Monday,
nister Concerned About Armenian Currency Appreciation
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia - Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobian, July 7, 2022.
Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian expressed hope on Monday that the Armenian dram
will weaken against the U.S. dollar, saying that its recent significant
appreciation is hitting hard export-orientated sectors of Armenia’s economy.
Like the Russian ruble, the dram weakened against the U.S. dollar and the euro
in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but rallied strongly
in the following months. Since the outbreak of the war on February 24, the dram
has strengthened by 15 percent against the dollar and 29 percent against the
euro on aggregate.
The Armenian currency has been boosted by relative macroeconomic stability in
Russia, Armenia’s number trading partner, as well as an influx of thousands of
mostly middle-class Russians. Its continuing appreciation is prompting growing
concerns from Armenian companies selling their products in Western and other
non-Russian markets.
Kerobian shared those concerns as he answered questions from Facebook users in
the RFE/RL studio in Yerevan.
“In our view, 450 drams [per dollar] is a red line for our economy, and such a
strong dram is putting a number of export-oriented sectors at serious risk,” he
said.
One dollar was worth 415 drams on Monday.
Kerobian claimed that the Armenian Central Bank is also concerned about the
dram’s current exchange rate.
“It’s not that the Central Bank is doing nothing,” the minister said. “And it’s
not that this is only the Central Bank’s job.”
The bank’s governor, Martin Galstian, made clear last month that it will not cut
interest rates or intervene in the domestic currency market to slash the dram’s
value. Galstian said that the stronger dram is somewhat easing inflationary
pressures on the Armenian economy aggravated by the Ukraine war.
“By artificially weakening the dram we would create an even worse inflationary
situation which would hit all citizens, including exporters,” he told reporters
on June 14.
Russian Spy Chief Visits Armenia After CIA Director’s Arrival
Armenia - Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, at a
meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, .
The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) met with Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian in Yerevan on Monday three days after CIA Director William
Burns’s unexpected arrival in Armenia.
The Armenian government’s press office said Sergei Naryshkin discussed with
Pashinian “international and regional security” and “processes taking place in
the South Caucasus.” It did not elaborate.
The office used the same words in a statement on Pashinian’s meeting with Burns
held on Friday. It said they also touched upon “the fight against terrorism.”
Neither the CIA nor the U.S. State Department has commented so far on what was
the first-ever publicized visit to Armenia by a CIA director.
“My visit to Yerevan is definitely not connected with the arrival of my American
colleague,” the state-run Russian news agency Sputnik quoted Naryshkin as
saying. “But I don’t exclude that his visit is on the contrary connected with
mine.”
Incidentally, Sputnik was the first to reveal Burns’s visit. It said that that
the CIA chief will stay in Armenia for several hours.
Tigran Grigorian, an Armenian political analyst, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service
on Friday that U.S. and Russian security “experts” arrived in Yerevan in recent
days for confidential discussions focusing on the war in Ukraine.
Burns, 66, is a former career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia
from 2005 to 2008. He visited Moscow in his current capacity last November. He
reportedly warned the Kremlin against invading Ukraine.
Pashinian’s press office implied that Russian-Armenian relations were also on
the agenda of his talks with Naryshkin. It cited the Russian intelligence chief
as praising the “high-level political dialogue between Russia and Armenia.”
Naryshkin told Russian media outlets after the talks that Russia and Armenia
have a “great deal of common tasks which need to be accomplished.” He also
touted Russian-led alliances of former Soviet republics of which Armenia is a
member.
“Besides, the Russian Federation has enough strength and resources to protect
allies and friends in difficult times,” added Naryshkin.
Pashinian spoke with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin by phone earlier
in the day. According to the Russian government’s readout of the call, they
discussed Russian-Armenian trade and the “implementation of large joint
projects.”
Washington Briefed On Armenian-Azeri Talks
Armenia - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried is interviewed by
RFE/RL, Yerevan, June 20, 2022.
A senior U.S. official telephoned Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his
Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Sunday to discuss the results of
their face-to-face meeting held in Tbilisi on Saturday.
Mirzoyan and Bayramov reported no concrete agreements after the meeting
facilitated by the Georgian government. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
was quick to hail it as a “positive step.”
“Direct dialogue is the surest path to resolving Azerbaijani and Armenian
differences,” tweeted Blinken.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried reportedly called for the
continuation of the dialogue during her phone conversation with Bayramov.
According to the official Azerbaijani readout of the call, Bayramov presented
Baku’s position on the planned demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border
and its opening to cargo shipments as well as preparations for official
negotiations on a peace treaty between the two South Caucasus states.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry made no mention of that treaty in a statement on
Mirzoyan’s separate call with Donfried. It mentioned only the border demarcation
and Armenian-Azerbaijani transport links.
“Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized that the Armenian side continues to attach
importance to the role of the co-chairmanship and the co-chair countries of the
OSCE Minsk Group in the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,”
added the statement.
Baku has repeatedly questioned the need for the mediating group co-headed by the
United States, France and Russia.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani ministers met in the Georgian capital the day after
CIA Director William Burns made a surprise visit to Yerevan. The Karabakh
conflict was apparently on the agenda of Burns’s talks with Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian. Pashinian’s press office said they discussed “processes taking place
in the South Caucasus” and “the fight against terrorism.”
Washington has not commented on the purpose of the CIA chief’s visit.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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