RFE/RL Armenian Report – 11/08/2018

                                        Thursday, 

Armenian Government Returns Former Presidential Palace To President

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

An event on Armenia's Independence Day at the Prime Minister's Office (former 
Presidential Palace), 21 September 2018

The Armenian government on Thursday came up with a law amendment that will give 
the former presidential palace in Yerevan back to the president.

After a constitutional reform carried out during the previous administration, 
curtailing the powers of the president in favor of the prime minister, former 
President Serzh Sarkisian continued to occupy the building located in 26 
Baghramian Avenue even after becoming Armenia’s prime minister on April 17.

In line with a controversial law enacted before that, the prime minister would 
also have a second official seat located in the central government offices in 
Republic Square.

Armenia’s newly elected President Armen Sarkissian, meanwhile, was given a less 
sumptuous official seat in another location in central Yerevan.

Some two months after unseating Sarkisian and becoming prime minister Nikol 
Pashinian pledged that he and his staff would eventually vacate the building 
that was used as a presidential office for decades and would return it to the 
president.

Pashinian, who had criticized his predecessor’s decision to convert the 
presidential palace into the prime minister’s main office, explained then that 
he could not relocate immediately because such a move would require certain 
legal procedures.

During an event marking Armenia’s Independence Day on September 21 the gates to 
the former Presidential Palace’s spacious yard were opened and Pashinian 
declared the place open to the public.

In order to take effect the government’s decision will need to be approved by 
parliament.




Most Small Hydropower Plants In Armenia Work With ‘Gross Violations’

        • Anush Muradian

A view of the Debed river flowing through a canyon in the Lori province of 
Armenia

A majority of small hydropower plants in Armenia have for years operated with 
gross violations of the law, but relevant officials of the Environment Ministry 
have not taken any measures to redress the situation, according to prosecutors.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office has concluded that as a result, “significant 
damage was caused to the legitimate interests of the state.”

Based on this, the Prosecutor-General’s Office instituted a criminal case, 
instructing the Investigative Committee to conduct a preliminary investigation 
in connection with the alleged violations.

Abuse in the sector was revealed by a working group that had been set up 
according to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s decision.

Inspections revealed that no water gauging devices had been installed at 143 
out of 184 small hydropower plants operating in Armenia, which constitutes a 
violation of the water use permit requirements. Besides, no fish protection 
facilities are available in the riverbeds, in some cases the volumes of 
environmental emissions are not maintained, and water drainage multiple times 
exceeds the permissible quantity, the working group said.

Acting Prime Minister Pashinian spoke about these findings in parliament on 
November 1. He described the sector as “a giant domain of abuses.”

“We have a situation when more water is used for a more powerful generator to 
generate more electricity and more income, which not only disturbs the water 
balance, but also results in the loss of state revenues… let alone 
environmental problems,” Pashinian said.




Khachaturov Returns To Armenia Where He Faces Criminal Charges

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia - Yuri Khachaturov arrives at the Special Investigative Service 
headquarters in Yerevan, 26 July 2018

Former Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary-General Yuri 
Khachaturov, who was recalled from the senior post by Armenia after being 
accused of overthrowing the country’s constitutional order in 2008 
post-election events, returned home on November 4, Khachaturov’s lawyer Mihran 
Poghosian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service today.

“He returned on November 4 after the official decision on his dismissal was 
published,” he said, adding that before that the former Moscow-based official 
went to his native town in Georgia to visit his mother’s grave.

Khachaturov was formally charged in late July as part of the ongoing 
investigation into the March 1-2, 2008 post-election crackdown on the 
opposition. The 66-year-old colonel-general who was deputy defense minister at 
that time is accused of using the army to quell protests that followed a 
disputed presidential election. Ten people, including two security personnel, 
were killed in the events.

Investigations into those deadly events were reopened after the change of 
government in May. Armenia’s new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who came to 
power on the wave of anti-government protests, said that revealing the 
circumstances of the crime was one of the priorities of his administration.

Also in July, former President Robert Kocharian was also charged with 
overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional order by ordering the use of the army for 
the violent repression of the protests.

Unlike Kocharian, who was briefly arrested, Khachaturov, who served as CSTO 
secretary-general since May 2017, was granted bail and went back to Moscow to 
continue his duties. Armenia, however, initiated a formal process of his 
recalling, which was completed on November 2.

The issue of the appointment of the next CSTO secretary-general was due to be 
discussed at the Russian-led security grouping’s summit held in Astana, 
Kazakhstan, on November 8.

Prior to the summit several senior Armenian officials spoke in favor of 
Armenia’s retaining the rotating post until 2020. Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs neither confirmed, nor denied that other options may also be considered.




Armenia Negotiating ‘Gas Price Cut’ With Russia

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

The Gazprom Armenia headquarters in Yerevan, Armenia

The Armenian government is negotiating with the Russian Ministry of Energy and 
Gazprom the possibility of reducing the price of natural gas supplied to 
Armenia, according to a minister.

“Negotiations are underway now over the formation of the gas price both at the 
border and within the internal structure,” said acting Minister of Energy and 
Natural Resources Garegin Baghramian at a briefing with reporters on Thursday.

“Naturally, the negotiations are being conducted towards the reduction [of the 
price],” the official said, without revealing other details.

“In order to avoid some influences on the negotiation process, I think we 
should wait for a little longer for the negotiations to be completed. Then we 
will publish the details,” he added.

Gazprom sells natural gas to its Armenia-based subsidiary at a price of $150 
per thousand cubic meters. The subsidiary, which owns Armenia’s gas 
distribution network, then sells it to consumers in Armenia at a price of about 
$284, according to the current dollar exchange rate.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reportedly discussed the price of natural gas 
supplied to Armenia during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 
Moscow in September.

An Armenian parliament committee recently initiated discussions on how 
justified the current natural gas and electricity tariffs in the country are.

 


CSTO Postpones Decision On New Secretary-General


Leaders of CSTO member states pose for a photograph at a summit in Astana, 
Kazakhstan, 8 Nov 2018

Leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) met in Astana, 
Kazakhstan, on Thursday to discuss some of the pressing issues of the 
Russian-led security grouping, including the appointment of a new 
secretary-general after Armenia recalled its representative.

Earlier this month, the CSTO confirmed the dismissal of Yuri Khachaturov from 
the senior post held by an Armenian representative as part of the rotation 
principle.

Khachaturov was appointed to the post in May 2017, but after the change of 
government in Yerevan he was charged as part of a reopened investigation into 
post-election violence in 2008 during which the colonel-general served as 
Armenia’s deputy defense minister.

Khachaturov was formally charged in late July with overthrowing Armenia’s 
constitutional order by using the army for the violent repression of the 
opposition-led protests in which eight demonstrators and two police officers 
were killed.

After coming to power on the wave of anti-government protests in May, Armenia’s 
new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said that revealing the circumstances of the 
killings would be one of the priorities of his administration.

As part of the investigation former President Robert Kocharian was also charged 
with overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional.

Unlike Kocharian, who spent more than two weeks in custody in July-August, 
Khachaturov was granted bail and went back to Moscow to continue his duties as 
CSTO secretary-general. Armenia, however, initiated a formal process of 
recalling him from the post, which was completed on November 2.

Prior to the summit in Kazakhstan several senior Armenian officials spoke in 
favor of Armenia’s retaining the post until 2020. Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, however, did not deny that other options might also be considered.

On November 7, Russian news agency TASS quoted Russian presidential aide Yuri 
Ushakov as saying that three options were being considered at the moment. Among 
them he mentioned Armenia’s retention of the post, the rotation of the post to 
Belarus, which is next in line alphabetically, and placing the interim 
secretary-general in charge until Minks takes over in two years.

A press release issued by the office of Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian, who attended the CSTO summit on November 8, said that “the issue of 
the appointment of a new CSTO secretary-general was also addressed during the 
meeting.”

“The sides agreed to continue discussions on the issue during a meeting in St. 
Petersburg on December 6. At the same time, work will be undertaken to 
elaborate relevant norms regulating the issues related to the early termination 
of powers of the secretary-general,” it said.

According to the official report, at the summit the leaders of the CSTO member 
states, including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and 
Tajikistan, met in a narrow format before continuing talks in an extended 
session.

They, in particular, discussed issues of international and regional security, 
cooperation between CSTO member states within the organization and in the 
international arena.

The summit adopted a number of documents, including the final declaration of 
the CSTO Collective Security Council and a joint statement on mutually agreed 
measures in relation to persons who participated in armed conflicts as part of 
international terrorist organizations.

“The Heads of State adopted decisions of the Collective Security Council aimed 
at improving the CSTO’s crisis response, countering illegal migration, 
developing a coordinated information policy, organization of collective forces 
and specification of their composition, and confirming the candidacy of the 
Chairman of the Interstate Commission for Military-Economic Cooperation,” the 
official report said.

 


Press Review



Ahead of the summit of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization 
in Astana, Kazakhstan, on November 8, “Zhamanak” writes that there is still no 
clarity on whether Armenia will manage to retain the temporary position of the 
organization’s secretary-general after recalling Yuri Khachaturov, who faces 
criminal charges at home. “Neither there is any clarity on how and in what 
format the matter will be discussed at today’s summit – wither it is going to 
be a discussion of Armenia’s quota or its candidate,” the paper adds.

Lragir.am suggests that statements by members of the former ruling Republican 
Party of Armenia (HHK) who call themselves “the only real opposition” to the 
Pashinian government today makes many laugh. “But in doing so, the HHK does not 
seek to convince the public, but rather it wants to cause people to be 
skeptical of other political groups. Like in soccer an underdog builds its 
tactics on complicating the game of the others, the HHK counts on hindering its 
rivals. And the political team of acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is not 
its rival. Its rivals are the other political parties and groups that will 
participate in the December 9 elections,” the online paper writes.

“Aravot” writes: “The upcoming elections will be a positive event in the sense 
that they will reflect the public sentiments, and no political party or group 
will be able to say that the real picture is distorted. Later, perhaps, there 
will be no more such opportunity. In Armenia, at least, events in the past were 
unfolding so that only the first ‘post-revolutionary’ elections were fair. In 
the five years that followed the fair elections of 1990 the then ruling 
Armenian National Movement party got the taste of power and became determined 
never to lose it.” The newspaper’s editor believes that democratic changes will 
be there to stay in Armenia only when the current political team loses in the 
election that will follow the current snap elections “and then the party that 
beats it also loses in the next elections.”

(Lilit Harutiunian)

 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