Interview by David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The former speaker of the Armenian parliament Ovik Abramyan was appointed the new Prime Minister of Armenia on April 13th. He has always been an inside man for the authorities. Traditionally in Armenia the economic course of the government and its political views depend on the property held by a new prime minister.
According to the official declaration of Abramyan’s family, the personal finances (accumulated capital) of the new prime minister were $1950 thousand and 270 million drams in 2013. Abramyan’s revenues were 43 million drams last year. The officially unemployed wife of Abramyan, Juliette, had $2850 thousand and 300 million drams last year.
However, the real picture differs from the official one. The prime minister has been living a luxurious life since the 1990s, when privatized property was beneficially sold. Abramyan indirectly and unofficially owns the Artashat Wine Factory, machine plants, the Sirius Plant, a movable column convoy, a taxi park, the Artashat Hypermarket, a restaurant, a hotel and a casino in Artashat. He also owns a wine factory, an automobile company, a concrete plant in Mkhchyan Village, all gas-filling stations in the region; sandpits on the Araks River, vast agricultural territories, and mines in several residential areas of the Ararat Region, as well as a luxurious house in Mkhchyan, where Abramyan has been living for recent years.
A person who has a medium-sized business property will think about the sphere. No surprise that at his first session with businessmen, the prime minister promised to reduce sales tax for small and medium-sized businesses. Of course, a reduction in interest rates will contribute to the development of the sphere, but it is not enough for development of Armenian business in general. The main problem of business and the economy of Armenia is the unbalanced distribution of the tax burden between privileged monopolist businessmen and ordinary businessmen who are not inside men for the government. Thus, the government’s steps will stop at populist measures which cannot improve the Armenian economy.
As for the political views of the new premier, they are similar to the views of the former president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan. “When I was the president, Ovik Abramyan was a good minister of territorial management and vice-premier. Whether he will be a good premier, time will tell. I wish him good luck sincerely, as he gets a poor heritage from his predecessor,” Kocharyan said about the appointment.
