Gagik Tsarukyan
Gagik Nikolay Tsarukyan Գագիկ Նիկոլայի Ծառուկյան | |
|---|---|
| File:Gagik-Tsarukyan.jpg | |
| Born | 25 November 1956 |
| Office | Prosperous Armenia Party president |
| Political party | Prosperous Armenia |
| Spouse | Djavahir Tsarukyan |
Gagik Nikolay Tsarukyan (Template:Lang-hy November 25, 1956, Arindj village, Kotayk region)[1] political figure of Armenia and famous businessman.[2] He is seen as the most influential of Armenia's government-connected "oligarchs."[3]
On May 25, 2003, he was elected as a deputy in the National Assembly of Armenia from district 42 after running unopposed,[3] later becoming a member of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs; he was not a member of a parliamentary faction during this term.[1] In late 2005 he founded the Prosperous Armenia party.[2] He was re-elected to the National Assembly in the May 2007 parliamentary election from district 28 as a Prosperous Armenia candidate; following this election he became head of the Prosperous Armenia parliamentary faction and a member of the Committee on the Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs in June 2007.[1]
Education and awards
Gagik Tsaroukyan graduated from the Armenian State Institute of Physical Education; he won the World Arm Wrestling Championship and the European Arm Wrestling Championship in 1998. He has been awarded the St. Grigor Lousavorich Medal (2002) and Movses Khorenatsi Medal (2003).[1] Tsarukian is currently the president of the Armenian National Olympic Committee.
Business assets
Tsarukian owns a dozen big businesses and rose to prominence in the late 1990s as a minority shareholder in a French-owned brewery in Abovian. His business empire has since expanded dramatically, aided by his close ties with then President Robert Kocharian. [4]
Tsarukian's holding company is "Multi Group" which comprises over 40 small and large businesses.[5] In March 2006, Tsarukian sold his 29 percent stake in the Kotayk brewery to French beer magnate Pierre Castel for about $4 million.[6]
Businesses that are part of the Multi Group conglomerate include:
- Multi Lion, Armenia's leading supplier of liquefied gas to households, cars and buses, is fifty percent owned by Multi Group and fifty percent owned by Aleksandr Sarkisian, the brother of Armenia's president Serge Sarkisian.[7]
- Multi Stone, stone processing company[8]
- Yerevan Ararat Brandy, Wine and Vodka Factory[8]
Low income reporting and tax payments
Despite maintaining an extravagant lifestyle, Tsarukian's companies post only modest revenues. His cement factory in Ararat -- officially the most profitable of his businesses -- occupies only the 45th place in the Armenian Statistical Service's annual ranking of tax payers, with tax contributions totaling 1.3 billion drams in 2007 (about $3.8 million USD in 2007). In contrast, another smaller Ararat-based plant (which smelts gold ore) paid more taxes despite standing idle during much of 2007 due to a change of ownership.[9]
Despite being lucrative, the vast majority of Tsarukian's Multi Group businesses were not included in the list of the country's leading corporate taxpayers released by the Armenian government in early 2005.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d Profile on Armenian Parliament website.
- ^ a b Liz Fuller, "Armenia: Election Campaign Gets Off To Uneasy Start", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, April 19, 2007.
- ^ a b Prominent Oppositionist Set To Lead Armenian ‘Oligarchic’ Party, Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), January 11, 2006.
- ^ ARMENIA: "OLIGARCHIC" PARTY GAINING GROUND AHEAD OF 2007 VOTE, Eurasianet, December 20, 2006.
- ^ Sarkisian Denies Link With ‘Oligarchic’ Party, Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), January 16, 2008.
- ^ Press Review, Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), March 30, 2006.
- ^ a b Sarkisian’s Brother Admits Business Interests Abroad, Armenia Liberty, October 3, 2005.
- ^ a b MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA, National Assembly of Armenia, 2008.
- ^ Mining Giant Remains Armenia’s Top Taxpayer, Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), January 29, 2008.