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
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