Shirak Governor Expected to Transition to Executive Position

The Shirak governor Nazeli Baghdasaryan is expected to bid farewell to her gubernatorial position and transition to a government cabinet soon. According to information from the "Zhoghovurd" newspaper, she will take up the role of Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Justice.

It has come to light that while the Shirak governor is still in office at this moment, positions within the region are already being allocated. The current Deputy Governor Karen Manukyan is vying for the governorship. Notably, Baghdasaryan's godfather Manukyan has close ties with the "former" officials. For instance, during the snap parliamentary elections in 2021, he worked in the campaign headquarters of Robert Kocharyan in Gyumri, coordinating pre-election activities in the regions of Amasia and Ashotsk.

The point is that Manukyan is a close associate of Shirak governor, general Ashot Giziryan, who was a representative of Kocharyan's headquarters during the 2021 snap elections. The current Deputy Governor Manukyan has also held the position of head of the Shirak Customs Service, and in 2013 he received the “Anania Shirakatsi” medal from President Serzh Sargsyan for effective work in the management system.

He is related to the former Republican Party MP Ashot Aghababyan, who turned his back on the party.

More details are available in today’s edition of the newspaper.