YEREVAN (Azg)–Acting President and Prime Minister Robert Kocharian dismissed the head of the Customs Department Rashid Yengibarian upon his request–on Tuesday. Michael Makarian was assigned as the new Head of the Department.
Yengibarian explained his decision–saying that it was his responsibility to reinstate his former employees who were fired by way of a Shengavit district court decision. He said that such decisions should not have been made regarding a person–whose hooligan actions were proven and against whom criminal proceedings were started.
Still–this may not be the single reason for Yengibarian’s resignation. Attorney General Henrik Khachatrian declared on Feb. 13 that a criminal case was opened against the head of the Customs Department according to the article 137 of the Armenian Criminal Code.
The new head–Michael Makarian–was born in Yerevan in 1962. He graduated from the Finances and Loans Department of the Moscow Institute of Economy–and has worked in the Armenian Foreign Trade Company since 1989–heading the company since August 1997. He is married and has two children.