Armenian media overview from 23 to 30 of December

The focus of the Armenian press now is the completion of the process of Armenia joining the Eurasian Economic Union and the start of negotiations on a new agreement with the European Union. Armenian media also analyze the political and economic situation in the country, forecasts for the upcoming presidential elections, assess the final press conferences of ministers and wonder what has happened to the Armenian national currency the dram and why ordinary bread was enriched with iron.

Citing the "Zhamanak" newspaper's article "Association is dead, long live the Association!" : "At the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEC), which took place in Moscow, Armenia, in fact, completed the process of accession and became a member of the EAEC. Almost simultaneously, Deputy Minister of Economy Gagik Melkonian stated that Armenia has started negotiations with the European Union over a new agreement, which will include possible topics concerning membership in the EAEC, and is not just limited to the rules of the Union.

The EU said that they were waiting for Armenia to gain membership in the EAEC, to understand what Armenia can and cannot do. And now, in parallel with the final chord of the process of membership in the EAEC, Armenia claims that it has begun negotiations with the European Union over a new agreement. Thus there is a very important question, which is probably the key question to a new stage of Armenia-EU relations. Will these relationships be determined by the relationship of the EU-Russia or relations between Armenia and Russia? That is, will the new EU-Armenia relations be dictating ones or will they be obeying ones? If these relations are proactive, then even in the case of a limited or narrow start, they are very important for Armenia and can really balance the shameful decision adopted on September 3, which was concluded more than a year since December 23," Zhamanak concludes.

Zhamanak also writes about the reception organized in Moscow by Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of the completion of the process of Armenia's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, and to which the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were invited.

"Sargsyan, in fact, did a kind of 'Magarych' (a celebratory drink after a bargain in Armenia — VK) on the occasion of the accession of Armenia to the EAEC. A "Magarych", the reality of which promises numerous challenges to Armenia - in the economy, and security," and as the newspaper emphasizes: "His 'Magarych' was held in order to preserve Armenia's own power, the issue of which Serzh Sargsyan backed up in his entry speech into the EAEC. And this is really the theme of the 'Magarych' from Sargsyan, but he should make another 'Magarych' for the non-governmental forces which, in essence, backed up such decisions of Armenia."

The newspaper Hraparak writes: "Serzh Sargsyan does not spare energy and effort to prove that his "all at once" policy is possible, and he is taking further steps in this direction. On the eve of the summit in Moscow on the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia has completed the process of entry into this structure and became a member of the EAEC, and at the same time, when Serzh Sargsyan in his speech in Moscow expressed his gratitude for the fact that Armenia was adopted into the EAEC, in Armenia competent statesmen reported on the "good news" of Armenia starting negotiations with the EU on a new agreement."

The editor of "Aravot" writes: "There is the need to form the kind of team that would not be called a 'shadow government', but would take some notable actions. Take, for example, education or culture – fields whose position is not satisfactory (and, as opposed to our politicians, my opinion is that it is not a minor issue). Noting this, the political party also tells the public that there are people in the ranks of the party who have spotless reputations, have some ideas about this field and have teams that these ideas can be put into practice with. It seems to me that this way is much more productive than a race of biting rants against officials."

In Hayots Ashkhar we see: "After a rather difficult year of facing foreign political, economic, military and political, as well as internal challenges, the Armenian authorities are to meet with no less intense activity in the coming year. Although the authorities can record membership in the EAEC and maintaining relations with Europe at a high level among their assets, it is clear that the challenges in terms of foreign policy may even intensify in the context of the Russia-West confrontation."

Zhamanak, referring to the statement of the press-secretary of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Eduard Sharmazanov, that in the near future the RPA has the greatest chance of being the most progressive and influential party in Armenia, says: "Well, with pain it must be stated that in this matter the chances of the Republican Party are really great, considering what we have now as an opposition. And if the chances of the Republican Party are large, then it means that the Republic of Armenia has no chance of becoming a progressive and powerful, strong, competitive country, because the RPA and Armenia are "genetically" incompatible concepts."

The newspaper Hraparak, referring to a conference that will be held by the leader of "Prosperous Armenia" on January 20, said that this marks the beginning of a new national movement. "Tsarukyan is generally against any shocks. He moved the movement from Yerevan to rural regions and the headquarters east, today he is returning the movement to Yerevan, but in a "civilian clothes" variant to avoid abuse, calls like "Serjik, go away!" and other unintended applications demanding regime change. It can be said that on January 20 in Armenia something completely new will start, and Levon Ter-Petrosyan will need to come up with a new political science name for it," the newspaper said.

Discussing Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan was one of the central themes of a meeting between Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan held about a month ago, Haykakan Zhamanak writes, referring to its well-informed sources.

"Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan said that with high probability Seyran Ohanyan will be the candidate of the government in the next presidential elections in 2018, regardless of whethe constitutional changes are made or not. Robert Kocharian, according to our information, said that Ohanyan may be an acceptable candidate for the post of head of the country, but he did not give any guarantees that he will not be a candidate himself. But if 'Prosperous Armenia' decides to participate in the elections with another candidate, including Gagik Tsarukyan, then Robert Kocharyan would support Seyran Ohanyan.

Meanwhile, in "Prosperous Armenia", particularly its entrepreneurial wing, talks began about the fact that the scenario of the nomination of Tsarukyan as a candidate for president will be very risky because Ohanyan enlists the support of the army. The business wing of the PA only considers the nomination of Tsarukyan if he will de facto become the candidate of the government. However, if Seyran Ohanyan is nominated, the probability of such developments is very low. If the army and law enforcement agencies will consolidate around the candidacy of Seyran Ohanyan, it would be similar to the actual concentration of efforts of the entire government, which would nullify all the hopes of the head of "Prosperous Armenia" to act as both a government candidate and leader of the 'opposition'," Haykakan Zhamanak writes.

The editor of "Aravot" in his article quotes an excerpt from the speech of the head of the National Security Service Gorik Hakobyan on the occasion of the professional holiday: "some contemporary figures are once again trying to involve society in the maelstrom of the adventure, voiced by irresponsible calls for riots and police overthrow of the government." "As the names of our "modern leaders" have not been announced, each of us can imagine that it is a figure who has recently made anti-constitutional and provocative appeals. For example, I personally represent the deputy head of the police Levon Yeranosyan, who threatened to "cut the ears" and "split the heads" of his political opponents. But maybe we are talking about figures in the Republican Party, who say that their party will dominate for years to come? because this statement, of course, is unconstitutional, because, according to the Basic Law, this question is solved via elections," the editor writes, and concludes: "But one thing is clear: the criticism and warnings should be more targeted, so that we did not suspect everyone."

At the same time, "Chorrord Ishkhanutyun" writes that the National Security Council was a great burden for the state budget of Armenia: "More than 3 million drams were spent on the National Security Council's air services, that is, on employees' travels. In December alone, the SNB spent 2,122,000 drams on car repair services. In addition, they are periodically repairing elevators, and this money is also allocated from the state budget. Of course, all departments have incurred such costs, and that's fine. But in the case of the SNB, the expenditure is striking for one reason: the National Security Council was formed artificially, to meet the ambitions of the Chairman of "Rule of Law" Artur Baghdasaryan and to bring him into government. But after the resignation of Arthur Baghdasaryan, the structure is absolutely inactive," the newspaper writes.

Chorrord Ishkhanutyun, summing up the final press conference of various ministers, in which the heads of all departments in one voice said that in the past year they have registered many successes, asks the following question: "If the authorities are working for day and night 'sleeves rolled up', why is the country continuing its socioeconomic polarization, why have poverty and emigration not fallen yet? It seems that the Ministry of the Diaspora is the only one which can be proud of itself and which can in good conscience say that they have made serious progress. After all, this year the regime of Serzh Sargsyan did everything to fill up the diaspora again, and it succeeded again: Every year thousands of Armenian citizens go for permanent residence abroad."

It seemed that this year, with the return of migrant workers, the passenger flow of Armenia will increase and, as a result, the number of citizens who left the country and did not return will reduce. But, as it turned out, the depopulation of Armenia continued with renewed vigor, Chorrord Ishkhanutyun continues the theme. "In January-November, the number of Armenian citizens who left the country and did not return only by air was 21,862 people. 957,826 compatriots flew from Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan City, and of those only 938,981 returned. 18,882 citizens left the country through Shirak Airport in the city of Gyumri, and only 15,865 returned," the newspaper notes.

The Hraparak newspaper reports growing tensions between the Government and the Parliament of Armenia: "The National Assembly of Armenia has a tense atmosphere in it: the head of the unit sets his own rules and there is a confrontation between the head of government and the National Assembly. On the other hand, the prohibition of Galust Sahakyan on missing meetings has unbalanced some elite representatives of the Republican Party of Armenia to the extent that they sent a protest note to Serzh Sargsyan. And now they are all anticipating the steps to be taken by the "arbitrator", which are getting late. "It is unlikely that Serzh Sargsyan will react, it will allow them to 'eat each other,' they say in the Republican Party," the newspaper writes.

Armavia, which for some time was the only Armenian airline, declared bankruptcy more than two years ago. The Zhoghovurd newspaper gained acces to a list of the company's debts. And this list is, to say the least, impressive. "In general, Armavia owed various amounts of money to 122 individuals, mostly to its own former employees, and to 27 companies. Only the debt in dollars is now around 90 million, and a series of debts in dramas has no end in sight. As we found out, apart from those debts to individuals and companies, the "Armavia" also has outstanding tax obligations to the Republic of Armenia amounting to 31.357 billion drams and 2 million dollars," Zhoghovurd writes.

Different regions of Armenia have reported  the cash deficit of the dram. In particular, many people have complained that they cannot get their salaries through ATMs, the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak reports.

"Banks have the same situation and put it down to the dram deficit. According to our sources, all of this is due to two factors. Firstly, at the years end people got paid for November and December, and now they are trying to cash in all this to do Christmas shopping. However, since the Central Bank has recently raised the rate of compulsory redundancy dram mass from 12 to 24%, the banks had a significant portion of their funds to transfer to the Central Bank. As a result, we experienced a dram deficit. To exit from the current situation many banks were forced to to sell their foreign currency, so yesterday at the end of the day the situation began to stabilize. However, everything that happens makes us think that the financial market has not yet emerged from December's shock," Haykakan Zhamanak writes.

Armenia wants to enrich flour with iron, without thinking what people with a normal level of iron in their bodies eat, Aravot writes. "Why do you need to make much out of what is considered holy, and why don't they ask the citizens whether they like it or not? First of all, before food fortification with any elements, years-long researches are usually being conducted, which are gathering the necessary statistical data, and only on this basis is it possible for the project to begin. When and where have the experts of the Armenian Health Ministry conducted any studies that now also come to the conclusion about the need to enrich bread with some unknown micronutrients? What has caused this undue haste? Where are all the published research, if any were ever made? And the most amazing thing is that they are planning to do so with every type of flour, not with certain types. As a result, people will be deprived of the possibility of choice, and this all happens against the background of the complete exhausted credibility of the authorities. This is a big threat to the entire nation ... Obviously, it is just a nationwide experiment, which is held only in order to experience the prosperity of someone's business," Aravot concludes.