Friday, September 1, 2017 Ruling Party Said To `Choose' New Armenian PM In April . Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian arrive for a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, 29Jun2017. The leadership of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) will decide next April who will be the country's prime minister after President Serzh Sarkisian completes his final term, parliament speaker Ara Babloyan claimed on Friday. "Come April, we will jointly choose our prime minister," Babloyan, who is also a member of the HHK's governing board, told journalists. Asked whether the HHK leadership is already discussing possible candidacies for the post, he said: "They will be discussed in April." Armenia - Parliament speaker Ara Babloyan speaks to journalists, 1Sept2017. Sarkisian will also serve out his second and final five-year presidential term in April 2018. The end of his presidency will complete Armenia's transition to a parliamentary system of government. The next head of state will be elected by the Armenian parliament and have largely ceremonial powers. Sarkisian has still not clarified whether he plans to become prime minister or stay in government in another capacity. "I have never thought about what my next area of activity will be # There is still a lot of time [left before April,]" he said in a televised interview aired in July. "He who has the parliamentary majority will nominate the [next] prime minister," he added vaguely, referring to the HHK. Sarkisian said in March that he would like to "play a role, in some capacity, in ensuring the security of our people" after April 2018. The president stated in 2014 that he will not "aspire" to the post of prime minister if Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic. However, he pointedly declined to reaffirm that pledge on the eve of a disputed referendum on his sweeping constitutional changes held in December 2015. Armenia's current Prime Minister Karen Karapetian has repeatedly indicated his desire to retain his post next year. Some Armenian media outlets alleged earlier this year a rift between Karapetian and Sarkisian. Sarkisian dismissed those claims as "untrue" in early June. He said afterwards that Karapetian's government continues to enjoy his "full trust." Government Sees Strong Growth In Armenian Brandy Industry Armenia - Farmers deliver grapes to a brandy distillery in Ararat province, 9Sep2013. Armenia's wine and brandy companies will likely increase grape purchases from local farmers by 28 percent this year after posting sharp production gains in the last 18 months, Agriculture Minister Ignati Arakelian said on Friday. Arakelian spoke at a meeting with senior executives of those companies held by Prime Minister Karen Karapetian. It focused on government support for a major sector of the Armenian economy providing income to tens of thousands of grape farmers. According to Agriculture Ministry projections cited by Arakelian, the country's 2017 grape harvest is on track to shrink by 10 percent due to an unusually cold winter that severely damaged many vineyards. Nevertheless, the ministry expects wholesale grape purchases by Armenian distilleries to rise to 141,000 metric tons from 110,000 tons in 2016. Arakelian implicitly attributed that to a nearly 30 percent rise in exports of Armenian brandy which he said was registered so far this year. Russia is the main export market for the alcoholic beverage. According to the National Statistical Service (NSS), brandy and wine production in Armenia soared, in physical terms, by 61 percent and 30 percent respectively in the first half of 2017. The NSS reported less drastic but still double-digit production increases in 2016. Output in the sector contracted in 2015 primarily because of a sharp depreciation of the Russian ruble. Many local firms struggled to pay grape farmers as a result. Some small manufactures also delayed payments for grapes purchased from mostly subsistence farmers last fall. Hundreds of such villagers staged angry protests this winter and spring. Arakelian, who managed Armenia's largest brandy producer until being named agriculture minister last October, was reported to urge all liquor firms to sign contracts with their grape suppliers "in order to avoid problems." Karapetian, for his part, promised continued government support for the winemaking industry. He said his government is already subsidizing loans extended to brandy and wine companies for grape purchases. It also engineered late last year a significant cut in the price of natural gas used by them, the premier said. "I don't know of many other governments that provide so much financial and other assistance to the agriculture sector," Karapetian added, according to the government statement. The statement said the industry executives presented their "problems, proposals and observations" during the meeting. New Armenia-Karabakh Highway Inaugurated Nagorno-Karabakh - Cars on a newly constructed highway connecting Karabakh to Armenia. A newly built second highway connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh was inaugurated in the presence of President Serzh Sarkisian and other senior officials on Friday. Work on the 115-kilometer -long road began in 2011 and was essentially completed months before the inauguration ceremony, costing 17 billion drams ($36 million) in funding. The Armenian and Karabakh governments footed 56 percent of the bill. The rest of the sum was raised by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund in annual telethons broadcast from Los Angeles in 2013 and 2014. In a statement on the ceremony, the pan-Armenian charity headquartered in Yerevan noted the "strategic significance" of the project. Nagorno-Karabakh - Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and other officials inaugurate a new highway connecting Karabakh to Armenia, 1Sep2017. Passenger and cargo traffic between Armenia and Karabakh has until now been mainly carried out through a highway passing through Lachin, one of the seven districts in Azerbaijan proper that were partly or fully occupied by Karabakh Armenian forces during the 1991-1994 war. The Lachin road stretches for more than 80 kilometers from the Karabakh capital Stepanakert to the southeastern Armenian town of Goris. It was built in 1997 with the financial assistance of the Armenian Diaspora and the late U.S.-Armenian billionaire Kirk Kerkorian in particular. The second highway runs from the northern Karabakh town of Martakert to Vartenis in eastern Armenia through the Kelbajar district that has been under Karabakh Armenian control since 1993. Officials say that the new highway will not only shorten travel time between Yerevan and northern Karabakh but also stimulate economic activity in nearby rural communities and bring more tourists to the Armenian-populated territory. In particular, it will significantly facilitate visitors' access to two medieval Armenian monasteries located in the area. The Vartenis-Martakert road should also benefit an Armenian company mining gold and copper in northern Karabakh. It is Karabakh's single largest corporate employer and taxpayer. New Armenia-Karabakh Highway Inaugurated Nagorno-Karabakh - Cars on a newly constructed highway connecting Karabakh to Armenia. A newly built second highway connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh was inaugurated in the presence of President Serzh Sarkisian and other senior officials on Friday. Work on the 115-kilometer -long road began in 2011 and was essentially completed months before the inauguration ceremony, costing 17 billion drams ($36 million) in funding. The Armenian and Karabakh governments footed 56 percent of the bill. The rest of the sum was raised by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund in annual telethons broadcast from Los Angeles in 2013 and 2014. In a statement on the ceremony, the pan-Armenian charity headquartered in Yerevan noted the "strategic significance" of the project. Nagorno-Karabakh - Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and other officials inaugurate a new highway connecting Karabakh to Armenia, 1Sep2017. Passenger and cargo traffic between Armenia and Karabakh has until now been mainly carried out through a highway passing through Lachin, one of the seven districts in Azerbaijan proper that were partly or fully occupied by Karabakh Armenian forces during the 1991-1994 war. The Lachin road stretches for more than 80 kilometers from the Karabakh capital Stepanakert to the southeastern Armenian town of Goris. It was built in 1997 with the financial assistance of the Armenian Diaspora and the late U.S.-Armenian billionaire Kirk Kerkorian in particular. The second highway runs from the northern Karabakh town of Martakert to Vartenis in eastern Armenia through the Kelbajar district that has been under Karabakh Armenian control since 1993. Officials say that the new highway will not only shorten travel time between Yerevan and northern Karabakh but also stimulate economic activity in nearby rural communities and bring more tourists to the Armenian-populated territory. In particular, it will significantly facilitate visitors' access to two medieval Armenian monasteries located in the area. The Vartenis-Martakert road should also benefit an Armenian company mining gold and copper in northern Karabakh. It is Karabakh's single largest corporate employer and taxpayer. Press Review "Aravot" claims that "Russian jealousy and Azerbaijani hatred have joined forces against Armenia's sovereignty." "Russian-Azerbaijani interests are congruent with the existence of a weak and hesitant Armenian government lacking confidence in Karabakh peace talks," writes the paper. By contrast, it says, the United States wants to "make sure that Armenia can make a sovereign decision in the choice of its economic and political model." "Haykakan Zhamanak" predicts that Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's cabinet will fail to make good on its pledge to attract $830 million in mostly foreign investments in Armenia this year. Citing official statistics, the paper says that more capital has flown out of the country than been invested in its economy in 2017. "Zhoghovurd" comments on the start of a new academic year in schools and universities across Armenia. The paper is alarmed by a continuing decline in the number of schoolchildren in some rural communities. "So especially in some villages September 1 will be no different from other days," it says. "The situation is tragic and it is the consequence, first and foremost, of emigration. According to official statistics, though, just like last year, the number of fist-graders going to school in 2017 stands at 40,000." "Chorrord Ishkhanutyun" quotes an official from the Armenian Ministry of Education as saying that parents failing to send their children to school will risk heavy fines. The paper slams the warning, saying that poverty is the main reason why some children skip classes or drop out of schools altogether. "Parents just don't have 15,000-20,000 drams ($31-$41) to buy bags or clothes for their children," it says. "Of course, even in the wealthiest states there are people living in extreme poverty. But for some reason, their governments help such people, instead of fining them." (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