Author: Hambik Zargarian

                                        Wednesday, 


Government Increases Stake In Armenian Mining Giant

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Armenia - A view of ore-processing facilities of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum 
Combine in Kajaran, August 12, 2019.


Another private firm has ceded shares in Armenia’s largest mining enterprise, 
the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), to the Armenian government, it 
emerged on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian revealed that the obscure firm called AMP Holding 
secretly “donated” its 6.8 percent stake in March this year. Pashinian said AMP 
asked the government at the time not to publicize the transfer “because of 
commercial issues.”

He did not shed light on those issues or give a reason for the lavish donation. 
The government’s press office declined to comment on the unusual move.

“The main thing is that since March 24 the government of Armenia holds a 21.875 
percent stake [in ZCMC,] which is a very important development,” Pashinian told 
a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.

Pashinian’s government already got hold of 15 percent of ZCMC’s stock through a 
similar donation announced last fall. The Russian metals group GeoProMining said 
on October 1, 2021 that it has acquired 60 percent of the Armenian mining giant 
and “granted” a quarter of that stake to the government.

The transfer followed a government crackdown on ZCMC’s former owners and 
management. The company based in southeastern Syunik province was believed to be 
controlled by individuals at odds with Pashinian’s government. One of them, 
former Syunik Governor Vahe Hakobian, is a senior member of the main opposition 
Hayastan alliance.

Armenia - A copper ore-processing plant in Kajaran, 6Feb2016.
Campaigning for the June 2021 parliamentary elections, Pashinian pledged to 
punish ZCMC’s “corrupt shareholders” and make sure that their shares are 
“returned to the people.” In July 2021, Armenia’s National Security Service 
(NSS) raided ZCMC’s offices and detained thee company executives.

Pashinian said on Wednesday that the acquisition and subsequent increase in the 
government’s stake in ZCMC means he has fulfilled his campaign pledge.

According to the Armenian state registry of legal entities, AMP Holding, the 
company that transferred the 6.8 percent stake to the government, belongs to 
another firm called Stardust. The latter is in turned co-owned by two 
individuals. One of them is opposition politician Hakobian’s brother Karen.

The registry also shows that Stardust is managed by Mher Poloskov, ZCMC’s former 
chief executive. Poloskov faced criminal proceedings after tax and 
law-enforcement authorities accused the former ZCMC management of large-scale 
tax evasion last fall.

The authorities dropped the case earlier this year after Poloskov transferred 15 
billion drams ($37 million) in what they called unpaid taxes to the state. It is 
not clear whether the increase in the government’s ZCMC stake was also part of 
that settlement.

The mining giant employing about 4,000 people is Armenia’s leading corporate 
taxpayer. It paid almost 105 billion ($260 million) in various taxes in the 
first half of this year.



Rescue Operations At Site Of Yerevan Market Blast End

        • Narine Ghalechian

Armenia - Armenian emergency employees work at the Surmalu market in Yerevan 
partly demolished by an explosion, August15, 2022.


Armenian authorities announced on Wednesday the end of search and rescue 
operations at a market in Yerevan where a powerful explosion killed at least 16 
people and injured dozens of others on August 14.

Rescue teams managed to extract 10 survivors and 16 dead during the ten-day 
operations. But they failed to find the last person still listed as missing 
following the explosion that partly demolished the sprawling Surmalu market.

“The works were carried out in full,” said Hayk Kostanian, the spokesman for the 
Ministry of Emergencies. “Unfortunately, the citizen's body or his remains were 
not found.”

The 55-year-old missing man, Vanik Amirkhanian, worked at Surmalu.

The deadly explosion and subsequent fire reportedly occurred in a market area 
where fireworks and other pyrotechnics were stored. It is still not clear what 
caused it.

Law-enforcement authorities were quick to launch a criminal investigation into 
the blast. But they have not arrested or charged anyone so far. The market’s 
owner, Razmik Zakharian, has still not been questioned by investigators.

Fire inspectors said on August 17 that they had identified two dozen violations 
at Surmalu and given the market administration until the end of 2021 to comply 
with city-planning norms and fire-safety rules. They admitted that no follow-up 
inspection was carried out there.

Irina Madatova, the manager of Surmalu, claimed that the administration 
addressed the violations. But she did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, the Armenian government made clear on Wednesday that while it is 
considering providing financial assistance to the families of the people killed 
or injured by the blast it will not compensate Surmalu traders for the loss of 
their goods and commercial space not covered by business insurance. Economy 
Minister Vahan Kerobian argued that the state is not responsible for their 
failure to buy insurance.



Armenian Government Raises Pensions Amid High Inflation

        • Robert Zargarian

Armenia - A weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan, .


The Armenian government approved on Wednesday a roughly 7 percent increase in 
pensions and other benefits which is designed to mitigate the impact of 
higher-than-projected inflation in the country.

The decision will benefit around 500,000 Armenians aged 65 and older. The 
average amount of monthly pensions paid to them has stood at 41,000 drams ($100) 
until now.

The government also announced similar rises in benefits for citizens with 
various disabilities. They too will take effect next month.

The government had earlier planned to raise the pensions in January 2023. Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian said the planned rises were brought forward to 
September because the State Revenue Committee collected more taxes than were 
projected in the first half of this year.

The higher pensions and benefits will clearly not offset the increased cost of 
living for the socially vulnerable citizens covered by the government’s decision.

According to government data, inflation in Armenia rose steadily in the first 
half, reaching an annual rate of 10.3 percent in June. It eased to 9.3 percent 
in July thanks to a seasonal drop in the cost of fruits and vegetables. Even so, 
overall food prices were up by an average of 13.5 percent year on year.



Pashinian Again Phones Putin


Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian in his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, April 19, 2022.


Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
again discussed the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone on Wednesday 
when they spoke by phone for the third time in as many weeks.

The two leaders “continued the discussion of the situation around 
Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Kremlin reported in a statement on the phone call which 
it said took place “at the initiative of the Armenian side.” It said they 
reaffirmed the importance of “consistent implementation” of Armenian-Azerbaijani 
agreements brokered by Moscow during and after the 2020 war in Karabakh.

Putin and Pashinian also touched upon “some topical issues of further 
development of the relations of strategic partnership and alliance” between 
their countries, the statement added without elaborating.

The Armenian government’s press office released a virtually identical readout of 
the call.

The phone conversation followed reports that Putin is poised to host a fresh 
meeting of Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The Russian 
president’s most recent trilateral talks with them were held in Sochi last 
November.

Aliyev and Pashinian held three face-to-face meetings in Brussels in the 
following months. Russia has repeatedly accused the West of trying to hijack the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process as part of the ongoing standoff over Ukraine.

Early this month, Putin and Pashinian spoke twice by phone in the space of one 
week amid an upsurge in violence in Karabakh. At least one Azerbaijani and two 
Karabakh Armenian soldiers were killed in fighting that broke out on August 3.

Pashinian complained on August 4 that Baku has been stepping up ceasefire 
violations in Karabakh “in the presence of” Russian peacekeeping troops deployed 
there. The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the criticism.

According to the official readouts of Putin’s latest call with Pashinian, the 
Russian and Armenian leaders “noted the role of the Russian peacekeeping 
contingent in ensuring stability in the region.”


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