, 2006
  2. ↑ Emil Danielyan: ARMENIAN TAX COLLECTION 'KEEPS IMPROVING' , armenialiberty.org, June 30, 2005
  3. ↑ VOTING ENDS AMID FRAUD ALLEGATIONS by Emil Danielyan, Ruzanna Khachatrian, Karine Kalantarian, Shakeh Avoyan and Atom Markarian, armenialiberty.org, March 5, 2003
  4. ↑ 2004 World Press Freedom Review: Armenia ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on freemedia.at @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.freemedia.at
  5. ↑ Anna Saghabalian: NEW ARMENIAN OLYMPIC CHIEF READY TO 'BUY' FOREIGN ATHLETES , armenialiberty.org, November 22, 2004
  6. ↑ Astghik Bedevian: MILLIONAIRE MPS GET AWAY WITH ABSENTEEISM , armenialiberty.org, February 2, 2006
  7. ↑ Ruzanna Stepanian: PROMINENT OPPOSITIONIST SET TO LEAD ARMENIAN 'OLIGARCHIC' PARTY , armenialiberty.org, January 11, 2006
  8. ↑ Ilia KHRENNIKOV: Southern Caucasus: Great Armenia ( Memento of December 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), February 23, 2006
  9. ↑ Gagik Tsarukyan. In: National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. Accessed August 2, 2020 .
  10. ^ Gagik Tsarukyan joins the Armenian National Security Council. In: Panarmenian.net. April 22, 2011, accessed on August 2, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Гагик Царукян уходит из активной политики. In: Mediamax.am. March 5, 2015, accessed August 2, 2020 (Russian).
  12. ↑ Gagik Tsarukyan to Return to Armenian Politics. In: The Armenian Weekly. December 5, 2016, accessed on August 2, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Armenia election: PM Nikol Pashinyan wins by landslide. In: BBC. December 10, 2018, accessed on August 2, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Ani Mejlumyan: Armenian government moves against opposition figure. In: Eurasianet. June 15, 2020, accessed on August 2, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Mark Dovich: National Assembly Lifts Gagik Tsarukyan's Immunity, National Security Service Issues Arrest Warrant Amid Ongoing Criminal Investigations. June 17, 2020, accessed on August 2, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Pashinyan Proposes to ban "Prosperous Armenia" amidst international reactions to Tsarukyan's prosecution. In: Caucasuswatch. June 18, 2020, accessed on August 2, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Zarukjan, Gagik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tsarukian, Gagik; Tsarukyan, Gagik; Tsaroukian, Gagik; Tsaroukyan, Gagik; Dodi Gago
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Armenian politician, sports official and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Arindsch (near Abovjan )