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CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT OR POLITICAL INTRIGUE?: CEMENT FACTORY SUSPENSION RAISES SUSPICIONS
http://armenianow.com/economy/38704/pap_tsarukyan_cement_plant_closure
Economy | 14.06.12 | 13:16
Photo: Karen Mirzoyan/ArmeniaNow archive photo
Ararat Cement, one of the leading tax paying business in Armenia,
which belongs to leader of Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), tycoon
Gagik Tsarukyan, has stopped work, and there is speculation that the
closing is somehow connect to politics.
The factory employs more than 1,000 workers.
Previously owned by the family of former Minister of Defense (later
Prime Minister who was a victim of the October 27,1999 parliament
killings) Vazgen Sargsyan, the plant has been owned by Tsarukyan as
part of is Mulit-Group holdings, since 2003.
Employees of the factory are saying the suspension of work is connected
with the possible change in the factory's management staff.
It is a possibility that the Sargsyans might recover their former
share in the factory, and Armen Sargsyan could be appointed executive
director of the factory.
Even though speculations over the factory's closure had previously
circulated and those speculations were mainly linked with politics,
the management of the factory has been silent on the issue.
Tsarukyan's spokeswoman Iveta Tonoyan in an interview with RFE/RL's
Armenian service on Wednesday neither refuted nor confirmed the
closure, and only said that the factory would continue running;
and not a single employee would be left jobless.
"Political context should not be looked for here," Tonoyan says.
Some are seeing a connection with the plant's closure and the news this
week that PAP senior member Vartan Oskanian is being investigated for
money laundering in connection with his Civilitas Foundation think
tank. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs says the charges are
politically motivated.
Political analysts speculate that the two developments are part of
the persecution PAP could expect since it refused to join a coalition
with the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), following the May
6 parliamentary elections.
http://armenianow.com/economy/38704/pap_tsarukyan_cement_plant_closure
Economy | 14.06.12 | 13:16
Photo: Karen Mirzoyan/ArmeniaNow archive photo
Ararat Cement, one of the leading tax paying business in Armenia,
which belongs to leader of Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), tycoon
Gagik Tsarukyan, has stopped work, and there is speculation that the
closing is somehow connect to politics.
The factory employs more than 1,000 workers.
Previously owned by the family of former Minister of Defense (later
Prime Minister who was a victim of the October 27,1999 parliament
killings) Vazgen Sargsyan, the plant has been owned by Tsarukyan as
part of is Mulit-Group holdings, since 2003.
Employees of the factory are saying the suspension of work is connected
with the possible change in the factory's management staff.
It is a possibility that the Sargsyans might recover their former
share in the factory, and Armen Sargsyan could be appointed executive
director of the factory.
Even though speculations over the factory's closure had previously
circulated and those speculations were mainly linked with politics,
the management of the factory has been silent on the issue.
Tsarukyan's spokeswoman Iveta Tonoyan in an interview with RFE/RL's
Armenian service on Wednesday neither refuted nor confirmed the
closure, and only said that the factory would continue running;
and not a single employee would be left jobless.
"Political context should not be looked for here," Tonoyan says.
Some are seeing a connection with the plant's closure and the news this
week that PAP senior member Vartan Oskanian is being investigated for
money laundering in connection with his Civilitas Foundation think
tank. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs says the charges are
politically motivated.
Political analysts speculate that the two developments are part of
the persecution PAP could expect since it refused to join a coalition
with the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), following the May
6 parliamentary elections.