| Affiliated Interests Family & Friends | - Anna Hakobyan
Anna Hakobyan is one of the founders of Dareskizb LLC, which owns the online media outlet Haykakan Zhamanak. She initially held 50% of the company. In 2002, four founders transferred their 10% stakes—totaling 40%—to Anna Hakobyan and Hayk Gevorgyan, granting 20% to each. This increased Anna Hakobyan's stake to 70%. In 2014, she transferred her entire stake to her mother, Kima Mkrtchyan. Anna Hakobyan is married to Nikol Pashinyan, who founded Armenian Times newspaper in 1999 and served as its editor-in-chief before entering politics. He became Prime Minister of Armenia in 2018 following the Velvet Revolution. Hakobyan graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Yerevan State University. She worked as a journalist at Haykakan Zhamanak from 2003 and has served as editor-in-chief since 2013. In March 2024, she became president of the My Step Foundation. From 2018 to 2020, she chaired the Board of Trustees of the City of Smile charitable foundation. Hakobyan frequently attracts media attention for her social media posts. She regularly comments on statements made by opposition politicians, sometimes using confrontational language. - Hrachya Hakobyan
Hrachya Hakobyan is the son of Kima Mkrtchyan, the majority shareholder of Dareskizb LLC. He graduated from the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinema in 2005 and began his acting career at the Yerevan State Puppet Theatre (2003–2008), later joining the Chamber Musical Theatre (2009–2010) and appearing in several feature films. In parallel, he has been active in the media sector, managing printing operations at Haykakan Zhamanak daily (2000–2008), serving as administrator of Armtimes.com (2013–2015), and acting as deputy director of Mer Tparany LLC (2009–2013), a company currently suspended by the State Revenue Committee. Hakobyan is a three-term Member of Parliament. He first served with the Yelk faction (2018–2019) on the Standing Committee for Science, Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports; was re-elected with the My Step alliance (2019–2021), working on the Standing Committee on Health Care and Social Affairs; and since June 2021 has represented the Civil Contract party, elected via national list. - Nikol Pashinyan
Nikol Pashinyan is the son-in-law of Kima Mkrtchyan, the majority shareholder of Dareskizb LLC. A journalist turned politician, he founded Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper in 1999 and served as its editor-in-chief until 2012. From 2006 to 2008, he also served as director of Dareskizb LLC, the company that owns the outlet. He became Prime Minister of Armenia in 2018 following the Velvet Revolution. Since 1992, Pashinyan worked with various newspapers. In 1998, he founded the daily newspaper Oragir, which was shut down by court order in 1999 for political reasons. During his journalistic career, several criminal cases were initiated against him on charges of defamation and insult. In August 1999, he was sentenced to one year of conditional imprisonment. At the request of the international and Armenian journalistic community, the appellate court postponed execution of the sentence for one year, which resulted in the imprisonment not being carried out. Pashinyan began his political career as an opposition figure by participating in the founding of the Alternative socio-political movement in 2006. In the 2007 parliamentary elections, he was the top candidate on the Impeachment alliance list. During the 2008 presidential elections, he served as a member of Levon Ter-Petrosyan's campaign headquarters. After the events of March 1, 2008, he went into hiding for one year and four months while wanted by law enforcement. On July 1, 2009, he voluntarily surrendered to the prosecutor's office and was arrested. In January 2010, he was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of organizing mass disturbances. After serving one year and eleven months, he was released on May 27, 2011, under an amnesty. Following his release, he was elected to the National Assembly in the 2012 parliamentary elections on the proportional list of the Armenian National Congress alliance. In 2013, he founded the Civil Contract public-political association, which became a party in 2015. In the April 2, 2017 parliamentary elections, he was again elected to the National Assembly on the Yelk alliance's electoral list. From May 2017, he served as head of the Yelk parliamentary faction. In 2018, Pashinyan launched the My Step movement, which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan following the Velvet Revolution. Pashinyan was elected Prime Minister of Armenia and is currently serving his third term, which will conclude in 2026. His Civil Contract party is preparing to participate in the 2026 elections.
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