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 Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org