Taron Margarjan

Taron Margarjan

Taron Andraniki Margarjan ( Armenian Տարոն Անդրանիկի Մարգարյան ; born April 17, 1978 in Yerevan , Armenian SSR , Soviet Union ) is an Armenian politician ( Republican Party ) and was Lord Mayor of the capital Yerevan from 2011 to 2018 .

Parental home, education and job

Taron Margarjan is the son of Andranik Margarjan , who was Armenian Prime Minister from 2000 to 2007 . He grew up with two sisters. His father had been a member of the National United Party since 1968, which operated underground from 1967 to 1987. In 1974 Taron Margarjan's father was arrested and imprisoned for two years for criticizing the Soviet totalitarian regime and for speaking out in favor of an independent, democratic Armenia. Taron Margarjan's father was a computer technology engineer and after his imprisonment worked in senior positions in the Armenian computer industry in Yerevan. His father died of a heart attack in 2007 at the age of 55.

Taron Margarjan graduated from School No. 177 in Yerevan Awan District in 1995 as an external student. In the same year he began to study at the Armenian Academy of Agricultural Sciences , which he graduated in 2001. At that time he and his wife already had three children.

From 2001 to 2003 he worked on the committee of the real estate cadastre of the Yerevan district of Nor Nok . In 2003 he was appointed deputy head of the Bioresource Management Agency in the Armenian Ministry of Environment.

Political career

Taron Margarjan joined the Republican Party of Armenia in 1996 at the age of 18.

In 2005, at the age of 27, he was elected mayor of Yerevan's Awan District as a member of the party. In 2008 he was re-elected.

On May 31, 2009 Margarjan was elected to the council of elders of the Armenian capital and on July 7, 2009 was appointed First Deputy Mayor of the metropolis.

Mayor of Yerevan

On October 28, 2011, after a number of controversial decisions, the mayor of Yerevan, Karen Karapetjan, who was elected the previous year, resigned from his office. Taron Margarjan was First Deputy Mayor at that time and replaced Karapetjan as acting Mayor. The election of Margarjan by the council of elders took place on November 15, 2011.

For the local elections on May 5, 2013 Taron Margarjan was elected by the Republican Party for the office of Mayor of Yerevan. The Republican Party won an absolute majority. Margarjan was confirmed in office in the local elections on May 14, 2017.

During his tenure, schools were renovated and rebuilt, the heating systems in schools and kindergartens were renewed, and the use of the kindergartens was made free of charge. Numerous parks were renovated. The Yerevan Zoo was renewed with a development program from 2011 to 2015. This was the first redevelopment of the zoo since it opened in 1940. In addition, streets were redeveloped to a considerable extent during Margarjan's tenure. Several bypass roads have been built with the help of the Asian Development Bank . In addition, several connecting roads were built, for example between Leningradstrasse and Admiral-Isakow-Strasse and between Ulnetzistrasse and Rubinjantstrasse. In addition, the street lighting was converted from mercury vapor lamps to LED lights for around EUR 5 million .

Taron Margarjan pursued a controversial urban development policy. In particular, he was criticized for demolishing several old buildings, for example the Pakshuka market ( Armenian Փակ շուկա ) and the demolition of the No. 1 press house . For a long time, the pricing policy for local public transport gave rise to controversy. Waste disposal was also criticized for a long time until it was privatized in 2015. The Lebanese company Sanitek exchanged the decades-old garbage cans for modern plastic containers and began to introduce disposal on a 24-hour basis. In addition, the planning for a new landfill has started. During the first few years of Taron Margarjan’s term of office, there were several demonstrations in front of the Yerevan City Hall by families who had to live in apartment buildings that had been demolished. With the help of a housing program, 650 families were able to move into new apartments.

During his tenure, Taron Margarjan intensified international cooperation. Yerevan had 24 twin cities at the end of his tenure.

Protesters stormed the Yerevan City Hall during the Velvet Revolution in April 2018. They accused the charity "Chut" ( Armenian Խութ ) , founded by Taron Margarjan in 2005 and since then led by him, of corruption and money laundering. In June 2018, a video was published in which Margarjan’s assets were disclosed, the legal origin of which has been questioned. In 2016, Margarjan reported his assets to the Armenian Ethics Committee as 250,000,000 AMD, 500,000 USD and 500,000 EUR (adjusted for inflation, this is around 6,300,000 EUR in 2020). As a result, Taron Margarjan resigned from the office of Mayor of Yerevan on July 9, 2018. New elections have been scheduled for July 16, 2018.

Private life

Taron Margarjan is married to Gohar Sargsjan. Her brother Robert Sargsyan (Republican Party) was a member of the Armenian Parliament until 2018 . The couple have six children, a daughter and five sons.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Taron A. Margaryan. In: anau.am. Armenian National Agrarian University, accessed July 12, 2018 . 
2. ^ Sarkissian a choisi le nouveau maire d'Erevan. Nouvelles d'Arménie Magazine, November 2, 2011, accessed November 2, 2011 (French). 
3. ^ Taron Margaryan assumes responsibility of Yerevan mayor. ArmeniaNow.com, November 1, 2011, accessed November 1, 2011 . 
4. ^ Gajane Mkrtchjan: Official: Margaryan formally named Mayor of Yerevan. ArmeniaNow.com, November 15, 2011, accessed November 15, 2011 . 
5. ↑ Taron Margaryan has been elected Mayor of Yerevan. In: yerevan.am. Information and Public Relations Department of the City Hall of Yerevan, November 15, 2011, accessed July 13, 2018 . 
6. ^ The 2013 Yerevan Municipal Election Campaign in Online Media Coverage. Monitoring Report (April 7 - May 3, 2013). (PDF; 1.12 MB) In: foi.am. June 1, 2013, p. 12 , accessed on July 13, 2018 (English). 
7. ↑ Information on current results of voting according to the lections of Yerevan Council of Aldermen of May 5, 2013 (preliminary). (XLS; 161 kB) In: res.elections.am. Central Electoral Commission oF RA, May 6, 2013, accessed July 3, 2018 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Yerevan’s Embattled Mayor Resigns. In: azatutyun.am. July 9, 2018, accessed July 13, 2018 . 
9. ↑ “The aim of the policy adopted by the Municipality of Yerevan is to provide proportional development of Yerevan” Taron Margaryan. In: yerevan.am. Information and Public Relations Department of the Municipality of Yerevan, November 4, 2014, accessed July 14, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Reconstructed Yerevan Zoo has started its new season on the 1st of June. In: yerevan.am. Information and Public Relations Department of the City Hall of Yerevan, June 1, 2015, accessed July 14, 2018 . 
11. ↑ Modernization of street lighting system in Yerevan will cost $ 6 million. In: arka.am. October 15, 2015, accessed on July 14, 2018 . 
12. ↑ Armenia PM on printing-house building demolition: Is this a firing range for you or what? In: news.am. October 31, 2016, accessed July 14, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Sanitek to offer garbage removal services in all Yerevan - banks.am. In: banks.am. August 19, 2015, accessed July 14, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Ավանում մեքենաներ ջարդած և մարդկանց ծեծի ենթարկած խումբը կապված է Տարոն Մարգարյանի հետ. sut.am. In: epress.am. April 28, 2018, accessed July 13, 2018 (Armenian). 
15. ↑ Video on YouTube, June 25, 2018, accessed July 13, 2018 ( Armenian ).
16. ^ Taron Margarjan: Taron Margaryan's message to Yerevan residents. In: yerevan.am. July 9, 2018, accessed July 13, 2018 . 
17. ↑ In accordance with the decision of the Council of Elders the special mayoral elections in Yerevan have been scheduled for July 16. In: yerevan.am. Information and Public Relations Department of the City Hall of Yerevan, July 12, 2018, accessed July 14, 2018 . 
18. ↑ parliament.am/deputies (accessed December 16, 2019)