Month: June 2017

                                        Thursday, June 1, 2017

Armenian Government Stands By Faster Growth Forecast


 . Nane Sahakian


Armenia - Finance Minister Vartan Aramian attends a parliamentary
hearing in Yerevan on the Armenian state budget for 2017, 31Oct2016.

The Armenian government remains confident that economic growth in the
country will accelerate to at least 3.2 percent this year, Finance
Minister Vartan Aramian said on Thursday.

"We will make every effort to ensure that growth actually exceeds the
3.2 percent target a little," he told reporters.

The Armenian economy grew by up to 0.5 percent last year amid a
continuing recession in Russia, Armenia's main trading partner and
source of large-scale cash remittances. Prime Minister Karen
Karapetian's cabinet set the 3.2 percent growth target for 2017 in its
budget approved by parliament late last year.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have forecast
similar growth rates in recent weeks. The bank cautioned in a May 11
report, however, that the country's growth outlook is susceptible to
"negative impact external shocks."


Armenia - Workers at a new textile factory in Yerevan, 20Mar2017.

Hossein Samiei, a senior IMF official, said in Yerevan in April that
"decisive" reforms promised by Karapetian's government are essential
for achieving faster and sustainable growth in Armenia. He said the
government is committed to improving the business environment,
tackling tax evasion and attracting foreign investment.

In Aramian's words, the government expects domestic economic activity
to be stimulated by at least $830 million in mostly foreign
investments which it has repeatedly pledged to attract this year. The
minister said that foreign direct investment already rose by 30
percent in the first quarter of this year.

Minister for Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan stood
by the ambitious pledges in separate comments to the press. "The
[investment] programs that we announced are on track," he said.

Karapetian has repeatedly stated that that his government has all but
secured $3.2 billion in funding for around 350 investment projects to
be implemented in Armenia in the coming years. Critics of his
government are highly skeptical about that.



Ex-Prosecutor Warns Of European Court Rulings Against Armenia


 . Ruzanna Stepanian


Armenia - A newly constructed prison in Armavir region, 29Nov2014.

Armenian law-enforcement authorities' long-running practice of
routinely keeping criminal suspects in custody may put them at odds
with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), former
Prosecutor-General Gevorg Kostanian warned on Thursday.

Kostanian, who now represents Armenia in the ECHR, argued that the
Strasbourg-based court has adopted stricter requirements for the
pre-trial arrest of people in the Council of Europe member states. He
said law-enforcement authorities there must now prove that arrested
individuals, who have appealed to the ECHR, would go into hiding or
obstruct justice if set free.

"Whereas [until now] we could justify the need for arrest only with
the fact of a crime # now an even individual who committed the most
serious crime can be arrested only if it is substantiated that they
could flee or evade [prosecution,]" Kostanian told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am).

"Therefore, our law-enforcement bodies must pay special attention to
the matter. Or else, we will get recognitions [by the ECHR] of
widespread violations [of the due process,]" said the ex-prosecutor
who was recently elected to the Armenian parliament on the ruling
Republican Party's ticket.

Human rights groups have long criticized Armenian law-enforcement
agencies for usually keeping suspects, including those charged with
minor crimes, in pre-trial detention. They believe that the practice
makes it easier for investigators to extract confessions.

Armenian courts rarely agree to order the release of suspects on bail
or otherwise pending investigation.

Ara Gharagyozian, a lawyer who has represented many opposition
activists, was skeptical about the new ECHR requirements. He said the
increased likelihood of ECRH rulings against Armenia carrying heavy
fines will hardly deter Armenian judges or prosecutors.

"Mr. Kostanian may say the right things but our law-enforcement bodies
and courts usually do the opposite," he said.

One of Gharagyozian's clients, Ara Khandoyan, was arrested last summer
in connection with violent clashes between opposition supporters and
riot police in Yerevan. Armenian courts refused to grant Khandoyan
bail. His lawyer challenged those decisions in the Strasbourg court
earlier this year.



Anti-Smoking Measures Planned In Armenia


 . Naira Bulghadarian


Armenia - An anti-smoking campaigner talks to passersby in Yerevan,
31May2011.

The Armenian Ministry of Health has called for a legal ban on smoking
in public places and a sharp rise in the prices of cigarettes, citing
the need to reduce the large number of smokers in Armenia.

Health Minister Levon Altunian unveiled on Wednesday a new
"anti-tobacco strategy" drafted by his staff and submitted to the
government for approval.He said a corresponding government bill will
likely be sent to the Armenian parliament in November.

"Armenians are a law-abiding nation," Altunian told a news
conference. "Armenians like novelties. Armenians like being healthy
and successful."

"I am convinced that we will succeed in defeating this evil," he
said. "The best way to do that is to target [smokers'] pockets, rather
than minds."

Under the ministry proposals, excise duties levied from cigarettes
would be raised by 15 percent annually from 2017 through 2021. The
government would also prohibit smoking in government and private
offices, as well as all restaurants, cafes and bars. The owners of
such businesses failing to comply with the ban would be fined an
equivalent of as much as $10,000.

"It all boils down to this: if you want to smoke, go out, smoke and
come back," said Aleksandr Bazarchian, the director of the
government-funded National Institute of Healthcare. "Nobody is telling
people not to smoke."

The ministry is also seeking a complete ban on all forms of tobacco
advertising. Armenian TV and radio stations were banned from airing
such commercials years ago.

According to ministry estimates, 55 percent of Armenian men are
regular smokers. The smoking rate among women in the socially
conservative society is much lower: 3 percent. It is considerably
higher in Yerevan where around 10 percent of women aged between 30 and
40 are tobacco addicts.

The Armenian authorities already took a set of anti-smoking measures
over a decade ago. A special law that came into force in 2005 banned
smoking in hospitals, cultural and educational institutions and public
buses. Additional restrictions introduced a year later required other
entities, including bars and restaurants to allow smoking only in
special secluded areas. But with no legal sanctions put in place
against their violation, those measures proved largely ineffectual.

Skeptics are now questioning the authorities' ability and willingness
to enforce the new and tougher measures advocated by the Ministry of
Health. Babken Pipoyan, who heads a non-governmental consumer right
group, is worried that some restaurants may be allowed to flout the
smoking ban and thus gain an unfair competitive edge.



Press Review



"Zhamanak" dismisses suggestions that Russia will handpick a new prime
minister of Armenia next year. "The notion that Armenia's top official
is appointed in a foreign center -- and Moscow in particular -- must
be driven out of the Armenian public consciousness," writes the
paper. "Even if this is the case, this sense of gloom and forgone
conclusion not only must not take root among Armenia's citizens but
there must also be a great deal of intolerance towards it."

"Zhoghovurd" reports that President Serzh Sarkisian on Wednesday
completed the formation of Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's new
cabinet by reappointing it last four members. The paper points out
that the government's composition has not changed as a result of the
April 2 parliamentary elections. "Generally speaking, this government
is not motivated to do a good job," it claims. "What is the point of
improving the situation in the country and making things easier for
the man who can can sack them and be the next prime minister? But if
it is decided after all that Karen Karapetian will remain prime
minister [in 2018,] they will have even less reason to provide
anything to anyone."

"Hraparak" says it is now even more evident that Armenia's
constitution was radically amended in 2015 for the sake of President
Serzh Sarkisian's political future. The paper also says that Sarkisian
will keep everyone guessing his political plans "until the last
moment." "Nobody is fully aware of his scenario," it says.

"Aravot" says that the failure of some major Armenian parties and
alliances to win seats in the new parliament must not mean "the end of
the world" for them. "If they have good ideas, they can use them while
being outside the parliament," editorializes the paper. "Especially
given the fact that there are now many platforms for promoting
ideas. If they are more original than formulas like `the country is
collapsing' or `this regime must go as soon as possible' they could be
of interest to the society or at least a certain section of it."

Konrad Zasztowt, a Polish political analyst, tells "168 Zham" that
Armenia cannot secure a visa-free regime for its citizens travelling
to the European Union in the near future. "Yerevan has to prove that
it is capable of modernizing the country and laying strong foundations
for democracy, human rights and the rule of law," he says.

(Anush Mkrtchian)


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