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    Categories: 2021

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 12/29/2021

                                        Wednesday, 


More Armenian POWs Freed


Armenia - A road sign in Syunik near the scene of deadly fighting between 
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, November 17, 2021.


Azerbaijan set free on Wednesday another group of Armenian soldiers captured 
during deadly fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border last month.
An Azerbaijani government commission said the five soldiers were repatriated 
“with Hungary’s mediation” but gave no other details.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed their release. A ministry spokesman also 
identified them.

It was not clear whether the handover followed a direct contact between Armenian 
and Hungarian authorities.

Armenia froze diplomatic relations with the central European nation in 2012 
after the Hungarian government extradited to Azerbaijan an Azerbaijani army 
officer who hacked to death a sleeping Armenian colleague in Budapest in 2004. 
The officer whom a Hungarian court sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006 was 
pardoned, rewarded and promoted by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Unlike other European Union member states, Hungary has openly supported 
Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Hungarian Foreign Ministry 
reaffirmed that support three days after the outbreak of last year’s 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war.

A total of 32 Armenian soldiers were taken prisoner during the November 16 
fighting on the border which left at least 13 troops from both sides dead. 
Azerbaijan freed eleven POWs on December 4 and ten others on December 19.

For its part, the Armenian military detained two Azerbaijani servicemen on 
December 18. They both were freed two days later.



Iran To Open Consulate In Strategic Armenian Region


Armenia - Mount Khustup overlooking the town of Kapan, June 4, 2018. (Photo 
courtesy of Kapan.am)


Iran announced on Wednesday that it will open a consulate in Kapan, the 
administrative center of Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province bordering the 
Islamic Republic.

The Iranian Embassy in Yerevan said on its Twitter page that Iran’s government 
approved a relevant proposal made by the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. It gave no 
reasons for the decision.

The embassy posted several photographs of Syunik’s historic monuments and other 
landmarks.

Reacting to the development, an Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman told the 
Armenpress news agency that Yerevan is planning to open a consulate in an 
unspecified Iranian city. He did not comment further.

Sandwiched between Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave, Syunik connects the 
rest of Armenia to Iran through mountainous roads used not only for 
Armenian-Iranian trade but also cargo shipments to and from other parts of the 
world.

Armenia lost control over one of those roads after a controversial troop 
withdrawal ordered by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian following last year’s war 
over Nagorno-Karabakh. In September this year, Azerbaijan set up checkpoints 
there to tax Iranian trucks and other vehicles. The move triggered unprecedented 
tensions between Tehran and Baku.

An influential Iranian cleric accused Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in 
October of trying to “cut Iran’s access to Armenia” with Turkey’s help. More 
than 160 members of Iran’s parliament likewise issued a joint statement warning 
against “any geopolitical change and alteration of the borders of neighboring 
countries.”

Visiting Yerevan last week, a conservative Iranian lawmaker, Mahmoud 
Ahmadi-Bighash, reportedly warned that Tehran is strongly opposed to any 
redrawing of borders in the South Caucasus. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein 
Amir-Abdollahian made similar statements this fall.

Aliyev has repeatedly threatened to forcibly open a “corridor” to Nakhichevan, 
drawing strong condemnation from Armenia.

Yerevan says that Azerbaijani troops advanced a few kilometers into Syunik in 
May and November. The Azerbaijani side denies crossing the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
border.



Minister Noncommittal About Resignation Pledge

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Armenia - Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian speaks with journalists during a 
Russian-Armenian business forum in Yerevan, September 20, 2021.


Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian signaled on Wednesday that he has no plans to 
step down despite Armenia’s failure to achieve double-digit economic growth 
promised by him earlier this year.

Kerobian offered a rosy outlook for the Armenian economy in April as it began 
recovering from last year’s deep recession primarily caused by the coronavirus 
pandemic.

“I’m not quite happy with month-on-month economic growth in March,” he told 
reporters at the time. “Instead of 7-7.5 percent projected by us, only 3.8 
percent [growth] was registered, according to preliminary data. But that will 
still be enough to ensure our double-digit economic growth by the end of this 
year.”

He declared that he will resign if the Armenian economy does not expand at a 
double-digit rate in 2021.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said in July that the economy is on course to 
grow by 6 percent. Earlier this month, the Central Bank of Armenia forecast a 
GDP growth rate of just 4.2 percent.

Kerobian was asked about his resignation pledge when he spoke with journalists 
on Wednesday.

“Clearly, if the prime minister or his political team is unhappy with my work 
they won’t wait for my resignation,” he replied.

Pashinian appointed the 45-year-old businessman as economy minister in a cabinet 
reshuffle in November 2020. Kerobian was the chief executive of Armenia’s 
largest food delivery company until then.

Kerobian has repeatedly put an optimistic spin on economic developments in the 
country over the past year, prompting criticism from opposition members and 
media commentators. He claimed on December 16 that economic growth this year has 
been “faster than expected” and that Armenians are now “better off than one or 
two years ago” despite a significant increase in the cost of living.

According to government data, annual inflation in Armenia rose to 9.6 percent in 
November, the highest rate in many years.



Electricity Prices In Armenia Raised

        • Robert Zargarian

Armenia - A newly constructed electrical substation, October 24, 2019.


Public utility regulators raised electricity prices in Armenia by an average of 
about 10 percent on Wednesday amid higher-than-expected inflation.

The Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) signaled the impending price 
hikes earlier this month. It warned that the Armenian energy sector will operate 
at an annual combined loss of 23.8 billion drams ($49 million) if the existing 
tariffs are not revised upwards.

In a December 20 statement, the PSRC cited the need to repay $270 million in 
loans used for the recently completed modernization of the Metsamor nuclear 
plant. It also pointed to Armenia’s contractual obligation to enable Russia’s 
Gazprom energy giant to recoup investments made in a large thermal-power plant 
located in the central town of Hrazdan.

The statement revealed that the Armenian and Russian governments have reached an 
agreement that commits Yerevan to providing the Hrazdan plant with $31.8 million 
annually for the next ten years.

“Those obligations must be fulfilled,” Ashot Urikhanian, a senior PSRC official, 
said on Wednesday. “Or else, we will have very serious problems.”

Urikhanian also stressed that in exchange for this subsidy Russia’s Gazprom 
giant will keep the wholesale price of its natural gas for Armenia “stable” for 
the next ten years. The gas price currently stands at $165 per thousand cubic 
meters, which is well below the international levels.


Armenia -- A thermal power plant in Hrazdan.

The PSRC’s decision means that electricity tariffs will rise by 4.7 drams (about 
1 U.S. cent) per kilowatt/hour on average on February 1. The daytime price paid 
by most Armenian households currently stands at almost 45 drams (9 cents) per 
kilowatt/hour.

The regulatory body said low-income families making up 11 percent of the 
population will not pay more for electricity. Other individual consumers will 
see their electricity bills rise by between 3 and 7 percent depending on the 
monthly amount of energy use. The steepest price rise was set for businesses.

The new tariffs and their knock-on effects could further push up the cost of 
living in the country. According to government data, consumer price inflation 
there rose to 9.6 percent in November, the highest rate in many years.

Little wonder then that many Armenians are reacting angrily to the PSRC’s 
decision.

“They should just hand out ropes to people and tell them to hang themselves,” 
said one woman in Yerevan. “We can barely afford food, and they are now making 
electricity more expensive.”

“We should hope for the better but there is no future,” said another.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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