Tuesday, Armenian President Visits Georgia Georgia - Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili (L) and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian meet in Tbilisi, 26Dec2017. Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian met with Georgia's Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili on Tuesday at the end of a two-day official visit to Tbilisi. The two men spoke of a "positive dynamic" in Georgian-Armenian relations. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili likewise praised bilateral commercial ties when met with his Armenian counterpart on Monday. "Our relations are centuries old and they have always been as warm and good-neighborly as they are today," Kvirikashvili said at the start of his talks with Sarkisian. "We welcome the growing dynamics of our bilateral relations." The press offices of both leaders said they discussed ways of deepening ties between the two neighboring states in "various fields" but reported no further details. According to a statement by Sarkisian's office, they also noted "considerable progress" in bilateral commerce made this year. "Even though we have signed the Association Agreement with the European Union and we benefit from free trade with Europe while Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), this circumstance has not weakened economic cooperation between our countries," Margvelashvili said after his separate meeting with Sarkisian. "On the contrary, the [commercial] turnover between our countries as well as the tourism indicator has significantly increased this year." GEORGIA -- Georgia's President Giorgi Margvelashvili (L) and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan (R) inspect the honor guard during the welcoming ceremony at the President's residence in Tbilisi, Georgia, . Serzh Sargsyan on an official Official Armenian statistics show that Georgian-Armenian trade actually shrunk by 4 percent to just under $200 million in the first ten months of this year. The two nations continue to have an essentially free trade regime despite Armenia's membership in the Russian-led trade bloc. Speaking at a joint news briefing with the Georgian president, Sarkisian urged Georgian entrepreneurs to set up shop in Armenia and thus gain tariff-free access to markets in Russia and other EEU member states. He also called on them to invest in a free economic zone that has been created on Armenia's border with Iran. It was not clear whether the two sides discussed the potential creation of new transport corridors between Georgia and Russia that would be used for cargo shipments to and from Armenia. Most of Russian-Armenian trade is currently carried out through the sole Russian-Georgian border crossing at Upper Lars. Traffic along that mountainous road is frequently blocked by blizzards in winter months. Kvirikashvili said last week that Tbilisi is ready to allow Armenia as well as Turkey and other countries to use, in case of a "force majeure situation," another road that passes through Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region. He pointed to the December 19 signing of an agreement between the Georgian government and a Swiss company that would process such cargo traffic. Georgia and Russia have held negotiations on this politically sensitive arrangement for the last few years. Armenian Transport Minister Vahan Martirosian expressed hope earlier this year that the talks will yield an agreement soon. Sarkisian flew to Tbilisi two weeks after Kvirikashvili cancelled a planned official visit to Yerevan at the last minute. The two governments said the visit will take place after the Georgian parliament approves a cabinet reshuffle initiated by the premier. Yerevan Budget Criticized By Opposition . Tatev Danielian Armenia - A session of Yerevan's municipal council chaired by Mayor Taron Markarian, 26Dec2017. The opposition minority in Yerevan's municipal council accused Mayor Taron Markarian of misusing public funds on Tuesday as he pushed through the city budget for next year drafted by his administration. The budget calls for 80.2 billion drams ($166 million) in expenditure and almost as much in revenue. The council controlled by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) passed it by 47 votes to 16. Voting against it were council members representing the opposition Yelk alliance and the more radical Yerkir Tsirani party. Yelk councilors said the budget will waste taxpayers' money on useless programs while ignoring some of the Armenian capital's pressing needs.One of them, Ani Samsonian, complained that the municipal administration has no plans to replace aging and increasingly dangerous elevators of many apartment blocks in the city. Yerkir Tsirani councilors were even more critical. One of them, Marine Khachatrian, launched personal attacks on Markarian. In particular, she charged that the mayor uses budgetary funds to buy expensive suits for himself. Markarian brushed aside the allegations, implying that Yerkir Tsirani receives lavish funding from foreign donors. "As regards your claims about our clothing and foreign trips, I must tell you that a lot has actually changed in your attire, your hairstyle and your gait ever since you were elected to the council," he said. "So stop it." "You can't carry on with empty talk," he added angrily during a continued verbal exchange with Khachatrian. Khachatrian and the two other Yerkir Tsirani councilors, including the party leader Zaruhi Postanjian, were jeered by the HHK majority when they walked out of the assembly in protest afterwards. The leader of the Yelk faction in the council, Davit Khazhakian, also rebuked them, saying that they are too disruptive."Your plan to raise hell affects us too, which I understand wasn't one of your goals," he said. Meanwhile, one of Markarian's deputies, Vahe Nikoyan, rejected the opposition criticism of the budget. He said that neither opposition faction has submitted any concrete proposals on redistributing expenditures planned by the municipal administration. Press Review "168 Zham" reports that the Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communications has signed a $29,000 construction contract with a private company chosen by it without a tender. The company, Armstroy, is registered in the town of Sisian and has repeatedly won similar contracts before. The paper says that the website of the Armenian state registry of companies does not specify who owns it. "The year 2017 does not seem to have brought substantial changes to the lives of Armenia's ordinary citizens," writes "Haykakan Zhamanak." "Life has not improved and the country has not become a decent country. People have continued to struggle to make ends meet. Some have managed to do that better because they have kept up with time, gained new skills, become more educated. Others, being deprived of such opportunities right from the beginning, have remained at the mercy of employers and have spent the year doing grueling work for 12 hours a day and six days a week and making between 80,000 and 100,000 drams." "Zhamanak" claims that the U.S. Treasury Department's decision to impose financial sanctions on Russian-Armenian businessman Ruben Tatulian and nine other Russian nationals accused of leading a crime syndicate could have "severe consequences" for Armenia. The paper speculates that the U.S. is also planning to penalize subsidiaries of Russian companies already sanctioned by Washington. "Zhoghovurd" says that Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's 2016 pledges to boost food safety controls in Armenia have turned out to be gimmicks. The paper points to last week's discovery of horse and donkey meat that was sold as beef at a food market in Yerevan. "One can only guess about what the situation is with other products that have not been examined yet," it says. "In the meantime, we can conclude that Armenia's citizens are still not protected against low-quality or hazardous foodstuffs." (Lilit Harutiunian) 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