Thursday,
Snap Elections Good For Armenian Economy, Says Tax Chief
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Davit Ananian, head of the State Revenue Committee, arrives for a
news conference in Yerevan, 13 July 2018.
The Armenian economy will suffer if snap parliamentary elections sought by
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian are delayed until next year, the head of the
State Revenue Committee (SRC), Davit Ananian, said on Thursday.
“In places where the situation is not stable in the political sense business
takes a back seat and waits to see what kind of political solutions there will
be,” Ananian told reporters. “So the prime minister is definitely right.”
“The longer this wait-and-see situation persists, the worse for the country,”
he said.
Vahagn Khachatrian, an economist affiliated with former President Levon
Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) party, agreed. “Business loves
stability,” Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Pashinian began pushing for the holding of such elections in December
immediately after his political alliance won municipal polls held in Yerevan on
September 23. He has argued, among other things, that political uncertainty
resulting from his team’s modest presence in the current Armenian parliament is
hampering badly needed investments in the domestic economy.
The Republican (HHK) and Prosperous Armenia (BHK) parties, which control the
two largest parliamentary factions, want the elections to be held in May. A
senior BHK lawmaker on Monday challenged Pashinian to name those investors who
are reluctant to expand or set up businesses in Armenia before the polls.
Meanwhile, Pashinian’s chief adviser, Arsen Gasparian, said on Thursday that
“pre-term parliamentary elections have absolutely nothing to do with
investors.” “Pre-term elections are first and foremost the people’s demand,” he
said.
“In August and September many investors from various parts of the world visited
my office,” Gasparian told reporters. “I must say that entrepreneurs regard the
political changes that have occurred in Armenia as very positive.”
Moscow Encouraged By Armenian-Azeri Talks
RUSSIA – MOSCOW, AUGUST 3, 2018: Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria
Zakharova holds a weekly press briefing. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
The Russian Foreign Ministry praised on Thursday the latest high-level contacts
between Armenia and Azerbaijan aimed at reviving the Nagorno-Karabakh peace
process.
“We welcome the positive trends that are apparent,” said the ministry
spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova. “It is now important to build on them and not to
harm them with careless rhetoric which has unfortunately happened lately.”
“From our part, we will provide necessary support to these positive trends,”
Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
spoke with each other during a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States
held in Tajikistan on September 28. Pashinian said afterwards that they agreed
to stop ceasefire violations in the conflict zone which had intensified in
recent weeks.
A top aide to Aliyev also gave a positive assessment of the conversation as
well as a fresh meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers held
in New York on September 26.
According to the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk
Group, Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanian and Elmar Mammadyarov “confirmed
the importance of taking measures to intensify the negotiation process and to
take additional steps to reduce tensions.”
“The Ministers agreed to meet again before the end of the year,” they said in a
joint statement.
Pashinian and Aliyev were first introduced to each other by Russian President
Vladimir Putin when they attended in June the opening ceremony of the 2018
football World Cup hosted by Russia. They have held no formal negotiations yet.
Armenian Public Debt To Rise Further In 2019
• Sisak Gabrielian
Armenia - Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian speaks at a news conference in
Yerevan, 4 October 2018.
Armenia’s public debt will rise by about 3 percent to $7.3 billion next year,
Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian said on Thursday.
Janjughazian downplayed the anticipated increase, saying that the debt will
fall as a share of Gross Domestic Product. The debt-to-GDP ratio is projected
at around 55 percent for this year.
In Janjughazian’s words, Armenia’s government and Central Bank will owe a total
of $7.1 billion to mainly foreign creditors in December, up from almost $6.9
billion in January 2018.
Their combined debt rose by $863.5 million in 2016 and by 832.5 million in
2017. It totaled just $1.9 billion before the 2008-2009 global financial crisis
that plunged the county into a severe recession.
Janjughazian defended the current government’s plans for more borrowing, saying
that it is needed to finance the state budget deficit which is projected to
fall to 2.2 percent of GDP in 2019. “We borrow not to take care of our current
expenditures or to please a part of the society but to create more output which
can generate new capacities,” he told a news conference.
“When we say that we are going to borrow that creates the impression that we
are making the situation worse,” complained the minister. He insisted that the
situation will actually improve because the debt burden will ease in relative
terms next year.
The draft state budget for 2019 approved by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s
cabinet last week sets aside 85 billion drams ($176 million) for debt
servicing. The sum is equivalent to roughly 5 percent of overall budgetary
expenditures planned by the government.
Three New Armenian Ministers Appointed
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian arrives for a cabinet meeting in
Yerevan, 4 October 2018.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday replaced three of the six government
ministers fired by him following the collapse of his power-sharing agreements
with the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Dashnaktsutyun parties.
Pashinian announced the sackings on Tuesday as he accused the BHK and
Dashnaktsutyun of cooperating with Serzh Sarkisian’s Republicans (HHK) in
trying to prevent fresh parliamentary elections in Armenia.
Both parties denied the accusations, saying that they only want the elections
to be held next year, rather than in December, as is demanded by Pashinian.
Dashnaktsutyun said it itself has decided to withdraw from the de facto ruling
coalition formed after Pashinian came to power in May in a wave of mass
protests.
Dashnaktsutyun was represented in the government by two ministers, while the
BHK had four ministerial posts. Six provincial governors affiliated with these
parties were also dismissed.
In separate decrees, President Armen Sarkissian formalized the appointment of
the new ministers of energy, transport and emergency situations handpicked by
Pashinian. Their predecessors represented the BHK.
The newly appointed Emergency Situations Minister Felix Tsolakian held senior
positions in the administrations of former Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and
Robert Kocharian. A former KGB officer, Tsolakian served as a deputy director
of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) from 2007-2013 after heading the
national tax service from 2003-2007. He governed the northwestern Shirak
province before being elected to the parliament on the HHK ticket in 2017.
Tsolakian, 66, broke ranks to vote for Pashinian’s becoming prime minister in
May. He went on to leave Sarkisian’s party.
Hakob Arshakian, a 33-year-old member of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, was
named to run the Armenian Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information
Technology. Arshakian served as first deputy minister of transport until now.
The post of energy minister was given to Garegin Baghramian, a 41-year-old
technocrat not affiliated with any party. He worked as deputy minister before
the appointment.
“I want to thank the former ministers for their cooperation,” Pashinian said at
a cabinet meeting held earlier in the day. “The staff changes were made in view
of the known political events, and I want to wish all of our colleagues
success.”
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” reports that President Armen Sarkissian may not sign a
controversial bill adopted by the Armenian parliament on Monday into law. In
that case, Sarkissian will have to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the
bill’s conformity with the Armenian constitution. An article of the
constitution gives the parliament two weeks to elect a new prime minister in
case of the current premier’s resignation. The bill says the two-week period
must not cover possible disruptions of parliament sessions by protesters. The
paper suggests that the Constitutional Court could validate the bill not least
because its members were appointed by the former authorities.
“The National Assembly must be dissolved,” writes “Aravot.” “We need a new
parliament. The sooner the better. That [new] National Assembly will not
necessarily have more decent, let alone more competent, members. But the new
parliament will be trusted by the majority of Armenia’s citizens, at least
during the first one or two years of its tenure. And that is extremely
necessary for Armenia. Besides, this uncertain period will come to an end,
which will allow our state to address pressing internal and external issues.”
The paper says that the current parliamentary majority will not dare to appoint
a new prime minister in the event of Nikol Pashinian’s tactical resignation.
“Zhamanak” criticizes the leading parliamentary forces -- the Republican Party
(HHK), Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Dashnaktsutyun -- for saying that the
elections must be held in May. The paper dismisses their arguments that
political groups need more time to properly prepare for the polls. “A force not
prepared for elections in December will not be prepared in May either,” it
says. “In essence, a few more months [of preparation] would change nothing in
terms of the readiness of political forces or their competitiveness. These
objections are only designed to win time.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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