Category: 2018

                                        Thursday, 
Yerevan Residents Protest Against Waste-Disposal Crisis
        • Anush Muradian
A group of citizens on Thursday held a protest in front of the office of a 
private company engaged in garbage disposal in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
According to the demonstrators, the Lebanese-run company has provided poor 
services for the city, leaving it littered with garbage throughout the summer 
months.
Along with other protesters Arusik Mkrtchian brought with her a plastic bag 
with garbage that she said she had collected in the yard of her residential 
building that had not been removed from there for days.
“They do not collect it anyway, that’s why I’ve decided to bring it myself,” 
said Mkrtchian. “I live in the city center. This situation can simply cause an 
epidemic outbreak. It is disgusting to see this garbage and smell it. People 
don’t know what to do. The same disgraceful situation is everywhere.”
The problem of Sanitek’s poor waste disposal has repeatedly been raised by 
Armenian authorities in recent weeks. Last month the Yerevan municipality 
imposed a fine of over $25,000 on the company and warned it about stricter 
sanctions ahead unless the situation improved. Yet, the situation does not 
appear to have improved since then.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian also addressed the issue in his weekend live 
Facebook broadcast. He said that the government was concerned about the 
situation that he described as unacceptable. He said it was the consequence of 
the “short-sighted policy” of the Yerevan mayor’s office.
“A [waste disposal] monopoly has, in fact, been created in the city, and poor 
management in this system in recent years has led to the problems we experience 
today,” said Pashinian. “We must draw serious conceptual conclusions. I think 
one of the options may be that we place several companies and not just one in 
charge of garbage collection in the capital.”
Pashinian also advocated the construction of a recycling plant in Armenia to 
solve the problems of waste dumps.
In explaining the deterioration of its work several weeks ago a Sanitek manager 
said the company experienced shortage of garbage trucks that he said frequently 
broke down because of bad roads leading to the landfill site. Sanitek also 
claimed excessive damage to its trash cans caused by residents that increases 
overall costs for the company.
Kristina Hovannisian, an assistant to the Sanitek executive director, met with 
participants of today’s protest. She said that the executive director was not 
in town and promised that the company will hold a press conference at the end 
of next week to answer all questions.
Armenia Sets Stricter Punishment For Incentives To Voters
The Armenian parliament in session (archive photo)
Armenian lawmakers on Thursday voted unanimously to set a stricter criminal 
punishment for giving people various incentives to vote for a particular 
candidate, party or programs with the offer of cash or somehow else during 
elections and referendums.
Sixty-six members of the 101-seat National Assembly, who attended the special 
session, backed, in the first reading, the government-drafted bill amending a 
number of laws, including the Criminal Code, to that effect.
Deputy Justice Minister Artur Hovannisian, who presented the bill in 
parliament, called for measures to be taken to exclude pressure, vote buying 
and other illegal influences on citizens’ expression of will during electoral 
processes.
“We really need to make sure that citizens make their choices freely,” he said.
The bill envisages criminalization of electoral bribes in any form - be it a 
promise of cash or provision of cash on preferential terms, provision of food, 
services or other incentives under the guise of charity – during campaigning 
periods.
“Today it is also considered illegal, but now only administrative 
responsibility is envisaged for that, with the highest penalty set at 2.5 
million drams (about $5,150). We find that such deeds amount to vote buying. 
And today vote buying is criminally punishable,” Hovannisian explained.
Under the amendments, the violation may land the offender in prison for up to 
six years.
The vote on the amendments in the second and final reading is due on September 
7.
Pashinian Government Mulls Flat Income Tax
        • Suren Musayelyan
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian chairs a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, 
19 July 2018.
Describing the current levels of taxes as “heavy” for citizens and the tax 
legislation as “bad and encouraging tax evasion”, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian on Thursday suggested at least two options to tackle the issue.
In a live Facebook broadcast following today’s government session Pashinian 
advocated a flat income tax system that he said would be fair to all and would 
close loopholes for employers to evade taxes, while stimulating the growth of 
salaries.
Currently Armenia has a three-tier income tax system, implying that workers who 
get a monthly salary of up to 150,000 drams (about $310) pay an income tax at 
the level of 23 percent, those whose monthly salaries are in the range between 
150,000 and 2 million (about 4,100) drams pay a 25-percent tax and those whose 
salaries are higher than that are taxed 36 percent on anything that is above 2 
million drams.
According to Pashinian, the government initially considered about a dozen 
variants of reforming the tax legislation, but eventually arrived at just two 
options, with the first being the introduction of a two-tier income tax system. 
Under this system, citizens receiving a monthly salary of up to 250,000 drams 
(about $515) would be taxed 23 percent, while those receiving higher salaries 
would be taxed 25 percent of their income.
“This system has its logic, which is social justice. Those who will get more 
will pay more. On the other hand, in that case employers would still not be 
interested in raising salaries of their employees,” Pashinian said.
In contrast, according to the prime minister, the introduction of a flat income 
tax of 23 percent for all, given that it is equivalent to the sum of the profit 
tax and dividend tax, would help solve several problems, including 
simplification of tax laws for potential foreign investors.
Pashinian said that the government hopes the additional revenues of citizens 
enabled by this reform would return to the country’s economy and will, in 
particular, help develop small and medium-sized business.
At the same time, Pashinian said that he also backed the idea of the income tax 
being cut by at least 0.5 percentage points every year. “In five years or so 
our income tax rate would be at 20 percent,” said the prime minister, adding 
that in his opinion this would provide an additional impetus to economic growth.
The prime minister also announced plans to lower profit and dividend taxes for 
non-resident investors to make them equal to those paid by local investors. “We 
think that we should not discriminate between resident and non-resident 
investors for the simple reason that among non-resident entrepreneurs there are 
many Diaspora Armenians… Besides, we think that such discrimination between 
foreign and local investors is not a good message in terms of improving the 
investment environment,” he said.
Pashinian said his government is ready to hear proposals from all stakeholders 
and promised to continue to present to the public all ideas that his cabinet 
has in terms of tax reforms.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” writes: “Ex-president Robert Kocharian’s lawyer stated that his 
client has nothing to do with the March 1, 2008 predawn action of security 
forces against demonstrators in Yerevan’s Freedom Square in connection with 
which the Special Investigative Service has launched a new criminal probe. The 
lawyer said Kocharian did not give an order for a special operation. If it 
continues like this, the day is near when Kocharian himself or through his 
lawyers will declare that on March 1, 2008 he was not even the president of the 
Republic of Armenia and did not occupy any other high-ranking post. An 
interesting picture arises – the supreme commander-in-chief had nothing to do 
with the order on barracking the troops and had nothing to do with the police’s 
special operation. And what did he have to do with then as the supreme 
commander-in chief?”
“Hraparak” writes in its editorial: “Campaigning in Yerevan municipal elections 
will kick off on September 10 and will last 12 days, which is too short a 
period for candidates to duly present themselves to voters. Perhaps, this is 
the reason why the political parties and groups running in the elections have 
already begun to openly campaign despite the fact that this is a gross 
violation of the law. True, the head of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), 
who is in a terrified condition awaiting his resignation, gives assurances that 
there are no violations, but it is patently clear that politicians are not 
allowed to campaign before the official start of the campaigning period. In a 
normal country such a violation would be enough to cancel the election results 
afterwards at one of the candidates’ request. When once the then ruling 
Republican Party placed election banners in the city with large images of top 
candidates several days before the official start of the campaigning period the 
media and the public kicked up a row. The CEC then also left the matter without 
attention, as the election body has never done anything against the will of the 
governing party.”
In an interview with “168 Zham” political analyst Vadim Dubnov comments on the 
latest developments in Armenian-Russian relations. “Many say that there are 
tensions, there is a crisis in Armenian-Russian relations. But I am not of this 
opinion. I see no reasons for that. I think that Moscow subjects [Prime 
Minister Nikol] Pashinian to a little trolling as recently it has worked in 
this genre. But no snags should be looked for in it,” he says.
“Aravot” writes: “The problem of waste disposal persists in Yerevan. The city 
continues to be buried in piles with garbage. It even reminds some of the once 
mafia-run Italian city of Naples that experienced a waste-disposal crisis 
several years ago. True, the local mafia stood behind that crisis as it was 
financially not interested in garbage to be removed, but protests took pace 
there to get a solution to the problem, people called for shooting all those 
responsible. And in Yerevan after the ‘revolution of love and solidarity’, and 
even before that there have not been any Italian passions. One can say that we 
have an atmosphere of ‘garbage and solidarity’.”
(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

                                        Wednesday, 
Investment Firm Sues Armenia Over Railway Deal
        • Sisak Gabrielian
Armenia - A railway bridge in northern Lori region
A Dubai-based investment company has filed a lawsuit with the International 
Court of Arbitration, demanding that the Armenian government pay it 
compensation in the amount of $160 million related to the planned construction 
of an Armenia-Iran railway.
Rasia FZE, which is registered in the United Arab Emirates, has undertaken to 
build the rail link.
The information about the international lawsuit against Armenia was confirmed 
on Tuesday by Minister of Transport, Communications and Information 
Technologies Ashot Hakobian.
Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies Ashot 
Hakobyan at a press conference in Yerevan. 04Sept.,2018
According to the minister, the company claims that it incurred losses as a 
result of the actions of the Armenian side. “We believe that this is not 
logical. The reason is that during this period with the purpose of supporting 
the project representatives of the Armenian government were in China where this 
issue was also discussed. And Rasia FZE today cites some reasons, saying that 
this affected their further programs,” the minister explained.
Plans for construction of a railway linking Armenia and Iran were announced in 
2008 by then-President Serzh Sarkisian. Before the 2013 presidential election a 
concession contract was signed with Rasia FZE. Since then, however, the company 
has not built a single meter of railway.
“The company only prepared a feasibility report and submitted it to the 
Ministry, and the Ministry made numerous remarks on it. After that, the company 
was repeatedly invited to discuss the implementation of its concession 
obligations, but all the invitations remained unanswered,” said Hakobian.
The minister is convinced that the Armenian government has solid arguments in 
case of litigation. “I think that our positions are strong and there is no 
cause for concern. However, we will not be doing nothing. Measures are being 
taken. The government has already invited a prestigious international 
organization to defend our interests,” Hakobian said.
The governments of Armenia and Iran have discussed the railway project for more 
than a decade. So far, however, Yerevan has failed to attract an estimated $3.2 
billion needed for building the 305-kilometer-long Armenian section of the 
railway.
2008 Post-Election Events Need Thorough Investigation, Says U.S. Envoy
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills at a conference dedicated to 
franchising business opportunities at the Armenia Marriott Hotel, Yerevan, 
5Sept., 2018
Washington’s view remains that “there has been a need for a thorough and fair 
investigation into the events of March 2008,” United States Ambassador to 
Armenia Richard Mills said on Wednesday, commenting on recent developments in 
the probe concerning deadly post-election violence that took place in Armenia a 
decade ago.
In late July Armenia’s former president Robert Kocharian was charged with 
breaching the country’s constitutional order by illegally using the armed 
forces against opposition supporters who protested against alleged fraud in a 
disputed presidential election. Eight protesters and two police personnel were 
killed when security forces broke up those demonstrations on March 1-2, 2008.
Kocharian spent more than two weeks in custody before being released by the 
Court of Appeals that cited a constitutional provision giving the ex-president 
immunity from prosecution.
Several other former senior officials, including Colonel-General Yuri 
Khachaturov, the current head of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty 
Organization, have also been charged in connection with the 2008 events.
These developments appeared to have particularly irked Russia whose foreign 
minister Sergei Lavrov within a space of just one month twice commented on 
Armenian internal affairs.
On July 31, Lavrov denounced the prosecutions, arguing that they run counter to 
the new Armenian leadership’s earlier pledges not to “persecute its 
predecessors for political motives.” And earlier this week Lavrov repeated his 
concerns. “Of course, we are worried by the circumstance that the situation in 
Armenia remains heated, events that happened 10 years ago are being 
investigated… No doubt, we consider those to be an internal affair of Armenia 
and wish that internal affairs remain within the framework of law and on the 
firm basis of the Constitution and be overcome quickly,” the top Russian 
diplomat said.
In response to the question of RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) whether 
he considered such comments to be interference in Armenia’s internal affairs, 
U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills said: “I have seen those comments. It’s for the 
Armenian government to respond to comments from the Russian government.Our view 
remains that there has been a need for a thorough and fair investigation into 
the events of March 2008. And it is important that that investigation be 
carried out in accordance with the rule of law and Armenian due process.”
Mills talked to media today on the sidelines of a U.S.-Armenian business 
conference on franchise opportunities.
“We are here today for a very important development in the U.S.-Armenian trade 
relationship, that is a one-day conference that the embassy is sponsoring to 
bring together Armenians interested in franchise opportunities with U.S. 
corporations and businesses. And I think it shows that we believe that there 
are real opportunities here for U.S. business and for Armenian business to 
prosper together in the new Armenia,” the U.S. ambassador said.
“This conference today brings together over 50 Armenian government and business 
people as well as representatives from several major U.S. companies to talk 
about franchise and business opportunities here. So, as I said, we believe that 
there are real opportunities for business and trade that will benefit both 
sides. And we are encouraging the government to continue to work to help 
improve and develop Armenia’s business climate. The business climate, the 
investment climate can be fragile. And all it takes is one government mistake, 
or a bad law, or a bad decision and investors can be scared away. That’s why I 
hope the government will continue to pay attention to the environment it is 
creating for business and investment here.”
Lawyer Calls Investigators’ Decision On Kocharian Illegal
Armenia - Ex-president Robert Kocharian's lawyer Aram Orbelian, 5Sept., 2018
Aram Orbelian, a lawyer representing the interests of former Armenian president 
Robert Kocharian, has described yesterday’s decision by the Special 
Investigative Service (SIS) not to allow his client to leave Armenia pending 
investigation as illegal.
Still, he said, the ex-president will sign a written pledge confining him to 
the country limits, if necessary.
Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, stands accused of illegally using 
the armed forces against opposition supporters who protested against alleged 
fraud in a disputed presidential election a decade ago. Eight protesters and 
two police personnel were killed when security forces broke up those 
demonstrations on March 1-2, 2008.
Kocharian spent more than two weeks in custody last summer. The Court of 
Appeals on August 13 overturned a district court’s July 27 decision to allow 
Kocharian’s arrest. It said that the Armenian constitution gives the 
ex-president immunity from prosecution. The Prosecutor’s Office has appealed 
the court’s decision at Armenia’s highest judicial instance – the Court of 
Cassation, which is still to consider the case.
SIS spokesperson Marina Ohanjanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service 
(Azatutyun.am) on Tuesday that investigators have decided to apply a measure of 
restraint called “a written undertaking not to leave [the country]” in relation 
to Kocharian. The decision comes one day after Kocharian, through his lawyer, 
revealed his intention to travel to Germany for an annual medical examination.
“Taking into account the decision of the Court of Appeal that immunity is 
applied to the charges [brought against Kocharian] and that, accordingly, no 
criminal prosecution can be pursued on those charges, we assume that any action 
aimed at criminal prosecution – and applying a measure of restraint is also an 
act of prosecution – is not legal,” said Orbelian.
The lawyer said that they have not yet received the text of the decision. “We 
will see it and then give a more detailed assessment,” he said, adding that 
they will appeal the decision “if it proves to be what we think it is.”
Kocharian insists that there are no grounds for his prosecution and claims 
political motives for that. The 64-year-old former leader announced his return 
to active politics on August 16.
Armenian Judokas To Miss International Competition In Azerbaijan
Judo competitions
An Armenian judo team will not travel to Baku which hosts world championships 
later this month, Armenia’s Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs said on 
Wednesday.
According to Armenian sport officials, Azerbaijan has refused to formally 
provide the necessary guarantees for the security of the Armenian delegation.
The World Judo Championships are due to be held in the capital of Azerbaijan on 
September 20-27.
Despite the lingering conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh athletes from Armenia and 
Azerbaijan traveled to their neighboring country on several occasions to take 
part in major international competitions before 2016 April clashes in the 
disputed region in which dozens of soldiers were killed on both sides.
Thus, more than two dozen Armenians took part in the first European Games held 
in Baku in 2015.
Azerbaijani athletes also attended a number of major international competitions 
in Armenia, including judo, boxing and archery events.
In all those cases security guarantees to athletes were provided by the 
authorities of the host nation.
Baku Summons U.S. Diplomat Over Bilzerian Visit To Karabakh
        • Heghine Buniatian
Dan Bilzerian at a shooting range in Nagorno-Karabakh, August 2018
Official Baku has sent a note of protest to the United States over the visit of 
American citizen Dan Bilzerian to Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to official sources, U.S. Charge d'Affaires William Gill was summoned 
to the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan over this matter earlier this week and 
was given an official note of protest addressed to the U.S. Department of State.
Bilzerian, a 37-year-old American social media celebrity of Armenian descent 
nicknamed the “King of Instagram”, made a trip to Armenia in late August to be 
issued a passport of an Armenian citizen.
The professional poker player, who is primarily known for his playboy lifestyle 
and has tens of millions of followers on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter 
attracted by his regular photos of private jets, scantily clad women, piles of 
cash and guns, then traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh where he fired various weapons 
at a local shooting range.
Azerbaijan, which considers ethnic Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh to be 
its territory, saw it as a violation of its laws. “It was brought to the notice 
of the senior American diplomat that Bilzerian had violated the law of 
Azerbaijan on the state border and the country’s Migration Code as, without 
presenting relevant documents, bypassing our checkpoints, he entered the 
occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” said Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry 
spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev.
The note of protest directed to the American side also claims that Bilzerian 
“illegally acquired firearms and for provocative purposes demonstratively 
opened fire on the positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.” “We also 
informed the American diplomat that this person was making insulting and 
immoral statements on camera affecting the dignity and moral values of the 
Azerbaijani people and contradicting the spirit of friendly relations between 
Azerbaijan and the United States,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman 
said.
Immediately after Bilzerian’s visit to Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan launched a 
criminal case against the flamboyant millionaire. A court in Baku issued an 
arrest warrant for Bilzerian and put him on the international wanted list.
In response to this development, Bilzerian, who is no stranger to controversy, 
told the American magazine People that he thinks the arrest warrant was 
politically motivated. “They only issued the warrant for my arrest, and nobody 
else on the trip,” he said. “I think it’s because I am a public figure and they 
want to try to make an example out of me.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan does not conceal the 
demonstrative nature of the criminal case against Bilzerian to prevent visits 
of U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries to Nagorno-Karabakh. “We have 
informed the American side about the charges brought against Bilzerian and 
about the steps taken to bring him to justice. The Azerbaijani side expects the 
U.S. Government to take seriously the concerns of Baku and take the necessary 
measures to ensure that U.S. citizens refrain from visiting the occupied 
territories of Azerbaijan,” Hajiyev said.
At least on one occasion in the past authorities in Baku already acted on their 
warnings by arresting a foreign national over his visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. In 
December 2016 at the request of Azerbaijan the authorities of Belarus arrested 
blogger Alexander Lapshin, who has the citizenships of Israel, Russia and 
Ukraine. The blogger was then handed over to Baku where he was tried and 
sentenced to three years in prison for violating Azerbaijani laws. Lapshin was 
released from Azerbaijani prison in September 2017 after numerous calls from 
human rights organizations and some backstage negotiations with official Baku.
Baku has a long list of international figures who are declared personae non 
gratae in Azerbaijan and are banned from entering the country.
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” writes on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s upcoming visit to 
Moscow. “It is remarkable that the visit of the head of the Armenian government 
to Moscow comes one week after the September 1 meeting between Russian 
President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Then Putin and 
Aliyev also exchanged views on the Karabakh conflict. It is expected that the 
Karabakh issue will also be addressed at the Putin-Pashinian meeting. It 
appears that this subject is slowly getting back on the agenda,” the paper 
observes.
On the same subject “Haykakan Zhamanak” writes: “It’s a fact that the 
Armenian-Russian dialogue, far from having stopped, is only developing in a new 
spirit. Nevertheless, it is necessary to note that the September 8 meeting 
between Pashinian and Putin will be more difficult as compared to the previous 
two meetings. The difficulty is first of all conditioned by the recent 
Putin-Aliyev meeting during which the two parties also discussed the Karabakh 
issue. This issue is certain to come up also at the September 8 meeting. The 
sides may try to come to a common denominator on the agenda and format of 
restarting negotiations. It is not ruled out that Putin, as head of one of the 
countries chairing the OSCE Minsk Group, will act as a mediator and present to 
Pashinian Aliyev’s vision of conflict settlement – if there is any.”
“Zhamanak” comments on the decision by the Special Investigation Service not to 
allow ex-president Robert Kocharian, who is charged with overthrowing the 
constitutional order, to leave Armenia pending investigation: “This decision 
comes shortly after Kocharian revealed his intention to leave the country… 
Interestingly, Kocharian decided to leave Armenia for several days ahead of the 
hearing of his case at the Court of Cassation. Of course, the date of the 
hearing is not known yet, but there is still an intrigue here as it is not 
clear whether there will be a new decision on arresting Kocharian or not. 
Another interesting point is that Kocharian’s decision to leave coincided with 
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s congratulations on his birthday on August 
31, which were perceived by many as support.”
(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