Simon became teary eyed when he spoke about the plight of the land and the villagers who work it. He made an open plea to the government to regard the land and the village farmers as the salt of the earth and “national treasures”, since they keep the country afloat.
Ejmiatzin and surrounding villages have long been considered a de facto fiefdom of Grigorian and another top army general, Seyran Saroyan. They both have extensive business interests in the Ejmiatzin area and other parts of Armenia.
Artak Gevorgyan, the son of Republican Party MP Nahapet Gevorgyan, was arrested by police early this morning on charges of hijacking a car at gunpoint after forcing the driver and a passenger to get out.
Republican Party MP Vahe Hakobyan only trails Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukyan in terms personal wealth in Armenia’s legislature.
In 2011, Haroutyunyan only reported his 3,652,680 AMD salary as income, while his cash deposits at the end of the year totalled 5 million. He started the year with 3.5 million.
In 2011, Hovik Abrahamyan had total revenues of 43.6 million AMD; some 40 million from selling agricultural produce. The other 3.6 million was his salary. His cash assets are nothing to sneeze about either – AMD 290 million and $2 million.
In 2011, his income was 102 million of which 2.9 million was his salary. His stock dividends amounted to 65 million and interest income was some 18.5 million. The balance was in the form of rental payments.
Badalyan also blames the army for letting the bodyguards of various oligarchs get so powerful.
In 2005, when Mkrtoumyan was the president of the Court of Cassation’s Chamber of Civil and Economic Affairs, he declared revenues of 3.729 million AMD – basically his wages.
In 2011, his assets soared to 278 million AMD and $2.9 million. His only income, however, was his 8.4 million AMD salary as the head tax honcho.
On a recent visit to the border village of Pshtavan a local shop-owner approached and asked, in all seriousness, how he could amass a large fortune quickly even though he owned no significant business operations.
28 year-old Vahe Grigoryan, an independent, won yesterday’s special election for mayor in the village of Griboyedov (Armavir Marz).
Prosperous Armenia Party MP Nayira Zohrabyan summed up her faction’s stance regarding the government’s five year plan of action by saying that if the votes garnered by the opposition in the recent parliamentary elections are added together then it becomes clear that there can be no talk of the people having confidence regarding the program.
The ARF MP pointed out that five of the six factions in the new parliament had declared that the recent elections were flawed and that four had declared outright violations. Despite this, said Roustamyan, the government has noted the results in its program and based a government on the backs of the people.
Manoukyan minced no words when presenting a number of demographic statistics on emigration and legislative initiatives that called into question certain pronouncements made by PM Sargsyan.
The HAK parliamentary leader said it is impossible to have faith in a government whose policies have led to an artificial appreciation of the AMD propped up by the Central Bank infusing $1 billion in reserves and the growth of the national debt.
Aram Manoukyan, head of the HAK parliamentary faction, appeared to be in a fighting mood today as he peppered PM Sargsyan with questions regarding the government’s past track record and upcoming five year strategy plan.
“He’s very angry about what happened. The people responsible have been dismissed from their jobs. Other than that, Hayrapetyan will let the law take its course,” said Aleksanyan.
The PM also underlined the government’s push to raise the level of accountability of law enforcement regarding the rights of citizens and promised that violators would be punished.
He’s declared 35 million AMD and $859,000 in cash as of the end of 2011. This is in addition to his 3,334,080 AMD salary and the 211,000 AMD in speaking fees.
This evening President Serzh Sargsyan will chair meeting of the executive board of the Republican Party of Armenia. It is assumed that they will discuss the new make-up of the government.
14 year-old Gohar, from Hovtamech village, has never been to school and remains a virtual prisoner in her own home. The culprits are the girl’s own parents.
Based on financial disclosures, it appears that Armenia’s First Lady Rita Sargsyan has more personal wealth than her husband President Serzh Sargsyan.
The youngest of the candidates is Vahe Grigoryan. He turned 28 today. Vahe Grigoryan told Hetq that he’s not in the running just for the “heck of it”, otherwise anyone could just wake-up one morning and nominate themselves as a candidate.
Today staff members of the Police Department’s Main Examination Board have completed an audit of documents seized from the Aramous Municipality in Kotayk Marz. Mayor Hrayr Nikoghosyan told Hetq that all his papers had been taken ad that all he has left in his office is the community’s “official seal".
I recently visited his operation and Hovhannes said he already had a crop of cucumbers for sale but the market price was ridiculously low. It’s so low that he can’t even pay for the cost of the seed.
The two officials had tendered their resignations beforehand, stating that as members of the BHK (Prosperous Armenia Party) they could not, in good faith, continue at their posts.
Hovik Abrahamyan, who is returning as president of the RA National Assembly, is also bringing back some of his team who left with Abrahamyan when he resigned from the parliament to head the campaign headquarters of the ruling Republican Party.
Lilit the young Armenian girl suffering from cystic fibrosis who attracted worldwide attention due to the coverage of Hetq, will be celebrating Children’s Day in her new home.
“It would have to be a very contentious debate for things to get so out of hand. Nevertheless, during all my years in the parliament, such cases have been few and far between,” Sahakyan said.
Aleksanyan told me that he had nothing to do with the recent collapse of the building’s roof.
102 MPs voted in favor of Abrahamyan and 4 against. Four votes were disqualified.
Also in attendance were President Sargsyan and Catholicos Garegin II. Notably absent were the newly elected MP’s from HAK (Armenian National Congress) and the Heritage Party.
Abrahamyan's two deputies are also from the ruling Republican Party – Edward Sharmazanov, who is currently serving as Deputy President, and a new face – Hermineh Naghdalyan.
She noted that if all Armenia’s citizens took pride in their work, many things would change in the country. The singer added that it wasn’t shameful to work for a small pay check but that it was a shame not to work.
Reports from Etchmiadzin allege that an AreximBank employee got into a shouting match with a customer and then stabbed the man with a knife.
But the village has one proud boast under its belt – it’s where Catholicos Garegin II was born and where his brother Gevorg Nersisyan serves as mayor.
“The country has possibilities. Our nature is good, the water, and the light and warmth given by God. What’s missing? We’re a people who like to work. They just have to create some incentives for us. I really don’t see the difficulty of governing this country,” Iskhan said.
Samvel Aleksanyan, the businessman/MP who was re-elected to the Armenian parliament on May 6, told Hetq that he will be rewarding the best staffers in his campaign headquarters with awards of $20,000 and holidays in Dubai.
Hetq has learnt that around 2 am on May 7, when Armen Sargsyan, President of the Ajgevan village election committee was transporting election documents to the town of Armavir for processing, his car was stopped by a son of one of the above-mentioned MPs.
Attorney Edmon Maroukyan, an independent who won the race for a seat in parliament from Election District 30, says he has no plans to join up with any established political party.
Hakob Hakobyan, of the ruling Republican Party, says he does not accept the victory of the declared winner, Sedrak (the General) Saroyan, an independent candidate running in the single mandate race from Election District 19.
Some voters at the 21/15 polling station in Armavir Marz have launched a protest vote for Mkhoyan, a candidate that was intimidated into pulling out of the race for parliament.
I believe that these elections are the last opportunity for changing the reality in Armenia. If the three political forces – Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia and the ARF – can get their act together and guarantee free and fair elections, then the outcome will be a positive one.
On his financial disclosure, he claims to own no house, land or car. He received a 1.9 million AMD salary as Chief of Staff. His other income, 86.8 million AMD, derives from shares in the company, Tashir Invest Group.
According to his financial disclosure, Petrosyan owns 100% shares in the foodstuff manufacturing company MAP Ltd. He also sits on Prime Minister Sargsyan’s Industrial Council on a rotating basis.
Despite his young age, Gevorgyan has amassed a sizeable amount of financial resources when compared to his opponents. Another asset in his favour is that he’s the son-in-law of RA Chief of Police Vladimir Kasparyan.
In this hotly contested seat, it’s the opposition candidate Saribek Soukiasyan with the deep pockets going up against Garegin Noushikyan, the ruling party’s candidate with the inside connections.
When the race got underway, Aleksanyan feigned poverty and said he was in need of campaign contributions.