Garik Khachatryan: Credit Risk Department Manager

Garik Khachatryan

Garik has been with FINCA for over 9 years. He joined the team back in 2012 as a Crediting Department Manager for Small and Medium Entrepreneurships. In 2015 he initiated and actively participated in the creation of the Credit Risk Assessment Department as well as in the process of growing FINCA Armenia into one of the leading credit organizations of the country. Garik believes 1999 to be the turning point of his career when he participated in the SME funding project organized by the German-Armenian Fund. Afterwards he worked at Procredit bank and Ardshinbank to then continue his job as a qualified and experienced team member at FINCA.

Garik Khachatryan

Garik, after working at FINCA for 9 years, what do you consider FINCA to be for you?

It’s my second home, a community of loved ones and an environment where I feel calm and at peace. I think that’s really important because I spend most of my day here. After working in numerous international projects, I can say that FINCA is the one place where I wanted to stay.

Garik Khachatryan

Could you tell us more about those projects you mentioned?

While I was working at IPC, back in 2000, I went on a business trip to Moscow. I worked there for a year in cooperation with the local Sberbank. Later, I moved to Ryazan, a city in Russia, in order to help create an SME Crediting Department there, recruit a team, train them and so on. This was a real challenge for me since I had no prior experience in management. At the same time I couldn’t refuse such an excellent offer. My next stop was Ukraine where I worked for 2 years in Kiev, Lviv, Odessa, Donetsk, Mariupol branches. I traveled to Bulgaria, Macedonia, Africa, to become acquainted with the operations of ProCredit bank branches. This was around the time when ProCredit Armenia was going to be established and the supervisors wanted several employees to be prepared to work in the Armenian branch. By the way, IPC is the founder of ProCredit Armenia.

Garik, you mentioned traveling to Africa. What kind of job did you have to do there?

The German-Armenian Fund had English language learning centers in different countries. So I traveled to Ghana in order to learn English. The passport control officer asked me why I had come to Ghana and I’ll never forget how amusing my answer was to him when I said I was there to learn English.

Traveling often changes people’s worldview, allowing room for contemplation. After traveling to such different locations, have you ever compared or contrasted what you’ve seen with Armenia?

My trips gave me the opportunity to explore other cultures and nations. Each new discovery led me to believe that we as Armenians have a single problem and that is when we overestimate ourselves and believe ourselves to be better than others. We are boastful. I’d like for us to be able to move past nationalistic selfishness towards altruism. I wish we put all efforts towards having a competitive educational system so that our children can have a truly great education.

Do you consider yourself a patriot? How is your patriotism expressed?

I’m a patriot, but I can’t explain how it’s expressed. To me, patriotism lives beyond words, it’s when you leave abroad and after 5-6 years of living there you realize you’ve left something important behind, where your roots are, and it won’t leave you be. You miss something, it may be the call of blood or the inner desire to be close to your kind with age.

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Tell us about your children. What kind of Armenia would you like them to inherit?

I have three sons, they are 20, 16 and 6 years old. My older sons live in Moscow right now and have truly great achievements. My oldest is a professional hockey player and the first defender in Moscow’s Dinamo team to have made the team at the age of 17. My second son is obsessed with biology. I would love for them to use their knowledge and efforts to someday serve the improvement of society. My youngest son is in Yerevan with me. Now, more than ever we need to hope for a strong country to be able to create an economically stable country and guarantee a peaceful future.

Do you share the opinion that people working in the financial sphere think in mathematical terms?

Perhaps, through our work we have a much more frequent contact with the mathematical reality, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t understand other spheres. In my life, for instance, music plays an important role, I often listen to hard rock, jazz and funk. I love the Black Sabbath rock band, their founder Ozzy Osbourne. I also listen to James Brown and Barry White’s songs.

Do you play any musical instruments?

I play the guitar and the piano but I don’t have a formal musical education.

Do you think you’re satisfied with the path you’ve been on and where you are now in life?

I’d say yes. But if I were completely honest, I’d like to be able to have time for entrepreneurship and make my dream of growing flowers a reality. Analyzing my past, I realize that becoming a credit risk specialist stopped me from listening to my heart.

Do you enjoy cooking?

Just like other Armenian men, I like barbecuing, in general I like dishes with meat and so I only cook meat. I also enjoy taking the initiative to cook a meal at home once or twice a month.

Garik, what is love?

Devotion.

How about life?

I’m not sure, there’s a lot about life I still don’t understand.

Who do you trust unconditionally?

My brother.

What’s your favorite book?

Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”.

What’s your favorite movie?

Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Solaris”.

Favorite actor?

Anthony Hopkins.

What’s a description of an ideal woman for you?

Devoted and loving.

Blonde or brunette?

Brunette.

Youth or wisdom?

Youth. It’s far more interesting to be young.

Comfort or struggle?

Probably struggle. You can reach better results through struggle.

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