Friday,
Armenian Speaker Adds To Pressure On Tsarukian
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan speaks at a parliament session in Yerevan,
March 5, 2019.
Adding to pressure on Gagik Tsarukian, parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan has
challenged the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) to
publicly dispel “reasonable” doubts about the legality of his entrepreneurial
activities.
In a letter to Tsarukian, Mirzoyan said there are “legitimate concerns” about
Tsarukian’s compliance with a constitutional provision that bars parliament
deputies from engaging in business.
Mirzoyan publicized the letter late on Thursday just hours after
law-enforcement authorities pledged to investigate a small pro-government
party’s claims that Tsarukian is flouting that ban.
The party called the Citizen’s Decision also appealed to the speaker earlier
this week. It urged him to set up an ad hoc ethics commission that would look
into the matter and, if necessary, ask the Constitutional Court to expel
Tsarukian from the parliament.
Mirzoyan, who is a close associate of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, indicated
in his letter that he will not initiate such a parliamentary inquiry. Still, he
said that Tsarukian “should at least present detailed public clarifications
regarding the issue.”
A senior BHK lawmaker, Sergey Bagratian, essentially dismissed the demand on
Friday. He said the onus is on the authorities to prove that Tsarukian has
violated the constitution.
“It’s not Mr. Tsarukian who should prove that he has not been engaged in
business,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “It’s the
political force making such statements which must prove that Mr. Tsarukian is
engaged in business.”
Armenia - Gagik Tsarukian and other deputies of his Prosperous Armenia Party
arrive for a parliament session in Yerevan, April 8, 2019.
Bagratian argued that neither the Central Election Commission nor any political
force, including Pashinian’s My Step bloc, had objected to his participation in
the December 2018 general elections.
Tsarukian and his associates maintain that while the BHK leader owns dozens of
businesses they are not run by him on a day-to-day basis.
My Step lawmakers began questioning these assurances last month amid mounting
tensions between Pashinian’s bloc and Tsarukian’s party, which is Armenia’s
largest parliamentary opposition force. They cited Tsarukian’s calls for the
government to impose hefty tariffs on imports of cement to Armenia.
The tycoon owns the country’s largest cement plant which is increasingly
struggling to compete with cheaper cement imported from neighboring Iran. He
has warned that it could lay off the vast majority of its 1,100 workers.
Earlier in April, Tsarukian criticized the Pashinian government’s economic
policies, saying that they have not attracted major investments and boosted
living standards in the country. Some of his businesses were raided by tax
officials afterwards. The State Revenue Committee denied any political reasons
for the tax audits.
The inquiry into Tsarukian’s involvement in business, which was ordered by
prosecutors, raised the possibility of the tycoon being stripped of his
parliament seat. Vahe Enfiajian, another senior BHK figure, on Thursday did not
deny a newspaper report which said that all 25 other BHK deputies will resign
from the 132-member parliament if their leader loses the seat.
Armenian PM Vows To Promote ‘Christian Values’
• Emil Danielyan
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian kisses a cross held by Catholicos
Garegin II during an Easter Mass at Yerevan's St. Gregory the Illuminator
Cathedral, April 21, 2019.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday reaffirmed his stated support for the
Armenian Apostolic Church and pledged to promote “Christian values” in Armenia,
saying that they hold the key to human happiness.
“I will dare to say that the non-violent, velvet, popular revolution that took
place in Armenia [in 2018] was for the most part based on the Christian
values,” Pashinian said. “As a human being, as a politician, I myself regard
the moment when I read and reread the New Testament as a turning point in my
life.”
“I believe that the doctrine at the heart of it is really revolutionary in all
senses, including the state-building sense, and this is the formula which can
bring happiness to the Republic of Armenia, its citizens and humankind in
general,” he added.
Pashinian made the comments at the inaugural session of a working group tasked
with ascertaining his government’s relationship with the Armenian Apostolic
Church. It comprises government officials and senior clergymen from the ancient
church to which the vast majority of Armenians nominally belong. The supreme
head of the church, Catholicos Garegin (Karekin) II, also attended and
addressed the meeting.
Pashinian said the working group should propose “joint decisions” on
contentious issues such as continued teaching of the history of the church
taught in Armenian public schools. His government is reportedly intent on
restricting or modifying those classes that have long been criticized some
civic groups. Those plans have been denounced by conservative and nationalist
figures accusing the current authorities in Yerevan of undermining “traditional
values.”
Pashinian also signaled on Friday his government’s desire to review legal tax
exemptions enjoyed by the church. In particular, he seemed to call for
exploring the possibility of taxing some of the properties belonging to the
church.
Armenia - Worshipers light candles during a Christmas Eve service at the Surp
Sarkis church in Yerevan, January 5, 2019.
Speaking at the meeting, Garegin said the authorities should take into account
“enormous human and material losses” suffered by the church during the Armenian
genocide in Ottoman Turkey and anti-religious persecutions in Soviet times. “In
this context, state support is important so that the Church can restore
necessary conditions and capacities for accomplishing its mission in the
homeland and the Diaspora,” he said.
Without naming anyone, Garegin also criticized those who want to “restrict”
that mission by citing the church’s separation from the state declared by the
Armenian constitution. He argued that the constitution also recognizes the
church’s “exceptional” role in the country’s history and social life.
Pashinian likewise acknowledged its “special significance” for many Armenians
when he met with Garegin in Echmiadzin in November. It was apparently their
first one-on-one meeting since Pashinian swept to power in May in a wave of
mass protests. The premier had been very critical of Garegin in the past.
In June, an obscure Armenian group launched a series of protests against
Garegin, accusing him of corruption and close ties with the country’s former
government. Dozens of its members partly occupied his Echmiadzin headquarters
in July.
Police waited for several days before forcing the protesters out of the Mother
See. The perceived slow response prompted strong criticism from the former
ruling Republican Party (HHK) and other conservative critics of Pashinian.
The HHK subsequently failed to push through the parliament two bills that would
ban any demonstrations inside church premises and require the state to provide
Garegin with bodyguards on a permanent basis. Pashinian’s government and
political allies spoke out against the bills.
Yerevan Wants Eurasian Union To Extend Trade Concession
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Cars parked at a customs terminal in Yerevan.
The government will ask the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to continue to waive
its hefty tariffs for used cars imported to Armenia in increasingly large
numbers, Economic Development Minister Tigran Khachatrian said on Friday.
Armenia had to replace its traditionally liberal trade regime with more
protectionist policies pursued by the EEU member states when it joined the
Russian-led trade bloc in 2015. It was allowed to temporarily exempt around 800
types of goods, including key foodstuffs and fuel, from higher customs duties
set by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Import duties collected from these products are due to be raised to the EEU
levels by 2020, meaning that they would become more expensive in Armenia. The
tariff increase will be particularly sharp for second-hand cars imported from
beyond the EEU.
Armenian car imports have grown rapidly in the last few years amid strong
demand from not only local residents but also buyers from Russian and
Kazakhstan, where such vehicles are more expensive because of the higher EEU
tariffs.
This growth seems to be accelerating further in anticipation of the expiry in
January 2020 of the trade preference enjoyed by Armenia. The Armenpress news
agency quoted the chief of the Armenian customs service, Shushanik Nersisian,
as saying that 9,481 cars were imported the country in April this year, sharply
up from 4,324 cars in April 2018.
Khachatrian said the Armenia government hopes to secure a full or partial
extension of the tariff waiver. “There has been no official application [to the
EEU] yet,” he told a news conference. “But it’s a process that has to be
launched and discussions regarding it are now in progress.”
The minister cautioned that getting the other EEU member states to agree to
such an extension will not be easy. “If the [planned] renegotiation was only
about Armenia’s internal market, its outcome would probably more predictable,”
he said. “But as we know, this situation where customs duties on imported cars
are lower here than in any other EEU member state leads people to register cars
here and sell them there.”
“That is now visible,” Khachatrian went on. “In some cities of those states the
number of cars with Armenian license plates is now so large that their citizens
are wondering why these [import] taxes are collected in Armenia but not in
their countries. Why? Because those duties are lower in Armenia. Now, as you
can imagine, we have to argue during negotiations why this should remain the
case.”
Minister Sees Major Improvement In Armenian Investment Climate
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Minister for Economic Development and Investments Tigran Khachatrian
at a news conference in Yerevan, May 3, 2019.
Armenia’s business environment has improved significantly since last year’s
“velvet revolution,” Economic Development Minister Tigran Khachatrian insisted
on Friday.
He said the current Armenian government has broken up economic monopolies,
created a level playing field for all businesses and eliminated “systemic
corruption” since taking office in May 2018.
Western donors and lending institutions have for decades urged successive
governments in Yerevan to take such measures, saying that they are essential
for the country’s faster and sustainable economic development.
“We now talk about equal competition, equal opportunities for entering the
market or the absence of systemic corruption so easily as if that should be
taken for granted,” Khachatrian told reporters. “But these are the kind of
fundamental changes that have come about … They confirm that any citizen
willing to engage in any economic activity can do it now.”
“This should be considered the main achievement of the revolution,” he said.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has also repeatedly made such statements. He has
said that the improved investment climate puts his government on track to carry
out an “economic revolution” in Armenia.
Pashinian’s political opponents and other critics dismiss these statements,
saying that the government’s economic policies have not led to greater
investments or faster economic growth. They argue that the Armenian economy
grew more slowly in 2018 than in 2017.
Khachatrian confirmed an 8.6 percent year-on-year fall in Armenian exports
recorded by the Statistical Committee in the first quarter of this year. The
minister blamed it on a downturn in Armenia’s mining industry.
The government had forecast an 8 percent rise in exports in 2019.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” reports that parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan has sent a letter to
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukian urging him to publicly
respond to allegations that he illegally combines his political activities with
business. The paper notes that the letter was made public late on Thursday
right after a meeting of the governing board of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. It says this means that the “yellow card” to
Tsarukian was “at least approved” by Pashinian. The authorities, it says, are
serious about their threats to strip Tsarukian of his parliament seat.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that the current political agenda of the Armenian
government’s opponents is “false.” In particular, the pro-government paper
dismisses BHK assurances that Tsarukian is not personally engaged in business.
“Equally false is the discourse about the criminal case against [former
President] Robert Kocharian being fabricated,” it says. “Looking people in the
eyes, they want to make them believe that firearms were use against citizens in
the center of Yerevan for several hours [in March 2008] without the then head
of state’s knowledge and orders.” The paper also dismisses allegations by
senior representatives of the former ruling Republican Party that the current
authorities’ are undermining Armenia’s national security with their foreign
policy.
“Aravot” dismisses as “artificial” the outcry sparked in Armenia by Russian
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s behavior at a Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)
meeting in Yerevan which many felt was disrespectful towards Pashinian and his
Russian language skills. “In my view, the [Armenian] prime minister’s knowledge
of Russian, English and, according to specialists, French is quite
satisfactory,” writes the newspaper editor, Aram Abrahamian. “It is natural to
speak in the official language of that organization at EEU events. As for
Medvedev, if he was untactful that is his problem. It was meaningless to
wrangle over that [on social media.]”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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