Monday, September 2, 2017
EU Commissioner Looks Forward To `Groundbreaking' Deal With Armenia
. Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Johannes Hahn (L), the EU commissioner for European
neighborhood policy, speaks at a joint news conference with Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan, 2Oct2017.
The European Union and Armenia will sign a Comprehensive and Enhanced
Partnership Agreement (CEPA) "soon," a senior EU official said during
a visit to Yerevan on Monday.
Johannes Hahn, the EU commissioner for European neighborhood policy,
said the landmark accord will not only deepen the EU's ties with
Armenia but also serve as an "example" to other countries.
"Its relevance is going far beyond our bilateral relationship," Hahn
said after talks with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. He called
the CEPA a "blueprint for possible other relationships."
"This groundbreaking new agreement will help demonstrate that it is
possible for Armenia to be part of the Eurasian integration process
while also establishing comprehensive and enhanced relations with the
EU," Hahn told a joint news conference.
Nalbandian confirmed that the deal is due to be signed at the EU's
November 24 summit in Brussels that will focus on its Eastern
Partnership program of privileged partnership with six former Soviet
republics.
"Armenia has close links with the EU and intends to expand
comprehensive cooperation in all areas of mutual interest," Nalbandian
said. "The EU provides valuable assistance to reforms taking place in
our country."
The EU Delegation in Armenia said over the weekend that Hahn will
visit Yerevan to "prepare for" the Brussels summit. The commissioner
was scheduled to meet with President Serzh Sarkisian and Prime
Minister Karen Karapetian later on Monday.
The CEPA, which was finalized in March, reportedly contains the main
political provisions of a more far-reaching Association Agreement
which Brussels and Yerevan nearly concluded in 2013. Sarkisian
prevented the signing of that agreement with his unexpected decision
to seek Armenia's accession to the Russian-led Eurasian Economic
Union. The move was widely attributed to Russian pressure exerted on
the Armenian government.
Speaking in August, the Armenian president dismissed suggestions that
the planned alternative deal with the EU may also collapse at the last
minute. "We have no reason to not sign that document," he said of the
CEPA.
Yerevan Plans More Arms Acquisitions In 2018
. Sisak Gabrielian
Armenia -- Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian at a news conference in
Yerevan, 2Oct2017.
The government plans to considerably increase its defense spending
next year in order to purchase more weapons and ammunition for
Armenia's armed forces, Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian said on
Monday.
Sargsian declined to specify the types and sources of that
weaponry. "I prefer to show weapons during military parades," he told
a news conference. "It is useless and meaningless to speak of
forthcoming or possible arms purchases first of all because that makes
all processes more difficult. Secondly, that means disclosing your
plans for the future, which would allow the enemy to take
countermeasures."
The draft 2018 state budget unveiled by the government last week would
increase Armenia's defense spending by roughly 17 percent to 247
billion drams ($515 million), reflecting a continuing arms race with
Azerbaijan. According to Sargsian, the extra spending will "mainly"
finance additional arms acquisitions.
Russia has long been Armenia's key arms supplier. The Armenian
military has received Russian-made weapons at knockdown prices and
even for free due to close military ties between the two states.
Armenia - The Armenian army demonstrates Buk air-defense systems
recently acquired from Russia as well as S-300 surface-to-air missiles
during a parade in Yerevan, 21Sep2016.
Two years ago Moscow lent Yerevan $200 million for arms purchases from
Russian manufacturers at domestic Russian prices. It subsequently
publicized a long list of items which the Armenian side is allowed to
buy with that money. The list includes, among other things, Smerch
multiple-launch rocket system, TOS-1A heavy flamethrowers, anti-tank
weapons and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. The Armenian
military demonstrated Smerch systems as and several other new weapons
at a September 2016 parade in Yerevan.
Sargsian announced that the arms supplies financed from the Russian
loan will be completed by the end of this year. Other officials in
Yerevan said earlier that 18 supply contracts were signed with the
Russians as part of that deal.
Finance Minister Vartan Aramian revealed in July that Yerevan is
discussing with Moscow the possibility of obtaining another loan which
it would spend on buying more Russian weapons. He declined to specify
the amount of the Russian loan sought by the Armenian government.
Sargsian also said on Monday that the Armenian army is increasingly
reliant on military equipment manufactured by Armenian companies. He
said that more such equipment has been installed in Armenian army
positions this year. The minister did not list any of those items,
though.
Armenian defense firms mainly manufacture various types of ammunition,
unmanned aircraft as well as electronic targeting and surveillance
devices.
Another EU-Funded Border Checkpoint Built In Armenia
. Satenik Kaghzvantsian
Armenia - A newly rebuilt border checkpoint at Bavra, 1Oct2017
President Serzh Sarkisian and other officials inaugurated on Sunday a
third checkpoint on Armenia's border with Georgia that has been
modernized as part of a $64 million program mostly financed by the
European Union.
The checkpoint at Bavra in the northwestern Shirak province has new,
better equipped and much bigger passport control and customs
facilities meeting EU standards.
The area borders on the Ninotsminda district in Georgia which is part
of the Javakheti region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians. Georgian
Deputy Prime Ministry Dimitry Kumsishvili also took part in the
official opening of the new Bavra checkpoint.
Armenian officials as well as the head of the EU Delegation in
Yerevan, Piotr Switalski, said the modern facility will boost
cross-border commerce and tourism.
A statement by Sarkisian's office said it will also facilitate the
transit of Iranian cargos via Armenia. The country's sole border
checkpoint with Iran is due to undergo similar modernization.
There are three checkpoints on the Armenian-Georgian border. Work on
their expansion and modernization began in 2013 after the Armenian
government secured 54 million euros ($64 million) in foreign
funding. The EU provided the bulk of the sum in the form of a grant
and a loan.
The Armenian side of the largest border crossing between the two South
Caucasus countries was rebuilt completely in November last year. The
Bagratashen checkpoint was inaugurated by Sarkisian and Georgian Prime
Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
Government Signals No Letup In Pension Reform Efforts
. Narine Ghalechian
Armenia - Armenians demonstrate against controversial pension reform,
Yerevan, 18Jan2014.
A controversial reform of Armenia's pension system, which sparked
angry street protests three years ago, will be completed as planned
next year, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Artem Asatrian said on
Monday.
The new Western-backed system, which took effect in January 2014, will
gradually cover 270,000 or so Armenian workers born after 1973. It
requires them to earn most of their future pensions by contributing
sums equivalent to at least 5 percent of their gross wages to private
pension funds until their retirement.
The government said that the previous mechanism for retirement
benefits based on so-called solidarity of generations is not
sustainable because of Armenia's aging and shrinking population.
The reform met with fierce resistance from many affected workers
mostly employed by private firms. Thousands of them demonstrated in
Yerevan in early 2014.
Armenia's Constitutional Court effectively froze the pension reform in
April 2014. The government responded by making it mandatory only for
around 70,000 or so public sector employees for the time being. A law
subsequently enacted by it allowed people working for private entities
not to be covered by the new system until July 2018.
Armenia - Labor and Social Affairs Minister Artem Asatrian at a news
conference in Yerevan, 2Oct2017.
Asatrian made clear that the deadline will not be extended next summer
despite the risk of renewed anti-government protests. He again called
the reform a success, saying that the new system currently covers more
than 180,000 workers and most of them work in the private sector.
Mane Tandilian, an opposition parliamentarian who was one of the
organizers of the 2014 protests, dismissed the minister's
statements. "I don't know of a single people happy [with the reform,]"
she told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "I only know many
people who were forced to enter the new system and now have many
grievances."
Tandilian said she is planning to draft a bill that would make the
retirement plan optional for all affected Armenians.
The employee contributions are made to two private pension funds whose
combined assets currently stand at around 80 billion drams ($167.3
million). Asatrian said in July that 70 percent of that money has been
invested in Armenian bonds and other securities.
Press Review
(Saturday, September 30)
"168 Zham" reports that the Armenian government plans to spend over140
billion drams ($293 million) on debt repayments next year. The sum is
equivalent to approximately 10 percent overall public spending. The
paper says that the government is due to spend 120 billion on debt
serving this year. It says that despite this mounting debt burden the
government will borrow more loans, mostly from external sources, in
2018.
"Zhamanak" accuses Prime Minister Karen Karapetian of not honoring his
pledge to attract multimillion-dollar investment in Armenia's
economy. The paper points to a record-low amount of foreign direct
investment shown by official statistics in the first half of this
year. It also claims that the premier has created a favorable business
environment only for Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetian. The
government must therefore step down, concludes "Zhamanak."
"Aravot" disagrees with criticisms of President Serzh Sarkisian's
decision to pardon Vazgen Khachikian, the former head of Armenia's
state pension fund who was arrested in 2012 and subsequently sentenced
to 12 years in prison on corruption charges. "If Khachikian had spent
12, not 5, years in jail # would anybody have felt greater relief?"
argues the paper. "Would a lack of justice have been addressed? Would
corruption in our country have decreased? Why are people so unjustly
cruel?" It says the problem is not the length of Khachikian's
imprisonment but the fact that many other corrupt officials are not
prosecuted.
(Naira Bulghadarian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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