Thursday, June 1, 2017 Armenian Government Stands By Faster Growth Forecast . Nane Sahakian Armenia - Finance Minister Vartan Aramian attends a parliamentary hearing in Yerevan on the Armenian state budget for 2017, 31Oct2016. The Armenian government remains confident that economic growth in the country will accelerate to at least 3.2 percent this year, Finance Minister Vartan Aramian said on Thursday. "We will make every effort to ensure that growth actually exceeds the 3.2 percent target a little," he told reporters. The Armenian economy grew by up to 0.5 percent last year amid a continuing recession in Russia, Armenia's main trading partner and source of large-scale cash remittances. Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's cabinet set the 3.2 percent growth target for 2017 in its budget approved by parliament late last year. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have forecast similar growth rates in recent weeks. The bank cautioned in a May 11 report, however, that the country's growth outlook is susceptible to "negative impact external shocks." Armenia - Workers at a new textile factory in Yerevan, 20Mar2017. Hossein Samiei, a senior IMF official, said in Yerevan in April that "decisive" reforms promised by Karapetian's government are essential for achieving faster and sustainable growth in Armenia. He said the government is committed to improving the business environment, tackling tax evasion and attracting foreign investment. In Aramian's words, the government expects domestic economic activity to be stimulated by at least $830 million in mostly foreign investments which it has repeatedly pledged to attract this year. The minister said that foreign direct investment already rose by 30 percent in the first quarter of this year. Minister for Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan stood by the ambitious pledges in separate comments to the press. "The [investment] programs that we announced are on track," he said. Karapetian has repeatedly stated that that his government has all but secured $3.2 billion in funding for around 350 investment projects to be implemented in Armenia in the coming years. Critics of his government are highly skeptical about that. Ex-Prosecutor Warns Of European Court Rulings Against Armenia . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - A newly constructed prison in Armavir region, 29Nov2014. Armenian law-enforcement authorities' long-running practice of routinely keeping criminal suspects in custody may put them at odds with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), former Prosecutor-General Gevorg Kostanian warned on Thursday. Kostanian, who now represents Armenia in the ECHR, argued that the Strasbourg-based court has adopted stricter requirements for the pre-trial arrest of people in the Council of Europe member states. He said law-enforcement authorities there must now prove that arrested individuals, who have appealed to the ECHR, would go into hiding or obstruct justice if set free. "Whereas [until now] we could justify the need for arrest only with the fact of a crime # now an even individual who committed the most serious crime can be arrested only if it is substantiated that they could flee or evade [prosecution,]" Kostanian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "Therefore, our law-enforcement bodies must pay special attention to the matter. Or else, we will get recognitions [by the ECHR] of widespread violations [of the due process,]" said the ex-prosecutor who was recently elected to the Armenian parliament on the ruling Republican Party's ticket. Human rights groups have long criticized Armenian law-enforcement agencies for usually keeping suspects, including those charged with minor crimes, in pre-trial detention. They believe that the practice makes it easier for investigators to extract confessions. Armenian courts rarely agree to order the release of suspects on bail or otherwise pending investigation. Ara Gharagyozian, a lawyer who has represented many opposition activists, was skeptical about the new ECHR requirements. He said the increased likelihood of ECRH rulings against Armenia carrying heavy fines will hardly deter Armenian judges or prosecutors. "Mr. Kostanian may say the right things but our law-enforcement bodies and courts usually do the opposite," he said. One of Gharagyozian's clients, Ara Khandoyan, was arrested last summer in connection with violent clashes between opposition supporters and riot police in Yerevan. Armenian courts refused to grant Khandoyan bail. His lawyer challenged those decisions in the Strasbourg court earlier this year. Anti-Smoking Measures Planned In Armenia . Naira Bulghadarian Armenia - An anti-smoking campaigner talks to passersby in Yerevan, 31May2011. The Armenian Ministry of Health has called for a legal ban on smoking in public places and a sharp rise in the prices of cigarettes, citing the need to reduce the large number of smokers in Armenia. Health Minister Levon Altunian unveiled on Wednesday a new "anti-tobacco strategy" drafted by his staff and submitted to the government for approval.He said a corresponding government bill will likely be sent to the Armenian parliament in November. "Armenians are a law-abiding nation," Altunian told a news conference. "Armenians like novelties. Armenians like being healthy and successful." "I am convinced that we will succeed in defeating this evil," he said. "The best way to do that is to target [smokers'] pockets, rather than minds." Under the ministry proposals, excise duties levied from cigarettes would be raised by 15 percent annually from 2017 through 2021. The government would also prohibit smoking in government and private offices, as well as all restaurants, cafes and bars. The owners of such businesses failing to comply with the ban would be fined an equivalent of as much as $10,000. "It all boils down to this: if you want to smoke, go out, smoke and come back," said Aleksandr Bazarchian, the director of the government-funded National Institute of Healthcare. "Nobody is telling people not to smoke." The ministry is also seeking a complete ban on all forms of tobacco advertising. Armenian TV and radio stations were banned from airing such commercials years ago. According to ministry estimates, 55 percent of Armenian men are regular smokers. The smoking rate among women in the socially conservative society is much lower: 3 percent. It is considerably higher in Yerevan where around 10 percent of women aged between 30 and 40 are tobacco addicts. The Armenian authorities already took a set of anti-smoking measures over a decade ago. A special law that came into force in 2005 banned smoking in hospitals, cultural and educational institutions and public buses. Additional restrictions introduced a year later required other entities, including bars and restaurants to allow smoking only in special secluded areas. But with no legal sanctions put in place against their violation, those measures proved largely ineffectual. Skeptics are now questioning the authorities' ability and willingness to enforce the new and tougher measures advocated by the Ministry of Health. Babken Pipoyan, who heads a non-governmental consumer right group, is worried that some restaurants may be allowed to flout the smoking ban and thus gain an unfair competitive edge. Press Review "Zhamanak" dismisses suggestions that Russia will handpick a new prime minister of Armenia next year. "The notion that Armenia's top official is appointed in a foreign center -- and Moscow in particular -- must be driven out of the Armenian public consciousness," writes the paper. "Even if this is the case, this sense of gloom and forgone conclusion not only must not take root among Armenia's citizens but there must also be a great deal of intolerance towards it." "Zhoghovurd" reports that President Serzh Sarkisian on Wednesday completed the formation of Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's new cabinet by reappointing it last four members. The paper points out that the government's composition has not changed as a result of the April 2 parliamentary elections. "Generally speaking, this government is not motivated to do a good job," it claims. "What is the point of improving the situation in the country and making things easier for the man who can can sack them and be the next prime minister? But if it is decided after all that Karen Karapetian will remain prime minister [in 2018,] they will have even less reason to provide anything to anyone." "Hraparak" says it is now even more evident that Armenia's constitution was radically amended in 2015 for the sake of President Serzh Sarkisian's political future. The paper also says that Sarkisian will keep everyone guessing his political plans "until the last moment." "Nobody is fully aware of his scenario," it says. "Aravot" says that the failure of some major Armenian parties and alliances to win seats in the new parliament must not mean "the end of the world" for them. "If they have good ideas, they can use them while being outside the parliament," editorializes the paper. "Especially given the fact that there are now many platforms for promoting ideas. If they are more original than formulas like `the country is collapsing' or `this regime must go as soon as possible' they could be of interest to the society or at least a certain section of it." Konrad Zasztowt, a Polish political analyst, tells "168 Zham" that Armenia cannot secure a visa-free regime for its citizens travelling to the European Union in the near future. "Yerevan has to prove that it is capable of modernizing the country and laying strong foundations for democracy, human rights and the rule of law," he says. (Anush Mkrtchian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org