Running for Tsar: Armenia’s Gagik Tsarukyan

Emil Sanamyan

 

One of Armenia’s most colourful public figures has returned to politics in time for parliamentary elections. What does the oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan stand for – apart from himself?

He’s one of the richest men in Armenia, and isn’t shy about flaunting it with his gaudy mansions and a gold-plated phone. As a US State Department cable, made available by Wikileaks, quipped, he “has a personal style which would make Donald Trump look like an ascetic.”

He is Gagik Tsarukyan. After more than two decades of incumbent victories and associated claims of fraud and protests, for many Armenians, Tsarukyan is the “change” candidate in parliamentary elections on 2 April, and his party is currently leading in polls.

Armenia's anti-corruption council accused of lavish spending

Marianna Grigoryan

A much-touted anti-corruption drive in Armenia has got off to a bad start as questions are raised about the spending and income of leading government members of the committee – including its chair, the prime minister.

The Anti-Corruption Council, which receives funds from the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development, formally began operations at the end of July. It is supposed to have opposition and civil society members as well as government officials on its ranks, but so far no one from the opposition or non-governmental organisations has joined – largely because of scepticism about its credibility.

Lavish ‘Donations’ To Armenian Officials Not Investigated

Sargis Harutyunyan

 

Senior Armenian state officials tasked with combatting corruption have faced no investigations into millions of dollars in financial aid which they and their wives claim to have received from undisclosed sources in recent years.

The officials running the “oversight services” of President Serzh Sarkisian, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian and the Armenian parliament have reported such lavish financial contributions in their annual asset declarations filed with the state Commission on the Ethics of High-Ranking Officials.

So far none of them has been accused by the commission of using their position to enrich themselves and their relatives. Nor are law-enforcement authorities known to have investigated the origin of the “donations” which Armenia’s leading anti-graft watchdog believes carry serious “corruption risks.”