Author: Jirair Kafian

                                        Thursday, 
Tsarukian Allies Opposed To Backing Sarkisian
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian visits a new leisure center built by 
businessman Gagik Tsarukian (R) in Tsaghkadzor, 20Dec2017.
Two senior members of businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s political alliance said on 
Thursday that its parliamentary faction must not vote for Serzh Sarkisian’s 
appointment as Armenia’s new prime minister.
Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) confirmed late on Wednesday that 
it will nominate him for the country’s top executive post. The Armenian 
parliament will elect the prime minister on April 17.
The HHK controls 58 of the 105 seats in the National Assembly, putting it in a 
position to ensure that Sarkisian continues to govern Armenia after the end of 
his decade-long presidency. The ruling party can also count on the backing of 
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, its junior coalition partner holding 7 
parliament seats.
The Tsarukian Bloc, which claims to be in opposition to the government, has yet 
to announce whether its 31 parliament deputies will vote for or against 
Sarkisian.
One of the bloc’s leading parliamentarians, Sergey Bagratian, said: “Should an 
opposition faction vote for the government’s candidate or not? It’s a simple 
question. Naturally, if you are in opposition you will vote against the 
government’s candidate.”
Tsarukian’s bloc will “have a problem with being [seen as] opposition” should 
it decide to back Sarkisian’s candidacy, Bagratian told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
service (Azatutyun.am).
Another senior Tsarukian Bloc figure, Naira Zohrabian, agreed. “We are in 
opposition and a vote for [Sarkisian] would not be comprehensible in any way,” 
she said.
Zohrabian made clear that she and other deputies representing the bloc will not 
have a free vote on the new prime minister. “This is going to be a political 
vote and the Tsarukian Bloc must vote in a uniform way,” she said.
Tsarukian’s political allies regularly criticize government policies and even 
vote against government bills. But they have avoided personal attacks on 
Sarkisian, leading some commentators to question the tycoon’s opposition 
credentials.
Other PM Candidates ‘Also Considered By Ruling Party’
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - The headquarters of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia in 
Yerevan, 8Sep2016.
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) has discussed several candidacies 
before nominating former President Serzh Sarkisian for prime minister, Justice 
Minister Davit Harutiunian claimed on Thursday.
“I have already said before that no big party can have only one candidate for 
prime minister,” Harutiunian told reporters. “Naturally, the HHK cannot be an 
exception and have a single prime ministerial candidate.”
He said the HHK leadership backed Sarkisian’s candidacy for Armenia’s top 
government post in view of “existing challenges” facing the country. “I can 
assure you that such discussions within the party have been quite open and even 
heated at times,” he said. “I will certainly not talk about details because 
they relate to internal party processes.”
Harutiunian refused to name any of the other candidates who he said were 
considered for the top job.
His remarks contradict what the chief HHK spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, said 
after Wednesday’s meeting of the party’s executive body which unanimously 
endorsed Sarkisian’s appointment as Armenia’s next prime minister.
“We did not discuss any other names,” Sharmazanov said. “No other opinions were 
voiced or, I think, crossed anybody’s mind.”
Sarkisian became the HHK’s chairman one year before taking over as Armenia’s 
president in 2008. His critics believe that his nomination by the HHK is a mere 
formality which has not been even genuinely discussed by the party leadership. 
They say Sarkisian decided to hold on to power years before serving out his 
second presidential term on Monday.
Armenian Government Signals U-Turn On Tax Rise
Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian holds a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, 
.
Armenia’s government moved on Thursday to cut personal income tax which was 
mostly raised as recently as three months ago.
Recent amendments to the Armenian Tax Code raised from 26 percent to 28 percent 
the tax rate for monthly incomes ranging from 150,000 to 2 million drams 
($310-$4,150). The rate for those earning more was set at 36 percent. The 
amended code at the same time cut the tax rate from 24.4 percent to 23 percent 
for workers making less than 150,000 drams a month.
Opposition groups condemned this and other tax rises which took effect on 
January 1, saying that they will hurt the middle class and push up key consumer 
prices. In February, the Armenian parliament voted down an opposition bill that 
would repeal the higher tax rates.
Government officials insisted until now that the more progressive income tax 
will put a heavier financial burden only on high-income individuals. They 
argued that 90 percent of employed Armenians will not have any additional sums 
deducted from their wages because of a complex method of income calculation.
Outgoing Prime Minister Karen Karapetian unexpectedly signaled a policy change 
as he opened a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “Our preliminary estimates 
show that it is necessary to address the issue of reducing the income tax 
rate,” he told ministers.
Karapetian said that a tax cut would increase Armenians’ real incomes and help 
companies attract more skilled workers. He stressed that such a measure must be 
accompanied by a “substantial” toughening of the government’s declared fight 
against tax evasion.
Karapetian instructed the ministers of finance and economic development and the 
head of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) look into the matter and submit 
relevant “proposals” within the next 10 days.
The SRC claims to have already improved tax administration over the past year. 
The total amount of taxes and customs duties collected by the government agency 
rose by more than 7 percent last year. The SRC reported a further rise in tax 
revenue in the first two months of this year.
The International Monetary Fund praised the Armenian government’s “efforts to 
improve tax administration” already in June 2017. It said that they have 
“contributed to the higher-than-projected revenue collection.”
Yerevan ‘Hopeful’ After Azeri Election
        • Tatevik Lazarian
AZERBAIJAN -- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his wife Mehriban arrive 
at a polling station in Baku, 
Armenia hopes that Azerbaijan will agree to major confidence-building measures 
in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after President Ilham Aliyev’s victory in a 
snap presidential election, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
According to official results of Wednesday’s election boycotted by the 
Azerbaijani opposition, Aliyev secured a fourth consecutive term in office with 
more than 86 percent of the vote. Western observers criticized the conduct of 
the ballot.
“The Azerbaijanis took a break in negotiations [with Armenia,] saying that they 
will be holding elections,” said Tigran Balayan, the Armenian Foreign Ministry 
spokesman. “This was their most recent excuse to delay the implementation of 
agreements that were reached at the last three [Armenian-Azerbaijani] summits.”
“We now hope that they will not try to find another excuse for avoiding the 
implementation of those important agreements,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
service (Azatutyun.am).
Balayan singled out an understanding which was reached by the Armenian and 
Azerbaijani foreign ministers at their meeting held in the Polish city of 
Krakow on January 18. According to U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the 
OSCE Minsk Group, Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov agreed “in principle” 
to expand an OSCE mission monitoring the ceasefire regime in the Karabakh 
conflict zone.
Nalbandian said late last month that Baku is now refusing to “honor that 
agreement.”
The co-chairs visited Baku, Yerevan and Stepanakert in early February. They 
said in a joint statement that the warring sides pledged to “continue intensive 
negotiations, taking into account the current electoral period.”
Aliyev was reelected two days after Armenia’s Serzh Sarkisian completed his 
second and final presidential term. The Armenian parliament is widely expected 
to name Sarkisian prime minister on April 17. The latter should thus remain the 
country’s most powerful official.
Balayan could not say whether Yerevan and Baku will hold further high-level 
talks soon. “As far as I know, there is no such agreement at this point,” he 
said.
Armen Baghdasarian, an Armenian political analyst, suggested that Aliyev and 
Sarkisian will now be in a position to resume the Karabakh peace process. “It 
is now clear who will govern Armenia and Azerbaijan for the next five years, 
and that will contribute to the start of a new phase of peace talks,” he said.
Press Review
Serzh Sarkisian’s nomination by the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) for prime 
minister was “totally anticipated” for “Zhoghovurd.” The paper says that 
Sarkisian has for years “consistently worked” to prolong his rule. “This is why 
he initiated [in 2014] the process of constitutional changes in the first 
place,” it says.
“Zhamanak” also comments on the nomination announced after Wednesday’s meeting 
in Yerevan of the HHK’s Executive Body. The paper notes that the announcement 
coincided with a presidential election in Azerbaijan used by the incumbent 
Ilham Aliyev for securing a fourth term in office. “Thus April 2018 is 
affirming or reaffirming government configurations or the status quo in Armenia 
and Azerbaijan,” it says. “And that is happening against the background of 
extremely high geopolitical tensions [between Russia and the West.]”
“168 Zham” reports that Wednesday also a unanimous ratification by Armenia’s 
parliament of the recently signed Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership 
Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union. “The agreement will come into force 
in full after being ratified by the EU member states and the European 
Parliament,” writes the paper. It says the CEPA holds a “key to Armenia’s 
salvation” not so much because of its political and economic provisions as “in 
the civilizational and geopolitical sense.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that the latest round of U.S. sanctions against 
Russian officials, oligarchs and major companies may also hit Armenia’s 
economy. The paper argues that one of those oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska, owns the 
Armenal aluminum foil plant in Yerevan through his Rusal group. “One the one 
hand, Armenal-Rusal is an Armenian-based company and its products carry a ‘made 
in Armenia’ inscription,” it says. “On the other hand, that plant belongs to 
Deripaska.”
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
 Saturday
Armenian president schools Azeri delegate on history at Munich
Security Conference
MUNICH, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Nagorno Karabakh conflict can be
settled only in case of the Azerbaijani leadership refusing from its
unrealistic expectations, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in
response to a question from an Azeri delegate at the Munich Security
Conference.
The Azeri delegate was even interrupted by the panel discussion’s
moderator, because the lengthy question started to resemble more of a
political statement.
“Let me ask you a rhetoric question – if the leader of your country is
making territorial claims towards Yerevan this year, when in October
we will mark the 2800th anniversary of the city’s foundation, how can
the NK conflict be resolved? You want to live free, you want to live
in Karabakh, I reassure you that the people of Nagorno Karabakh also
want to live free, and they want to live on their historic
territories, where their legacy has a history of thousands of years.
They don’t want you destroying this legacy”, the President said.
The President noted that everybody is aware of the reasons why certain
territories surrounding NK are under the control of Artsakh’s defense
forces. In addition, the people of NK expressed their desire to live
independently through a referendum during the collapse of the Soviet
Union, while the then-authorities of Azerbaijan attempted to obstruct
the legitimate and lawful desire of the people of NK through force.
The President also mentioned that during that time the EU displayed a
very positive attitude and accepted the self-determination right of
NK.
“I hate war, but we had to provide a security zone in order to protect
ourselves. We are ready for a peaceful settlement of the conflict if
the Azerbaijani leadership displays reasoning and sits at the
negotiations table. This issue can be solved through mutual
understanding and mutual understanding only”, the President said.
The Armenian President stressed the 2800 year old history of Yerevan,
the Armenian capital. “The Armenian people are living on their
historic land for at least 5000 years, the Azerbaijanis and other
peoples who God knows when started identifying themselves cannot break
the will of the Armenian people”, the President said.

Transportation Monitor Worldwide
 Thursday
Yerevan to get rid of minibuses as part of new transportation network
A draft for a new transportation network has been developed for
Yerevan in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles operating in the
capital. The aim is to increase the number of buses and trams, to
promote active use of the metro as well as to do away with minibuses.
The number of routes and means of transport will be reduced almost
threefold:
There will be 42 routes instead of 115;
The number of vehicles will be reduced from 2039 to 939.
The initiators of the project are confident that the various transport
methods in the new system will be operating so as to complement one
another.
Transport will be equally available for all districts of the capital,
providing safe, reliable and decent passenger services. To the
consulting companys credit it should be noted that it has done
thorough work on developing the new project, said Vahe Nikoyan, the
First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan.
In his words, passenger transit will be carried out by articulated
buses that are 18 meters in length and are designed for up to 150
passengers, along with 12 meter long buses with a capacity of 90-100
travelers.
A uniform e-ticketing system will be introduced to ensure efficiency.
There will be mobile apps with special e-schedule software as well as
ticket machines and payment terminals. Some advanced technologies will
be implemented to monitor travel fares, said Nikoyan.
It is the first time that a professionally substantiated public
transport network strategy is being developed in Armenia. WYG
Consulting Co. initiated the project. 2017 Global Data Point.