Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Yerevan Expects More Aid, Exports After New Deal With EU . Hovannes Movsisian Armenia - Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielian at a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, 16Jun2016. The European Union will provide Armenia with 176 million euros ($208 million) in fresh assistance over the next three years as a result of a landmark agreement signed late last month, Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielian said on Wednesday. Gabrielian said the aid will support the Armenian government's wide-ranging reforms that will facilitate faster economic growth. The government also expects a major boost to Armenian exports to the EU, he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). The Comprehensive and Enhanced Partership Agreement (CEPA) commits the government to implementing political reforms and "approximating" national economic laws and regulations to those of the EU. This "regulatory harmonization" will cover business regulation, agriculture, transport, environment, consumer protection and even energy. "We will implement reforms in certain policy areas through [EU] assistance, increased technical capacity and better legislation," said Gabrielian. This will in turn help to increase and diversify Armenian exports, he added. The CEPA does not provide for a free-trade regime between the EU and Armenia in view of the latter's membership in a Russian-led trade bloc. Instead, it says, the two sides will seek to ease non-tariff barriers to mutual commerce such as technical regulations and licensing and labelling requirements. The EU is already Armenia's main export market, having imported $496 million worth of Armenian goods and commodities in the first ten months of this year. Copper, other non-ferrous metals and ore concentrates account for the bulk of Armenian exports to EU countries. Gabrielian suggested that the planned introduction of EU standards should lead to more exports of Armenian manufacturing output. Some Armenian companies are already "restructuring themselves" for that purpose, he said. Karapetian Denies Economic Monopolies In Armenia . Karlen Aslanian Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian attends his government's question-and-answer session in parliament in Yerevan 6Dec2017. Prime Minister Karapetian insisted on Wednesday that his government is successfully liberalizing lucrative sectors of the Armenian economy that have long been dominated by a handful of wealthy entrepreneurs. "We have no classic monopolies as such. What we have is markets with dominant players," he told an opposition lawmaker during the government's question-and-answer session in the National Assembly. Karapetian said that the State Revenue Committee (SRC) can certify that in those markets "the number of players and the volumes" of their business operations have increased in the past year. "Work in that direction is firmly on track," he said. "The dominant player in a market has better starting conditions and their, let's say, 70 percent share in the market cannot shrink to 20 percent within a year. But you will see a positive dynamic there," added Karapetian. The lawmaker, Sergey Bagratian of the Tsarukian Bloc, remained unconvinced, speaking of "state structures sponsoring those who have dominant positions." "We have young people that would wipe out those dominant positions within a year if there was free competition," he said. "Do you know of a single case where we barred somebody from entering a market?" countered the premier. "If you do, tell us. Nobody is stopped at the border and told that `you can import this but not that.'" Karapetian pledged to improve the domestic business environment and open up all sectors to greater competition shortly after he was appointed as prime minister in September 2016. Opposition politicians remain skeptical about reforms promised by him. The lack of competition has been particularly acute in lucrative imports of some essential products to Armenia. Samvel Aleksanian, a government-linked tycoon, has long enjoyed a de facto monopoly on imports of sugar, wheat, other basic foodstuffs as well as some medicines. Critics have accused Aleksanian of using his government connections to ward off competition and evade taxes. He has always denied that. The SRC nearly doubled the total amount of taxes collected from Aleksanian's companies in the first half of this year. The tax agency is now headed by a figure close to Karapetian. Karapetian on Wednesday also claimed to have markedly improved the macroeconomic situation in Armenia which he said is "manageable" now. He argued that economic growth in the country is on course to exceed this year a 3.2 percent rate that was forecast by his cabinet in late 2016. Another Tsarukian Bloc deputy, Gevorg Petrosian, recalled a 2013 statement by President Serzh Sarkisian that an Armenian government failing to achieve a growth rate of at least 7 percent must step down. He wondered whether Karapetian's cabinet will "fulfill" that directive. Answering the question, Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielian said the current government is guided by its five-year policy program that was approved by the parliament in June. The 120-page document commits the government to ensuring that the Armenian economy expands by around 5 percent annually. "Thank you for not answering my question," Petrosian responded to Gabrielian. `Contaminated' Agricultural Produce Found In Yerevan . Tatev Danielian Armenia -- A food market in Yerevan. Researchers from Armenia's National Academy of Sciences claimed on Wednesday to have found high concentrations of toxic substances in fruits and vegetables sold in Yerevan. A research center of the state-funded academy said tomatoes, apples, peppers, carrots and greens examined by it were dangerously rich in toxic heavy metals such as copper, mercury and lead. The head of the center dealing with food safety, Davit Pipoyan, warned that they pose a serious risk to the lives of consumers. Heavy metals are specifically known to cause cancer, he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Pipoyan said researchers from his center could not determine in which parts of Armenia the contaminated agricultural products were grown. He also noted in that regard that a separate study conducted recently in a southeastern Armenian village close to a copper mine found even higher concentrations of the toxic metals in crops grown by local farmers. Armenia's State Service for Food Safety said that it cannot comment on the scientists' claims before conducting a more thorough and large-scale examination of agricultural products sold in markets and grocery stores. Such research is due to be launched in the coming months, said a spokeswoman for the government agency, Nvard Arakelian. "The problem is not new," Arakelian told RFE/RL's Armenian service. "It's not that we must immediately start dealing with it. The problem requires a systemic and comprehensive solution." For its part, the Armenian Health Ministry said it will comment on the issue later on. Press Review "Haykakan Zhamanak" believes that the sacking of a deputy chief of the Armenian army's General Staff, Haykaz Baghmanian, is aimed at shoring up the positions of Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian. The paper notes in this regard that Sargsian is widely regarded as a potential candidate for the post of prime minister. It speculates that President Serzh Sarkisian could become defense minister and install his "most trusted cadre" as prime minister after completing his final term in April 2018. "Hayots Ashkhar" suggests, meanwhile, that Vigen Sargsian is simply pressing ahead with defense reforms that were promised by him. Those reforms involve, among other things, a "refreshing" of the top army brass, says the pro-presidential paper. "Zhoghovurd" comes up with a grim assessment of President Sarkisian's decade-long rule, saying that it has been marked by an increase in poverty and emigration of more people from Armenia. The paper claims that he has failed to achieve a "single positive result" for the Armenian economy. "This is the result of Serzh Sarkisian's ten years in power," it says. "Zhamanak" is concerned about the official rate of poverty in Armenia which the National Statistical Service (NSS) says fell slightly to 29.4 percent in 2016. "The most troubling thing is that the published figure did not surprise anyone, including the public strata, the opposition and the government," comments the paper. "Armenia has grown accustomed to this poverty indicator." "Hraparak" comments on dramatic developments in Ukraine where former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is facing arrest and prosecution because of his efforts to topple the Ukrainian government. "From our Armenian perspective, he is either crazy or an adventurer who must be sent to prison or psychiatric clinic," writes the paper. "But history is made thanks to such crazy persons. They are the ones who set stagnation in motion, force governments to work hard and get the masses to the streets." (Karlen Aslanian) 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