Vahagn Garniki Khachaturyan ( hy, Վահագն Գառնիկի Խաչատուրյան, ; born 22 April 1959) is an Armenian politician who is the 5th and current

president of Armenia The president of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Նախագահ, Hayastani Nakhagah) is the head of state and the guarantor of independence and territorial integrity of Armenia elected to a single seven-year term by the National Assembly of Arme ...

. He served as

Mayor of Yerevan The Mayor of Yerevan () is head of the executive branch of Yerevan's government. The mayor is elected by the Yerevan City Council. Recent 2018 Yerevan City Council election, city council elections took place in 2018, 2017 Yerevan City Council elec ...

from 1992 to 1996 and as the Minister of

High-Tech Industry High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

from 2021 to 2022. He was a member of the

Armenian National Congress The Armenian National Congress ( hy, italic=yes, Հայ Ազգային Կոնգրես, translit=Hay Azgayin Kongres) is an Armenian political party led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and formed in 2008. Its direct predecessor was the Pa ...

until his resignation in 2017. He led the ANC list in the

2013 Yerevan City Council election Yerevan City Council election was held on May 5, 2013. The Republican Party of Armenia won 56% of the total vote, Prosperous Armenia had 23%, while Barev Yerevan won over 8%. The opposition parties and the local observers denounced the elections ...

, and is currently an independent.

Personal life

Khachaturyan was born in 1959 in

Sisian Sisian ( hy, Սիսիան) is a town and the centre of the urban community of Sisian, in the Syunik Province in southern Armenia. It is located on the Vorotan River, 6 km south of the Yerevan-Meghri highway, at a road distance of 217 km southeast ...

. He is married and has two children. Besides his native Armenian, he also speaks English and Russian.

Early career

He graduated from the

Yerevan Institute of National Economy The Armenian State University of Economics (ASUE) ( hy, Հայաստանի պետական տնտեսագիտական համալսարան) is a state-owned university of economics in Yerevan, the capital Armenia, founded in 1975. History The facul ...

in 1980, with the qualification of economist. From 1980 to 1982, he served in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. After fufiilling his national service, he carried out for the next decade pedagogical activities at the Yerevan Institute, working for the first eight years at the “HrazdanMash” (Hrazdan Instrumental Production) Enterprise as an economist and then at the “Mars” Factory as the deputy general director until 1992.

Political career

From 1990 to 1996 he was a member of the

Yerevan City Council The Yerevan City Council () is the lawmaking body of the city of Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia. It has 65 members elected by Party-list proportional representation system, headed by the Mayor of Yerevan. The Council serves as a ...

, then from 1992 to 1996 he served as the mayor of Yerevan. He was a deputy in the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության Ազգային ժողով, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also infor ...

from 1995 to 1999. From 1996 to 1998 he was an adviser to President of Armenia

Levon Ter-Petrosyan Levon Hakobi Ter-Petrosyan ( hy, Լևոն Հակոբի Տեր-Պետրոսյան; born 9 January 1945), also known by his initials LTP, is an Armenian politician who served as the first president of Armenia from 1991 until his resignation in 1998 ...

. In 2002-Vice President of the Center for Political Science, Law, and Economic Research. He was appointed Minister of High-Tech Industry in August 2021.

Presidency (2022–present)

Salome Zourabichvili and Vahagn Khachaturyan

Following the resignation of President of Armenia

Armen Sarkissian Armen Vardani Sarkissian ( hy, Արմեն Վարդանի Սարգսյան; also written as Sarksyan and Sargsyan) (born 23 June 1952) is an Armenian politician, physicist and computer scientist who served as the 4th president of Armenia from 9 A ...

in January 2022, the ruling

Civil Contract Party Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

nominated Khachaturyan for the presidency. He was elected president by the Armenian parliament in the second round of voting. He was inaugurated on 13 March 2022. In June 2022, he visited the

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF; russian: Петербургский международный экономический форум, ПМЭФ) is an annual Russian business event for the economic sector, which has been hel ...

on its 25th anniversary in

St. Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Membership

* 2000: Founding member of the ARMAT Center for Democracy and Civil Society Development * 2006: Founding member of the social and political initiatives “Aylyntrank” * 2019–2021: Member of the Board of the Armeconombank

References

, - , - 1959 births 21st-century Armenian politicians Living people Mayors of Yerevan People from Sisian Presidents of Armenia {{Armenia-politician-stub