Corruption – The National Brand Of Armenia

CORRUPTION – THE NATIONAL BRAND OF ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
May 29 2014

29 May 2014 – 10:25am

By David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

5 of the 20 richest people in Armenia have joined the new government.

Prime Minister Ovik Abramyan and Minister for Finance Gagik Khachatryan
are two of the three leaders whose relatives own about half of the
country, according to a statement by Nikol Pashinyan, who wants to
lay bare the wounds of the Armenian economy.

In his words, Abramyan became one of the richest people in Armenia by
being a high-ranking politician in the past 20 years, not because of
his financial genius. Thousands of hectares of cultivated land, gas
and gasoline stations, hotels, factories, mansions – no matter which
building of Yerevan city center you stand by, it turns out that two
of its floors belong to the prime minister. Ovik Abramyan, being the
minister for territorial management, was coordinating agriculture and
received millions of dollars from agricultural products while thousands
of farmers were being strangled by loans and leaving the country.

Pashinyan named David Arutyunyan as head of the Government Office and
Karen Chshmarityan as Minister for Economy among the billionaires. “In
these conditions, talking about the fight against “the shadow” in the
economy is pointless. The government program notes the importance of
forming a national brand. It does not exist, because the authorities
have such a government headed by Serzh Sargsyan that the only brand
Armenia can have is corruption,” said that lawmaker.

Abramyan responded to the accusations at a session of the ruling
Republican Party, stating that there was no information about ministers
engaged in business. He promised to check whether their relatives
owning businesses pay taxes.

The prime minister said that Samvel Aleksanyan (Lfik Samo), one of the
key monopolists of Armenian imports, a member of the Republican Party,
has promised to work according to the tax law from now one. However,
Abramyan admitted that Lfik had promised to work “legally” only on
condition that all companies do the same.

Abramyan declared an ultimatum to large-scale business, stating that
“corresponding measures would be taken,” unless the entrepreneur
starts following tax rules. The statement was especially shocking,
considering that it was made by a man who owns half of Ararat Province.

Another gag came from “the superminister”, Minister for Finance Gagik
Khachatryan, who accused journalists of making Armenia unattractive
for investments with their “senseless articles impeding realization of
government programs, denting the confidence of small and medium-scale
business in the executive authorities.” Khachatryan is confident that
many countries are very impressed with the experience of Armenia and
demand assistance in implementing it. It is clear that Khachatryan
did not specify the countries.

In 2013, Armenia spent $861 million to service the government debt. In
2020 Armenia will need over a billion dollars for the same purpose.

Pashinyan is adamant that such postponement of debt payments is a clear
sign that the authorities rule the country following the principle
“after us, the deluge.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress