Tuesday,
Armenia Scraps Restrictions For AstraZeneca Vaccine
• Narine Ghalechian
Germany - A vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is seen at the general
practice of Doctor Claudia Schramm in Maintal, March 24, 2021.
The Armenian Ministry of Health has allowed all adults to take AstraZeneca’s
COVID-19 shot amid a slow pace of vaccinations in the country hit hard by the
pandemic.
The ministry launched its vaccination campaign on April 13, initially targeting
only frontline workers, seniors and chronically ill people aged 55 and older.
They are eligible for the AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
The campaign was extended a week later to younger people deemed most at risk
from the coronavirus. For safety reasons they are offered only the Russian
Sputnik V vaccine.
According to health authorities, only about 2,200 Armenians were vaccinated
against COVID-19 as of Monday despite an ongoing third wave of coronavirus
infections in the country of about 3 million.
Nearly 11,000 people eligible for the vaccines are registered with Yerevan’s
state policlinic No. 17. Only 43 of them have taken AstraZeneca or Sputnik V
shots so far, the policlinic director, Satenik Badalian, complained on Tuesday.
Badalian spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service as she herself was inoculated at the
primary healthcare center. She urged more people to follow her example.
It emerged that Health Minister Anahit Avanesian decided at the weekend to
expand eligibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine to all people aged 18 and older.
Avanesian said earlier that May 31 is the use-by date of the first 24,000 doses
of the vaccine imported to Armenia on March 28. Gayane Sahakian, the deputy
director of the ministry’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, insisted
that this is not the reason why the minister eliminated the age restrictions and
other requirements for Armenians willing to get the AstraZeneca jab.
“In recent days we have received many phone calls from people who want to be
vaccinated but are not included in any high-risk group,” said Sahakian.
Sahakian also made clear that the authorities are maintaining their restrictions
on the use of Sputnik V. It is still restricted to vulnerable people aged
between 18 and 54, she said.
Armenian received 15,000 doses of the Russian vaccine on April 8 and another
28,000 doses on Monday.
The Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday morning 595 new single-day
coronavirus infections and 18 deaths directly caused by COVID-19. It said more
than 1,200 people infected with the disease are in a serious or critical
condition.
Recession Pushes Armenian Public Debt To New Record High
• Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Armenian Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian speaks during a cabinet
meeting in Yerevan, February 4, 2021.
Armenia’s public debt has soared by more than $1 billion, to $8.65 billion,
since the start of the coronavirus pandemic that plunged its economy into a
recession, according to government data.
The debt reached nearly $8 billion, or 63.5 percent of GDP, at the end of last
year after the Armenian economy shrunk by 7.6 percent and the government
resorted to additional external borrowing to make up for a major shortfall in
its tax revenues. At almost 334 billion drams ($660 million), the government’s
2020 budget deficit was more than twice the amount projected by it in late 2019.
In January this year, the government issued Armenia’s fourth Eurobond worth $750
million to manage the increased debt and budget deficit. With more foreign loans
expected in the coming months, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to
reach almost 70 percent by the end of 2021.
“We need to lower this indicator to 60 percent over the next five years,”
Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian said during a cabinet meeting last week.
“This is the debt ceiling which is considered around the world manageable in
terms of risks.”
Janjughazian insisted afterwards that the authorities in Yerevan are committed
to meeting this target. He stressed that their objective is to reduce the
debt-to-GDP ratio, rather than cut the debt in absolute terms. To that end, the
government will strive to stimulate economic growth with infrastructure
projects, he said.
The government expects the domestic economy to expand by over 3 percent this
year. The Armenian Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have
forecast much slower growth.
“The recovery is likely to be protracted,” a team of IMF officials said after
visiting Yerevan earlier this month. “While there is uncertainty about the pace
of the recovery, our conservative outlook expects growth of around 1 percent in
2021 and 3.5 percent in 2022.”
In a statement, the IMF team also stressed the importance of easing the
country’s debt burden.
Tadevos Avetisian, a Yerevan-based economist, was skeptical about the current
government’s ability to bring the debt to below 60 percent of GDP by 2027.
“Whether or not we will achieve that also depends on political developments,” he
said.
Ter-Petrosian Warns Against ‘Unconstitutional’ Elections
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian casts a ballot in parliamentary
elections, Yerevan, April 2, 2017
Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian has accused the Armenian authorities of
planning to hold snap parliamentary elections in violation of the country’s
constitution.
The constitution stipulates that such elections can be held only if Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian resigns and the Armenian parliament twice fails to
elect another head of the government.
Pashinian resigned for that purpose on Sunday. He made clear that he will
continue to perform his duties at least until election day.
Some opposition figures and lawyers critical of the government maintain that the
constitution does not allow Pashinian to remain in office after his resignation.
Ter-Petrosian effectively echoed their view in a statement released on Monday.
Ter-Petrosian cited a relevant article published by Edgar Ghazarian, the former
chief of the Constitutional Court staff. He said Ghazarian’s arguments must be
taken seriously by President Armen Sarkissian, the Constitutional Court judges
and Armenian political forces. Or else, he said, they would be complicit in the
conduct of “unconstitutional elections.”
The ex-president also hit out at the two parliamentary opposition parties that
have pledged to help Pashinian ensure that the National Assembly does not elect
another prime minister after his resignation. He claimed that the Prosperous
Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia parties struck an unconstitutional deal with
Pashinian.
Pashinian’s My Step bloc insisted on Tuesday that the constitution does not
require the prime minister to leave office now.
“Some circles are now trying to cast a shadow over the elections,” Vahagn
Hovakimian, a senior My Step lawmaker, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “The
first president [of Armenia] is joining in that effort, which is a tragedy.”
The BHK’s Mikael Melkumian acknowledged that legal experts are divided over what
Pashinian’s current status must be. Melkumian said only the Constitutional Court
can decide which of them are right.
“If we asked the Constitutional Court to discuss this issue that would drag out
the [pre-election political] process,” he said. “We all aim to make sure that
the elections take place on June 20.”
Ter-Petrosian did not say whether his Armenian National Congress (HAK) party,
which is not represented in the current parliament, will boycott the anticipated
elections. An HAK spokesman said the party is scheduled to hold a congress on
May 7.
Ter-Petrosian and his associates have been increasingly critical of Pashinian
since a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh
in November. Like other opposition figures, they blame him for Armenia’s defeat
in the six-week war.
The ex-president, who had ruled Armenia from 1991-1998, said last month that
Pashinian must step down and “at least temporarily” leave the country to end the
post-war political crisis. The prime minister reacted scathingly to that
statement.
Armenia Won’t Join U.S.-Led Military Drills
POLAND -- Polish and US troops take part in the Defender-Europe 20 joint
military exercise at Drawsko Pomorskie training grounds, August 11, 2020
Armenia again said on Tuesday that its soldiers will not take part in ongoing
U.S.-led military exercises held by NATO in Europe.
The annual Defender-Europe exercises led by U.S. Army Europe and Africa began in
March and will continue through June across more than 30 training areas in a
dozen countries. They are involving over 28,000 troops from 26 nations,
including countries such as Georgia and Ukraine keen to join NATO.
Armenia was initially also included on a list of participating states released
by the U.S. military.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said on March 18 that it has asked organizers to
“revise” the list because it does not plan to join the exercises. It said
Armenian troops participate only in those NATO drills that simulate
international peacekeeping operations and train military personnel for them.
Citing continuing media inquiries, the ministry again ruled out Armenia’s
participation in Defender-Europe 21 in a statement released on Tuesday.
Germany - Armenian soldiers participate in military exercises in Hohenfels,
April 2016
The move came amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West over a major
Russian-military buildup near eastern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin
President Vladimir Putin last week warned Western powers backing Ukraine not to
cross Russia’s “red lines”, saying Moscow would respond swiftly and harshly to
any provocations.
Armenia has close military ties with Russia cemented by bilateral defense
treaties and its membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization. The Armenian government wants to deepen them after further after
last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is understood to be seeking stronger
Russian military presence in the South Caucasus country to counter perceived
security threats from NATO member Turkey, Azerbaijan’s close ally.
The Armenian military most recently participated in a NATO-led exercise in
Georgia in August 2018. It declined invitations to join similar war games that
were held there in September 2018 and in March 2019. Yerevan also skipped
similar drills hosted by Georgia in September 2020 shortly before the outbreak
of the Karabakh war.
Still, more than 150 Armenian soldiers remain involved in NATO-led peacekeeping
missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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