Tuesday,
Former ‘Oligarch’ Faces Charges
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia -- Businessman Ruben Hayrapetian speaks to journalists after being
released by police, Yerevan, February 4, 2020.
A law-enforcement body has decided to indict Ruben Hayrapetian, a wealthy
businessman linked to Armenia’s former leadership, his lawyer revealed on
Tuesday.
The Investigative Committee refused to give any details of the latest criminal
case relating to Hayrapetian.
The lawyer, Amram Makinian, said the committee summoned Hayrapetian for
questioning on Saturday despite being aware that he left Armenia on March 16 and
cannot come back due to the coronavirus-related absence of regular flights to
the country.
“The investigating body is taking advantage of this situation to try to create
an illusion that Ruben Hayrapetian is fleeing prosecution,” Makinian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Makinian said Hayrapetian and his son Rafik will be charged in connection with
what he described as the embezzlement of 60 million drams ($124,000) by the
former manager of a luxury resort belonging to them. He said that they fired the
manager and made him return part of the sum in 2016.
“We are convinced that the person who committed the apparent crime will have the
status of a victim in this case,” claimed the lawyer. “We will find out soon
what Hayrapetian and his son will be charged with.”
Hayrapetian, 56, has long supported former President Serzh Sarkisian and remains
affiliated with the latter’s Republican Party. He used to represent the party in
the Armenian parliament.
The once influential tycoon, who was notorious for violent conduct, accused the
current authorities of harassing him for political reasons after being briefly
detained by the Armenian police in February. The police claimed he was taken in
for questioning on suspicion of illegal arms possession. The tycoon laughed off
the explanation.
The detention came one day after Hayrapetian was questioned as a witness in a
criminal investigation into alleged corruption in the Football Federation of
Armenia (FFA) which the tycoon headed from 2002-2018. Masked police officers
searched his Yerevan villa in December as part of the same probe. He was not
charged as a result.
Makinian said his client is currently receiving medical treatment abroad and
will be able to fly back to Armenia only after completing it. Hayrapetian will
also wait for the resumption of international flights to Yerevan, he said.
Putin Rejects Armenian Demands Over Russian Gas Pricing
• Aza Babayan
Russia -- President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian
Economic Council via video conference, at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside
Moscow,
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin dismissed on Tuesday Armenia’s and Belarus’s
persistent calls for the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to set uniform energy
tariffs which would reduce the cost of Russian natural gas imported by them.
Both ex-Soviet republics heavily dependent on Russian gas have been pressing for
the creation of a single EEU market for natural gas and other fuel. It would
essentially mean the same gas prices for gas-exporting Russia and the four other
members of the Russian-led trade bloc. The Russian gas price for domestic
consumers has always been significantly lower than for Armenia and even Belarus.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian insisted on the idea of uniform gas tariffs
during a video conference with the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan.
“A single market for energy resources functioning under non-discriminatory
principles must be one of the foundations of our integration,” he said.
“Qualitative progress in integration processes is impossible without it. It is
impossible to ensure equal economic conditions for all participants of the union
without it.”
Putin rejected the idea, implying that Yerevan and Minsk should agree to even
deeper economic integration with Moscow before pushing it.
“As regards a common tariff for shipments and transit of gas proposed by our
Armenian and Belarusian friends, we believe that it can be introduced only in a
[broader] single market with a single budget and a single system of taxation,”
he said. “As we know full well, such a deep level of integration within the EEU
has not yet been achieved.”
“In the meantime, gas prices must be set on the basis of market conditions … I
want to stress, my dear colleagues, that this is common international practice,”
added Putin.
The leaders of Kyrgyzstan and hydrocarbon-rich Kazakhstan appeared to side with
Putin on the issue.
Kazakhstan - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (L) and Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian talk during a CSTO summit in Astana, November 8, 2018.
Pashinian and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko say that Moscow should
cut the prices of gas delivered to their countries also because of the recent
coronavirus-related collapse in global energy prices. Lukashenko complained last
month Belarus is now paying more for Russian gas than European Union member
states.
For the same reason, the Armenian government urged Russia’s Gazprom giant in
late March to cut its wholesale gas price for Armenia.
The government hopes that such a move would at least prevent a sizable increase
in internal Armenian gas prices sought by Armenia’s Gazprom-owned gas
distribution network. The Gazprom Armenia network argues that they have remained
unchanged since Gazprom raised its wholesale tariff by 10 percent in January
2019. The gas operator has incurred major losses as a result.
Armenia Switching To Home Confinement Of Most COVID-19 Carriers
Armenia -- Workers disinfect an ambulance outside Surp Girgor Lusavorich
hospital in Yerevan, April 8, 2020.
Citing the growing number of coronavirus cases in Armenia, Health Minister Arsen
Torosian announced on Tuesday that authorities will stop in the coming days
hospitalizing or isolating most people testing positive for COVID-19.
All such people have until now been taken to hospitals or hotels turned into
temporary medical care centers.
Torosian said that infected individuals showing mild symptoms of the virus or
none at all will be told to self-isolate at home. “Within several days” the
health authorities will also send home hundreds of presently isolated
asymptomatic patients, he said in an appeal to healthcare workers posted on
Facebook.
“This change results from two factors,” Torosian wrote. “The first one is the
number of citizens testing positive, which is growing by the day, while the
second one is a change in our strategy of managing symptomatic cases in terms of
the optimal use of hospital beds and other resources.”
Torosian said that medical personnel of hospitals, policlinics and rural primary
healthcare facilities across the country will now be responsible for monitoring
the condition of patients to be placed in home confinement.
For this purpose, he said, the Armenian Ministry of Health will organize online
course for them. “I am asking and calling on you to actively participate in
them,” added the minister.
Armenia -- Health Minister Arsen Torosian gives a press conference,April 10,
2020.
Torosian warned of the impending switch to home confinement late last month amid
growing daily numbers of new coronavirus cases registered by his ministry
following the easing of nationwide lockdown restrictions which began in
mid-April. With virtually all remaining restrictions lifted by the end of last
week, the spread of the virus in the country has continued unabated.
The Ministry of Health reported 218 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday morning,
raising the total number of cases to 5,041. It also said that three more people
died from the virus in the past day. The official death toll from the epidemic
thus reached 64.
According to the health authorities, the total number of active coronavirus
cases currently stands at about 2,800. More than 2,160 other Armenians have
recovered from the disease.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian downplayed the rapidly rising number of cases
when he spoke at a news conference on Saturday. Pashinian argued that more than
70 percent of the infected people are essentially asymptomatic and only a
fraction of about 700 COVID-19 patients suffering from pneumonia are in a
critical or serious condition. Armenia will face a serious health crisis only
“if the number of seriously ill people exceeds 1,400,” he said.
Pashinian sounded far more concerned about the coronavirus crisis in a video
address to the nation streamed live on Facebook on Tuesday. He warned that
coronavirus cases in the country are now on course to double by the end of this
month and reach 20,000 by June 12.
“If we don’t break this dynamics, don’t change the pace [of the disease spread,]
don’t drastically cut this dynamics we will be faced with a very serious problem
and dozens and perhaps even hundreds of people will die here every day,” he
said. “This means that we would have to re-impose the strictest possible
restrictions.”
“But we still have a chance to avoid doing that and the only way to avoid doing
that is the personal responsibility of each of us,” he added.
Pashinian already repeatedly urged Armenians to practice social distancing and
take other precautions against the virus in previous weeks. He said on May 3
that they must now share with their government responsibility for tackling the
epidemic and minimizing its consequences.
Some critics of the government denounced those statements, saying that the
authorities are trying to dodge responsibility for their lax enforcement of
stay-at-home orders and failure to contain the epidemic. They also believe that
the authorities ended the lockdown too soon.
Yerevan Praised For Seeking Council Of Europe Advice On Constitutional Court
FRANCE – Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe take
part in a debate in Strasbourg, April 25, 2017
A representative of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on
Tuesday praised the Armenian government for asking legal experts from the
Strasbourg-based organization to help end its standoff with Armenia’s
Constitutional Court.
Justice Minister Rustam Badasian appealed to the Venice Commission last Thursday
as his government further delayed the conduct of a referendum on its
controversial efforts to oust seven of the court’s nine judges.
Prime Nikol Pashinian indicated two days later that the referendum, originally
scheduled for April 5, will not be held anytime soon due to the coronavirus
pandemic. Pashinian said he hopes the Venice Commission will help Yerevan find
alternatives ways of “partly or fully resolving the Constitutional Court issue.”
“The Armenian authorities have decided to request the opinion of the Venice
Commission – the Council of Europe’s body of legal experts – on possible changes
to the Constitution regarding the Constitutional Court and this is very good
news,” said Kimmo Kiljunen, a PACE co-rapporteur on Armenia.
“The suspension of the referendum due to the coronavirus, and the choice made by
the government to request this opinion and return the issue to parliament are
all the more relevant given that the Armenian authorities will now have time to
reflect on the opinion of the Venice Commission before taking further action and
informing the public,” he added in a statement.
Kiljunen and the other PACE co-rapporteur, Andrej Sircelj, expressed concern
over mounting tensions between Armenia’s political leadership and highest court
in a joint statement issued on February 6. They said “political players” in the
South Caucasus state should “refrain from actions and statements that could be
perceived as exerting pressure on the judiciary.”
They also urged the authorities in Yerevan to send their draft constitutional
amendments to the Venice Commission for examination “as soon as possible.”
Representatives of the two opposition parties represented in the Armenian
parliament similarly said that a Venice Commission opinion on the proposed
changes is essential for the legitimacy of the process. Pashinian’s political
allies countered, however, that the authorities are not obliged to consult with
the Council of Europe body.
The prime minister implicitly criticized the Venice Commission on February 20.
He said the watchdog must answer “some questions” raised by the Armenian
authorities before it can scrutinize the constitutional changes sought by them.
Pashinian has repeatedly accused Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian
and six other justices of maintaining ties to the country’s “corrupt former
regime” and impeding judicial reforms. Tovmasian and opposition figures have
dismissed these claims, saying that Pashinian is simply seeking to gain control
over the court.
IMF Approves $280 Million In Emergency Funding For Armenia
U.S. -- Newly elected International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director
Kristalina Georgieva speaks at a press conference at the IMF headquarters, in
Washington, September 25, 2019
The International Monetary Fund disbursed on Monday a $280 million emergency
loan designed to help Armenia cope with the coronavirus outbreak and mitigate
its economic consequences.
“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the tightening of global financial
conditions have disrupted Armenia’s above-trend growth and favorable economic
conditions,” the IMF said after a meeting of its Executive Board held in
Washington.
“The near-term outlook has significantly weakened, with fiscal and current
account deficits widening considerably this year,” it said. “The Fund’s
financial support will help Armenia meet these challenges, including the urgent
social and economic implications of COVID-19 pandemic.”
Yulia Ustyugova, the fund’s resident representative in Yerevan, announced the
impending release of the loan in an April 27 interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian
service.
Ustyugova said the sum includes a $248 million “stand-by arrangement” which was
allocated to the Armenian authorities in May 2019 but has not been used by them
until now. The authorities have requested additional IMF funding because of the
coronavirus crisis, she said.
The Armenian government plans to borrow this year around $540 million from
various external sources for cushioning the impact of an unfolding economic
recession in the country. Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian has said it needs
to offset a major shortfall in tax revenues and to continue financing its
ongoing efforts to stem the spread of the virus.
Earlier this month the Armenian parliament approved corresponding changes to the
2020 state budget proposed by the government. They will lead to a much larger
budget deficit than was projected before the pandemic.
“The authorities are committed to pursuing their medium-term goal of debt
sustainability once the crisis abates, and public debt is expected to decline
over the medium-term in line with Armenia’s fiscal rule, while maintaining space
for investment and social spending,” Tao Zhang, the IMF’s deputy managing
director, said in this regard.
In its World Economic Outlook released last month, the IMF forecast that the
Armenian economy will shrink by 1.5 percent this year. It warned that a
prolonged COVID-19 pandemic would lead to a sharper GDP contraction.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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