` Wednesday, 3 Armenian Soldiers Killed, One Wounded In Anti-Tank Mine Explosion In Karabakh Armenia - An Armenian soldier on combat duty on the border with Azerbaijan, 30Dec2015. Three servicemen of Nagorno-Karabakh's ethnic Armenian army have been killed and another one was seriously wounded in a mine explosion reported at one of the military units stationed in the northeastern direction of the line of contact with Azerbaijan's armed forces. Nagorno-Karabakh's Ministry of Defense said the incident occurred on Tuesday evening. It identified the killed servicemen as 22-year-old leutenant Gegham Zakarian, 19-year-old private Sargis Abrahamian and 20-year-old private Sargis Melikian. Nineteen-year-old private Narek Hoveyan is currently being treated by doctors, his condition is assessed as heavy, the source said. "Investigation is underway to establish the circumstances of the incident," the Nagorno-Karabakh military said. Armenia's Investigation Committee also said that one of its units is investigating the circumstances of the Karabakh servicemen's death. In a statement it said that the servicemen were blown up by an anti-tank mine while carrying out engineering work. The Investigation Committee said a criminal case has been instituted on the hallmarks of a penal code article dealing with "breach of rules for handling weapons, ammunition# that negligently caused the death of two or more persons." Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovannisian also confirmed that the case was not a consequence of "direct enemy impact". The latest deadly incident in Nagorno-Karabakh comes shortly after a regional tour by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who visited Baku and Yerevan on November 19-21 for talks with the political leaderships of Azerbaijan and Armenia that also focused on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Armenian Government To Subsidize New Water Tariff Rise . Anush Muradian Armenia -- A session of the Public Services Regulatory Commission. 22Nov., 2017 A public utilities regulator has approved a second water tariff rise within just over a year sought by a French company that became Armenia's single operator in late 2016. This time, however, the increase will be subsidized by the Armenian government for a year. The French company, Veolia Djur, had formally asked the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) to raise the tariff from 180 drams to 194.3 drams (some 40 U.S. cents) per cubic meter for the vast majority of consumers. The PSRC on Wednesday decided to partly satisfy the French company's request. Garegin Baghramian, the head of the PSRC's Tariff Policy Department, said the water tariff will be increased by 11.4 drams - to 191.4 drams per cubic meter. (According to the current exchange rate, one U.S. dollar is about 485 Armenians drams). The new tariff will become effective from January 1, 2018. On November 2, Prime Minister Karen Karapetian instructed the State Water Committee (SWC) head to submit a proposal to the government on how to keep the existing retail water tariff if a new rise is approved. At today's session of the PSRC a representative of the SWC and the Commission's head announced that the government will fulfill its promise and during 2018 consumers in Armenia will continue to pay 180 drams per cubic meter of water. "The difference between the current tariff and the tariff to be applied from January 1 should be subsidized at the expense of lease payments," said Armen Sergoyan, head of the SWC's Water Supply and Drainage Systems Department. PSRC Chairman Robert Nazarian said: "Certainly the tariffs for our consumers will remain at the same level as they are today. I think the State Water Committee will submit a relevant draft decision to the Government at one of its upcoming sessions and it will be adopted." The regulators already sanctioned a nearly 6 percent rise in the water price last December. The PSRC head told Veolia Djur representatives at that time to "operate in a way that will preclude further tariff increases." He said the Armenian subsidiary of France's Veolia utility group must specifically crack down on "illegal water consumers." Veolia Djur General Manager Christian Lefaix was also present at today's meeting. Addressing him, Nazarian noted that there are numerous shortcomings in terms of water consumption volumes, which have also been revealed as a result of a relevant monitoring. "I should ask Mr. Lefaix today to use all his reserves and potential in this direction and do everything possible so that we do not raise the tariffs due to the volume of water consumption," the PSRC head said. Armenia's drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities are run by Veolia in accordance with a 15-year management contract which it signed with the Armenian government in November last year. Before that the French company for a decade managed the water and sewerage network of Yerevan. It significantly improved water supply in the Armenian capital in that period not least because of capital investments made in the aging network. In a November 2016 statement, Veolia said that it will attract $200 million in funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the German development bank KfW over the next four years for similar infrastructure upgrades across the country. "By 2030 the entire population of Armenia will thus be supplied with drinking water [around the clock] thanks to Veolia," said the statement. Armenian Students, Officials Hold `Roundtable' On Military Service Law . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - Participants of a roundtable discussion on the new law on military service observe a minute of silence in honor of killed soldiers, Yerevan,22Nov,2017 Leaders of a student movement against controversial restrictions of the right to draft deferments have met with Armenian parliament members and government officials on Wednesday in a `roundtable discussion' that was promised to them in exchange for the halt in their street protests last week. The restrictions sought by the Ministry of Defense were approved by the Armenian National Assembly on November 15 and will become law upon signing by President Serzh Sarkisian. Under the legislation, in order to get a draft deferment all male students who want to pursue their studies must sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense and agree to serve three years in the military after completing their studies at the location chosen by the Ministry. Otherwise, the legislation stipulates, the students will be drafted to the army once they attain the age of 18 to serve for two years. Critics of the legislation argue that the measure will discourage students from pursuing scientific careers and will eventually harm the development of science in the country. Proponents of the law, including Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian, see no such risks. They point out that the law will give a fairer treatment to all students and will reduce corruption by closing a key loophole to avoiding compulsory military service. Armenia - University students protest in Yerevan against government plans to abolish military draft deferments, 7Nov2017. David Petrosian, one of the leaders of the student group, "For Science Development", that spearheaded weeklong rallies and a boycott of classes that involved hundreds of students from Yerevan State Universities as well as some other schools of higher learning, told lawmakers and representatives of the ministries of defense and education today that instead of "taking the university to the army" they suggest "bringing the army into the university." In particular, students came up with two proposals that still need to be discussed by government representatives and lawmakers. They recommended that the government work out a flexible draft deferment policy that will help develop the science and education system, will ensure the continuity of the education process and at the same time will exclude corruption. Petrosian also proposed that students be engaged in military service during their bachelor's degree studies in universities. "We distribute 18-month-long service during the four-year bachelor's degree studies, and we get about four months of service during a year with two-month periods. This allows us not to take the university to the army, but to bring the army into the university. The principle of the continuity of students' education will not be violated and at the same time students will participate in the service. It means that for four years students will be in service, at the same time they will continue their education in the university," Petrosian said. Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakarian noted that the proposed type of service is now applied in Switzerland, which he said is a country where there is no threat of war. As for master's degree studies, students suggest that military service be continued for six more months during post-graduate studies. The general approach shown by government representatives was that the problem is not connected with the law, which was adopted in parliament last week, and that all issues should be regulated by government decisions and sub-legislative acts. "We can state that there is a problem and that the discussion has been a successful one, because we hear each other, because from both sides there are common approaches and the desire to give a more comprehensive and full solution to the problem. And these mechanisms are now to be set out in government decisions and sub-legislative acts. Let's start to work with the government together to make your recommendations documented so that they can be reflected in government decisions and sub-legislative acts. This is my suggestion. The ball is in the government's court now," said Deputy Parliament Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov, who represents the ruling Republican Party of Armenia. Among those participating in the discussions was also Armenia's Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchian. Before the start of the roundtable its participants observed a minute's silence in honor of three Armenian servicemen who were killed in an anti-tank mine explosion while carrying out engineering work in Nagorno-Karabakh last night. Tashir Considers Construction Of Hydro-Power Plant In Southern Armenia . Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia -- Vice President of Tashir group Karen Darbinian. 22Nov., 2017 The Tashir group of companies, which has pledged to invest $872 million in Armenian electricity grids in the next ten years, is going to make large-scale investments also in the electricity generation sector, a representative said. Besides a hydro-power plant in Shnogh, which is in the northeast of Armenia, the company considers the possibility of building an HPP also in Meghri, which is in the extreme south of the country. At a press conference on Wednesday Tashir's Vice President Karen Darbinian did not give further details regarding the possible hydro-power plant construction in Meghri. "This is at the stage of discussions. It is very likely that in the future Tashir will make investments also in the field of electricity production," he said. On November 13, Tashir announced that on the river Debed it will build a 120 MW hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of up to 460 million kilowatts per year, which will provide about 6 percent of Armenia's total demand in electricity. Tashir Group, which is owned by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian, owns the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) and the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant, which it acquired from the Russian Inter RAO Company in October 2015. Besides, Tashir, in fact, also owns Armenia's largest solar power plant, Arexim, with a capacity of 0.5 MW, which was inaugurated in the Armenian town of Tsaghkadzor in September. In August, by the government's decision, the High-Voltage Electric Networks state company was handed over to the management of Tashir for a period of five years with the possibility of prolongation. Due to this company it is possible to export large volumes of electricity from Armenia or to import electricity to the country. In this regard, Darbinian said: "No specific strategy has been outlined yet, but, of course, we will also be engaged in export. The export of electricity is a very important factor for Armenia in terms of energy security." As for the investment of about $900 million in the ENA, the company says it will be made during a period of 10 years, by 2028. Tashir says it will attract half of the sum from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Development Bank and the Eurasian Development Bank. The other half will be provided from Tashir's own means. According to Darbinian, 80 percent of the equipment needed for the modernization of the ENA will be produced in Armenia, and Tashir will invest about $100 million to establish relevant enterprises. He said that two years ago when Tashir took over the ENA, losses in the power grid made 13.3 percent. Now, he said, they have been reduced to 8.7 percent. According to ENA Director General Karen Harutiunian, about a thousand jobs will be cut as a result of the modernization of the network that currently employs about 7,300 workers. Over the past two years 900 workers were also discharged from the ENA, but the company kept paying 100 percent of their salaries for the first year and 50 percent of their salaries for the second. Press Review Armenian media analyze the statements made during yesterday's joint press conference of the Armenian and Russian foreign ministers, Edward Nalbandian and Sergei Lavrov, in Yerevan. "Past" writes: "In fact, the Russian side has come to a point where, unable to get a solution according to its own scenario, it has decided to revert to an old status quo, which is to `freeze' the conflict until it is again suitable for it to deal with the matter." The paper suggests, however, that it will not be possible to return at least to the point that existed before April 2016 when the deadliest Armenian-Azerbaijani fighting since the 1994 ceasefire took place. "Zhamanak" suggests that with its trilateral interaction with Turkey and Azerbaijan in recent years Russia has sought a new situation in the Karabakh settlement process, expecting to deploy in the conflict zone a Russian or Russian-led peacekeeping force. "But either Azerbaijan hurried with the April 2016 war or the Armenian armed forces proved much more combat-ready than Moscow and Baku thought, and the matter did not go as far as the deployment of Russian peacekeepers," the daily concludes. "Haykakan Zhamanak" writes: "Armenian media and expert circles readily picked up on Lavrov's statement that there is no cause for `too much optimism' over a speedy resolution of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. This was perceived as a statement made in favor of preserving the status quo. Lavrov's statement in Baku that Russia, the United States and France have the same position in the Karabakh settlement was perceived the same way. But the paper reminds its readers that the last time the international mediators lost their optimism as a result of which they for a long time could not organize direct talks between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, a large-scale Azerbaijani offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh happened." (Elen Chilingarian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org