Category: 2018

It is in RA’s economic interests to speed up the extraordinary parliamentary elections. This is what Arsen Gasparyan, chief advisor to the RA Prime Minister, said in a conversation with journalists, noting that what he said yesterday after the government session was not correctly interpreted in the media, presenting that there is a difference between his and the Prime Minister’s statements.

“I must say that there is absolutely no difference, all members of our team have a clear approach that it is really in Armenia’s economic interest to speed up the extraordinary parliamentary elections,” he said, the newspaper writes.

He mentioned that he wants to give some clarifications to the fact that since June of this year, there is a great interest in Armenia among foreign businessmen. “As I said yesterday, many investors, both foreign and diaspora representatives, have expressed their interest in cooperating with Armenia and making investments during the last two months. What I just said was related to their interest, because their interest is growing, and because the demand of the people is for early elections, it is extremely important that all these aspirations of foreign investors are realized and the picture is complete. Now they have a government whose goal is to strengthen democracy in Armenia, and we have a parliament that the people are against. Therefore, these extraordinary parliamentary elections are important for the development of the RA economy,” he said.

According to Arsen Gasparyan, foreign investors are interested in Armenia’s water resources, they are particularly interested in the construction of reservoirs. There are also many people interested in digitization. According to him, investors are also interested in the fields of tourism, agriculture, energy, especially alternative energy, and light industry.

According to him, the interest is from Asia, particularly from China, Europe, the Middle East, and the USA. “I see a big change in the atmosphere of democracy. They see the legitimacy of how the new RA government is trying to support investors to create new jobs for the Armenian population,” he said.

It is noteworthy that the day before the same Arsen Gsaparian stated that the holding of extraordinary elections will not have any impact on investments, as the situation in Armenia is stable. He claimed that investors are not waiting for anything, but keep reaching out to them. “This happened especially in August, also in September. And, according to him, the holding of extraordinary parliamentary elections should not be connected with the investment policy,” he said.

However, he was opposed by the SRC chairman Davit Ananyannoting that businessmen are waiting for the extraordinary parliamentary elections to invest.

“Business takes a wait-and-see position where the political situation is not stable and waits for what kind of political solutions there will be. So the Prime Minister’s point of view is definitely correct. The longer the waiting period, the worse it is for the country, I say this as an economist. The shorter that period, the better for the economy”, said the Chairman of the SRC before the Government session on October 4.

RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated earlier that the current euphoria in the country may not pass for another 15 years, but this does not mean at all that there should not be elections in the country for 15 years.

In response to this statement, RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov announced today that political arrogance and cynicism destroyed figures a thousand times stronger than Pashinyan.

“Bonapartism destroyed Bonaparte, we have also seen Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who had more than 90 percent of the vote, but after a year there was no one to say anything positive about him. Figures more powerful than themselves have been destroyed, and when you say: 15 years this will happen, that will happen, what can I say? God willing, the people will applaud for 15 years, but we have seen how much percentage Levon Ter-Petrosyan was elected in 1991, and already at the end of 1992, you would not find anyone who would say a positive word to Levon Ter-Petrosyan,” he said in a briefing with journalists at the National Assembly.

The RPA figure also referred to the realities surrounding the holding of extraordinary parliamentary elections. Sharmazanov first mentioned that he has not yet heard a final answer from the PAP whether they agree to early elections or not. In other words, as of now, I haven’t heard from “Yilk” who has a final opinion.

“I have not heard from any other power that I agree with the parliament going to self-dissolution. I think there are two choices. there are elections, there are forced elections. When the prime minister resigns, it is already a forced election,” he said.

Regarding the question of whether he considers the scenario that the Republican Party will propose its candidate for the Prime Minister likely, Eduard Sharmazanov stated that the RPA will neither nominate a candidate for its own purposes, nor will it go to special elections for its own purposes, nor will there be anything else. According to him, the idea should be the basis of everything.  

“I have repeatedly mentioned that the prime minister’s proposal is not the best option, if not the worst. Sometimes you choose between bad and worst, now the ball is in his court. If you resign according to the Constitution, then the political forces will discuss the issue according to the situation, in the interest of the country: do they nominate or not nominate a candidate, and after nominating, they will discuss what programs they bring, who they nominate, what he will do,” added the NA Vice President.

It should be noted that PAP leader on TV yesterday Gagik Tsarukyan announced that the party will participate in the extraordinary parliamentary elections. According to the PAP leader, they will cooperate with the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary forces that have not met Serzh Sargsyan, no Robert Kocharyan with Tsarukyan also stated that they have no objection to the dates of the extraordinary elections. “The people want it in December, so we want it too,” he said.

What is happening now in RA is the continuation of the revolutionary processes that started in the spring of this year. This was announced by expert Gela Vasadze.

He noted that Pashinyan was able to become prime minister in the spring thanks to popular support. According to him, Pashinyan was not able to solve the issue of power, because Republicans are the majority in the National Assembly.

Pashinyan managed to weaken the RPA and maintain the support of the people. Now he wants to hold extraordinary elections, which will create a new political field in RA.

He added that the Yerevan Council of Elders elections showed that Pashinyan has the support of the majority of the population, and this is a serious mobilization resource.

The employees of the operational intelligence department of the anti-smuggling department of the State Revenue Committee, while implementing the operational data received on September 30, in the customs control zone of the arrival hall of the “Zvartnots” airport, as a result of the customs control of Hernandez Aguilar Ondina Liset, a citizen of the Republic of Guatemala who arrived from Dubai to Yerevan, found 4 metal containers, about 3.5 kg, in his suitcase. with a liquid mass similar to “cocaine” type drug.

According to the information and public relations department of the RA State Revenue Committee, according to the conclusion of the forensic department of the RA Police, the found substance is cocaine. A criminal case has been initiated in the investigation department of the SRC.

In the framework of the criminal case, as a result of immediate large-scale operative-investigative measures implemented together with the employees of the Department of Combating Illegal Drug Trafficking of the Main Department of the Police to Fight Organized Crime, it was found that the Guatemalan woman transported the drug to Armenia from the city of São Paulo, Brazil. He had to hand over the contraband to a person unknown to him in a pre-rented room in one of the hotels in Yerevan or in the adjacent area.

As a result of operative-investigative measures, on October 3, the investigative department of the SRC brought into custody the citizen of Kazakhstan, Elena Koltisheva, who had arrived in the Republic of Armenia from Turkey by plane on the same day in order to receive the drug and transport it to Turkey.

As part of the criminal case, operative-investigative work continues in order to identify other possible persons involved and the person who ordered the drugs.

RA Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan today received the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin. Issues related to the development of relations between the two countries in the field of criminal justice were discussed.

Mr. Kopirkin emphasized the need to further strengthen ties between the law enforcement systems of the two countries and the willingness of the Russian Embassy to assist in this matter.

The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia highly appreciated the existing cooperation between the Prosecutor’s Offices of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation in both bilateral and multilateral formats, which fully corresponds to the high level and spirit of allied, friendly relations between the two states.

Artur Davtyan emphasized that in 2006 To date, the cooperation programs established between RA and RF prosecutor’s offices at the level of general prosecutors provide ample opportunities to improve professional resources through joint measures, to create a more immediate environment for increasing the effectiveness of legal mutual assistance, and to outline new directions for expanding the scope of cooperation.

During the meeting, the problems related to the activation of the movement of citizens and services between friendly countries, the application of more effective mechanisms for the criminal legal protection of the rights of citizens in each other’s countries, the detection of persons evading justice, and the increase of joint efforts in the fight against crimes of a transnational nature were also discussed.

An agreement was reached to make such meetings more frequent in order to solve the issues on the agenda more promptly.

The Prosecutor General of RA also expressed his condolences to the Ambassador regarding the tragic death of Sahak Karapetyan, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. Artur Davtyan noted that it was a great loss for the prosecutor’s office of Armenia, because the highly professional Armenian figure with his multi-skilled work, especially in the last decade due to the nature of his activities, greatly contributed to the development of relations between the prosecution structures of the two countries.

RA Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies Hakob Arshakyan received the delegation led by Minister Karine Minasyan, a member of the Board of Internal Markets, Informatization, Information and Telecommunication Technologies of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

As reported by the press service of the ministry, welcoming the attendees, Hakob Arshakyan emphasized the need for Armenia’s integration into the regional programs implemented within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), emphasizing the holding of the EEU forum in Armenia.

Referring to the participation of our country in the processes carried out within the EAEU framework, Karine Minasyan identified three main goals in them: first, Armenia should be represented in the EAEU programs, then it should be involved in the projects and, finally, it should present its own programs.

During the meeting, a number of details related to these three concepts were presented, issues related to the participation of our organizations in the EAEU programs were discussed and adjusted.

An agreement was reached to discuss the possible options for the involvement of Armenian organizations in the EAEU programs in the near future.

“Armenian guards found a border violator in the area from Nakhijevan to Yeraskh. We cannot reveal other details at the moment.”

RA Ministry of Defense spokesperson wrote about this on his Facebook page Artsrun Hovhannisyan:

He also noted that RA Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan and Chief of General Staff of the RA Armed Forces Lieutenant General Artak Davtyan they visited the Nakhichevan border and monitored the observance of the ceasefire in different areas.

VERELQ presents the most notable publications of the Armenian press.

“time” the newspaper writes. “On October 2, when a part of the people gathered in Baghramyan Avenue, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan he entered the NA territory accompanied by the NA President Ara Babloyan Panicked, he wanted to write a resignation letter. However, RPA MPs eventually managed to dissuade him from that idea. Babloyan understands that, regardless of everything, his days as the Speaker of the National Assembly are numbered, and he does not want to spoil relations with the new government in that short period of time, taking full responsibility for the conflict between the executive and legislative authorities.”

“Publication” the newspaper writes. “During the extraordinary session on October 2, when a crowd gathered at the gates of the National Assembly and they were informed that some deputies were not allowed to enter the building, others were not allowed to leave, they realized that the situation was heating up. Ara Babloyan decided to call Valery Osipyan, to inform him about the situation, and he will take measures to prevent further developments. However, the chief of police did not answer the calls. The Speaker of the National Assembly experienced the next humiliation the next day, when the gates of the National Assembly were opened by the Prime Minister’s decision. The security forces operating in the NA territory always acted on the orders of the NA president and the gates could be opened only by his order, but the prime minister decided to show that he makes decisions himself, even in the NA territory. And this is in the case of a parliamentary country, where the National Assembly is the main political body according to the Constitution.”

“Publication” the newspaper writes. “On October 9, there will be a meeting of the Analytical Council of the National Assembly to discuss the internal and external political situation in Armenia, the challenges, the ways out. Keynote speakers are experts Davit Shahnazaryan and Stepan Safaryan. It is not known whether the collection of analytical support will match Nikol Pashinyan with resignation. Let’s remind that yesterday the chairman of the “Yelki” NA faction Lena Nazaryan he said on television that Pashinyan will resign in the coming days.”

“time” the newspaper writes. “According to our information, in the near future, the leader of the PAP Gagik Tsarukyan will start intensive negotiations with extra-parliamentary forces to participate in early elections with a broad alliance. Possible allies include “Heritage”, ANM, Andrias Ghukasyan, Samvel Babayan, former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan, ANC and a number of other small parties and civil movements. Gagik Tsarukyan has decided to offer cooperation to the “Sasna Tsrer” pan-Armenian party, many of whose members have been released with the guarantee of deputies of the “Tsarukyan” bloc faction and money given by Tsarukyan himself as a pledge.

“People” the daily writes. “The issue of having or not having bodyguards has again become an agenda item in Armenia. As is known, many businessmen or officials register their relatives in their own security companies, thereby giving them the status of bodyguards. Newly appointed Minister of Emergency Situations, former Deputy Director of the NSS Felix Tsolakyan In a conversation with “Zhoghovurd” daily, he stated that “You understand, it is a professional issue. What is the bodyguard that exists today, they are not specialists, they go in cars? They are their relatives, the brother’s son, the sister’s son, they follow behind, they are not bodyguards. A bodyguard should be a seriously trained person, which, unfortunately, is not so much today. There is a name that there are many, but it is not so, the bandit becomes a bodyguard. It really should be dealt with, what is it about, the bodyguard should be a smart person who knows the nuances of how to ensure the security of the guard.”

“People” the daily writes. “Parliament has been almost inactive lately. After the Velvet Revolution Nikol Pashinyan the government is in no hurry to submit legislative projects to the parliament. As a result of a small study, “Zhoghovurd” daily found out that until now the government has presented only two or three important projects, the rest were legacy projects, which often involve editorial changes. At the same time, the deputies of the National Assembly are completely idle, and they in turn do not author bills, turning into a group of button pushers, of course, receiving a salary of about half a million drams from the RA budget. And as a result of all this, the NA sessions last only one or two days and no more. And, for example, there were only 5 questions in the agenda of the regular sessions that started on October 2, and the agenda was exhausted in half a day. All this is another argument in favor of holding extraordinary NA elections. in the end, the cooperation between the new government and the council is not working.

“Publication” the newspaper writes. “Artak Zeynalyan Regarding whether to remain a minister or not, you said that Pashinyan appoints and removes himself, but Artak is a member of your team. will he remain in that position or will he be recalled, asked the head of the “Republic” party Aram Sargsyan. “I must insist. if Zeynalyan is removed, Pashinyan will leave, if he is not removed, he will stay.” What does Aram Zavenich think about Nikol Pashinyan’s speech from the UN podium, when he publicly announced that he had only 4 deputies in the parliament in April? “You know, he was talking about trust. each person independently, with his own feelings, evaluates who is trustworthy and who is not. It is the domain of his way of thinking. Doesn’t that offend you? “No, I can’t get hold of his feelings.” Is Aram Zavenich “white” or “black” now? “Aram Zavenich is an artist. “He loves all colors.”

“Fact” the newspaper writes. “Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ruben Rubinyan’s funds as of the day of assuming office amounted to AMD 500,000. We are informed about this by R. Rubinyan, published on the website of the Ethics Commission of High-Ranking Officials in 2018. from the declaration of assumption of office. 2018 The income received from January 1 to the day of assuming official duties amounted to AMD 150,000. R. Rubinyan did not declare real and movable property. It should be noted that the deputy foreign minister is a founding member of the “Civil Contract” party, a member of the board, and was also the party’s press spokesperson.

“Publication” the newspaper writes. “Four months, General Manvel Grigoryan is detained, but the preliminary investigation body has not charged him yet. It is true that weapons, ammunition, tushonka-sgushchonkas, a car park, and a zoo were found in the area belonging to him, but a large number of people entered that area, and the investigators are unable to prove that the author of the criminal acts is the general himself, and not the head of his bodyguard (who is on the run), his wife, employees, and relatives. The general himself does not testify, the defense tactic is: you are caught, prove your guilt. Even regarding the tushonkas, they cannot confirm that they were brought by Grigoryan’s order, and he was aware of it. We learned that the general was offered to testify in the March 1 case Robert Kocharyan against, at least to say that at the time he had passed Ter-Petrosyanside and was relieved from the position of Deputy Minister of Defense by the RA President, there was pressure on him, of course, they promise to alleviate his guilt, but the general refuses. By the way, the forensic examination has been completed, the specialists of the “Armenia” medical center found that the general has 16 diseases and a new tumor on the lung, but they carefully wrote: it is not known whether the nature is malignant or not. He receives some treatment in the detention center, but there is a medicine that his relatives bring from France, and since it is not registered in Armenia, they do not allow to transfer it to him. There is a restriction not only on visits, but also on talking on the phone. They also take a limited amount of food. In short, the general is not under pre-trial detention, but is already serving a sentence.

“People” the daily writes. “Today is a day of mourning in Armenia. In memory of the great Hay Charles AznavourOn the day of his funeral, the Armenian tricolor will bow. And yesterday, the Armenian national anthem was played at the “Home for the Disabled” in Paris, where the funeral of Charles Aznavour was held. The Armenian duduk also sounded. Aznavour’s remains were brought to the sound of “dle yaman”, where the leaders of Armenia and France paid their respects to him. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Emmanuel Macron also made speeches. The scene, the words uttered were really touching. And it was obvious that everything was done at the highest state level in Paris to emphasize Aznavour’s personality, the personality of Aznavour, born in France but also Armenian, the personality of Aznavour, who is considered a symbol of close friendship between the two countries. The whole world mourned his death, everyone went to say goodbye to him: not only artists, but the entire ruling elite of France, as well as the former presidents of that country, Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy. RA President Armen Sargsyan was also there. But, unfortunately, the three former presidents of RA, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, were not there. And although Aznavour was appreciated and honored as he deserved during the years of their rule, it would be desirable if the former leaders also honored the memory of the great Armenian in their presence in Paris.