Levon Ter-Petrosyan predicts ‘capital overhaul’ if opposition wins elections

Babken Chilingarian
Panorama, Armenia
Mar 14 2026

Former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan believes the country could undergo a major transformation if the opposition wins the upcoming elections.

“I believe if the opposition secures victory in the upcoming elections, a true capital overhaul will take place in the country,” Ter-Petrosyan said in a message addressed to participants of the 5th Congress of the Armenian National Congress.

The message was read aloud during the congress by Avetis Avagyan, a board member of the party.

In his address, Ter-Petrosyan wished the congress participants success and productive work, expressing hope that they would achieve the desired outcome in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. He also commended their efforts to form alliances ahead of the vote.

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Armenian economist warns consumption-driven economy fuels inflation, poverty

Hovhannisian John
Panorama, Armenia
Mar 14 2026

Armenia’s heavy reliance on consumer spending is driving inflation and poverty rather than sustainable growth, economist Mikayel Melkumyan warned at a policy forum in Yerevan.

Speaking at a debate hosted by the “New Project: Economic Wave” initiative on Saturday, Melkumyan, a professor of economics, said more than 90% of Armenia’s GDP is tied to consumption. “An economy built almost entirely on consumption cannot deliver development,” he said. “This model inevitably fuels inflation and poverty, no matter how much wages or pensions are raised.”

Melkumyan unveiled a 10-point plan aimed at rebalancing the economy toward investment and production. The proposals include creation of 10 tax-free industrial zones across Armenia’s regions, raising the minimum wage from 75,000 drams to 120,000 drams within two years, launching a streamlined “one-stop” program to attract investors, indexing pensions and salaries ahead of inflation, cutting turnover tax for small and medium enterprises to 1%, reducing gas and electricity tariffs by 10%, halving property tax rates, granting loan amnesty on penalties for debts up to 3 million drams, building cold storage, packaging, and warehousing facilities in every region and making higher education free of charge.

He stressed the need for industrial development outside the capital. “We need to study the state of enterprises in the regions, take stock and give businesses the tools to operate with industrial mortgages. It is time to move activity out of Yerevan and build up the regions,” Melkumyan said.

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Pashinyan accused of fighting ‘Karapetyan’s image’ as court extends his house

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia
Mar 14 2026

Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court has extended by one month the house arrest of businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Strong Armenia party.

Party council member Narek Karapetyan denounced the decision, alleging that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was seeking to compete “only against Karapetyan’s image” in the upcoming elections, describing the government’s approach as “fighting against a shadow”.

“But despite this, he will lose even this fight,” Karapetyan said, promising that the party would soon unveil its next steps. He insisted that “in three months, Samvel Karapetyan will be Armenia’s prime minister”.

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Armenian MP warns government pressure increasing ahead of June 7 elections

Arsine Chaltikian
Panorama, Armenia
Mar 14 2026

Armenian opposition lawmaker Tigran Abrahamyan said on Saturday that government pressure on political figures and public personalities had intensified ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections, warning that the effects of these measures would become more visible in the coming period.

“Because of the use of the authorities’ repressive mechanisms, there are currently not only political prisoners in detention facilities, but also dozens of individuals under house arrest, administrative supervision, travel restrictions, or bail conditions,” he wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

The Pativ Unem faction MP added that many others were being drawn into lengthy court proceedings.

According to Abrahamyan, the strategy was not newly introduced but had been consistently applied against figures and media personalities whose activities the authorities consider politically threatening.

“The government pressure has undergone transformations ahead of June 7, and its wave and impact will become apparent in the near future,” he wrote.

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Economist warns of ‘financial time bomb’ in Armenia’s banking system

Andranik Taslakhchian
Panorama, Armenia
Mar 14 2026

Economist Aghasi Tavadyan warned that a “major financial time bomb” has already been planted in Armenia’s banking system due to a surge of money flowing into banks and the rapid expansion of lending.

Speaking at the panel discussion “Proposal for Armenia: A New Economic Policy” organized by the New Project: Economic Wave initiative on Saturday, Tavadyan said the influx of funds forced banks to deploy the money somewhere in the economy, primarily by issuing more loans.

“As a large volume of money entered the banking system, banks had to put it to work somewhere,” Tavadyan said. “They have done so largely by expanding lending.”

According to data he presented, the share of mortgage loans in Armenia’s total loan portfolio has risen sharply over the past decade and a half. In 2008, mortgages accounted for just 8% of the portfolio. Today they make up about 24%,marking a threefold increase.

Consumer loans remain the largest category and continue to grow, he said. Tavadyan added that roughly 13% of borrowers who have taken out consumer loans are already considered insolvent.

He also pointed to the scale of financial distress among borrowers. Around 300,000 people, roughly one in six members of Armenia’s working-age population, are listed in the banking system’s credit blacklist, he said.

“That is an enormous figure and a serious problem,” Tavadyan said.

The economist also described Armenia’s real estate market as a major area of concern. He noted that 38% of the country’s gross domestic product has been generated by the financial sector, real estate and construction combined.

According to Tavadyan, much of the capital that entered the banking system ultimately flowed into the property market. Demand had previously been driven in part by the arrival of Russian nationals in Armenia and by the forced displacement of Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

But he said recent trends suggest the situation may be reversing.

“We are now seeing the opposite picture,” Tavadyan said. “People are leaving Armenia and emigrating. Liquidity problems are already emerging in this market.”

Over the past year, he added, property prices in Yerevan’s Kentron and Arabkir districts have stopped rising and, according to available data, have even begun to decline.

Tavadyan also warned that international developments could amplify the risks. He pointed to instability in Dubai’s financial and real estate markets following the recent attack on Iran, noting that capital outflows, falling prices and potential corporate bankruptcies there could trigger wider global economic turbulence.

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Sonia Shiragian’s un[real] visit to Armenia

Emil Lazarian
MediaMax, Armenia
Mar 14 2026

In December, I “unearthed” the article “Visit to Armenia,” published in The New Yorker in 1963. At the time, I hadn’t read it in its entirety, but I felt it was interesting and sent it for translation.

This week I finally found the time to read the translation – the day after writing this bittersweet column. I had barely gone through a few paragraphs when tears came to my eyes. Sonia Shiragian’s story was so beautiful and moving, so full of love for her father and his friends living in 1930s New York. Maria Sadoyan has translated it in such a way that you simply cannot believe the text was not originally written in Armenian. 

We read Sonia Shiragian’s story in today’s Armenia – an Armenia that Pashinyan calls “real” and does not hide the fact that he has launched an uncompromising struggle against memory. Sonia writes about what Armenians living in New York and dreaming of Armenia felt about a hundred years ago:

My father was not religious, but in speaking of Armenia he used the word “paradise” often. There were two paradises. One was a spot in the heavens above us with which the ancestral homeland could favorably be compared; the other, even more remote-I could, after all, see the sky-was Armenia itself. The two pictures blended in my imagination. Paradise descended to earth, and Armenia became a hallowed place on the roof of the world. There Mount Ararat-a lustrous, fragrant, green gold at its base-reached up so high into the heavenly blue that its peak was always covered by the whitest, purest snow. Noah’s ark had come to rest upon that peak, and there life had started all over again-the animals had marched down the mountain, the people had built fires and danced around Lake Sevan. 

What would those people do if they knew that a hundred years later the mention and depiction of Mount Ararat in the independent Armenia they longed for would become a problem?

I finished reading, wiped away my tears, and began looking for photos for the material. And then I was stunned: it turned out that Sonia Shiragian was the daughter of Arshavir Shiragian, a participant in Operation Nemesis. The very man about whom our Gohar Nalbandyan wrote an article two years ago for her Special Case series – “The most agile ‘fidget’ of Nemesis, Arshavir Shiragian.”

Even back then, looking at Arshavir’s photographs, I thought that the man who executed Jemal Azmi embodied Armenian nobility. And that article mentioned that Arshavir’s daughter had written a moving piece about her father for The New Yorker in the 1960s. Thus, the circle is closed.

Read Sonia Shiragian’s story. Read it and understand that memory and dreams can be killed only if you are willing to put up with it. 

I am more than certain that if Nikol Pashinyan and his teammates read this column, they will first grin, then assume a serious _expression_ and say: “These are emotions, and peace must be built cold-bloodedly.” And I will respond that it is emotions that create states and it is emotions that help states straighten their backs. Study history instead of fighting against it. 

Ara Tadevosyan is the director of Mediamax

https://mediamax.am/en/column/121671/

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Verelq: Armenian woman is unique. Gagik Tsarukyan

David Nargizian

During the women’s month, I visited and congratulated our hardworking women, highly appreciating their great contribution, dedication and years of responsible work. Gagik Tsarukyan wrote about this on his Facebook page.


“I can say with confidence that the Armenian woman is unique. He is a great force that creates, maintains and strengthens a family, a reliable friend of life and an irreplaceable support.


May God protect you all, and may you always be by our side, strong, dignified and happy,” he wrote.


Details in the video

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The main goal is to establish real peace. Arman Tatoyan

Jhanna Virabian
Photo from Arman Tatoyan’s Facebook page

Arman Tatoyan, head of the “Wings of Unity” political initiative, presented the main provisions of his program, announcing his intention to run for the position of the country’s prime minister. In his speech, he emphasized that the main goal is the establishment of real peace, which is possible only in the conditions of a state capable of defending itself with its own forces, and not in the case of dependence on the will of external forces.


Evaluating the internal political situation, Tatoyan criticized both the current authorities and the former leaders of the country. According to him, the current government feeds on the mistakes of the past, and the society no longer connects the future of the country with any of them. As a counterweight to the “sin — accept — surrender” formula, the leader of the initiative offers the concept of “mistakes — lessons — revival.” He also called to abandon the long-term practice of choosing between extremes, stressing the need for simultaneous development of security and democracy, a powerful army and a free economy.


Referring to the topic of the amendment of the Constitution, Arman Tatoyan noted that the problem is not in the document, but in not preserving it. He categorically opposed adapting the Mother Law to the requirements of one person or foreign countries. In the field of foreign policy, the initiative promises to expand military cooperation with both Eastern and Western partners, including France and the United States. A key role is assigned to the Diaspora. it is planned to use modern technologies and artificial intelligence to turn Armenia into a think tank of the South Caucasus.


According to the presented program, the internal policy will focus on creating equal opportunities, not on the formal fight against oligarchy, as well as ensuring the inevitability of responsibility for corruption. In the field of urban development, the principle of complex development will be introduced, where the construction of residential buildings will be strictly interrelated with the creation of infrastructure: schools, parks and roads. In addition, Tatoyan promised to close the illegal quarries, to start the real design and construction of the new Yerevan metro stations, as well as to return Armenian history to the school curriculum.


At the end of the speech, the leader of “Unity Wings” referred to the rights of Artsakh Armenians, promising to consistently advance the issue of their dignified life and safe return. Speaking about the upcoming elections, Tatoyan emphasized that, unlike those candidates who indirectly enjoy the support of different geopolitical centers: Russia, the USA, Europe or Azerbaijan, he is running exclusively as a candidate for Armenia and will be guided only by national interests.

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European integration and risks. Pashinyan’s speech in the Council of Europe and Moscow’s position

Kalantarian Kevo
Photo: primeminister.am

The RA Prime Minister is going to make an important speech in the European Parliament at the start of the pre-election period. While the government accelerates rapprochement with the West and the peace process, experts and the Russian side warn about the economic and geopolitical risks of this strategic turn.


It is expected that on March 11, the head of the RA government, Nikol Pashinyan, will address the deputies of the European Parliament with a speech. According to the official website of the European structure, this visit is of particular importance ahead of the parliamentary elections to be held in Armenia on June 7, 2026. Brussels expects that the results of the vote will determine the future of the rapidly developing relations between Yerevan and the EU, as well as affect the peace process with Azerbaijan.


European diplomats emphasize the commitment of the Armenian authorities to achieve lasting peace, to regulate the dialogue with Turkey and to move towards possible membership in the European Union. Negotiations on visa liberalization and preparations for the bilateral summit scheduled for May 5 are practical steps in this direction. For Nikol Pashinyan, this will be the second speech from the European podium, after the 2023 visit.


Nevertheless, Yerevan’s pro-European vector causes not only political optimism, but also serious criticism. Analysts point to the structural vulnerability of the Armenian economy, which is historically and logistically deeply integrated into the Eurasian Economic Union. Russia remains the main market for the sale of Armenian agricultural products and light industry products, for which it will be extremely difficult to compete under strict European regulations. Experts warn that a sharp severing of traditional ties could lead to an economic shock, a jump in inflation and a loss of re-export earnings.


In addition, skeptics point out that Europe provides diplomatic support to Armenia, such as a civilian observer mission stationed on the border, but does not provide strong military security guarantees, which creates risks of a security vacuum in the volatile region.


This policy causes special tension in bilateral relations with Russia. Moscow openly declares the incompatibility of Yerevan’s new ambitions and traditional alliance relations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has repeatedly emphasized that the transition to the standards of the European Union legally and technically contradicts the EAEU membership.


The Russian side does not see any benefit in the presence of European observers on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, assessing it as an attempt by the EU to push out the Russian mediation from the South Caucasus and bring the region into confrontation with NATO. Moscow warns that the accelerated rapprochement with Brussels will inevitably have a negative impact on the entire complex of Russian-Armenian relations, from the economic to the defense sphere.

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The Prosecutor’s Office returned 5.4 billion drams worth of assets to the state in 2025. cloud

Khondkarian Raffi
Photo: RA General Prosecutor’s Office

More than 14 million dollars in real estate and funds have already been returned to the state budget of Armenia as part of a large-scale confiscation process of properties of illegal origin. The General Prosecutor’s Office of the country summarized the results of the profile department’s work in 2025 and published the statistics recorded since the beginning of the application of this legal mechanism.


The expanded session of the board of the department was held on March 7, 2026, RA Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan with the presidency. Deputy Prosecutor General acted as the main speaker Edgar Arsenyan, which presented in detail the previous year’s activities of the Department for confiscation of property of illegal origin. According to him, only during 2025, 157 studies were initiated, based on which 42 lawsuits were submitted to court.


With the lawsuits that are currently being examined, the supervisory body demands the confiscation of 230 immovable and 68 movable properties in favor of the state, as well as participation in 76 legal entities. The total value of claims submitted during the year is close to 36 billion drams. Moreover, during the past year, one reconciliation agreement was successfully concluded, as a result of which almost 69 million drams were transferred to the state treasury.


Evaluating the general picture recorded since the establishment of the profile department in the fall of 2020, the representatives of the prosecutor’s office voiced unprecedented indicators. As of March 1, 2026, 166 lawsuits with a total value of more than 612 billion drams are being examined in the courts. The state claims to return 1568 immovable properties and 356 vehicles. The department emphasizes that the submitted financial claims have a steady growth trend, as the process of evaluating the market value of a number of assets and corporate shares is still ongoing.


The practical results of the five-year work of the confiscation mechanism are expressed in the assets actually returned to the state. As of today, nine immovable properties and two vehicles have been handed over to the state based on one legal judgment and nine settlement agreements. The total value of already confiscated property and funds is about 5.45 billion drams, which is equivalent to about 14.46 million US dollars.

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