by David Zenian
Success knows no boundaries and three Armenian natives of Uzbekistan are proving just that in medicine, industry and government.
Dr. Ardzvik Davidian was born in Samarkand and still lives in the same home which was built by his grandfather in 1902.
Boris Arakelyan gave up "a comfortable life" in Glendale, California, to return to Tashkent in 1994 because he felt "at home" in Uzbekistan.
Grigory Arustamyan is a Deputy Prosecutor of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
All three, like hundreds of Armenians, have adapted to the changes that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union, the birth of an independent Uzbekistan, and the move away from a centrally managed economy to private enterprise.
They are among the new Uzbek Armenians, members of a 40,000-strong Armenian community which call Uzbekistan home.
v Dr. Davidian, who holds a degree in internal medicine from the Samarkand Medical Institute, was quick to see the changing world of healthcare after the collapse of communism and socialized medicine in a country where it is normal for patients in the public health sector to be asked to provide their own medicine, bandages and even food.
"In the old days, people had to pay something under the table for treatment. Hospitals and healthcare in general are officially free in Uzbekistan, but people want more. They want better care and service," he said.
With help from his wife and son, who are both medical doctors, Dr. Davidian opened Samarkand's first private out-patient medical center which specializes in cardiology, urology, and family medicine.
"My 19-year-old daughter is also studying medicine and soon we will have a real family business," he says.
Since opening his private practice, Dr. Davidian has also begun work on the construction of a small 50-bed private hospital which will be "another first for Samarkand."
"The hospital is being built by my brother who is in the construction business," he said. But getting where he is today was not easy.
"My grandfather was a survivor of the 1895 massacres. He was a barber who wanted his sons to get a good education. My father was born here in Samarkand in 1914 and graduated from the university with a degree in mathematics," Dr. Davidian added.
"My father, like my grandfather, always said whatever happens, no one can take away what you know. Education is the key to success wherever you are. I'm glad I listened to my father."
Dr. Davidian's clinic now has a team of four doctors, including his brother and wife and will soon add his daughter who will graduate from medical school in two years.
"Government hospitals are broke. There is no money to modernize and recruit new doctors. The future is in private practice and modern private hospitals," he says.
Boris Arakelyan is another product of free enterprise.
After many years as a manager in a Tashkent shoe factory, Arakelyan took his family and life savings and moved to Glendale, California, in 1993 in search of a better life.
In Glendale he opened a food store and was doing well, but something was missing.
"I did not like the United States because life there was very impersonal. My sons were getting out of hand and my family was in danger. I had lived in Tashkent most of my adult life, and decided to come back," he said.
Arakelyan sold his business in Glendale and moved back in 1994 to his old factory which was on the auction block as part of a privatization process that was already underway in Uzbekistan.
"Unlike Russia, and to some extent Armenia, privatization here is not clear cut. I have signed a ten-year lease with the authorities and for all practical purposes, own this factory-at least for the next ten years," he said.
In a few months, Arakelyan shifted production from poor-quality shoes to military boots which are in great demand for Uzbekistan's armed forces and police.
The factory now employs 110 people, including 20 Armenians, and produces more than 500 military boots per day.
"We are very busy and sometimes cannot keep up with the demand. There is a market for everything here in Uzbekistan. All we need to do is work hard. We have no problems as Armenians," he said. While Dr. Davidian and Arakelyan have succeeded in the private sector, the doors are not shut in the face of other professions.
"There is room for everything, provided you are educated or good at the profession of your choice. Maybe it is difficult for non-Uzbeks to find employment in government, but the private sector is open to everyone," says Grigory Mikhailovich Arustamyan, a Deputy Prosecutor of Tashkent who heads a team of lawyers and experts in charge of the capital's Trade and Business Arbitration Courts.
Born in Kirovabad, Azerbaijan, Arustamyan studied law in Tashkent and settled in Uzbekistan while his father and other family members remained in Baku until the anti-Armenian pogroms in 1988 when they escaped persecution along with thousands of Armenians living there.
Arustamyan is one of the few Armenians holding a government position in Uzbekistan. His wife, who is also a lawyer, was appointed as a judge in 1994.
A soft spoken man, Arustamyan's advice to young Armenians is simple, "Get a good education, learn the Uzbek language, and do not leave this country. It is full of opportunities for young professionals." "The future is bright for people with initiative. Foreign companies are moving in and they need bright young people who are willing to work hard-something which Armenians are good at," he said.
