October 2021 – Page 124 – Armenian Directory & News

Government of Armenia provides more financial assistance to Artsakh

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Emil Lazarian

12:08,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia will provide 13,5 billion drams to the Republic of Artsakh in financial assistance, from which 1,2 billion will be directed for the program of compensating utility expenses of residents and the 12,2 billion will be allocated as an inter-state loan.

Finance Minister of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan said this is the fourth time that the government is allocating financial support to Artsakh – since 2020 nearly 100 billion drams in assistance was provided to Artsakh by the Armenian government.

The inter-state loan, given with a 0,001% interest rate with a repayment time by January 1, 2025 – is provided for covering salaries, benefits, pensions, healthcare expenses and bonds.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Security reform, infrastructure development, modernization of education: Cabinet approves 2022 state budget draft

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Tambiyan Samvel

12:11,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The government of Armenia approved today the 2020 state budget draft.

On this occasion Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed his message, stating that Armenia is currently facing difficult challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic, social and security consequences of the 44-Day War are not overcome yet.

Pashinyan said the snap parliamentary elections this year helped to solve the domestic political crisis and created quite firm grounds for the Armenian people’s aspiration to look to the future.

“The government’s action plan must create grounds for the peaceful, stable and inclusive development of Armenia in the medium-run”, Pashinyan said. “Our goals, which are reflected in the 2020 budget and also in the action plan, are ambitious and realistic. We understand that their implementation requires not only economic measures by the government, but also public and cultural reforms. We first of all attach importance to raising the efficiency of the public administration system, as well as changing and developing the working culture. The most important, probably, is the planning and implementation culture, the implementation processes of programs, the non-fulfillment of which leads to underperformance of capital expenditures and slows down the implementation of the government’s goals, thus obstructing also the economic growth. In this regard the capacity development of the private sector plays a key role, and the government’s efforts for this goal have started to give results, in the person of those companies which are making investments in the state capital construction field for being competitive, thus seeking to implement these projects on time and in a high quality. The government plans to continue its policy of promoting investments in this field, applying three main tools for this: the first is the transparency of state procurement system, the second is the increase of volumes of tenders and the third are the new legislative initiatives aimed at facilitating the relations with reliable companies”.

According to Pashinyan, the next key task is the development of analytical capacities, which will allow to raise the efficiency of expenditures, investments, address the social programs, which is one of the most important issues. “As a result the citizens’ trust will be raised that their taxes are spent maximally effectively and in a targeted way. The citizens of Armenia must feel every day the impact of the government’s actions on their life. One of the key components of this is the engagement of the broad public circles into various stages of formation and performance of the budget, over which steps have already been taken in the past three years, and great attention would be paid also in the future”, PM Pashinyan said, adding that 2020 budget is based on three main priorities – reform of the security system, infrastructure development and upgrading of education and science.

“We are going to pay a great focus on ensuring security, without which it would be impossible to implement the long-term development goals. In this sense, not only the upgrading of defense capacities of the Army, but also the formation of a favorable external environment around Armenia, the consistent implementation of the agenda on opening a peaceful development era for Armenia, Artsakh and the region are important. In this sense the re-opening and development of regional economic and transportation infrastructure is also important, which can qualitatively change the content and structure of Armenia’s economy, be an additional boost for the domestic infrastructure development, ensure a long-term inclusive economic growth, by creating equal conditions for the citizens of Armenia in order to be engaged in economic activity, significantly raise our country’s attractiveness for foreign direct investments. Therefore, the access to education, inclusive development and content reforms is our long-term priority. Our goal is to make person’s education a lifestyle, this is the only way of being a competitive nation and an individual in the modern world”, the PM stated.

According to him, science and technology development is the logical continuation of this process, and here the government is already introducing new funding formulas. However, he notes that all the problems cannot be solved by one budget.

“In the budget of 2022 we have tried to cautiously balance the priorities of the government and at the same time ensure the manageability of different types of fiscal risks. We set our strategic goals and their implementation priorities in a way that the implementation of each of them creates grounds for the effective implementation of the others. We are confident that the government’s action plan will have a successful implementation to ensure the security, welfare and dignified life of the Armenian citizens”, Nikol Pashinyan said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Argentina opens chamber of commerce in Armenia

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Emil Lazarian

12:38,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Argentina to Armenia Mariano Vergara presented the embassy’s initiative on opening a Chamber of Commerce of Argentina in Armenia.

“It seeks to serve not only as a bridge between business circles of the two countries but also as a tool to encourage initiatives by SMEs and involve young experts. It will become an additional tool for elevating the bilateral trade cooperation to a new level and strengthening the already friendly relations between our two peoples,” he said during an event marking the establishment of the chamber of commerce.

Artur Hakobyan

Photos by Tatev Duryan

The chamber will also help in developing bilateral tourism, supporting cultural activities and encouraging opportunities for cooperation and exchange through development of sport.

Artur Hakobyan, the executive director of Converse Bank – the main partner of the embassy in this initiative – congratulated on this occasion and attached importance to development of economic ties with various countries and boosting investments in this phase of economic development of Armenia.

“Naturally the new chamber will have its special place in implementing bilateral economic initiatives. We are more than certain that the Armenian-Argentine economic ties have great prospects for development in industry, trade, IT, tourism, agriculture and human capital management,” he said.

“Converse Bank is one of the first companies of Armenia with Argentine capital, whose main shareholder is Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian. We are part of a big family which includes Tierras de Armenia, Karas Wines, Armenia International Airports. Their founding not only boosted the development of various branches of the economy, but also created thousands of new and stable jobs,” he added, noting that Converse Bank is ready to maximally support the development of bilateral ties, by offering a wide funding toolkit and opportunities.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Financial assistance provided to Artsakh approaching 100 billion drams – Pashinyan

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 David Nargizian

12:47,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The financial assistance provided by the Armenian government to Artsakh is approaching 100 billion drams.

The government today provided funds for covering the electricity, gas supply and communications services costs of the Artsakh population for October 2021, as well as for their salaries, pensions and healthcare costs.

At the Cabinet meeting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said with this decision the monetary assistance provided to Artsakh is approaching 100 billion drams. “We will continue this process with a view that we must transform this social assistance logic into a development policy with each step”, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan in turn reported that nearly 1 billion drams will be provided to Syunik province to solve the existing problems.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

New Ambassador of Peru presents credentials to Armenia’s President

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Alex Nanijanian

13:42,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. New Ambassador of Peru to Armenia Juan Genaro del Campo Rodriguez (residence in Moscow, Russia) presented his credentials to President Armen Sarkissian, the Presidential Office reports.

The Armenian President congratulated the Ambassador on appointment, wishing productive work. He expressed confidence that the Ambassador will contribute to the deepening of the bilateral relations.

In turn the Ambassador of Peru said he is ready to take practical actions to develop the Armenian-Peruvian relations.

The meeting touched upon the development of the cooperation between Armenia and Peru, the opportunities of boosting the commercial ties. It was stated that there is potential for cooperation in high technologies, mining industry and education. The officials highlighted also the cultural cooperation, and in this context they discussed organizing cultural days in Armenia and Peru next year on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

International institutional dimensions of the Artsakh issue

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Emil Lazarian

14:04,

YEREVAN, 30 SEPTEMBER, ARMENPRESS: The aspirations of the people of Artsakh were and are still challenged by Azerbaijan. The military solution was chosen as an option to solve the conflict both in the brief period of existence of two small Caucasian republics and after the fall of the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union the parties again resorted to the military solution which was ended by the 1994 armistice agreement signed in Bishkek by the representatives of Artsakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Artsakh and seven other districts that surround it fell under the effective control of Armenian forces. On 27 September, 2020 Azerbaijan unleashed a war in an attempt to have full control over the territory of Artsakh. The outcome was that a significant part of Artsakh as well as all the surrounding territories fell under the Azerbaijani control.

The legal aspects of the Artsakh conflict were silenced by emotional discussions and irredentist hue and cry. In the present article I will try to shed light on the conflict from the legal perspective which is indeed a novel approach to narrating the story of the conflict. In particular, I will discuss whether and to what extent it is possible to use the international legal mechanisms and institutions for the solution and transformation of conflict.

The four resolutions of the UN Security Council and the obligations of Armenia: is Armenia an aggressor?

The UN Security Council adopted four resolutions (822; 853; 874 and 884) that refer to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The resolution N822 was adopted immediately after Kelbajar district became under effective control of Armenian forces during the First Karabakh War. The UN SC notes with alarm ‘’the escalation in armed hostilities and, in particular, the latest invasion of the Kelbajar (the Armenian endonym is Qarvajar) district of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the local Armenian forces’’ (United Nations, 1993). In this resolution, the Republic of Armenia was never mentioned as an occupying power by the UN SC and the subject that was referred were the local Armenian forces. Furthermore, in resolution N884, which was adopted after the Zangelan (the Armenian endonym is Kovsakan) district and the city of Horadiz fell under the effective control of the local Armenian forces, the UN SC called upon the Government of Armenia ‘’to use its influence to achieve compliance by the Armenians of the Nagorny Karabakh region of the Azerbaijani Republic with resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993) and 874 (1993), and to ensure that the forces involved are not provided with the means to extend their military campaign further’’ (United Nations, 1993). This is the only specific mention of the Republic of Armenia indicated in the four UN resolutions. It should also be mentioned that the wording of the UN SC could have been stricter and it does not always use such restrained wording. For instance, in resolution N216 which was adopted regarding the situation in Southern Rhodesia the UN SC labels the local authorities as ‘’illegal racist minority regime’’ (United Nations, 1965). On the other hand, no strong wording was used by the UN SC with regard to the local Armenian forces of Artsakh.

A mention must be made that except UN SC resolution N874, each and every resolution was adopted when new territories fell under the effective control of local Armenian forces. For example, as mentioned, resolution N882 was adopted when Qelbajar district (the Armenian endonym is Qarvajar) fell under the effective control of the local Armenian forces; resolution N853 is about Aghdam (the Armenian endonym is Akna) and finally resolution N884 is about Zangelan district (the Amrnian endonym is Kovsakan) and city of Horadiz. At the same time, the UN SC has never adopted any resolution that anyhow condemns the presence of the local Armenian forces in the territory that was part of Nagorny Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Soviet Azerbaijan or demands the withdrawal of the forces. Therefore, one may infer that the UN SC has no reservation with the deployment of the local Armenian forces in the territory that used to be part of Oblast.

Now another question may arise: are the aforementioned four resolutions binding and, if yes, to what extent? According to the ICJ it might be determined based on the wording used in the resolutions. Normally, if strong words such as ‘’demands’’, ‘’decides’’, ‘’under Chapter VII’’ signal that the UN SC intends its resolution to be binding. One might claim that the binding decision is supplemented with the power of use of force when the UN SC uses ‘’by all necessary means’’ wording (Henriksen, 2019, 264). However, in non-binding resolutions the Council frequently uses less strict wording such as ‘’recommends’’, ‘’calls for’’ or ‘’appeals’’ (Henriksen, 2019, 264). As for the resolutions concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict both strong and relatively softening vocabulary is used, however the close observation proves that the strong wording clearly does not outweigh. It is worth noting that in resolution N884 it called upon the Republic of Armenia and did not demand anything from it.

Currently, against the background of the heightened tension in the region there are more and more voices exhorting the government to bring the issue before the Security Council. However, the necessity of consensus among the permanent five members (China, France, Russia, The United Kingdom and The United States) as well as the agreement of at least 8 members (out of 15) might make it impractical. Therefore, the efforts to raise the issue before the Security Council shall be paralleled with the quest of other appropriate institutional dimensions and legal mechanisms.

In quest of appropriate legal mechanisms

First of all, let us discuss all the international courts where the case might theoretically be heard. It is both logical and natural to start with the ICJ. All the UN members are ipso facto members of the ICJ and the statute of the latter is annexed to the UN Charter (UN Charter, Article 92 and Article 93). The ICJ (aka the World Court) has jurisdiction to hear the case in the following cases:

The parties to conflict sign an agreement enabling the ICJ to hear the case (also known as compromise)
It is envisaged under the international treaty such as for example under Article 30 of 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Under the Article 36 of the Statute of the ICJ the state declared that it recognizes as compulsory ipso facto and without special agreement, in relation to any other state accepting the same obligation, the jurisdiction of the Court in all legal disputes concerning:

the interpretation of a treaty;
any question of international law;
the existence of any fact which, if established, would constitute a breach of an international obligation;
the nature or extent of the reparation to be made for the breach of an international obligation

However, neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan did not make the aforementioned declaration under the Statute of the ICJ. Hence, the ICJ may have a jurisdiction over any legal dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan only when both parties agree to submit the matter to the Court. Under such circumstance to enter the World Court Armenia has no choice but to find to a convention or equivalent legal instrument also ratified by Azerbaijan which envisages bringing the issue before the ICJ in case of the possible dispute. Recently, Armenia lodged such application against Azerbaijan arguing that the latter violated its obligations under International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) (ICJ, 2021).

Another international legal forum is the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which shares the same premises with the ICJ in the Hague. In short, neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan signed the PCA founding documents (the Conventions on Pacific Settlement of International Disputes). It is interesting to note that in the China v. Philippines case, which involved a territorial dispute in South China Sea, the PCA ruled in favor of the Philippines, however China refused to comply with the decision of the Arbitration (PCA, 2016). Moreover, the Vice Foreign Minister of China stated that China does not recognize and implement the award as the decision of the Arbitration is ‘’just a piece of waste paper’’ (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 2016).

The OSCE enables its member states to solve their issues peacefully through the arbitration court. However, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan did not sign the Stockholm Convention on Conciliation and Arbitration within the OSCE (OSCE, 2020). In addition, it is interesting to note that since 1994 when the Convention entered into force the Court, the annual budget of which is 95000 Swiss Frank did not here any single case (OSCE, 2021)!

Besides the Arbitration Court the OSCE also possesses a number of political mechanisms aimed to prevent the conflict or to curtail the threat posed to the regional security. It has established a number of tools to monitor the implementation of commitments that participating states have undertaken within the human dimension (OSCE, 2011, 10). One of those mechanisms – the so-called “Berlin Mechanism” was adopted in June 1991 at the Berlin Meeting of the CSCE Council of Ministers. The Mechanism outlines measures that can be applied in the case of serious emergency situations that may arise from a violation of one of the Principles of the Helsinki Final Act or as the result of major disruptions endangering peace, security or stability. It foresees that, if any participating State concludes that such an emergency situation is developing, it may seek clarification from the State or the States involved (OSCE, 2011, 22). It should be noted that unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has once availed itself of the opportunities enshrined in the Berlin Mechanism. On 6 April 1993, Azerbaijan requested an emergency meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials in regard to the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. Two weeks later, the Armenian Delegation presented clarifications under point 1 of the Mechanism, which was met with a renewed request for holding an Emergency Meeting formulated by Azerbaijan (OSCE, 2011, 25). However, the OSCE mechanisms, although being invoked by numerous states in different situations, are political rather than legal, thus they are in no way legally binding. Nevertheless, considering the big resonance of the OSCE mechanisms, Armenia may consider availing itself of the privileges of invoking them in case to deter the further escalation in the region.

The Hague, which is considered to be a town of international courts, is also the home for the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is in charge of hearing the cases involving crimes of aggression, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and war crimes. In short, Azerbaijan did not sign the Rome Statute of ICC and Armenia signed it, but did not ratify. Therefore, under Article 13 of the Rome Statute of ICC, the Court will have power to investigate the alleged criminal crimes only when it is referred to by the UN SC (ICC, 1998).

The only Court before which Armenia and Azerbaijan may bring cases against each other is the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). However, the power of the ECtHR is limited to the scope of the European Convention of Human Rights (Ratione materiae principle). In principle, it may render decisions only regarding cases that involve human rights violations in accordance with the Convention and is not competent to solve territorial disputes, for example.

Conclusion

The analysis shows how difficult it is to legally substantiate and justify that Armenia was or is an occupying power and it has committed its only obligation under the four resolutions of the UN Security Council. However, taking into account all the possible hurdles associated with bringing a case before the Security Council, Armenia shall also seek alternative institutional dimensions and legal remedies. ICJ can be among those alternatives , though only in limited cases when it is envisaged in the legal instrument. ICC and PCA along with the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration can hardly be an option. ECtHR can probably be the most competent court, where Armenia may sue Azerbaijan without the consent of the latter, however, its power is limited to the scope of the European Convention of Human Rights. Armenia may also consider availing itself of the remedies enshrined in the mechanisms and procedures of the OSCE.

By Albert Hayrapetyan

Albert Hayrapetyan holds a PhD in Economics. He also holds MA degrees from College of Europe and American University of Armenia. He is a Senior researcher in ‘Amberd’ Research Center of Armenian State University of Economics and also an Lecturer at Chair of International Economic Relations in Armenian State University of Economics. Mr. Hayrapetyan is also a Visiting Lecturer in the Southern Federal University. His main areas of interest include economic integrations, regionalism and international legal disputes.

Funding acknowledgement

The article is part of academic commitments under the grant agreement between the author and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The author was funded a research grant by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The purpose of the grant is to enable author’s research entitled “The Legal Aspect of Nagorno-Karabakh Issue”.

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Lithuania to donate 50,000 doses of Moderna vaccine to Armenia

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 John Hovhannisian

14:06,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Lithuania has decided to donate to Armenia 50,000 doses of Spikevax vaccine manufactured by Moderna, the Lithuanian Embassy in Armenia said on social media.

“It is the first time a Moderna-manufactured vaccine reaches Armenia, as well as the first time Lithuania is donating this type of vaccine. Lithuania will continue to contribute to the #TeamEurope initiative of the EU’s global efforts to manage the pandemic”, the statement says.

“I am glad that today we can share with the people of Armenia not only AstraZeneca, but also Moderna vaccines, as Armenians had to wait much longer than Lithuanian citizens for their jab”, said Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.

So far, Armenia has been supplied with the following vaccines against COVID-19: Sputnik V, Coronavac, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm.

Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenian Vice Speaker of Parliament, Russian Ambassador discuss peaceful settlement of NK conflict

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Suren Karakhanian

15:07,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Vice Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan received today Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin, the Parliament’s press service said.

Hakob Arshakyan congratulated the Ambassador on the occasion of the parliamentary elections held in Russia, highlighting the positive influence of holding the free and transparent elections on the development of the state.

During the meeting the peaceful settlement of the NK conflict was touched upon. Thanking the Russian side for the support, Hakob Arshakyan voiced the issue of the urgent settlement of the humanitarian settlement caused by the 44-day war, underlining that Azerbaijan should immediately return prisoners of war and other detainees, according to the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement.

In his turn, the Ambassador has noted that the problem is at the centre of the Russian authorities’ attention.

The Vice Speaker of Parliament highlighted the role of the parliamentary diplomacy in the allied and strategic relations of two countries, touched upon the cooperation and the joint work of the delegations on inter-parliamentary platforms.

In this context Hakob Arshakyan noted that soon the Armenian parliamentary delegations in the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly would be formed and would take part in the Assembly sessions in the near future.

The sides also referred to the further activities of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on cooperation between the Armenian National Assembly and the Russian Federal Assembly, emphasized the joint work of the parliamentary committees and talked about the expansion of the relations between the ruling parties.

2022 will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Armenia. The sides also discussed issues on the agenda of the events to be held on that occasion.

President Sarkissian, Speaker Simonyan discuss cooperation between presidential and parliamentary institutes

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Emil Lazarian

16:41,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian today had a meeting with Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan, the President’s Office said in a press release.

Armen Sarkissian once again congratulated Alen Simonyan on the launch of the activities of the new Parliament, stating that at this difficult period for the country the Parliament with its activities will contribute to solving the current challenges and problems.

The President and the Speaker of Parliament shared the same view that under the parliamentary system the National Assembly has a big role to play and has a lot of work to do. They attached importance to the Parliament’s active work both in the lawmaking sector and the field of parliamentary diplomacy.

The officials discussed the cooperation between the presidential and parliamentary institutes.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Czech Foreign Minister to arrive in Armenia on working visit

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Karlen Baghdasarian

17:18,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. On September 30, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jakub Kulhánek will arrive in Armenia with a working visit, the Armenian foreign ministry informs.

The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Czech Republic will take place on October 1 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, which will be followed by the joint statement for press of the Ministers.

Within the framework of the visit, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President Armen Sarkissian, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan will also receive the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic.