Monday, Ex-Defense Chief's Wife Warned Over `False Denunciation' . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - Ruzanna Khachatrian, the wife of former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian. The Armenian Defense Ministry issued a stern warning to the wife of former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian on Monday after she seemingly accused his successor, Vigen Sargsian, of evading compulsory military service. In a weekend Facebook post, Ruzanna Khachatrian attacked an unnamed "high-ranking official" who has spoken out against draft evasion of late. Khachatrian said she has known him for 25 years and remembers "how he was evading military service and how the military police were hunting for him" in 1999. The official, she said, was "saved from punishment" by his girlfriend who worked as an advisor to a "senior military official" at the time. "And now he, shaking his finger from various podiums as a great `philosopher,' a great `teacher,' is trying to give mentoring advice and admonitions to the younger generations," wrote Khachatrian. The opposition Yelk alliance was quick to seize upon the extraordinary attack, suggesting that it was directed at Defense Minister Sargsian, who replaced Ohanian one year ago. Sargsian repeatedly stressed the need to close legal loopholes to draft evasion during last week's parliament debates on a government bill that will mostly abolish draft deferments enjoyed by male students of Armenian universities. Yelk's parliamentary faction voted against the bill, saying that the authorities must first ensure that senior government officials and their relatives are no longer able to wriggle out of the two-year service. One of Yelk's leaders, Nikol Pashinian, demanded on Monday that the Sargsian give "very clear explanations" about why he was not drafted when he turned 18. Armenia - Defense Minister VIgen Sargsian speaks during parliamentary hearings on military draft in Yerevan, 11Oct2017. According to the 42-year-old minister's official biography, he studied at a state college in Russia from 1992-1996 and served in the Armenian armed forces as an officer after graduating from the U.S. Fletcher School of Diplomacy in 2000. From 2000 through 2003 Sargsian was an assistant to then Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian. The Defense Ministry spokesman, Artsrun Hovannisian, also reacted to Khachatrian's claims. In that regard, he pointed to articles of Armenia's civil and criminal codes dealing with "defamation," "insults" and "false denunciation." Hovannisian also insisted on his Facebook page that Sargsian had never evaded military or been wanted by law-enforcement authorities on corresponding charges. Shortly after he was sacked as defense minister in October 2016, Ohanian began publicly criticizing the Armenian government and its track record. He ran in the April 2017 parliamentary elections as one of the leaders of the ORO opposition alliance. ORO failed to win any seats in the National Assembly. Neither Ohanian nor his wife could be reached for comment on Monday. Armenian Government Stands By 2018 Growth Forecast . Astghik Bedevian Armenia -- Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and two members of his cabinet attend a parliamentary discussion on the draft state budget for 2018, 30Oct2017 The Armenian government stood by its projections that economic growth in the country will accelerate to 4.5 percent next year as it presented its 2018 budget proposal to lawmakers on Monday. The draft state budget approved by the government in late September calls for over 1.46 trillion drams ($3.1 billion) in total expenditure, up by 7.6 percent from the government's 2017 spending target. Most of the extra spending planned by the government would be channeled into various infrastructure projects. The spending bill calls for an even sharper rise in tax revenue that would reduce the budget to 2.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and Finance Minister Vartan Aramian defended this budgetary strategy as they addressed several standing committees of the Armenian parliament. Karapetian insisted that it will "lay the groundwork" for an average economic growth rate of 5 percent "in the future." "We must seek 5 percent growth, not 3 percent growth, because several analyses show that 3 percent growth would not allow us to consistently address our economic problems," Aramian said for his part. He said the government still expects the Armenian economy to expand by 4.5 percent in 2018, up from 4.3 percent projected for this year. In its latest World Economic Outlook released earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund forecast more modest growth rates for Armenia: 3.5 percent in 2017 and 2.9 percent in 2018. The IMF anticipated slower growth in the country earlier this year. The draft budget was criticized by opposition lawmakers representing the Yelk alliance and businessman Gagik Tsarukian's bloc. They said that it will not ease hardship in the country because the government is not planning to raise public sector salaries and pensions next year. "The people are sick and tired of your numbers," said Gevorg Petrosian of the Tsarukian Bloc. "We are confident that we are keeping the country on the right track," countered Aramian. He said that boosting capital spending is a more efficient way of speeding up growth than raising salaries and pensions. "Without capital spending it's not possible to expect development," agreed Aghvan Vartanian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, President Serzh Sarkisian's junior coalition partner. Police End Hostage Situation At Armenian Kindergarten . Anush Muradian Armenia - Police cars are seen outside a kindergarten in Armavir where a man held a child hostage, 30Oct2017. Police in Armenia used force on Monday to neutralize a man who burst into a kindergarten and took one of its children hostage. The hostage, a 3-year-old boy, was freed after a five-hour standoff between the man armed with a knife and police officers that surrounded the kindergarten in Armavir, a town 40 kilometers west of Yerevan. A spokesman for the Armenian police, Ashot Aharonian, said the officers freed the child before using "special means" against the hostage taker. The operation was personally led by General Hunan Poghosian, the deputy chief of the national police service. An RFE/RL correspondent standing near the kindergarten building heard what sounded like gunshots shortly before Aharonian's announcement. The police said later in the day that the attacker then tried to "harm himself" and was taken to a local hospital as a result. The hospital director, Sargis Khachatrian, told reporters afterwards that he stabbed himself in the chest and is now undergoing surgery. He confirmed that the child was not hurt by the "middle-aged" man. Also hospitalized was a woman described by Khachatrian as the hostage-taker's former wife. He said she suffered stab wounds to her neck, chest and hands and will have to be transferred to a hospital in Yerevan. In a late-night statement, Armenia's Investigative Committee said the man, who was still not identified, took the hostage to demand an urgent meeting with his ex-wife working in the Armavir kindergarten. The law-enforcement agency gave no other detail. Press Review (Saturday, October 28) "Aravot" is disappointed with the parliamentary debate on a controversial government proposal to essentially abolish military draft deferments that have long been enjoyed by male students of state-run universities in Armenia. In an editorial, the paper says that opposition lawmakers were wrong to put the emphasis on alleged draft evasion among the authors of the government bill, other government officials and individuals connected to them. It is also supportive of the measure sought by the government. "We need educated and competent officers more than ever before," "Aravot" goes on. "Young people need not worry. Those of them who have something to give in science or any other sphere will definitely get to do that. The army will not hinder them." "Haykakan Zhamanak" reports that Russia has lifted its ban on imports of Turkish tomatoes which was imposed following the November 2015 shooting down of a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border. The paper says that Armenian tomato farmers have failed to really take advantage of the ban because they still pay much more for Russian gas, used for heating their greenhouse, than their Russian competitors do. Vadim Yevseyev, a Russian political analyst, tells "168 Zham" that he is skeptical about the upcoming fresh negotiations between Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov. "The political situation in Baku and Yerevan does not allow one to predict serious, substantive negotiations on the Karabakh issue," he says. "The leaderships of both counties are preparing for political changes, which will preclude discussion of serious scenarios regarding a Karabakh settlement." (Tatev Danielian) 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