Tuesday,
Fewer Armenians Involved In Agriculture
. Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Grapes harvested at a vineyard in the Ararat Valley,
9Sep2013.
Despite strong growth in agriculture reported by the Armenian
government, the number of people involved in the sector has declined
considerably in the last few years, according to official statistics.
Figures from the National Statistical Service (NSS) show that there
were a total of 338,000 farmers and other agricultural workers in
Armenia last year, down from 437,200 in 2012.
This decrease calls into question separate NSS data showing that
Armenian agricultural output rose by an average 6.3 percent annually
between 2012 and 2016. Armenia's economy grew by an average of 3.5
percent in that period.
Economic growth in the country all but ground to a halt last
year. Finance Minister Vartan Aramian attributed the slowdown to a
revised calculation of domestic agricultural production which was
carried out shortly after last fall's government reshuffle in Yerevan.
The previous Armenian cabinet claimed until then that both the
agricultural sector and the economy as a whole are on track to grow in
2016. The NSS reported in January that the sector generating less than
one-fifth of Gross Domestic Product contracted by over 5 percent last
year. Government officials blamed the drop on unfavorable weather
conditions.
Agricultural output shrank by 1.4 percent in the first half of this
year following an unusually cold winter, government data show.
"The plight of our villagers is very difficult now," Agriculture
Minister Ignati Arakelian told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am) last week. Arakelian, who was appointed in October,
said the mostly subsistence farmers are struggling to grow the right
crops and sell them at a profit.
Armenia Joins Firefighting Efforts In Georgia
Georgia -- A wildire in the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park,
21Aug2017
Armenia sent several dozen firefighters to neighboring Georgia on
Tuesday to help authorities there battle a wildfire that erupted in a
Georgian nature reserve at the weekend.
Georgian officials reported that the fire in the Borjomi-Kharagauli
National Park has expanded to an area of more than twelve
hectares. They said that high winds and heavy smoke are impeding
efforts by Georgian firefighters to contain the blaze. The steep,
rugged landscape also makes it very difficult to use firefighting
machinery, they said.
The scale of the disaster led the Georgian government to ask
neighboring states for assistance. Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili
told reporters on Tuesday that Azerbaijan and Turkey have sent in
firefighting helicopters and that firefighters from Armenia are "on
their way" to the mountainous area in south-central Georgia.
The Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed the
information, saying that it has dispatched eight fire engines along
with their crews to the Borjomi reserve. The 57-strong team also
includes medics and other emergency workers, the ministry said in a
statement.
According to the Armenpress news agency, the head of the ministry's
Rescue Service, Mushegh Ghazarian, will personally coordinate the
team's participation in the firefighting efforts.
Armenia - Armenian firefighting crews depart to Georgia to join
firefighting efforts in the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park,
22Aug2017.
The authorities in Yerevan provided the assistance just days after
extinguishing two massive wildfires that burned hundreds of hectares
of woodland in Armenia after weeks of unusually high
temperatures. They had to ask Russia to send a heavy firefighting
aircraft for containing one of those fires that erupted in the Khosrov
Forest State Reserve southeast of Yerevan on August 12.
Large quantities of water dropped by the Ilyushin-72 plane proved
critical in the firefighting operation conducted there.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations said earlier on Tuesday that its
firefighters are continuing to carry out "post-extinguishment works"
to prevent renewed fire outbreaks at Khosrov.
Dashnak Minister Denies Renewed Friction With PM
. Narine Ghalechian
Armenia -- Environment Minister Artsvik Minasian at a press conference
in Yerevan, 27Dec2016
Environment Minister Artsvik Minasian, one of the three cabinet
members representing the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun), on Tuesday dismissed renewed speculation about his
tense relationship with Prime Minister Karen Karapetian.
Shortly after taking office last September, Karapetian publicly
criticized Minasian, who was Armenia's economy minister at the time,
prompting a stern rebuke from a Dashnaktsutyun leader. Minasian was
subsequently appointed to his current ministerial post after objecting
to the new prime minister's decision to the rename the Armenian
Ministry of Economy.
Media speculation about lingering tensions between the two men was
only stoked by this month's two massive wildfires that burned hundreds
of hectares of forests in the country. Some critics blame the Ministry
of Environment Protection for the fires, saying that it failed to take
necessary precautions despite an unusually hot and dry weather.
Speaking at the RFE/RL studio in Yerevan, Minasian insisted that his
rapport with Karapetian is "very normal" and "not tense" and that
critical statements made by the premier are only "natural."
"On the contrary, it would be bad if nothing was said and if all
discussions, government meetings were mere formalities," he said. "I
think that a healthy atmosphere should be encouraged and that only a
healthy debate can produce the best solution."
Accordingly, the minister ruled out the possibility of his
resignation. "Every time you receive and accept a proposal to take up
a political post, the time will come when you will resign from it," he
said. "But right now there is no such issue. I had a discussion with
the prime minister today as well."
"We now need to come up with an analysis of this situation and
approaches, including changes that we have to make," he added in an
apparent reference to additional government measures to protect
Armenian forests.
Minasian also emphasized that he occupies his "political post" as a
result of a power-sharing deal between Dashnaktsutyun and President
Serzh Sarkisian which was struck in early 2016 and extended shortly
after the April 2017 parliamentary elections. The two other government
members affiliated with Dashnaktsutyun are Territorial Administration
Minister Davit Lokian and Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian.
Dashnaktsutyun controls 7 seats in Armenia's 105-member parliament
elected in April.
Press Review
"Haykakan Zhamanak" describes as "sensational" a Turkish minister's
statement that Turkey wants to sign a free-trade deal with the
Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). "Analysts are now trying to
understand Armenia's position on this Turkish statement," writes the
paper. "They are also looking into what Armenia could gain from that
process. The first thing that is pointed out is that in case of
signing any agreement with the EEU Turkey will have to open the
Turkish-Armenian border, its only land border with that union, or that
such a thing is not possible without Armenia's consent. Therefore, it
is claimed, new opportunities will open up for Armenia's authorities
to advance our national interests."
Other observers think, however, that Russia could pressurize Armenia
into making major concessions to the Turks without getting anything in
return. "There are indeed such concerns," says "Haykakan Zhamanak."
"Aravot" considers "rational" some Armenian opposition politicians'
calls for the country to leave the EEU. "There is neither Europe, nor
Asia nor economy nor union there," claims the paper. "On top of that,
there are unprecedented sanctions [against Russia]." It complains that
membership in the EEU prevents Armenia from signing free-trade deals
with other nations or economic blocs on its own.
"Zhoghovurd" comments on claims by a senior executive of Iran's
national gas company that Tehran and Yerevan are now discussing the
possibility of sharply increasing Iranian gas supplies to
Armenia. "Iran has repeatedly expressed readiness to sell [more] gas
to Armenia," the paper says. "What is more, at one point Iran did not
rule out the possibility of selling gas to Armenia at a lower price."
It claims that the Armenian government failed to seize upon that
opportunity. It blames Russia for that. "The Gazprom company # will
never allow Armenia to have an alternative source of gas," it says.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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