Tuesday, January 9, 2017 Opposition Bloc Schedules First Anti-Government Rally Of 2018 . Tatevik Lazarian Armenia - Nikol Pashinian (C) and other leaders of the Yelk alliance lead a demonstration in Yerevan, 21Apr2017. The opposition Yelk alliance has called on Armenians to take to the streets on January 19 and protest against the latest increases in the prices of fuel and some foodstuffs. The prices of petrol and liquefied natural gas, which powers most vehicles in Armenia, rose by roughly 5 percent on January 2 following the entry into force of a new Armenian Tax Code mandating higher excise duties on fuel, tobacco and alcohol. Recent months' increase in the international oil prices may have also been a factor. Also, Armenia tax authorities also began collecting this month higher customs duties from around 40 types of imported products, including cooking oil, butter and poultry. This stems from Armenia's membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which sets higher uniform tax rates for most goods and commodities imported from third countries. Yelk blamed the Armenian government for the price hikes when it announced the upcoming demonstration in Yerevan late on Monday. In a statement, it urged supporters to join Yelk leaders in marching through the city center in protest. "It's a vital issue that directly impacts the welfare of all citizens," Ararat Mirzoyan, a parliament deputy from Yelk, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Tuesday. "The rally must demonstrate that it's not just the opinion of nine parliament deputies [representing Yelk] # I hope it will demonstrate that the issue preoccupies many people," he said. Mirzoyan claimed that the cost of living in the country has been rising because "for many years Armenia's citizens have been tolerating the Republican Party (HHK) rule." The HHK-led government's economic policies have been a gross failure "in all areas," he said. Senior government officials said last month that economic growth in Armenia is on track to accelerate to at least 6 percent in 2017 from just 0.2 percent in 2016. Despite continued growth projected for this year, the government decided not to raise public sector salaries and pensions in 2018. Instead, it is planning a sizable rise in public spending on infrastructure projects. Officials say this is a better way to further stimulate economic activity and thus reduce poverty. Yelk, which holds 9 seats in Armenia's 105-member parliament, has condemned the caps on social spending. Government Defends Higher Income Tax Rates Armenia - The Prime Minister's Office and Finance Ministry buildings in Yerevan, 30Sep2017. The Armenian government's controversial decision to change personal income tax rates will place a heavier financial burden only on high-income individuals, a senior official in Yerevan insisted on Tuesday. Armenia's new Tax Code which came into effect this month introduced, among other things, more progressive income tax rates. In particular, the code raised from 26 percent to 28 percent the tax rate for monthly incomes ranging from 150,000 to 2 million drams ($310-$4,150). It is set at 36 percent for those Armenians who earn more. The 800-page legislation praised by the International Monetary Fund at the same time cut the tax rate from 24.4 percent to 23 percent for workers making less than 150,000 drams a month. Armine Matosian, a senior official from the Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, emphasized this fact as she defended the code in an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). She insisted that Armenians making between 150,000 and 280,000 drams will also pay less taxes because of a complex method of income calculation. "If I, for example, get a monthly salary of 300,000 drams, 150,000 drams of it will now be taxed at a 23 percent rate and the remaining 150,000 drams at 28 percent," explained Matosian. This means, she said, that only those people whose wages or incomes exceed 280,000 drams will have to pay more. The average monthly wage in Armenia stood at almost 188,000 drams ($390) as of November 2017, official statistics show. The Tax Code was passed by the Armenian parliament in 2016 amid strong criticism from the opposition and even some pro-government lawmakers. They said that the higher tax rates will encourage more private employers to underreport their workers' wages. They also criticized other provisions of code, including higher excise duties on fuel, alcohol and tobacco. IMF officials backed, however, government arguments that the new legislation will improve tax administration and allow a badly needed increase in public spending. Tycoon Sanctioned By U.S. Reveals Armenian Government Post . Anush Muradian Russia - Businessman Ruben Tatulian, 8Apr2014. A controversial Russian businessman blacklisted by the United States for his alleged ties to organized crime has worked as an "adviser" to Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan acknowledged on Tuesday. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on the ethnic Armenian businessman Ruben Tatulian and nine other Russian nationals last month. The department's Office of Financial Assets Control (OFAC) accused them of joint involvement in "serious transnational criminal activities." Tatulian, who is based in the Black Sea city of Sochi, holds an Armenian diplomatic passport, raising questions about his ties to Armenia's government. The businessman shrugged off the U.S. sanctions in an interview a Sochi-based Russian blogger published over the weekend. He said he cannot be affected by them because he has no assets in the United States. Tatulian also said that he not only has an Armenian diplomatic passport but also uses cars belonging to Armenia's Embassy in Russia. "I am an adviser to the foreign minister of Armenia," he added when asked about the reason for that. "Ruben Tatulian was a freelance adviser to the foreign minister and he does not have that status now," the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tigran Balayan, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Balayan declined to clarify when Tatulian had such a status. Nor would he say why or when the Russian-Armenian tycoon reportedly nicknamed "Robson" received his diplomatic passport. According to Russian media reports, Tatulian has extensive business interests and strong government connections in southern Russia. An OFAC statement released on December 22 described him as a regional "overseer" of the alleged organized-crime syndicate targeted by the U.S. Treasury Department. Insurance Agents Protest At Armenian Border Crossing . Karine Simonian Armenia- Insurance brokers protest outside the Bagratashen border crossing, 9Jan2018. About 60 insurance agents gathered outside Armenia's main border crossing with Georgia for a second day on Tuesday to protest against what they see as the government's privileged treatment of their competitors. The protesting brokers work for five private firms selling mandatory car insurance to the owners of vehicles entering the country through the Bagratashen crossing. Their offices are located just a few hundred meters from the border checkpoint. Another private insurer called Top Spin also rented premises nearby until being allowed by the Armenian customs service to open an office inside the checkpoint and start operating there this month. The company thus found itself in a position to approach car owners before they get to buy insurance policies from its competitors. The brokers working for the other firms say Top Spin gained an unfair competitive advantage and is now effectively driving them out of the business. They say that their daily revenues have already plummeted as a result. "The clients must be able to choose [an insurer,]" said one of the angry protesters. "But a single company has now become a monopolist." The protesters blocked a highway leading to the Bagratashen checkpoint and kept it closed for around 30 kilometers. Traffic through the highway resumed only after police intervention. Local Top Spin representatives refused to comment on the controversy. The company reportedly won the exclusive right to do business inside the checkpoint as a result of a purported tender administered by Armenia's State Revenue Committee (SRC). The protesters claimed that their firms were never notified about the tender in advance. The SRC, which comprises the national customs service, declined a comment on Monday and Tuesday. Press Review "Haykakan Zhamanak" reports that the prices of petrol and liquefied natural gas used by many cars in Armenia went up considerably last week. The paper blames the price rises on a recent increase in excises taxes on fuel, alcohol and cigarettes mandated by Armenia's new Tax Code. It predicts that they will push up the cost of other essential products in the country. "In theory, inflation in Armenia is not high," it says, pointing to a year-on-year inflation rate of 2.2 percent registered by the National Statistical Service (NSS) in November. The NSS also reported a 5 percent year-on-year increase in food prices. "Zhamanak" claims that the price hikes are "the price which Armenia's citizens will pay" for faster economic growth. The paper sees a link between higher inflation and a nearly 7 percent growth rate recorded by the government in 2017. "Seven percent [growth] is considered a magical target which [President] Serzh Sarkisian set in late 2013," it says. "Aravot" carries an editorial on a traditional "post-holiday syndrome" in Armenia which follows weeklong celebrations of the New Year and Christmas. "Psychologists and sociologists invited to news conferences will certainly come up with more in-depth explanations and advise people to return to work slowly and gradually," writes the paper. "They may be right in the professional sense. But in practice, it probably makes more sense to fully switch oneself off during the holidays and fully switch oneself on while returning to work." (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org