Friday,
Putin Phones Embattled Kocharian
• Emil Danielyan
Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Armenian President Robert
Kocharian walk at the Bocharov Ruchei retreat, 24 January 2007.
Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned Robert Kocharian, Armenia’s former
president facing criminal charges criticized by Moscow, to congratulate him on
his 64th birthday anniversary on Friday.
The Kremlin reported no other details in its official readout of the phone call
that came two weeks after Kocharian pledged to return to active politics and
challenge the current Armenian government.
Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, denied any connection between the
conversation and recent political developments in Armenia.
“As you know, for many years Putin and Kocharian have been maintaining warm
relations that are not influenced by any events taking place in Armenia,”
Peskov told reporters in Moscow, according to Russian news agencies. He said
that the two men did not discuss the criminal proceedings against Kocharian and
two other former Armenian officials.
The latter were charged in late July with illegally using the armed forces
against opposition supporters that demonstrated in Yerevan in the wake of the
disputed February 2008 presidential election. Eight protesters and two police
servicemen died when Armenian security forces broke up those protests on March
1-2, 2008.
Kocharian, who strongly denies the charges, was arrested on July 27. An
Armenian appeals court freed him from custody on August 13, saying that he
enjoys legal immunity from prosecution. Prosecutors have asked the higher Court
of Cassation to overturn that decision.
Russia - President Vladimir Putin meets with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian in Moscow, 13 June 2018.
Later in July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the
prosecutions of Kocharian, former Defense Minister Mikael Harutiunian and
former Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov. He said they run counter to
the new Armenian leadership’s earlier pledges not to “persecute its
predecessors for political motives.”
Moscow seemed particularly irked by the criminal case against Khachaturov, who
currently serves as secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO). A Kremlin official said that Yerevan dealt a “colossal
blow to the image” of the Russian-led alliance.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who played a key role in the 2008 protests,
downplayed the Russian criticism on August 10. He said Moscow should “adapt” to
the new political realities of Armenia.
Harutiunian, the other indicted general, is thought to live in Russia. The
Interfax news agency reported on Friday, that Moscow has refused to extradite
him to Armenia on the grounds that he is also a Russian citizen. A spokesman
for Armenian prosecutors effectively denied the report, however, saying that
they are unaware of Harutiunian’s whereabouts.
Kocharian, who ruled the South Caucasus state from 1998-2008, announced his
political comeback three days after his release from prison. On Friday, he also
confirmed his participation in snap parliamentary elections that are due to
held next spring.
In an interview with the Russian news agency Sputnik, the ex-president again
declared his ambition to become one of the country’s top opposition leaders. He
did not rule out his cooperation with the Republican Party (HHK) of Serzh
Sarkisian, who succeeded him as president in 2008 and was ousted from power by
Pashinian-led protesters in April this year.
Kocharian further accused the new government is damaging Armenia’s close
relationship with Russia. In particular, he pointed to Pashinian’s
participation in a NATO summit in June.
Kocharian noted in that regard that Pashinian and his allies strongly
criticized Armenia’s membership in the CSTO and another Russian-led bloc, the
Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), before they came to power in May. “In his team,
hardly anyone has not been a carrier of different geopolitical approaches in
the past,” he said. “All of them are individuals who have received Western,
NATO grants.”
Pashinian has repeatedly ruled out a major change in Armenia’s traditional
foreign policy orientation. He has also denied critics’ claims that
Russian-Armenian relations have soured during his tenure.
Armenia Police Chief Vows To Prevent Vote Buying
• Anush Muradian
Armenia - Valeri Osipian (R), the chief of the Armenian police, talks to a
street musician in Yerevan, .
The chief of the Armenian police, Valeri Osipian, pledged on Friday to prevent
anyone from buying votes in the upcoming municipal elections in Yerevan.
“I can assure you that there will be no [vote buying] both in the pre-election
period and on election day,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service in an interview.
Osipian said that the police are already taking “prophylactic measures” against
individuals who have handed out vote bribes in previous Armenian elections.
Also, he said, police officers will be deployed in all 470 or so polling
stations in Yerevan during the September 23 vote.
“You can tour all those places and I am sure that you will not see the kind of
shortcomings which we have had in the past,” added Osipian.
Vote buying was widespread in just about every major election held in Armenia
in the last two decades. Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) was accused by its opponents and media of heavily relying on it
in the last parliamentary polls held in April 2017. The HHK has decided not to
take part in the September 23 elections.
The Armenian government approved on Thursday a bill that would make it a
criminal offense to not only buy but also sell votes. The practice is currently
punishable only by fines. The government bill would introduce prison sentences
for it.
The Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) of businessman Gagik Tsarukian has also
faced allegations of vote buying from its rivals and critics. Some Armenian
civic groups claim that the BHK has already started offering voters in Yerevan
material benefits.
Osipian said that some political groups may be gearing up vote bribes. “We have
clear information but it’s still too early to publicize it or take any action,”
he said, refusing to name anyone.
Government Reports Surge In Foreign Investment
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Gold mining facilities constructed by Lydian International company at
Amulsar deposit, 18 May 2018.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Armenia more than doubled in the first half
of this year, according to official statistics released on Friday.
The country’s Statistical Committee said net FDI inflows into “the real sector”
of the domestic economy totaled $81.3 million, up from $32.6 million in the
same period of 2017.
Data from the government agency suggests that the bulk of those investments
were made in the first quarter of the year, before weeks of mass protests that
brought down the former Armenian government.
The official figures show that the British island of Jersey accounted for about
53 percent of the first-half FDI inflows. The tax haven is home to an
Anglo-American company, Lydian International, which is building a massive gold
mine in Armenia’s southeastern Vayots Dzor province.
Lydian was due to complete this fall the $400 million construction of
production facilities at the Amulsar. The construction was disrupted in late
June by several dozen environmental activists protesting against any gold
mining there. With the protesters still blocking all roads leading to Amulsar,
the company is facing an uncertain future in Armenia.
Vahagn Khachatrian, an economist and politician, said the latest FDI total
reported by the Statistical Committee is very modest in absolute terms even
though it represents a sharp rise from the year-earlier period.
“That’s nothing even if the full-year figure reaches $300 million,” Khachatrian
told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “One of our neighbors attracted
$1.2 billion while another $2.5 billion in investments.”
Khachatrian expressed hope that the new government’s far-reaching reform agenda
will result in more investments soon. The economic reforms planned or
implemented by the government are “very attractive” to potential investors, he
said.
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” says that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian set “new rules of the
game” for members of his government on Thursday when he announced the start of
more “large-scale” reforms in Armenia. The paper expects Pashinian to take
“drastic actions” in his staffing policy. “It is obvious that many in the
government have not yet adapted to the new realities, thereby trying to impede
reforms initiated by the government,” it says. “We are talking about old and
especially newly appointed cadres.” The paper says that Pashinian’s government
will be headed for trouble unless he “gets his team into shape.” “After all,
you can’t sustain the society with a revolutionary euphoria for a long time,”
it says.
“Aravot” says that while the government’s ongoing fight against corruption is a
good thing the ministries and other government agencies must not be only
focused on it. “This is the job of specialized bodies, law-enforcement
structures that are obliged to take appropriate measures,” writes the paper. It
is unimpressed with some of Pashinian’s ministers. “They don’t take bribes?
That’s very good. But they must also do something in addition to not doing
something. Are they waiting for elections? But things will be harder after
them. Time for taking unpopular steps is running out.”
“Hraparak” is disappointed with what it sees as the Pashinian government’s
failure to embark on a major liberalization of the Armenian economy. “Our
government has chosen a different path: the path of establishing the law and
order, punishing those who evade taxes, sending masked officers to business
firms and identifying criminals,” writes the paper. “This path is meant to
establish justice but is very bad for economic growth.”
“Zhamanak” quotes a Russian political analyst, Fyodor Lukyanov, as saying that
he expects no major changes in Russian-Armenian relations following the
diplomatic row over criminal charges brought against Yuri Khachaturov, the
secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). “I
think there is an understanding in Moscow that that has nothing to do with
Russian-Armenian relations and is an internal affair of Armenia,” says Lukyanov.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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