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