Author: Jalatian Sonya

                                        Friday, 
Reducing Tax Burden ‘Key’ To Economic Growth
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenian Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazian
The Armenian government plans to reduce the burden of direct taxes as it 
considers it to be key to economic growth, according to a minister.
“But lower direct taxes at least in the short term and medium term imply risks 
that there will be less budget revenues,” Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazian 
told journalists on Thursday.
“As we also have a ceiling for our debt, we would have to refocus from taxing 
capital and revenues to taxing consumption,” he added.
At the same time, according to Janjughazian, the government has found it 
reasonable to refrain from changing the value added tax, which is the main 
source of revenues, since it contains risks from the point of view of the 
country’s competitiveness.
“There are not so many options left and in taxes on consumption it is excise 
taxes and taxes on certain types of activities where the tax burden can be 
revised. Somewhere the rise will be higher, somewhere it will be lower…It’s 
another question whether it is good or bad,” he said.
Workers of a number of currency exchange offices and pawnshops have been 
holding protests against a considerable rise in their license fees envisaged by 
the package of planned reforms.
Opponents have criticized the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for 
his economic policies in this regard, claiming that the changes will hit small 
and medium-sized enterprises.
The Armenian National Congress party of ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian, which 
has supported the Pashinian government politically, joined the criticism on 
Wednesday by outlining possible risks that it said the planned reform of the 
tax legislation poses to small and medium-sized businesses. In its statement 
the extra-parliamentary party particularly pointed out risks of raising license 
fees for currency exchange offices and lending organizations.
Meanwhile, Minister Janjughazian said: “Any change may lead to the change in 
the behavior of the consumer, and hence it may affect a particular type of 
activity or an entity engaged in that type of activity. It is impossible to 
have regulation that will have an equal effect on all and all will be equally 
satisfied with it.”
As to whether the government may consider lowering the tax burden in connection 
with certain discontent in some sectors, Janjughazian said: “As discussions are 
not over yet, changes are possible in any direction.”
The minister said the draft amendments to the tax legislation may be sent to 
parliament as early as next week.
Armenian Security Chief Vows ‘High-Profile Revelations’ Soon
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Artur Vanetsian, director of the National Security Service of Armenia, 22 
March, 2019
Armenian’s National Security Service (NSS) will present new “high-profile 
revelations” soon as part of its ongoing anticorruption efforts, the powerful 
agency’s chief told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday.
Artur Vanetsian was in parliament today to present a report and answer 
questions from lawmakers sitting on the standing committee on defense and 
national security.
To the observation that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian recently voiced his 
dissatisfaction with the lowered efficiency of law-enforcement agencies’ fight 
against corruption, Vanetsian said: “I am also dissatisfied with the work of 
the law-enforcement agencies, especially the NSS, because the pace of the work 
that we did at the beginning of our activities has somewhat declined.”
As for the reasons, the NSS director explained it by the fact that “the legal 
basis should be very firm so that no speculation can be possible about our work 
afterwards.”
“We have been acting strictly in conformity with the law and tried to do 
everything in order that all requirements of the law are met,” said Vanetsian.
“But there will be high-profile revelations in the near future,” he added, 
without elaborating.
In presenting his report to the parliamentary committee Vanetsian repeated that 
since last May when he took over as NSS director there has been an increase in 
the number of applicants seeking jobs in the agency. He also raised the issue 
of providing more training facilities for NSS employees to keep improving their 
qualifications domestically.
Former Official Skips Interrogation In Panama Papers Probe
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Parliament deputy Mihran Poghosian at a session of the National 
Assembly in Yerevan, 19 May 2017
A former senior official and lawmaker invited by the Special Investigation 
Service (SIS) for questioning as part of a reopened investigation into his 
alleged secret offshore accounts exposed by the Panama Papers has skipped the 
interrogation, a spokesperson said on Friday.
Marina Ohanjanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Mihran Poghosian did not 
appear for the planned interrogation, explaining that he is currently abroad.
Poghosian asked the investigators to question him in a video conference, but 
the SIS refused to do so “since no such procedure is envisaged by law”, the 
spokeswoman said.
“The body conducting the investigation again invited Poghosian for questioning, 
suggesting that he indicate the date of his return to Armenia,” Ohanjanian 
added.
The SIS representative reported no other details related to the case.
Citing the leaked Panama Papers documents, the Hetq.am investigative 
publication reported in April 2016 that Poghosian, the then head of an Armenian 
state body enforcing court rulings, controls three shadowy companies registered 
in Panama. It said Poghosian had the exclusive right to manage Swiss bank 
accounts of two of those firms.
After initially denying the report, Poghosian announced his resignation later 
that month. But he stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing.
The SIS launched a criminal investigation in connection with the Hetq.am report 
shortly after Poghosian’s resignation. It closed the criminal case in January 
2017, saying that it found no evidence of Poghosian’s involvement in “illegal 
entrepreneurial activity.”
Poghosian had close ties to then President Serzh Sarkisian and his Republican 
Party of Armenia (HHK). He was elected to the former Armenian parliament on the 
HHK ticket in April 2017.
Armenian media outlets had for years accused Poghosian of having extensive 
business interests. In particular, the 42-year-old was widely regarded as the 
main owner of Katrin Group, a company that enjoyed a de facto monopoly on 
banana imports to Armenia until last year’s “velvet revolution” that toppled 
Sarkisian. He always denied owning any lucrative businesses.
Shortly after the revolution the State Revenue Committee (SRC) launched a tax 
evasion inquiry into Katrin Group and three other firms linked to it. They 
promptly admitted failing to pay a total of 600 million drams ($1.2 million) in 
taxes, leading the SRC to stop the criminal proceedings.
The SRC reopened the probe a few weeks later, however, saying that it has 
discovered evidence of greater tax evasion on the part of the four business 
entities.
Coverage Of Armenian Army Insurance Fund Further Extended
Armenia - Armenian army soldiers are lined up at a military base in Tavush 
province, 2Dec2016
A special army insurance fund set up to pay compensations to the families of 
soldiers who die or become gravely disabled while on combat duty will extend 
its coverage, the Fund’s Board of Trustees decided at its meeting on Friday.
Originally, the compensation scheme financed from the fund to which every 
working Armenian citizen contributes 1,000 drams (just over $2) per month 
covered cases registered from 2017 onward.
Under the new government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian the fund last year 
extended the coverage of its compensation scheme to incidents that happened 
also in 2015 and 2016.
The compensation scheme allows the closest relatives of soldiers killed or 
gravely wounded while on combat duty to receive 10 million drams (about 
$20,600). Wounded soldiers suffering from less serious disabilities are paid 5 
million drams. In addition to these one-off payouts, the families of killed or 
maimed army officers, contract soldiers and conscripts are to receive monthly 
pensions ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 drams for 20 years.
The Army Insurance Fund’s Board of Trustees decided today that beginning on 
April 1 benefits will also be paid to servicemen who were killed or wounded in 
the period from 2008 to 2014.
The meeting was chaired by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Minister of 
Defense Davit Tonoyan.
During the meeting Varuzhan Avetikian, the Fund’s executive director, presented 
a summary report on compensations and contributions made since the beginning of 
2018, stressing that at the moment the total amount of money in the fund has 
exceeded 14 billion drams (about $28.8 million), while the total amount of 
compensations has totaled 941 million drams.
According to the Ministry of Defense, earlier a decision was also made to 
consider the possibility of extending the coverage of the compensation scheme 
to incidents that occurred before 2008.
Members of the Board also pointed out that the assets raised through the 
management of the fund in 2018 exceeded the amount of compensations, which they 
said “once again proves the high efficiency of the Army Insurance Fund’s 
activities.”
Armenian Investigators Probing Allegations Of 1998 Election Fraud
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Vahan Shirkhanian, a former deputy defense minister of Armenia, 20 March, 2019
The Special Investigation Service (SIS) is looking into claims made recently by 
a former senior official about massive falsifications during the 1998 
presidential election that allegedly gave victory to then Prime Minister Robert 
Kocharian, a spokesperson said on Friday.
Marina Ohanjanian said probing other assertions that former deputy defense 
minister Vahan Shirkhanian made in an open letter earlier this week, including 
that Nairi Hunanian, the leader of a group that carried out a deadly attack on 
the Armenian parliament in 1999, was a National Security Service (NSS) agent, 
is “outside the scope of the SIS’s powers.”
Meanwhile, earlier on Friday director of the NSS Artur Vanetsian neither 
confirmed, nor denied Shirkhanian’s claim that Hunanian was an agent, referring 
journalists to the SIS that he said led the relevant investigation. He also 
said that the entire related information will be published after a “special 
procedure.”
In his letter Shirkhanian, who occupied the senior Defense Ministry post in the 
1990s and is now facing coup charges in a trial of a group of individuals 
arrested in 2015 and accused of plotting to seize power, claimed that the then 
head of the NSS Gorik Hakobian presented to Kocharian and military prosecutor 
Gagik Jhangirian “a file with the case of NSS agent Nairi Hunanian”, but that 
file later allegedly disappeared.
Hunanian led an attack in which then Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian, Parliament 
Speaker Karen Demirchian and six other senior lawmakers and government members 
were killed. Hunanian and five other members of his group were convicted on 
charges related to the attack and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003. 
Another member of the group was sentenced to 14 years in prison, but did not 
survive his term.
In his letter Shirkhanian also claimed that Kocharian falsified the outcome of 
the runoff of the 1998 presidential election with Demirchian, a former leader 
of Soviet Armenia who made a political comeback and reemerged as quite a 
popular figure less than a decade after the USSR’s collapse.
Demirchian conceded defeat and later allied himself with then powerful defense 
minister Sargsian. The duo went on to win parliamentary elections the following 
year. Their tandem remained powerful in the country for several months until 
the October 27, 1999 terrorist attack in which both were assassinated.
Armenian opposition groups for years alleged that despite the arrest and trial 
of the immediate perpetrators of the attack its real mastermind has never been 
revealed.
Kocharian, who served as president for two consecutive five-year terms in 
1998-2008, is currently in pretrial detention on charges of overthrowing the 
constitutional order in connection with the 2008 post-election crackdown on the 
opposition during which eight demonstrators and two security officers were 
killed.
Kocharian denies the accusations as politically motivated.
New Envoy Reaffirms U.S. Commitment To Assisting ‘Sovereign Armenia’
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with newly appointed U.S. 
Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy, Yerevan, 
The newly appointed ambassador of the United States to Armenia has reaffirmed 
her government’s commitment to assisting “sovereign Armenia” as she was 
received by the South Caucasus nation’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on 
Friday.
“Thankful for the warm welcome, [Ambassador] Lynne Tracy said she was honored 
to meet with Prime Minister Pashinian and reaffirmed the U.S. Government’s 
strong commitment to assisting sovereign Armenia in implementing its democratic 
agenda and anti-corruption efforts, dealing with economic and regional 
bottlenecks, as well as in matters of international security,” a statement 
published on the Armenian premier’s official website reads.
“The U.S. Ambassador gave assurances that during her tenure she would make all 
necessary efforts to promote the development of bilateral economic 
cooperation,” it adds.
According to the same source, welcoming the newly appointed U.S. ambassador, 
Pashinian emphasized that the Armenian government is “interested in the 
continued development of partnership with the United States, including in the 
political and economic spheres.”
The Armenian prime minister said that “Armenia is consistently heading along 
the path of democratic reforms by fighting against corruption and monopolies, 
promoting human rights and freedom of speech.”
In this respect, Pashinian stressed the importance of building closer ties of 
cooperation with the United States and implementing joint programs in the 
aforementioned areas, the statement reads.
According to the premier’s official website, during their meeting Pashinian and 
Tracy discussed a number of issues that are on the agenda of U.S.-Armenian 
relations and exchanged views on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement 
process and other regional issues of mutual interest.
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” reports that Yerevan’s prosecutor has asked Mayor Hayk Marutian to 
provide documents and data on construction or lease of property located in 
territories of common use in the city center. “In fact, the law-enforcement 
system has finally got down to inspecting the legality of actions of the former 
Yerevan authorities, a move that many have been eager to see, because the 
center of the capital for years has consistently been distorted,” the paper 
writes.
The editor of “Aravot” writes: “In Armenia, no doubt, there are political 
groups and politicians that in one way or another associate their aspirations 
with the support of Russia. Many of them are working closely with the political 
circles of this country, receive or send “messages”. “To hand over 
Nagorno-Karabakh to the Russian mandate” is among such messages. The proposal, 
in my opinion, is unacceptable, because if you voluntarily give up some part of 
your sovereignty, the one who receives it will feel more free to impose on you 
one decision or another. I think that, on the contrary, one must strengthen the 
sovereignty of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and in this regard the efforts of 
the prime minister to engage representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh in the 
negotiations are correct in principle.”
“Zhamanak” reports on the statement of three political parties in the 
parliament of Nagorno-Karabakh where they speak about an independent and 
sovereign state and a prospect of a united Armenian state. The parties stress 
that other processes today are “artificial and dangerous”. “The statement of 
the Nagorno-Karabakh parliamentarians, no doubt, concerns, on the one hand, the 
recent initiative of the Sasna Tsrer party to start the collection of 
signatures in support of Nagorno-Karabakh’s incorporation into Armenia and, on 
the other hand, the statement of former Karabakh defense army commander Samvel 
Babayan’s statement about transferring the Nagorno-Karabakh issue to the 
Russian mandate,” the daily concludes.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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