Wednesday, 

Georgia Extradites Key Suspect In High-Profile Armenian Case


 . Anush Muradian


Georgia - A screenshot of official video of the arrest in Tbilisi of
an Armenian man suspected of smuggling weapons to Armenia, 27Mar2017.

Law-enforcement authorities in Georgia have extradited to Armenia a
man accused of providing a sophisticated weapon to Samvel Babayan, the
jailed army general linked to an Armenian opposition group, it emerged
on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old Armenian national, Robert Aghvanian, was detained in
Tbilisi in late March just days after Babayan's controversial arrest.

Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) said at the time that the
former commander of Nagorno-Karabakh's army paid two other arrested
suspects to smuggle a shoulder-fired surface-to-air rocket from or
through Georgia. It claimed to have found and confiscated the
Russian-made Igla system in Karabakh.

Subsequent NSS statements were more ambiguous about the origin of the
weapon. Investigators said only that Aghvanian delivered the weapon in
return for $38,000 that was promised by Sanasar Gabrielian, a longtime
Babayan associate. Gabrielian allegedly acted on the general's orders.

Babayan repeatedly denied the accusations as baseless before being
sentenced to six years in prison by a Yerevan court late last
month. Gabrielian, who received a three-year prison sentence, insisted
at their trial that it was he, not Babayan, who commissioned the
confiscated Igla.

The two men were arrested about two weeks before Armenia's last
parliamentary elections. Babayan was unofficially affiliated with the
ORO alliance led by former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and two
other opposition politicians. ORO condemned the criminal case as
politically motivated. The opposition bloc failed to win any
parliament seats.


Armenia - Samvel Babayan (R), Nagorno-Karabakh's former military
leader, stands trial in Yerevan, 20Nov2017.

According to Armenia's Office of the Prosecutor-General, Aghvanian was
extradited from Georgia on Monday. He has already been formally
charged with illegal arms acquisition and smuggling, the
law-enforcement agency said in a statement.

Babayan's lawyer, Avetis Kalashian, said he does not expect the
extradition to seriously influence his client's fate. "It cannot have
any impact on Samvel Babayan because they definitely did not know each
other," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

"Samvel Babayan did not know personally any of the other suspects
except Sanasar Gabrielian," insisted Kalashian.

Neither the NSS nor the prosecutors have clarified yet why the once
powerful general would seek to get hold of the rocket designed to
shoot down planes and helicopters.

Babayan, who led Karabakh's Armenian-backed army from 1993-1999,
emigrated to Russia in 2011 and returned to Armenia in May 2016,
citing the increased risk of renewed war with Azerbaijan. He strongly
criticized Armenia's and Karabakh's current governments in the
following months.

Babayan was already arrested in 2000 and subsequently sentenced to 14
years in prison for allegedly masterminding a botched attempt on the
life of the then Karabakh president, Arkady Ghukasian. He was set free
in 2004.



Ruling Party Urges Caution Over Russian Tycoon Blacklisted By U.S.


 . Ruzanna Stepanian


Armenia -- Eduard Sharmazanov, the spokesman for the ruling Republican
Party, at a press conference in Yerevan, 27Dec2017.

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) on Wednesday urged media
to respect "the presumption of innocence" of a Russian businessman of
Armenian descent blacklisted by the United States for his alleged ties
to an organized-crime syndicate.

The controversial businessman, Ruben Tatulian, is one of 10 Russian
nationals on whom the U.S. Treasury Department imposed financial
sanctions late last week. The department's Office of Financial Assets
Control (OFAC) accused them of involvement in "serious transnational
criminal activities."

Tatulian holds an Armenian diplomatic passport. He was also one of
three dozen Russian-Armenian entrepreneurs who pledged last January to
support Prime Minister Karen Karapetian with large-scale investments
in Armenia's economy. Tatulian's inclusion on the U.S. blacklist
therefore raised questions about his ties to the Armenian government.

"Democracy requires respect for the presumption of innocence," the HHK
spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, told reporters, commenting on the
U.S. sanctions against Tatulian. "If a person has not been convicted
by a judicial body then that person cannot be considered a
criminal. I'm neither defending nor not defending him. I'm just noting
a fact."

Asked whether the very fact of U.S. accusations levelled against
Tatulian is not significant in itself, Sharmazanov said: "This is
beyond the scope of my responsibilities."

The official also would not say whether the authorities in Yerevan
would now welcome any investments from Tatulian. "Financial
investments in Armenia and their sources must be legal," he said. "But
in order to judge whether they are legal or not you must not hand down
a [guilty] verdict against any citizen as long as there is no official
decision."

According to media reports, Tatulian is based in the Black Sea city of
Sochi and has extensive business interests as well as strong
government connections in southern Russia. An OFAC statement released
on December 22 described him as a regional "overseer" of the criminal
group in question. The Russian-Armenian tycoon has not yet publicly
reacted to the U.S. accusations.



Karapetian Laments Economist Cost Of Armenian Political Limbo


 . Emil Danielyan


Nagorno-Karabakh - Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetian visits a
manufacturing firm in the Martuni district, 16Dec2017.

The lingering uncertainty over who will govern Armenia after President
Serzh Sarkisian completes his final term in April is adversely
affecting the country's economy, Prime Minister Karen Karapetian said
in an interview published on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately that is the case," he told the "168 Zham"
newspaper. "We have to acknowledge that and # ensure that there are
not many [business-related] expectations based on those [political]
factors. But the approach that `let's wait for Monday and see what
happens' is definitely having a certain impact on the economy."

Karapetian referred to unnamed entrepreneurs who he said are delaying
their planned investments until after April 9, the final day of
Sarkisian's decade-long presidency.

The president, who holds a tight grip on the ruling Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK), has still not clarified what he is planning to do
afterwards. Sarkisian said on December 15 that "the time has not yet
come" for him to announce whether he will become prime minister or
take up another state post.

The HHK spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, again made clear on Wednesday
that Sarkisian will remain the party's top leader in any case. He said
that nobody else can do a better job of dealing with security and
foreign challenges facing Armenia. Several other senior HHK figures
have openly stated in recent weeks that Sarkisian should stay in power
as prime minister.

Also in April, Armenia will switch to a parliamentary system of
government, meaning that most of the sweeping powers currently enjoyed
by the head of state will be given to the prime minister. Karapetian
has repeatedly indicated his desire to retain his post.


Armenia -- Prime Minister Karen Karapetian gives an interview to "168
Zham" reporter Babken Tunian in Yerevan, 27Dec2017

Speaking to "168 Zham," the premier again said that the HHK leadership
will decide in April "who will occupy what post." "Of course,
individuals always play a [major] role," he said. "But the more the
role of individuals is minimized # the more predictable and promising
that [government] system becomes."

Joined by key members of his team such as Finance Minister Vartan
Aramian and Economic Development Minister Suren Karayan, Karapetian
spent most of the extensive interview defending his more than yearlong
track record. In particular, he argued that economic growth in Armenia
is on track to beat a 4.3 percent target that was set by his cabinet
for 2017. He also claimed to have significantly improved tax and
customs administration.

"We are committed to creating the kind of a business environment in
Armenia that will make it easy to do business # so that our
businessmen feel safe and secure, so that our domestic investors get
buoyed and bring in many other investors," he said.

Opposition politicians and other critics say that Karapetian's
government has not eased socioeconomic hardship so far. They have also
strongly criticized its decision not to raise public sector salaries,
pensions and poverty benefits despite a sizable rise in public
spending envisaged by the 2018 state budget.

Most of that spending increase will be channeled into infrastructure
projects. Government officials say this, coupled with continued
economic growth, is a better way to boost living standards in the
country.

"I think that by 2019 many more people will feel that we have moved
and are moving the economy in the right direction," said Karapetian.

The 54-year-old former business executive vowed to speed up economic
growth through major reforms and a fight against corruption when
Sarkisian named him prime minister in September 2016. The ruling HHK's
governing board gave a largely positive assessment of his track record
a year later.



Press Review



"That official Yerevan hopes Tbilisi will express readiness to make
use of Armenia's [commercial] potential seems to suggest that Serzh
Sarkisian regards Armenian-Georgian relations on a new plane and
expects a new quality and level of cooperation from Georgia," writes
"Aravot." "This is a very important message. It must be pointed out
that Sarkisian's latest visit to Tbilisi took place in a noteworthy
atmosphere." The paper cites last week's statement by Georgian Prime
Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili to the effect that that Armenia could be
able soon to use a road passing through South Ossetia in its trade
with Russia.

"Whether this move by the Georgian government is the result of
Armenian-Georgian negotiations will probably be clear later on,"
"Aravot" goes on. "A new situation that has emerged around Armenia has
played a role in that. In all likelihood, the signing of the
Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between
Armenia and the European Union, the start of a new phase of Armenia's
European integration, and Armenia's increased role in the region have
created a new situation."

"Hraparak" says that the November 24 signing of the CEPA was one of
the two most important events of 2017 for Armenia. The paper says that
the agreement is important in terms of both the domestic and foreign
policies. The April 2017 parliamentary elections are the other major
event singled out by it.

"Zhamanak" comments on U.S. plans to sell lethal weapons to
Ukraine. "The Russian hysteria about that is not comprehensible, to
say the least, because the United States is not a mediator in the
conflict in Ukraine and it is only natural that it is arming its
ally," writes the paper. It says the Russian reaction is particularly
"cynical" given Russia's large-scale arms sales to Azerbaijan that run
counter to its alliance with Armenia.

(Elen Chilingarian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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