Category: 2021

                                        Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Government Hopes To Prevent Russian Gas Price Hike
September 15, 2021
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia - Deputy Prime Minister or Armenia Mher Grigorian.
The Armenian government is negotiating with Gazprom in an effort to prevent a 
further rise in the price of Russian natural gas supplied to Armenia, Deputy 
Prime Minister Mher Grigorian said on Wednesday.
“Every year we address this issue and try agree on at least keeping the price 
unchanged, rather than raising it, even though there is an insistence on the 
part of the Gazprom Group that the profit margin set by the 2013 [supply] 
contract does not satisfy them,” Grigorian told lawmakers. “But that is a 
working process, and with your permission I won’t say more because negotiations 
are underway right now.”
“I cannot say what will happen in two or three years’ time. We hope to maintain 
the same price this year,” he added during the government’s question-and-answer 
session in the Armenian parliament.
Grigorian spoke the day after Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller visited Yerevan and 
met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Very few details of the talks were made 
public.
The Russian energy giant most recently raised its gas price for Armenia by 10 
percent, to $165 per thousand cubic meters, in January 2019. Yerevan tried 
unsuccessfully to get the Russians to cut it last year, arguing that that global 
energy prices have collapsed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
International energy prices have rallied strongly this year amid renewed 
economic growth around the world. In June, Gazprom set its average gas export 
price for European countries at $240 per thousand cubic meters.
Yerevan Reacts To Azeri Hurdles For Iranian Vehicles In Armenia
September 15, 2021
        • Naira Nalbandian
        • Susan Badalian
An Azerbaijani checkpoint set up at on the main road conneting Armeia to Iran, 
September 14, 2021
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reacted cautiously on Wednesday to Baku’s 
decision to check and tax Iranian vehicles using a strategic road that passes 
through border areas along southeastern Armenia controversially handed over to 
Azerbaijan after last year’s war.
Pashinian suggested that the move is aimed at pressuring Yerevan to open a 
transport corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave 
through Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province. But he stopped short of calling 
it illegal or demanding an end to what many regard as a serious blow to 
Armenia’s trade and transport links with Iran.
Azerbaijan gained control of a 21-kilometer section of the main Armenian highway 
leading to the Iranian border in December after Pashinian ordered Armenian army 
units and local militias to pull out of the surrounding area. He said it is 
located on the Azerbaijani side of Armenia’s Soviet-era border with Azerbaijan.
The order came weeks after a Russian-brokered ceasefire stopped the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinian and other government 
officials assured critics at the time that travellers and cargos will continue 
to pass through the road section without any problems.
Azerbaijani forces set up a checkpoint there on Sunday to start stopping Iranian 
trucks and buses, checking their drivers’ documents and cargos, and demanding 
cash payments from them. The authorities in Baku said they are enforcing an 
Azerbaijani law that requires foreign vehicles entering the country to pay road 
and transit fees.
An RFE/RL correspondent witnessed on Wednesday the checkpoint manned by armed 
and masked Azerbaijani servicemen. A roadblock set up by them caused a traffic 
jam along the two-lane highway. Dozens of Iranian trucks were parked on the 
roadside.
“They demanded $260 from me but I didn’t have it,” one Iranian driver bound for 
Yerevan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “They told me to pay up on my way back. 
I told my employer to send me the money so that I can return to Iran.”
Two other Iranian truckers were reportedly detained at the checkpoint later in 
the day. The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry accused them of “illegal entry into 
Azerbaijani territory,” an apparent reference to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Earlier this year, Baku demanded that Iranian trucks stop transporting cargos to 
and from Karabakh without its permission.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian at a session of the Natioanal Assembly, 
August 26, 2021.
In what was the Armenian government’s first public reaction to the road checks, 
Pashinian said that Baku seems to be retaliating against Yerevan’s refusal to 
open the transport corridor sought by it.
“While acknowledging that regional transport links must be opened, Armenia makes 
clear that foreign cargos crossing into Armenian territory, including from 
Azerbaijan’s western regions on their way to the Nakhichevan Autonomous 
Republic, must pass through passport, customs and other checkpoints,” he said.
Speaking in the Armenian parliament, Pashinian also defended the Armenian troop 
withdrawal from the road section running along Syunik’s border areas. He said he 
made the decision, condemned by the Armenian opposition as illegal and 
dangerous, to prevent a “fresh military escalation” in the Karabakh conflict 
zone.
Opposition lawmakers continued to accuse Pashinian’s government of jeopardizing 
national security.
“Until when will the Azerbaijanis stay in that area and what steps are you 
taking?” one of them, Hripsime Stambulian, asked during the government’s 
question-and-answer session in the National Assembly.
“The Foreign Ministry is in constant touch with our Iranian partners,” replied 
Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikian. “We are trying to stabilize the situation 
with joint efforts.”
Papikian stressed the importance of the ongoing reconstruction of an alternative 
Syunik road bypassing the Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone. He said its 
completion will “more or less” solve the problem.
Kocharian Demands More Active Efforts From Political Allies
September 15, 2021
        • Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian meets with senior members of ihs 
opposition Hayastan alliance, Yerevan, September 14, 2021.
Former President Robert Kocharian has told senior members of his opposition 
Hayastan alliance to intensify its political activities and public outreach 
efforts.
Kocharian met with them late on Tuesday to discuss recent political developments 
and lingering challenges facing Armenia. The meeting reportedly brought together 
parliament deputies affiliated with Hayastan and other activists of the 
country’s leading opposition force.
A Hayastan statement on the meeting issued on Wednesday said Kocharian 
instructed them to “increase public activity at this moment fateful for the 
country” and “further step up contacts between the Alliance and the public.” It 
said he also told them to set up “even more efficient organizational structures 
in order to give new impetus to the Alliance’s activities.”
“Members of the Alliance reaffirmed their aim: to achieve as soon as possible 
the ouster of the government wrecking Armenia and leading it to destruction,” 
added the statement. It did not give other details.
Seyran Ohanian, Hayastan’s parliamentary leader, said Kocharian wants his 
political allies to first and foremost improve communication with Armenians 
unhappy with the country’s current leadership. The opposition bloc will at the 
same time remain ready to stage anti-government street protests, he said.
“If the current authorities take actions aimed at the fall of the Republic of 
Armenia and loss of its sovereignty then we will use all tools at our disposal … 
to prevent that,” Ohanian told reporters.
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian and senior members of his Hayastan 
(Armenia) bloc hold an election campaign rally in Yerevan's Republic Square, 
June 18, 2021.
Hayastan won almost 22 percent of the vote and finished second in the June 20 
parliamentary elections, according to their official results challenged by it 
court.
Like other opposition groups, Kocharian’s bloc holds Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian responsible for Armenia’s defeat in last year’s war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh. It also accuses Pashinian’s administration of failing to 
adequately deal with the country’s post-war security challenges.
Hayastan lawmakers repeated these accusations last month during the opening 
sessions of the new Armenian parliament marred by bitter verbal exchanges with 
pro-government deputies and even violent incidents.
Arusyak Julhakian, a deputy representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, 
claimed on Wednesday that the ex-president, who had ruled Armenia from 
1998-2008, is dissatisfied with Hayastan’s work in the National Assembly. She 
also dismissed the bloc’s fresh pledges to keep fighting for regime change, 
saying that “the public doesn’t trust them.”
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
 

                                        Thursday, September 16, 2021
Azeri Roadblock No Big Deal, Says Armenian Minister
September 16, 2021
        • Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian attends a cabinet meeting in 
Yerevan, January 14, 2021.
Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian downplayed on Thursday the significance of a 
roadblock which Azerbaijan has set up on the main highway connecting Armenia 
with Iran to check and tax Iranian vehicles.
A 21-section of the highway passes through Armenian-Azerbaijani border areas 
along Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province also bordering Iran. The Armenian 
government controversially ceded it to Azerbaijan following last year’s war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani officers manning a checkpoint set up there on Sunday continued to 
demand hefty payments from Iranian truck drivers stopped by them. Many of those 
drivers remained reluctant to pay what Baku calls road taxes.
More than a hundred Iranian trucks transporting cargos to and from Armenia were 
reportedly stranded at the road section on Thursday.
Analysts in Yerevan regard the Azerbaijani roadblock as a serious blow to 
Armenia’s trade and wider transport links with Iran. They also point out that 
roughly one-third of Armenia’s foreign trade is carried out through the Islamic 
Republic.
Kerobian dismissed these concerns and accused the Armenian media of needlessly 
“dramatizing” the situation.
“I know the composition of trade with Iran very well and don’t think that there 
is a big problem,” he told reporters. “Of course there has emerged an obstacle. 
But I am confident that this obstacle will be overcome in the very near future.”
Speaking after attending a weekly session of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s 
government, the minister pointed to the ongoing reconstruction of an alternative 
Syunik road bypassing the Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone.
Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikian told other journalists on Thursday that the 
roadwork will not be complete before next spring. It remained unclear what other 
solutions, if any, the government might try to find until then.
Pashinian suggested on Wednesday that Baku’s actions are aimed at pressuring 
Yerevan to open a transport corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its 
Nakhichevan exclave through Syunik. But he stopped short of condemning the road 
checks or demanding an end to them.
Meanwhile, it emerged that Iran’s ambassador to Azerbaijan met with a senior 
aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday for the second time in 
three days. Azerbaijani news agencies reported that the meeting focused on the 
road crisis.
The Iranian ambassador in Yerevan, Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri, met with Armenian 
parliament speaker Alen Simonian on Thursday. A statement by the parliament’s 
press office said the two men discussed, among other things, “efforts to resolve 
the situation” on the Armenia-Iran highway. It did not elaborate.
Head Of New Armenian Anti-Corruption Body Appointed
September 16, 2021
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- The head of the Special Investigation Service, Sasun Khachatrian, 
holds a press conference in Yerevan, September 11, 2018.
The Armenian government on Thursday appointed a long-serving senior 
law-enforcement official as head of a newly established agency tasked with 
investigating corruption cases.
The Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) will inherit most of its powers from 
divisions of four Armenian law-enforcement bodies that have long prosecuted 
corruption-related crimes. One of them, the Special Investigative Service (SIS), 
will be dissolved after the ACC starts operating in full next year.
The ACC will be headed by Sasun Khachatrian, the SIS chief until now. He was 
nominated for the post by a government commission that declared him the winner 
of a job contest organized by it.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting in Yerevan immediately after his appointment, 
Khachatrian expressed confidence that the new agency will increase the 
efficiency of the government’s fight against corruption. He said the ACC will 
start operating by the end of October and will finally take shape “in the course 
of next year.”
Khachatrian, 44, worked as a senior prosecutor under Armenia’s former 
governments and was appointed as SIS chief shortly after Nikol Pashinian came to 
power in 2018. Pashinian has repeatedly claimed to have eliminated “systemic 
corruption” in Armenia since then.
The SIS and other law-enforcement agencies have launched dozens of high-profile 
corruption investigations mainly targeting former senior state officials, 
including ex-Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian.
Supporters of Kocharian and Sarkisian, who now lead major opposition alliances, 
as well as other critics of Pashinian say that most of those corruption cases 
are based on dubious charges and aimed at boosting the prime minister’s 
popularity, rather than the rule of law. They have accused Khachatrian of acting 
on Pashinian’s orders.
The outgoing SIS chief again denied executing such orders earlier this week.
Cash-Strapped Government Limits Free Healthcare In Armenia
September 16, 2021
        • Narine Ghalechian
Armenia - A newly built hospital in Vanadzor, November 10, 2018.
Citing a lack of public funds, the Armenian government has largely stopped 
paying for major medical services provided by hospitals to a large part of the 
country’s population.
Armenia does not have a national system of health insurance and its citizens 
have to pay for surgeries and other treatment at not only private but also 
state-run hospitals.
The current and previous governments have paid medical bills of various 
categories of the population, notably young children and socially vulnerable 
patients, through funds allocated to the hospitals. Some 1.3 million Armenians 
are eligible for such assistance.
Armenian media outlets have reported in recent weeks, that they are now 
increasingly denied free treatment on the grounds that hospitals have already 
run out of government money allocated for this year. The Ministry of Health has 
effectively confirmed that, citing a major increase in the number of people 
seeking free surgeries and other essential treatment.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesian said on Wednesday that the hospitals must now 
draw up waiting lists of patients that need to be operated on or undergo 
expensive medical examinations.
One woman, who did not want to be identified, claimed to have been told by a 
hospital that it can no longer treat her underage child suffering from a serious 
chronic disease for free until December 2022.
“What if my child’s health condition deteriorates during that time?” she told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. She said she cannot afford to pay around 100,000 
drams ($200) for every visit to hospital doctors.
An opposition lawmaker, Aregnaz Manukian, said she has received similar 
complaints from many other citizens. She raised the matter with Avanesian during 
the government’s question-and-answer in the parliament on Wednesday.
“You must find budgetary funds to fully solve the problem,” Manukian told the 
health minister before asking: “Is the government taking steps to rectify this 
disgraceful situation?”
Avanesian replied that people in need of urgent medical aid will continue to 
enjoy free healthcare. She said the government is also continuing to cover the 
cost of cancer surgeries and other procedures and has allocated 550 million 
drams ($1.1 million) for that purpose.
“Also, an additional 2 billion drams has been allocated for medical aid provided 
to military personnel and members of their families,” added the minister.
One woman suffering from cancer said, however, that a Yerevan hospital has told 
her that she will have to pay for her next course of chemotherapy.
“That should be followed by surgery, but I don’t know whether or not it will be 
free,” said the woman, who also spoke with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on the 
condition of anonymity for fear of upsetting the hospital management.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.