VERELQ presents the most notable publications of the Armenian press.

“time” the newspaper writes. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia issued a statement regarding the Georgian-Russian agreement of 2011, which refers to the operation of transport corridors passing through the territory of Abkhazia and Ossetia, regardless of political opposition and conflict areas. That contract implies cargo transportation under the monitoring of a third party, a Swiss company, but without, so to speak, Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian border legal procedures, but carrying them out only at the border of Russia.

The Foreign Ministry of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia has, in fact, announced that they are not part of the agreement, and since they are not, the agreement cannot be successful. In other words, that South Ossetian statement practically puts a cross on Armenia’s hopes or expectations of having an alternative to Verin Lars, which was regularly announced by the Armenian government starting from January of last year. On the other hand, it should be noted that last year in January, both the Georgian and Russian parties announced that there is progress in the implementation of this agreement. and are close to reaching an implementation agreement. A year later, the picture seems to have completely changed.

There is no doubt that the South Ossetian announcement could not have happened without Russia. After all, why was there no such announcement a year ago, and now there is? It sounds after another round of Georgian-Russian negotiations that took place in Prague the other day. Before that, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, negotiator Grigory Karasin stated that Armenia applied to use the alternative, but there is no mention of a third country in the agreement, neither Armenia nor Abkhazia and Ossetia. It was obvious that the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation is simply setting a condition that Armenia can benefit if Georgia agrees to deal with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Why is that? the Russian side poses the question in such a sharp way, in fact, one can only guess.

What has changed over the past year that Russia’s position has changed so much? Was Moscow concerned or angered by the provision of American anti-tank weapons to Georgia or the prospect of deepening Georgia-NATO relations? But Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic course was not news a year ago either. Does Russia’s current behavior mean that new and more serious developments have begun in this matter?

On December 25, Serzh Sargsyan left for Georgia and announced in Tbilisi that they had discussed the issue of mutual development of transport and transit capacities. Immediately after that, the next day, Sargsyan left for Moscow to participate in the summit of the CIS countries. What is the point of building transit capacity if there is no alternative to the Upper Lars? Can something change Armenia and affect Russia’s position and behavior? Hardly.

But, on the other hand, does Armenia have to do that in the end, or should it finally give up those illusions and engage in the search for real and deeper alternatives, that is, instead of alternative ways, alternative markets? Which is more accessible and realistic, and which is more strategic?”

“168 hours” the newspaper writes. “I don’t see any extraordinary delay in the deadlines mentioned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. Ratification of such agreements takes time, and the EU needs more time, because all EU member states carry out appropriate assessment work before ratification, which is time-consuming, bureaucracy also takes a lot of time in the EU. Even taking all this into account, the agreement has been signed, I don’t foresee any turning back from it, I think everything will happen on time,” said a European MP in an interview with “168 Hours”. Charles Tannockreferring to the dates of ratification of the RA-EU Comprehensive and Extended Partnership Agreement.

He noted that although Armenia refused to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, it did not take much time for a new agreement to be signed. “If things were organized so quickly, it means that this cooperation is valuable for both the EU and Armenia,” said the deputy. And a Polish analyst? Konrad Zashtovtsaid that the processes of ratification of such an agreement, both in the EU and on the other side, are usually prolonged so much that it is difficult to say whether the deadline mentioned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia is late or not. According to him, naturally, in case of desire and political expediency, it was possible to start the ratification process earlier.

“However, the Armenian side, apparently, takes into account that the process of ratification by the EU member states may be delayed, so it focuses on internal political changes without haste, which the EU is not opposed to, as if the parties have a consensus on this issue. The EU understands that Armenia will be able to fulfill its obligations only after the changes, the EU does not want to apply additional pressure, it has left the main decisions to Armenia’s discretion,” he said. According to Zashtovt, such a state of affairs is also beneficial for the EU, which gains time for other EU countries to ratify the agreement as well.”

“Fact” the daily writes. “During the last year, 9 million liters of wine were produced in the republic, instead of 7 million in 2016, and the export increased by 30%. Statistical data prove it. Chairman of the Union of Winemakers of Armenia Senior HarutyunyanHe told “Past” that there is a great growth in the wine industry, which is largely due to the increase in the quality of production. According to Harutyunyan, 3 factors play a role here.

“Unknown but wealthy players entered the wine market, creating new, high-quality wines. They are: “Karas”, “Kur”, “Dzorap”, “Armenia” and others. This forced cognac and traditional wine producers to invest. 6-7 companies were re-armed. The producers of traditional, cheap wine turned to more serious products”, the president of the union presented. Small producers, seeing that there is serious competition in the market, began to pay attention to the quality of the product. “They could not change the quantity of the product, they worked on the quality. 15-16 companies are taking serious steps forward,” Avag Harutyunyan pointed out. Next to the acquisitions the winemaker he also hastens to express his concern: the volume of grape production in the republic is low. There will be few grapes this year. Harutyunyan noted that, based on the volume of grapes, there will be no more additions.”

“People” the newspaper writes. “The delegation headed by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan went on a working visit to the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, participating in the session of the EEU intergovernmental council.

“Zhoghovurd” daily learned that during that time the Prime Minister stayed at the “Rixos Almaty” hotel. Being a five-star hotel chain and located in the city center, the services here are quite expensive. the most affordable room starts at $200. But, well, it is natural that Karapetyan would not remain in the ordinary. However, another circumstance is noteworthy. “Rixos Almaty” is a well-known Turkish hotel chain in the world. And while Serzh Sargsyan is going to cancel the signed Armenian-Turkish protocols in the spring, the Prime Minister is staying in a Turkish hotel. One reminder email. former prime minister Andranik Margaryanonce banned government members and officials from vacationing in Turkey.”