By Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Armenia has concluded formation of a new government that will soon present its program to the parliament. Ministers for defenses, foreign affairs, agriculture, science and education, labour and social affairs, emergencies, culture and the Diaspora have been reappointed. The new prime minister replaced all economy-related ministers.
Moreover, well-known heavy athlete Yuri Vardanyan has been replaced by Gabriel Kazaryan, head of the sports section of the Armenian National Olympic Committee, as the minister for sports and youth affairs. Vardanyan’s dismissal was probably provoked by a scandal around his son David. The offspring was charged with purchase and smuggling of high volumes of narcotics. Vardanyan was also in bad terms with Gagik Tsarukyan, president of the NOC and leader of the prosperous Armenia Party. The latter has been a much more active developer of sports that the whole ministry.
Narek Sarkisyan, who had been the chief architect of Yerevan, became the minister for urban planning. He is notorious for the outrageous projects for construction of elite housing at the Yerevan city center. Thousands of locals were moved from their homes as part of the construction project.
Notorious Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan, infamous for his controversial plans to raise gas prices, has been replaced by an even more odious figure - Yervand Zakaryan, the ex-head of the Committee for Real Estate Registry. He has already worked as the minister for transportation and communications, head of the Tax Inspection, mayor of Yerevan. People say that illegal construction and sale of land lots became massive when Zakaryan was the mayor in 2003-2009. It is unlikely that a man with such biography would be interested in development of energy.
The “crown” of the reshuffles among odious functionaries of the country is Gagik Khachatryan, the new minister for finances. There are rumours that Khachatryan, who used to be the head of the State Committee for Income, is actively involved in business with the help of his relatives. In particular, his family owns 20 large companies. It is possible that the presidential decree on merging the Committee and the Ministry for Finances signed on April 30 would give the functionary plenty of space for his activities.
It seems that the formation of the government was based on the same deck of cars principle. “Home affairs of Armenia resemble a theater performance where actors remain the same, only their roles change,” says expert Arutyun Mesropyan. Though Prime Minister Ovik Abramyan, unlike his predecessor, is considered a more flexible and cautious figure, his choice of staff coincides with Tigran Sargsyan’s course for centralization of economy, support of monopolies and assistance for the criminal and oligarchic system in the basis of the existing authorities.
