Author: Bedik Zaminian

                                        Thursday, July 9, 2020

Armenian Tax Revenue Falls Amid Recession

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Armenia -- The entrance to the State Revenue Committee headquarters in Yerevan, 
November 29, 2018.

In another sign of a coronavirus-driven recession in the country, the Armenian 
government reported on Thursday a 4.6 percent fall in its tax revenues in the 
first half of this year.

The State Revenue Committee (SRC) said it collected 680.3 billion drams ($1.4 
billion) in various taxes and customs duties, down from 713.3 billion drams 
collected in January-June 2019.

The drop came after several consecutive years of rapid increase in Armenia’s tax 
revenues. It reflects a sharp economic downturn that began with the onset of the 
coronavirus pandemic in March.

Vahagn Khachatrian, a veteran economist, said the pandemic and the resulting 
economic disruptions made the tax shortfall inevitable. “This situation is 
expected to continue because we still don’t know what how long the coronavirus 
crisis will last,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

“This is a cause for serious concern,” another economist, Gevorg Parsian, said 
of the shortfall. He construed it as further proof of a serious economic crisis 
in Armenia.

Parsian also said that the SRC failed to meet its revenue target not only 
because of the pandemic but also tax cuts that took effect in January.

Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian predicted a revenue shortfall already in 
April, saying that it will total 170 billion drams ($350 million) this year. 
Shortly afterwards, the government amended its 2020 budget to take account of 
the lower-than-projected tax receipts as well as 150 billion drams ($310 
million) in coronavirus-related relief measures financed by it.

The government plans to borrow more than $530 million from mainly foreign 
sources in order to cover the extra budget deficit. It secured a $280 million 
loan from the International Monetary Fund in May.

The governor of the country’s Central Bank, Martin Galstian, forecast last week 
that the Armenian economy will contract by 4 percent this year due to the 
negative impact of the pandemic. But he said it should recover and grow by 5.5 
percent already next year.




Armenian Government Sticks To COVID-19 Strategy


Armenia -- People wear face masks in the center of Yerevan, June 10, 2020.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian indicated on Thursday that his government has no 
plans yet to change its strategy of tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Pashinian said the government will keep putting the emphasis on getting more 
Armenians to practice social distancing and wear face masks in all public spaces 
and is ready to take the “strictest administrative measures” for that purpose.

“I want to again emphasize that our anti-epidemic strategy remains the same,” he 
said at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “Namely, to learn to 
live under the kind of rules that will allow us to nullify new [coronavirus] 
cases or reduce them to a minimum.”

“Dear compatriots, I want to again remind you that there is a coronavirus 
pandemic in Armenia and the most effective means of fighting that pandemic is to 
wear masks, maintain social distancing and periodically disinfect hands,” he 
said.

Armenia has had one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the world, 
with a total of 30,346 cases confirmed in the country of about 3 million so far. 
According to the Ministry of Health, 526 people tested positive for the virus on 
Wednesday.

The ministry also reported on Thursday morning the deaths of 20 more people 
infected with COVID-19. It said COVID-19 was the primary cause of 14 of those 
deaths.

The official death toll thus rose to 535. The figure does not include 170 other 
infected people who the ministry says have died from other, pre-existing 
conditions.


Armenia -- A healthcare worker wearing protective gear takes notes at the Surb 
Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, Yerevan, June 5, 2020.

“The situation remains stable but severe,” Health Minister Arsen Torosian said 
at the cabinet meeting. “That is, there is no negative trend but there is no 
substantial positive trend either.”

Torosian also announced that the health authorities are planning to set up 
dozens of more intensive care beds at Armenian hospitals treating COVID-19 
patients. They already helped to boost hospital capacity last month in the face 
of a rising number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations.

Pashinian warned on Monday that the government will have to impose another 
nationwide lockdown if the hospitals are no longer able to cope with the 
continuing influx of patients. The prime minister did not mention such a 
possibility on Thursday. He spoke instead of a possible “further toughening” of 
fines and other sanctions against people refusing to wear masks.

“We should manage to ensure compliance with the anti-epidemic rules, including 
through the strictest administrative measures,” he said.

Opposition leaders and other critics of Pashinian’s government increasingly 
criticize its handling of the coronavirus crisis.

The two opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament initiated last 
week the formation of an ad hoc parliamentary commission tasked with 
investigating the government’s coronavirus response. Torosian insisted 
afterwards that the government has done a good job dealing with the pandemic.




European Court Rejects Injunction Sought By Ousted Armenian Judges

        • Gayane Saribekian
        • Nane Sahakian

France -- The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, February 7, 
2019.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has refused to issue an “interim” 
injunction that would freeze the implementation of constitutional changes 
calling for the dismissal of the chairman and three other members of Armenia’s 
Constitutional Court.

The changes passed by the Armenian parliament late last month stipulate that 
Hrayr Tovmasian must resign as the court’s chairman remain but remain one of its 
nine judges. They also mandate the replacement of three other judges who had 
taken the bench in the 1990s.

Tovmasian and the three ousted judges -- Alvina Gyulumian, Felix Tokhian and 
Hrant Nazarian -- have refused to step down, saying that the changes were 
enacted in breach of Armenia’s constitution and laws. In an appeal to the ECHR 
filed on June 26, they asked the Strasbourg-based court to order the Armenian 
authorities to refrain from replacing them pending further hearings on the case.

In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the ECHR said it has rejected the 
“interim measure” requested by the plaintiffs because it saw no “risk of serious 
and irreparable harm” to them.

“Although the applicants’ request for an interim measure has been found to be 
out of scope, it is still open to them to lodge an application and to pursue 
their complaints before the Court,” read the statement. “When required, the 
Court may decide to give priority to certain applications.”

Siranuysh Sahakian, a lawyer representing the ousted judges, downplayed the 
ECHR’s decision on Thursday, saying that the Strasbourg court is continuing to 
examine the appeal. She said the ECHR has given the plaintiffs and the Armenian 
government until August 28 to present it with more arguments in support of their 
positions.

Alen Simonian, a deputy parliament speaker and close associate of Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian, hailed the ECHR’s decision. He said it vindicated Armenia’s 
ruling political team and dealt a blow to attempts to “delegitimize” changes in 
the Constitutional Court’s composition.

“I repeat that the process is absolutely lawful and the problem [addressed by 
it] is acknowledged by all of our partners,” he said.

Simonian also accused the plaintiffs of pursuing a hidden political agenda. 
“They are engaged in a political process and are clinging to their posts,” he 
said.

A senior lawmaker representing the opposition Bright Armenia Party (BHK) 
insisted, meanwhile, that the parliament’s pro-government majority amended the 
Armenian constitution illegally. “These constitutional changes are the result of 
an unlawful process,” said Taron Simonian.

Prosperous Armenia (BHK), the other opposition party represented in the National 
Assembly, is even more critical of the changes, having denounced them as a 
“constitutional coup.”

Tovmasian and six other Constitutional Court justices have been under strong 
government pressure to step down over the past year. Pashinian has accused them 
of maintaining close ties to Armenia’s former government and impeding his 
judicial reforms.

Tovmasian and opposition figures have dismissed Pashinian’s claims and in turn 
accused the prime minister of seeking to take control of the country’s highest 
court.

According to the ECHR statement, Tovmasian, Gyulumian, Tokhian and Nazarian 
claimed in their appeal that the controversial amendments to the Armenian 
constitution followed their and their colleagues’ harassment by the current 
authorities in Yerevan. They said the “long process of harassment” intensified 
after the Constitutional Court agreed in June 2018 to rule on an appeal filed by 
Robert Kocharian, a former Armenian president prosecuted on coup and corruption 
charges rejected by him as politically motivated.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

 

                                        Friday, 

Pashinian Blasts Azeri ‘Intransigence’ On Karabakh


Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at a meeting in Yerevan, June 
19, 2020.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused Azerbaijan on Friday of hampering a 
compromise solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with “maximalist” demands 
and territorial claims to Armenia.

Pashinian launched unusually scathing attacks on Azerbaijani President Ilham 
Aliyev as he chaired a meeting of Armenia’s and Karabakh’s top security 
officials. He complained that Aliyev has never reciprocated his repeated calls 
for an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal that would satisfy all parties to the 
conflict.

“It is obvious that with such [Azerbaijani] approaches we cannot anticipate real 
progress in the negotiation process, especially given that they are accompanied 
by war threats or territorial and direct or indirect historical claims to the 
Armenian people,” said Pashinian.

Aliyev, he said, realizes that Baku’s attempts to end the conflict by force 
would provoke a “more than adequate response” from the Armenian military.

“For more than 15 years [Aliyev] has promised his own people to solve the 
Karabakh conflict through military force and under this guise they have spent 
billions of dollars which have very often … ended up on offshore accounts of 
known people,” Pashinian went on. “And now he cannot explain to his own people 
why the reality is as it is.”

“He realizes that a possible [military] adventure would not only cause 
Azerbaijan irreversible devastation but also dismantle his anti-democratic 
regime,” claimed the Armenian premier. “And so in order to deflect people’s 
attention and get out of this deadlock he raises the temperature of his 
statements.”

Pashinian seemed to allude to Aliyev’s recent renewed claims that much of 
modern-day Armenia, including Yerevan, lies in “historic Azerbaijani lands.”

Aliyev and Pashinian most recently met in February on the sidelines of an annual 
international security forum in Munich. They publicly traded accusations during 
a panel discussion on Karabakh held right after their brief talks.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers have since tried to keep the 
peace process alive despite the coronavirus pandemic. In late April, they held a 
joint video conference with the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading 
the OSCE Minsk Group.

“The Foreign Ministers and Co-Chairs agreed to remain in close contact and to 
continue negotiations in person as soon as possible,” read a joint statement 
issued at the time.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced last week that more such talks will be 
held later this month.



Pashinian Cancels Trip To Moscow


ARMENIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Armenian Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian during a meeting on the sidelines of a Eurasian 
Economic Union summit in Yerevan, Armenia October 1, 2019.

Citing the continuing coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
announced on Friday he will not travel to Moscow next week to attend a Russian 
military parade that will mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over 
Nazi Germany.

Russian President Putin invited him to the Red Square parade slated for June 24 
when they spoke by phone on June 1. Pashinian accepted the invitation.

In a letter to Putin publicized by his office, the Armenian leader said he 
looked forward to taking part in Russia’s World War Two Victory Day celebrations.

“But as it turned out afterwards, the existing epidemiological situation does 
not allow me to carry out this visit,” he wrote. “Based on that, I decided to 
refrain from travelling to Moscow. This was discussed in detail and agreed upon 
by our staffs.”

Pashinian added that he still hopes to meet with Putin soon.

Pashinian announced his decision five days after 75 Armenian soldiers flew to 
Moscow in preparation for their participation in the parade.

The Defense Ministry in Yerevan confirmed their participation on June 2. It said 
that during the annual display of Russia’s military might they will carry not 
only an Armenian national flag but also the banner of a Red Army division that 
mostly consisted of Armenians and reached Berlin in May 1945.

Pashinian’s spokeswoman, Mane Gevorgian, said later on Friday that Defense 
Minister Davit Tonoyan will “lead” the Armenian army contingent during the 
parade.

The parade, originally scheduled for May 9, was postponed by the Kremlin in 
April due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both Armenia and Russia have been hit 
hard by the pandemic.



Armenian Authorities Scale Back Gas Price Hikes

        • Robert Zargarian

Russia – A stop sign is fixed in front of the Russian Gazprom company's 
headquarters in Moscow, January 21, 2020

Public utility regulators rejected on Friday sizable increases in domestic 
prices of natural gas demanded by Armenia’s Russian-owned gas distribution 
network.

The Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) only allowed the Gazprom 
Armenia network to raise its prices set for corporate consumers by an average of 
4.5 percent. It said the gas price for households will not go up for now.

The network fully owned by Russia’s Gazprom requested an 11 percent cumulative 
rise in its retail tariffs on April 1. It argued that the cost of Russian gas 
supplied to Armenian consumers has remained unchanged since Gazprom raised its 
wholesale price for Armenia from $150 to $165 per thousand cubic meters in 
January 2019. Gazprom’s Armenian subsidiary has incurred major losses as a 
result.

Gazprom Armenia offered to slightly cut the gas price for the majority of 
households, which currently stands at an equivalent of $290 per thousand cubic 
meters. However, it demanded the scrapping of a 36 percent price discount 
enjoyed by low-income families.

The PSRC objected to this demand even before formally ruling on the tariff 
application. It also urged the gas operator to settle for a more modest rise in 
tariffs set for manufacturing and agricultural firms.

Gazprom Armenia’s chief executive, Hrant Tadevosian, responded by warning on 
June 4 that the commission could put continued supplies of Russian gas to the 
country at risk.

Not surprisingly, Tadevosian criticized the PSRC’s decision on Friday, saying 
that the commission should have raised the average tariff by at least 7.8 
percent. But he did not warn of supply disruptions this time around.

Tadevosian indicated instead that his company will have to cut planned 
expenditures, presumably including capital investments. It pledged earlier to 
invest 230 billion drams ($474 million) in in the Armenian gas infrastructure 
over the next 10 years.

Shortly before Gazprom Armenia requested the price hikes, the Armenian 
government urged the Russian energy giant to cut its wholesale gas price for 
Armenia. It argued that global energy prices have collapsed because of the 
coronavirus pandemic.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin 
discussed the matter by phone on April 6. They apparently failed to reach an 
agreement.

Speaking at a May 19 video conference with fellow leaders of the Eurasian 
Economic Union (EEU) member states, Putin rejected Armenia’s and Belarus’s calls 
for the Russian-led trade bloc to set uniform energy tariffs which would reduce 
the cost of Russian natural gas imported by them.



Wealthy Backers ‘Ready To Bail Kocharian Out’

        • Tatevik Lazarian

Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian (R) talks to his lawyer Hayk 
Alumian during his trial, Yerevan, October 7, 2019.

Robert Kocharian’s office said on Friday that wealthy supporters of Armenia’s 
jailed former president are ready to help him post a $4.2 million bail needed 
for his release.

The Court of Appeals set the unprecedented bail amount on Thursday when it 
partly overturned a lower court’s refusal to free Kocharian pending the outcome 
of his ongoing trial. He has to pay the hefty sum by Saturday or remain under 
arrest.

The head of Kocharian’s office, Victor Soghomonian, hailed the ruling as a 
“first step towards restoring justice” while criticizing the highest ever bail 
set in the country’s history.

In a statement, Soghomonian said “hundreds of individuals” have expressed 
readiness to bail Kocharian out. They include “several wealthy entrepreneurs and 
philanthropists,” he said, adding that he will reveal their names soon.

Kocharian’s younger son Levon said, meanwhile, that the ex-president’s family 
cannot afford to make the required payment on its own.

Kocharian’s assets were frozen by law-enforcement authorities after he was first 
arrested in July 2018 on charges stemming from the 2008 post-election crackdown 
on opposition protesters in Yerevan. The ex-president noted this fact during a 
Court of Appeals hearing on Wednesday. He said he can only use Levon’s and his 
daughter Gayane’s properties worth 700 million drams ($1.5 million) as bail 
collateral.

One of Kocharian’s lawyers, Hayk Alumian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service 
(Azatutyun.am) on Friday that he is still not sure his client can pay up. 
Alumian said the defense lawyers may therefore challenge the bail amount in the 
higher Court of Cassation.

Prosecutors have already decided to appeal against bail granted to the man who 
ruled Armenia from 1998-2008.

Also planning to appeal to the Court of Cassation are relatives of nine people 
killed in the March 2008 unrest in Yerevan. One of their lawyers, Tigran 
Yegorian, added his voice to prosecutors’ claims that Kocharian could obstruct 
justice and exert “substantial influence” on witnesses if set free.

Kocharian, his former chief of staff and two retired army generals went on trial 
more than a year ago, accused of overthrowing the constitutional order. The 
ex-president also stands accused of bribery. He rejects all accusations leveled 
against him as politically motivated.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.