Wednesday,
Georgian, Armenian Leaders Meet In Tbilisi
• Karlen Aslanian
Georgia - Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili (L) and his Armenian
counterpart Nikol Pashinian inspect a guard of honor before holding talks in
Tbilisi, .
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and his new Armenian counterpart
Nikol Pashinian pledged to give new impetus to relations between their nations
after meeting for the first time in Tbilisi on Wednesday.
Pashinian travelled to Georgia on a two-day official visit that comes three
weeks after he was elected Armenia’s prime minister following weeks of mass
protests led by him.
Kvirikashvili mentioned the dramatic events in Yerevan when he addressed
reporters after the talks. “The Armenian people demonstrated unity and
commitment to the principles of democracy which led to a peaceful change of
government,” he said. “I will take this opportunity to wish you success.”
“I believe that together we can give new impetus to bilateral relations with
the country and the people with which we are connected by centuries-old
friendship,” added Kvirikashvili.
“Our delegation arrived in Tbilisi to affirm our readiness to discuss all
issues in an atmosphere of brotherhood and friendship,” Pashinian said for his
part. “We are convinced that this atmosphere and mood could lead to very
serious developments in our relations, and I am very happy to conclude that
Georgia’s government and prime minister personally are also intent on further
developing our relations.”
He spoke of new opportunities to “impart great momentum and great energy” to
bilateral ties and “deepen them in all directions.”
Pashinian said he also discussed with Kvirikashvili regional security. “We need
to make joint efforts in this area as well because stability in the region is
important to all of us and is also an important prerequisite for further
developments,” he told the joint news conference.
In a statement on the talks, the Armenian government said the two premiers
discussed in detail “a broad range” of economic issues which dominated
Kvirikashvili’s most recent trip to Yerevan in early March. “The interlocutors
noted with satisfaction the level of Georgian-Armenian cooperation on energy
and attached importance to prospects for a further development in the area of
transport and communication,” it said.
Late last week Pashinian’s government praised Georgia and Russia for moving
closer to opening new Russian-Georgian transport corridors that would
facilitate cargo shipments to and from Armenia. Russian and Georgian
negotiators reported further progress towards the implementation of a 2011
agreement to that effect after a fresh round of talks held in Prague on May 24.
Pashinian is scheduled to visit on Thursday Georgia’s Javakheti region mostly
populated by ethnic Armenians.
Russian-Armenian Tycoon Loses Energy Asset In Armenia
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetian (L) meets with businessman
Samvel Karapetian in Yerevan, 24 April 2018.
Armenia’s new government has decided to scrap an agreement with Samvel
Karapetian, a Russian-Armenian billionaire, allowing one of his companies to
manage the national electricity transmission network, Energy Minister Artur
Grigorian said on Wednesday.
The previous government announced last year that Karapetian’s Tashir Kapital
will manage the state-owned High-Voltage Electric Networks (BETs) for the next
25 years. Government officials said at the time that the new operator will cut
costs by “synchronizing” Armenia’s power transmission and distribution
networks. They said Tashir Kapital will also obtain large-scale loans that will
be used for refurbishing electricity transmission lines and substations and
building new BETs facilities.
The management contract highlighted Karapetian’s growing presence in the
Armenian energy sector. The Armenian-born tycoon owns the country’s sole
electric utility and largest thermal power plant.
“The contract has been terminated,” Grigorian told reporters. He claimed that
some of its provisions are “not beneficial for the state” but did not elaborate.
The new minister, who represents businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s party allied to
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, also would not say how the government will seek
to streamline BETs and attract badly needed investments in it. He dismissed
speculation that Tsarukian has set his sights on the transmission network.
With total assets estimated by the “Forbes” magazine at $3.5billion, Karapetian
is most probably the richest ethnic Armenian in the world. His Russian-based
Tashir Group conglomerate comprises over a hundred firms engaged in
construction, manufacturing, retail trade and other services.
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (R) and Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel
Karapetian inaugurate a new shopping mall in Yerevan, 13Nov2017.
The 52-year-old tycoon strongly supported former Prime Minister Karen
Karapetian (no relation) throughout the latter’s tenure which came to an end
when former President Serzh Sarkisian became prime minister on April 17 in what
proved to be a failed attempt to extend his decade-long rule. Karapetian took
over as acting prime minister after Sarkisian stepped down on April 23 amid
mass protest led by Pashinian.
Tashir purchased the debt-ridden Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) utility and
a large power plant in the Armenian town of Hrazdan from Inter RAO, a state-run
Russian energy company, in 2015. The new owner appears to have significantly
cut ENA’s massive losses since then.
Another company owned Samvel Karapetian as well as an investment fund which he
and other wealthy Russian-Armenian businessmen set up in 2017 was due to build
a 76-megawatt hydroelectric plant in Armenia’s northern Lori province. The
fund, called the Investors Club of Armenia (ICA), also planned to at least
partly finance the construction of a 100-megawatt hydroelectric plant on
Armenia’s border with Iran.
Karapetian has yet to say whether he will go ahead with these investment
projects after the recent change of Armenia’s government.
Armenian Oligarch’s Company Accused Of Tax Fraud
Armenia - Samvel Aleksanian, a businessman and parliament deputy, attends an
election campaign rally in Yerevan's Malatia-Sebastia district, 16Apr2012.
As part of its declared crackdown on corruption, Armenia’s National Security
Service (NSS) on Wednesday accused a company controlled by a wealthy
businessman linked to the former ruling Republican Party (HHK) of evading
millions of dollars in tax payments.
It claimed that Samvel Aleksanian’s Alex Holding group colluded with the former
leadership of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) to run a tax scam in the
country’s largest food supermarket chain owned by it.
The NSS detailed the accusations after raiding the head office of the Yerevan
City chain and confiscating documents kept there. It reported no arrests,
saying only that senior company executives have been questioned as part of the
criminal investigation into “large-scale tax evasion” and “false
entrepreneurship.”
An NSS statement said the company has illegally sold agricultural products and
“numerous” other items at Yerevan City supermarkets through 461 small firms
mainly registered in the name of its employees and their family members. Some
of those workers were not even aware of that, it said.
Under Armenian law, small firms with an annual turnover of up to 115 million
drams ($237,000) are exempt from profit and value-added (VAT) taxes paid by
larger businesses. They are only required to pay “turnover tax” equivalent to 2
percent of their revenue.The VAT rate is set at 20 percent.
The NSS statement said the fraud scheme has enabled Alex Holding to avoid
making an estimated 7.2 billion drams ($15 million) in VAT payments since the
end of 2016. A tax audit will determine “the precise amount of the damage
inflicted on the state,” according to the powerful security agency.
Aleksanian, 49, is one of Armenia’s richest men who has long effectively
controlled lucrative imports of sugar, cooking oil and other basic foodstuffs.
He has had close ties with the country’s former leaders, notably former
President Serzh Sarkisian. The tycoon has been a parliament deputy representing
Sarkisian’s HHK since 2003.
The NSS claimed that the SRC, which collects taxes and other duties in the
country, also allowed 11 other large retailers to use the same method of tax
evasion. It advised them to voluntarily “re-calculate” their tax obligations
before being inspected by the NSS in the coming weeks.
The SRC’s previous head, Vartan Harutiunian, and his two deputies resigned
shortly after Nikol Pashinian was elected Armenia’s prime minister on May 8.
The latter have been questioned in a separate NSS investigation launched
earlier this month.
The NSS arrested late last week three senior executives of a customs brokerage
company accused of failing to pay millions of dollars worth of taxes. The
company’s executive director is a figure close to Harutiunian. The former tax
chief has not been questioned or indicted so far.
Artur Vanetsian, the new NSS director appointed by Pashinian, announced the
unprecedented crackdown on corruption and tax fraud on May 19. The NSS said on
Wednesday that it is determined to continue the “consistent fight against
corruption and economic crimes.”
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” claims that seven more deputies, most of them businesspeople, will
leave the parliamentary faction of the former ruling Republican Party (HHK) in
the coming days. “A very interesting situation will emerge in the parliament as
a result,” writes the paper. It says that the HHK is thus set to lose control
over the National Assembly. It notes that the three minority factions
supporting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian currently control at least 46 of the
105 parliament seats.
“As was expected, Armenia’s new government has embarked on relatively tough
actions against the oligarchs,” writes “Haykakan Zhamanak.” “This is more than
natural. Armenia’s excessively centralized economy is almost fully controlled
by several wealthy entrepreneurs. The latter have traditionally had strong
influence on the political authorities … and do not quite understand their new
status after the velvet revolution.” The paper claims that the new government
has already put in place “totally new rules of the game” for business which are
“public, transparent and understandable.”
“For many people, the revolution has created an opportunity to breathe freely
and live and work without government pressure,” writes “Aravot.” “But for
others, it’s an opportunity to adapt, take revenge or solve other personal
issues.” The paper hopes that Pashinian’s government will remain adamant in
pushing for pre-term parliamentary elections, combatting corruption and making
“oligarchs” pay all taxes. But it hopes that the government will tread
carefully on other issues.
“Hayots Ashkhar” says that contrary to its promises the new government has
still not “rooted out” corruption in the country. The paper sympathetic to
former President Serzh Sarkisian is skeptical about an corruption probe
launched by the National Security Service (NSS), saying that the NSS has still
not uncovered millions of dollars in unpaid taxes or embezzled funds.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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