Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Pashinian Concerned By Armenia’s Coronavirus Crisis
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- A healthcare worker in protective gear tends to a COVID-19 patient at
the Surp Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, Yerevan, June 5, 2020.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Wednesday that the novel coronavirus is
continuing to spread in Armenia despite his government’s efforts to get people
to follow its anti-epidemic rules.
Pashinian reported a nearly 30 percent year-on-year surge in the total number of
deaths registered in the country in June.
“Of course changes in these mortality statistics are not fully connected with
the coronavirus, but the coronavirus situation definitely has a significant
impact on them,” he told a daily news briefing in Yerevan.
The Armenian Ministry of Health reported earlier in the day that 10 more people
died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 453.
The figure does not include the deaths of 149 other people who were also
infected with the virus. The ministry says that these deaths were primarily
caused by other, pre-existing diseases.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country of about 3 million rose
by 523 to 26,065. Ministry data shows that almost 29 percent of coronavirus
tests carried out on Tuesday came back positive.
“Unfortunately, we are still not succeeding in achieving our main strategic goal
in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic,” said Pashinian. “Our main
strategic goal is to learn to live with the coronavirus.”
The prime minister again complained that many Armenians still do not practice
social distancing or wear face masks in public areas despite his and other
officials’ persistent appeals. He said that on Tuesday alone police fined almost
2,700 citizens for not complying with these requirements.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian at a news conference in Yerevan, July
1, 2020.
Opposition politicians and other critics of Pashinian blame his government for
the continuing coronavirus crisis. Some of them say that the government never
properly enforced a nationwide lockdown imposed in late March and lifted it too
soon.
Pashinian indicated his continuing opposition to renewed lockdown restrictions
in the country. “We are continuing to put the emphasis on changing the personal
behavior of each of us because this is how we are going to overcome the
coronavirus epidemic with minimum economic losses,” he said.
Meanwhile, the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) donated
10,000 test kits to Armenia on Wednesday. In a joint statement, they said that
the donation “will allow wider testing for COVID-19 across the country free of
charge.”
The Armenian health authorities carry out an average of over 2,000 coronavirus
tests on a daily basis. They are expected to start using soon coronavirus tests
manufactured by the Yerevan-based Institute of Molecular Biology.
The director of the state-run institute, Arsen Arakelian, announced that it will
produce at least 2,000 tests a day. Armenia will not have to import them
anymore, he said.
Armenia's Central Bank Sees Economy Contracting 4% In 2020
Armenia - Workers at a commercial greenhouse in Ararat province, 19Apr2017.
(Reuters) - Armenia’s economy will contract by 4 percent in 2020 due to the
negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but is expected to recover and grow
5.5 percent next year, Martin Galstian, the country’s Central Bank head, said on
Tuesday.
The Central Bank had previously forecast a contraction of 0.7 percent this year
after growth of 7.6 percent in 2019. The worst-affected sectors of the economy
are services and construction as well as international tourism, Galstian said
while presenting the bank’s quarterly inflation report.
Inflation is expected to be around 1.9 percent in 2020. Armenia’s consumer price
index declined 0.1 percent in May month-on-month, but rose 1.2 percent
year-on-year.
In the report, the bank said the amount of private remittances would decline by
22-25 percent this year due to the drop in oil prices in Russia, Armenia’s main
trade partner, and Moscow’s ban on migrant workers during the pandemic.
However, it said that would not have a significant impact on GDP.
The Central Bank cut its key refinancing rate to 4.5 percent from 5 percent last
month, citing weakening external and internal demand as well as a slow pace of
recovery.
The country of around 3 million people had reported 25,542 cases of the
coronavirus as of Tuesday, and 443 deaths. It is the worst-affected country in
the South Caucasus region.
Armenian President Objects To Property Tax Hikes
Armenia -- President Armen Sarkissian addresses an international online seminar
on the coronavirus pandemic, Yerevan, June 24, 2020.
President Armen Sarkissian has voiced serious objections to a government bill
that will sharply increase property taxes in Armenia while agreeing to sign it
into law.
In a statement released late on Tuesday, the presidential press office said
Sarkissian believes the bill passed by the Armenian parliament last week is
“untimely” given the continuing coronavirus crisis in the country and its dire
socioeconomic consequences.
“Even if the law is not going to be immediately enforced [in full,] the
moral-psychological consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting
financial and economic problems will be felt for a long time,” it said.
The statement added that Sarkissian signed the bill only because it does not
seem to contradict the Armenian constitution. It noted that “unfortunately” the
constitution does not allow the largely ceremonial head of state to veto bills
or send them back to the National Assembly for further discussion.
The two parliamentary opposition parties as well as other critics of the
Armenian government have also spoken out against property tax hikes, saying that
they will put a heavy financial burden on low-income families.
The government and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc dismiss the
criticism. They say that the measure will lead to a more fair income
distribution and significantly boost local community budgets.
Government officials have also argued that proceeds from the property tax are
currently equivalent to just 0.2 percent of Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product,
compared with 1.1 percent in neighboring Georgia and 1.2 percent in Russia.
The controversial bill will gradually introduce a complex progressive scale of
property taxation over the next four years. For example, the owners of small
apartments worth an estimated 23 million drams ($48,000) will pay 18,000 drams,
while ownership of larger properties that cost 58 million drams will translate
into 108,000 drams ($224) in annual taxes.
Tax authorities will levy at least 326,000 drams from apartments worth 100
million drams or more. The owners of large and expensive houses will have to pay
even more.
The expensive properties include Soviet-built apartments located in the center
of Yerevan. Many of their owners inherited them from their parents and are not
necessarily affluent. Critics say that they will be hit hardest by the higher
taxes and could even be forced to sell their homes. Some of these homeowners
circulated late last week a petition urging the government to reconsider the
measure.
Japan Donates Medical Equipment To Armenia
Japan -- Ambulance workers in protective gear prepare to transfer coronavirus
patients from the cruise ship Diamond Princess at in Yokohama, February 12, 2020.
Armenia has received a $3.7 million grant from Japan to buy sophisticated
medical equipment that could be used in its fight against the coronavirus.
An agreement on the release of the Japanese government grant was signed on
Tuesday by Armenian Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian and Japan’s Ambassador to
Armenia Jun Yamada.
The Armenian Finance Ministry said the money will be spent on the purchase of
Japanese-made magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines and other medical
equipment. It said some of that equipment will be installed in four ambulance
vehicles catering for residents of the country’s remote communities.
“This project aims to assist Armenia in its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic
by strengthening its mid- to long-term healthcare and medical system,” read a
statement released by the Japanese Embassy in Yerevan.
“I sincerely hope that the new equipment from Japan will contribute to
significantly upgrading the capacity of healthcare and medical institutions in
the country,” it quoted Yamada as saying.
Health Minister Arsen Torosian thanked the Japanese government for the donation,
according to the statement.
Since the start of the coronavirus epidemic, Armenia has also received medical
equipment and other supplies from the United States, the European Union, Russia
and China.
U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on June 4 that
Washington has allocated $5.4 million in fresh coronavirus-related aid to
Armenia. She said much of that aid will be channeled into Armenian laboratories
and healthcare services dealing with “the most severe cases” of COVID-19.
Japan is also the main foreign donor of the Armenian Rescue Service (ARS),
having provided it with several dozen fire engines and other firefighting
equipment, worth a combined $22 million, over the past decade.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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