Wednesday,
Envoy Cautious About Greater U.S. Investment In Armenia
• Artak Hambardzumian
Armenia -- Ambassador Richard Mills speaks to journalists in Yerevan. 13Sept.,
2017
It is still too early to expect a major increase in U.S. investments in Armenia
despite the new Armenian government’s efforts to improve the domestic business
environment, U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills said on Wednesday.
Mills said that potential American investors are closely monitoring, among
other things, the government’s treatment of a U.S.-based mining company which
had won exclusive rights to develop a massive gold deposit in southeastern
Armenia.
The company, Lydian International, is facing an uncertain future following the
recent dramatic change of the country’s leadership. According to official
Armenian statistics, Lydian was the main source of $246 million in foreign
direct investment attracted by Armenia last year.
“The government’s actions to tackle the issue of corruption and ensure a level
playing field are very welcome in the United States by the U.S. investment
community,” Mills told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “But I think
it’s still a little too early for new major investments to be announced or to
begin here in Armenia.”
“We’re getting lots of expressions of interest from the business community in
the United States about the opportunities here,” he said. “But these potential
investors are waiting to see whether now the government will follow up with
some concrete actions. They also want to see how the investigations that have
been launched into credible allegations of corruption are carried out. Are they
done in a fair manner, according to the rule of law and due process?”
“And they want to see how the government is treating U.S. foreign firms and
even Armenian firms that are already operating here,” Mills went on. “Are they
being treated fairly when there are investigations into their taxes? Is that
being done in a fair manner?
“They are looking at the issues around Lydian, how the government is handling
those very sensitive and controversial issues. Will Lydian be treated fairly as
that process unfolds?”
All roads leading to the Amulsar gold deposit developed by Lydian have been
blocked since June 23 by a group of residents of nearby communities protesting
against gold mining operations which were due to start before the end of this
year.
The blockage is continuing despite repeated appeals from Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian. He said late last month that Lydian must be allowed to resume its
operations pending the findings of an ad hoc government task force that will
start inspecting the company soon. The working group is expected to submit its
recommendations to the government later this month.
The mining site located about 160 kilometers southeast of Yerevan remained
blocked even after Pashinian visited it on July 6. The premier complained last
week that Lydian executives did not display a “constructive” stance when he
held a meeting with them and the protest leaders during the trip. He did not
elaborate.
The company, which is registered in the British Channel Islands but
headquartered in Colorado, maintains that it had obtained its mining licenses
in accordance with Armenia’s laws and government regulations. It has dismissed
concerns about the environmental impact of gold mining at Amulsar, saying that
it will use modern and safe technology.
Lydian, which claims to have already invested more than $300 million in
Amulsar, has condemned the disruption of its operations as illegal. It has not
ruled out the possibility of international legal action against the Armenian
state.
Mills expressed hope last week that the environmental audit of Lydian will be
conducted objectively and “in strict accordance with the law.” He said the U.S.
government also hopes that the authorities will carry out similar inspections
of other mining companies operating in Armenia.
The envoy made clear on Wednesday that he believes Pashinian’s government is
committed to “creating a good investment climate here.” “So looking ahead, I’m
confident,” he said.
Mills also reiterated that Washington is now considering increasing U.S.
government assistance to Armenia. “We are looking at what is possible,
including changes in levels of our funding through the USAID and other U.S.
government agencies,” he said.
Sudden Russian Drill In Armenian Village ‘Investigated’
• Satenik Kaghzvantsian
Armenia - Russian military hardware is seen in the village of Panik, 17 July
2018.
The Russian military base in Armenia on Wednesday pledged to investigate an
unexpected exercise which was conducted by its soldiers in an Armenian village
and caused panic among local residents.
Amateur video posted on social media showed chaotic scenes in the village of
Panik on Tuesday, with local resident terrified by deafening gunfire and
explosions. Some of them angrily confronted the troops training very close to
village houses, demanding explanations.
The Russian soldiers stopped the exercise but were able to leave the area only
after Armenian police and security officials alerted by the village mayor,
Vartan Makeyan, arrived in Panik. It emerged afterwards that they did not fire
live rounds.
Makeyan said that the Russian military had not notified him by about the drill
beforehand. He also complained that was held within the administrative
boundaries of the local community.
Panik is located very close to one of the two shooting grounds used by the
Russian base headquartered in the nearby city of Gyumri, the capital of
Armenia’s northwestern Shirak province.
The deputy commander of the base, Alexey Polyukhovich, said that it has
launched an internal inquiry into the incident. “The exercise was part of
efforts to increase the combat readiness of the military base, including for
achieving combat tasks set for the base,” he told reporters. “As for what went
wrong, we will inform you about the results [of the inquiry.]”
Polyukhovich met with the governor of Shirak, Karen Sarukhanian, earlier in the
day. “He said that it was a force-majeure situation, that some order was not
issued, that something was not organized, for which he apologized,” Sarukhanian
said after the meeting. “An internal inquiry is underway and the guilty will
definitely be held accountable.”
In Yerevan, Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan discussed the incident with the
commander of the base, Colonel Vladimir Yelkanov, as well as Russia’s charge
d’affaires and military attaché in Armenia. Tonoyan’s spokesman, Artsrun
Hovannisian, quoted Yelkanov as saying that the exercise had been planned and
agreed with the Armenian authorities beforehand but that the Russian side “did
not take into account the local population’s possible concerns” and wants to
apologize for what happened.
According to Hovannisian, Tonoyan urged the Russians to work more closely with
Armenia’s Defense Ministry and local government bodies when planning such
drills. They should also “pay greater attention to strengthening
good-neighborly relations with the civilian population,” he was reported to say.
Also, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian told RFE/RL’s Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am) that he has been briefed on the incident and ensuing
developments.
The Russian base numbers up to 5,000 troops mainly deployed along Armenia’s
closed border with Turkey. It has hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, and
artillery systems as well as over a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets. Moscow has
bolstered the base with helicopter gunships and other military hardware since a
2010 Russian-Armenian agreement extended its basing rights in Armenia to 2044.
Armenian leaders have long said that Armenia hosts Russian troops on its
territory primarily because of a perceived security threat from Turkey. From
Yerevan’s perspective, the Russian military presence precludes Turkey’s direct
military intervention on Azerbaijan’s side in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ex-Governors Trade Accusations
Amenia - The national police chief, Alik Sargsian, argues with protesters
outside the prime minister's office in Yerevan, 1Sep2011.
Two former governors of Armenia’s southern Ararat province have accused each
other of serious criminal offenses, triggering an investigation by
law-enforcement authorities.
The Investigative Committee reported on Wednesday that Alik Sargsian, who ran
the region from 2000-2008, claimed last week to have been for years blackmailed
by another, unnamed ex-governor. According to the committee, Sargsian said the
latter threatened to disseminate compromising information about him unless he
pays $60,000.
In a statement, the law-enforcement body said that the ex-governor alleged for
his part that in 2008 he paid Sargsian to help a young man work for the
Armenian police. He claimed that Sargsian, who was the chief of the national
police service at the time, accepted the bribe but did not hire the man, said
the statement.
The committee added that it has opened a criminal case under corresponding
articles of the Armenian Criminal Code. It said the case has been transferred
to another law-enforcement body, the Special Investigative Service (SIS),
because it involves two former high-ranking officials. Neither man has been
charged yet.
Sargsian is currently a member of the Armenian parliament affiliated with the
former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). It is not yet clear which of
his predecessors claims to have bribed him a decade ago.
Sargsian had succeeded as Ararat governor Hovik Abrahamian, who served as
Armenia’s prime minister from 2014-2016.
Deal Signed To Build Armenia’s First Large Solar Plant
• Emil Danielyan
Armenia - A newly constructed solar power plant in Talin, 7Nov2017.
A Spanish renewable energy company was formally contracted on Wednesday to
build Armenia’s first large solar power plant at an estimated cost of $50
million.
The 55-megawatt plant will be built in Mets Masrik, a village close to the
eastern coast of Lake Sevan. The landmark project will be mostly financed from
a World Bank grant allocated to the Armenian government in 2015.
An international tender for the project attracted bids from two dozen energy
companies from around the world. A consortium of two Spanish companies,
Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) and FSL Solar, was declared the winner of
the government-administered tender in March.
The Armenian Energy Ministry said they promised the lowest cost of electricity
to be generated at the facility. It will be cheaper than power supplied by
scores of small hydroelectric plants scattered around the mountainous country,
the ministry said.
An agreement on building and operating the Mets Masrik plant was signed in
Yerevan by Energy Minister Artur Grigorian and Nicolas Fasquelle, FRV’s
managing director for the Middle East and Africa. Grigorian’s press office said
Fasquelle expressed confidence about successful implementation of the project.
“The plant will have an approximate area of 100 hectares – the size of 150
soccer fields combined,” FRV said in a July 2 statement. “It will generate
enough energy to power around 21,400 households.”
The statement said that the plant called Masrik-1 is likely to be built by the
end of 2020. FRV will hire 300 people for the plant’s construction, it added.
“Armenia’s growing drive to boost renewable energies constitutes a decisive
factor when it comes to committing to the country, since it presents numerous
opportunities to carry out clean energy projects,” Fasquelle was quoted as
saying.
Armenia’s former government, brought down by mass protests in May, pledged to
significantly increase the share of hydropower and other renewables in domestic
electricity production. Speaking in January, then Energy Minister Ashot
Manukian said the government objective is to ensure that renewable sources meet
at least half of Armenia’s energy needs within the next few years. One of
Manukian’s deputies, Hayk Harutiunian, said in early April that solar energy
should account for at least 20 percent of Armenian electricity output by 2030.
It is not yet clear whether the new government stands by those ambitious
targets. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the Mets Masrik and other
renewable energy projects at a meeting with senior government officials held on
Tuesday.
According to the National Statistical Service (NSS), hydroelectric plants
accounted for about 30 percent of electricity generated in the country last
year. By comparison, thermal power plants using natural gas had a 37 percent
share in the total. Virtually all of the remaining 33.7 percent of energy was
generated by the Metsamor nuclear power station.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” says one good thing about Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s criticism
of the European Union is that he stressed the need for the EU to “speak
frankly” about its relations with Armenia. The paper is confident that
Pashinian’s comments will not damage those relations. “The health of the
EU-Armenia relationship requires us to start from bitter truths,” it says.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” also comments on the controversy and, in particular, EU
Ambassador Piotr Switalski’s statements to the effect that the new authorities
in Yerevan must come up with “very concrete ideas” before demanding greater
financial assistance from the EU. “In Switalski’s words, the EU message is that
there is no change in [Armenian] policy towards the EU and that raises the
legitimate question of why the EU would change its policy towards Armenia,”
writes the paper linked to Pashinian. “The ambassador’s approach seems to
contain certain calls for a change of Armenian foreign policy vectors which may
be justified from the European standpoint but is unacceptable to Armenia for
now.” It argues that Armenia’s foreign policy orientation is closely connected
with its security needs which cannot be met by the EU.
“Zhoghovurd” reports that working groups formed by Pashinian and the Armenian
parliament have still not reached consensus on major amendments to the
Electoral Code which are due to be enacted before the holding of fresh
parliamentary elections. For the paper, the key issue is how the next Armenian
parliament will be elected. “All other debates [between the two working groups]
are by and large meaningless because experience has showed that a good
Electoral Code is not a precondition for holding good elections in Armenia,” it
says.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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