AZG
Azg newspaper was first published on February 16, 1991. The newspaper's publication was initiated by the Ramgavar Azatakan Party (Armenian Democratic Liberal Party), but it was registered as an independent newspaper. Hakob Avedikian, a member of the Ramgavar Azatakan Party, has served as editor-in-chief since the newspaper's founding. In one interview, Avedikian explained: "It is true that the initiator of our newspaper was the Ramgavar Azatakan Party, but the party decided that this newspaper should be independent." According to him, the newspaper was connected to the party only insofar as he and several other founders were party members.
Initially published three times weekly, Azg became a daily newspaper in 1992 and continued publication without interruption until April 1996. On April 22, 1996, the Ministry of Justice suspended printing of Azg on the grounds that it should be published as the party's official newspaper, which the editor-in-chief and other founders opposed. The Ministry of Justice prohibited the Parberakan publishing house from printing Azg and transferred publication to a pro-government group that had formed after a split within the Ramgavar Azatakan Party.
During April-May 1996, two competing versions of Azg were published. Avedikian and his supporters published a one-page edition limited to 99 copies. A rival editorial board, prepared to publish Azg as the official newspaper of the Ramgavar Azatakan Party, published a competing version. On May 8, 1996, a court ruling restored the rights of the original founders' council.
For over twenty years, until 2013, the newspaper continued as a daily publication. Financial difficulties forced a reduction in frequency, and since February 2014, Azg has been published as a weekly newspaper with 16 pages. The online version, azg.am, has operated since 1999 and maintains the newspaper's complete archive from its founding.
The newspaper's content focuses primarily on analysis of political, social, and cultural topics. In the 1990s, when newly founded, it printed 30,000-40,000 copies. The print run has declined drastically; currently approximately 700-800 copies are printed per issue.
Key Facts
| Audience Share | Missing Data |
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| Ownership Type | Private |
| Geographic Coverage | National |
| Content Type | Paid |
| Data Publicly Available | ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc. |
Ownership
| Ownership Structure | Azg newspaper's journalistic activities are carried out by the Vahan Tekeyan Social-Cultural Foundation. The foundation's board of trustees comprises Hakob Avedikian and Suren Sargsyan. According to the 2019 foundation charter, the founders are: Suren Sargsyan, Gayane Muradyan, Harut Tanielyan, Hakob Avedikian, Vahe Darbinyan, Artak Andreasyan, Mihran Minasyan, Edmond Azatyan (USA), Hrach Guyumjyan (UK), Arshavir Gyonjyan (Canada), Gevorg Marashlyan (USA), and Armen Saqapetoyan. |
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| Voting Rights | According to the foundation charter, the governing bodies are the Board of Trustees and the Director. Board of Trustees meetings require a quorum of more than half of the members. Decisions are adopted by majority vote of members participating in the meeting, with each member holding one vote. Day-to-day operations are managed by the Director. |
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Facts
| Founding Year | 1991 Azg was first published in 1991 as the official newspaper of the Ramgavar Azatakan Party. However, after the first two issues, the registration authority required re-registration, as registration in a party's name violated existing law. The Law on Parties had not yet been adopted at that time. To comply with registration requirements, a board of founders was formally created, consisting of Hakob Avedikian(Lebanon), Vache Ghazaryan (USA), and Mihran Minasyan (USA). |
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| Contact | Sayat-Nova 21A 0001 Yerevan Armenia info@azg.am, azgdaily@gmail.com +374-98-582-960 http://www.azg.am/ |
| Revenue | AMD 36,513,000 / USD 92,972.27 (2024) |
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| Market Share | Missing Data |
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| Meta Data | The main difficulty related to the Azg weekly newspaper was that over time, different companies have carried out the newspaper's journalistic activities, but the information about these companies in the State Register of Legal Entities has not been updated. Meanwhile, through the website of the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia, it is possible to determine that these companies are no longer operating. Specifically, in 2000, Azg Daily LLC was founded, which until the newspaper's 2018 issues was listed as carrying out journalistic activities, but in the state register the data has not been updated since 2012. Subsequently, the newspaper's journalistic activities were carried out by Tekeyan Publishing LLC, which was founded in 2018, the last declaration of beneficial owners was published in 2022, but now operations have been temporarily suspended. And now the newspaper is financed by the Vahan Tekeyan Social-Cultural Foundation, which was founded in 2019. These changes are due to the financial difficulties of the Azg weekly newspaper. Specifically, according to the last update in the state register for Azg Daily LLC (2012), the company's largest shareholder (80%) was Armen Abrahamyan, the brother of Ara Abrahamyan, president of the Union of Armenians of Russia, who worked in the tax system for many years and was a member of the National Assembly (2007-2012) from the Prosperous Armenia party. He was given the largest share because Ara Abrahamyan had at the time financed the newspaper's publication. However, in January 2014, when the newspaper was temporarily not being printed due to financial difficulties, it was not possible to establish contact with Ara Abrahamyan. From February, Azg has been printed as a weekly newspaper. The circulation numbers are always mentioned in the newspaper. The audience share of the online version is missing. | |
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