Thursday,
Ruling Party ‘Still Undecided’ On New Armenian President
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at an official ceremony outside
the presidential palace in Yerevan, September 21, 2019.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his political team have not yet decided whom
they will install as Armenia’s new president, a senior member of the ruling
Civil Contract party said on Thursday.
President Armen Sarkissian announced his resignation on Sunday, saying that his
largely ceremonial powers prevent him from influencing political and economic
processes in the country. His successor is to be elected the Armenian parliament
controlled by Civil Contract.
Pashinian indicated on Monday that he will replace Sarkissian by a figure loyal
to him. But he did not name any candidates for the post.
“There is no decision yet,” said Eduard Aghajanian, a senior lawmaker from the
ruling party. “Different possible candidates are being discussed.”
“The discussions will continue until a decision is made within [legally] defined
time frames,” he told a news conference.
Aghajanian did not confirm media reports saying that Pashinian wants his chief
of staff and longtime loyalist, Arayik Harutiunian, to become the new president
of the republic.
Some commentators have speculated that the vacant post could be offered to the
leaders of other parties currently supporting the government in one way or
another. Edmon Marukian of the Bright Armenia Party is said to be one of them.
Marukian insisted on Thursday, however, that he has not received such offers
from Pashinian.
The two opposition parties represented in the current National Assembly are also
allowed to nominate a presidential candidate. It is not yet clear whether they
will do so.
Under the Armenian constitution, the president must have been a citizen of only
Armenia and resided in the country for at least six years preceding his or her
election.
An Armenian investigative publication, Hetq.am, claimed on Monday Sarkissian
violated this requirement. It said that he remained a citizen of the Caribbean
island country of Saint Kitts and Nevis “not long before being elected president
in March 2018.”
Sarkissian, who reportedly left Armenia before his resignation, has not yet
directly reacted to the report.
Government Not Planning More Restrictions Despite Omicron Surge
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - Health Minister Anahit Avanesian attends a cabinet meeting in Yerevan,
January 27, 2021.
The Armenian government has no plans to impose additional restrictions despite a
new wave of coronavirus infections sweeping across the country, Health Minister
Anahit Avanesian said on Thursday.
The Ministry of Health said in the morning that 2,556 people tested positive for
the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the largest single-day number of cases
registered in the last three months. The ministry had reported only 100-150
cases a day in late December and early January.
Avanesian again blamed the sharp increase in infections on the highly contagious
Omicron variant of the virus when she spoke during a weekly cabinet meeting in
Yerevan. She indicated that the government will not toughen its sanitary rules,
let alone impose lockdown restrictions, to cope with the surge.
The government scrapped mandatory mask wearing outdoors in December after weeks
of a steady drop in infections. Armenians are currently required to wear masks
only in shops and other enclosed areas as well as on public transport. Most of
them ignore this rule.
Also, the government introduced on January 22 a mandatory coronavirus health
pass for entry to cultural and leisure venues. Only those people who have been
inoculated against COVID-19 or have had a recent negative test are now allowed
to visit them.
The measure is meant to boost Armenia’s low vaccination rate. Less than a third
of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated so far. According to the
Ministry of Health, elderly people make up a disproportionately large percentage
of unvaccinated Armenians.
“Our main objective now is to increase vaccination rates among citizens aged 65
and older,” said Avanesian.
The minister seemed encouraged by the fact that only “5 or 6 percent of infected
people need hospitalization” right now.
“At present, six medical centers are involved in treatment of COVID-19,” she
said. “We will set up additional hospital beds if need be.”
Mining Giant Again Armenia’s Top Taxpayer
Armenia - A view of ore-processing facilities of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum
Combine in Kajaran, August 12, 2019.
A mining enterprise based in southeastern Syunik province has again become
Armenia’s number one taxpayer, contributing 48.8 billion drams ($100 million) to
the state budget last year.
The taxes paid by the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) accounted for 3
percent of the Armenian government’s 2021 tax revenue, which rose by 14 percent.
Data released by the State Revenue Committee (SRC) shows that the national gas
distribution company owned by Russia’s Gazprom giant was the second most
important source of that revenue, followed by the Grand Tobacco cigarette
manufacturer. The SRC collected 47.8 billion drams and 42.2 billion drams
respectively from these companies in 2021.
Grand Tobacco topped the corporate taxpayers’ list in 2019 and 2020. Its tax
payments fell by about 17 percent in 2021.
Armenia’s 20 leading businesses also include other tobacco and mining firms as
well as fuel importers, telecommunication operators, a supermarket chain and a
software company.
The Yerevan-based company, SoftConstruct, specializes in software solutions for
online gambling and gaming. It has become in recent years a key player in
Armenia’s burgeoning information technology (IT) sector employing an estimated
20,000 people.
Armenia - SoftConstruct company's exhibition stand at Digitec Expo Armenia 2021,
Yerevan, October 29, 2021.
The SRC’s latest list of the 1,000 largest corporate taxpayers includes 36 tech
firms. They paid last year a total of 38.7 billion drams in various taxes, 20
percent less than was levied from ZCMC.
The mining giant employing about 4,000 people is based in Kajaran, a town in
Syunik. It changed hands last fall following a government crackdown on its
management and key shareholders who openly challenged Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian.
Russia’s GeoProMining group announced on October 1 that it has acquired 60
percent of ZCMC and “granted” a quarter of that stake to the government. It gave
no clear reason for the lavish donation.
Later in October, another Russian company, which holds a minority stake in ZCMC,
challenged the legality of the takeover in an Armenian court.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.