Hovik Aprahamyan
Hovik Aprahamyan 
| |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Hovik Argami Abrahamyan |
| Other names | Muk |
| Name in Armenian | Հովիկ Արգամի Աբրահամյան |
| Birthplace | Mkchyan |
| Birth date | 24 January 1959 |
| Languages | Armenian, Russian, English |
| Ethnicities | Armenian |
| Dialects | Eastern Armenian |
Hovik Argami Abrahamyan (Armenian: Հովիկ Արգամի Աբրահամյան; also known by nickname Muk, born 24 January 1959) is an Armenian politician. A former member of the ruling Republican Party, he was the Prime Minister of Armenia from 13 April 2014 to 8 September 2016. Previously he was the President of the National Assembly of Armenia.
Personal life
In various cables sent in 2008, Joseph Pennington, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Yerevan, characterized Abrahamyan as being "regarded by outside observers - and many Armenians - as an unpolished, poorly educated and parochial figure, a crass nouveau riche whose brand of dirty-money politics, abuse of state "administrative resources", and cunning opportunism is in the worst tradition of recent Armenian politics",[citation needed] as "an oily, machine politician ... at the center of a purposeful effort to abuse agencies and offices of local government to arm-twist every vote he possibly can for the prime minister",[8] the "chief operating officer of the dirtiest and most coercive tactics of Serzh Sargsian's presidential election campaign",[9] and "an unsophisticated thug" whose "instincts are not progressive".[5]
Also in 2008, US Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch described Abrahamian as a politician who uses his political power to promote his business interests.[10] He has also been reported as owning more than two dozen companies, including three sand mines on the Araks river; 1,500 hectares of grape fields in Artashat; more than 10 gas stations outside Yerevan; one third of "Ararat Cement"; casinos; petrol stations; and a $7 million summer home in the Crimea.[11] He opposed his predecessor's asset declaration draft law that would have required Armenian politicians and senior public officials to declare their business holdings and business interests.[12]
Abrahamyan's son, Argam, is married to a daughter of Gagik Tsarukyan, oligarch and Prosperous Armenia party leader.