Armenian press review (February 4-10)

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The Zhamanak Newspaper comments on the address of the General Prosecutor of Armenia Gevork Kostanyan to the Russian General Prosecutor to transfer the investigation into the murders in Gyumri on January 12th to the law-enforcement agencies of Armenia. The periodical reports: “Nobody doubts that Russia’s response will depend exclusively on political factors, i.e. Putin’s decision. It seems nothing depends on Armenia in this issue, i.e. on the Armenian authorities. Speaking about Armenian society, it is not so. The question is about what the society is today. The attitude toward a possible rejection by Russia could be expressed in mass protests or in social networks. Only mass demonstrations, not only in Gyumri, like it was on January 14-15th, can turn Armenia into a significant factor. Otherwise, the request to the Russian General Prosecutor by the Armenian General Prosecutor is a show, and its director is Moscow.”

Aykakan Zhamanak reports: “Due to the events in Berdzor, there are two prejudices. First of all, there is the statement that through such violence the authorities damage themselves and set society against themselves. The problem is that the society in Armenia was set against the authorities long ago. And such violent cases provide stability of the authorities under conditions in which the majority of society dreams about a change of power. There are no examples in Armenia’s history when violence could weaken the authorities. The opposition and its activists always react wrongly to violence. The question is: what is the right reaction? At the moment we have no answer to it. The second prejudice is that when violence is directed against an opposition political force, the political force benefits from the situation, as it is being discussed and so on. Any violence negatively influences any opposition political structure, if it is not able to undertake a counterattack,” the newspaper concludes.

Evaluating a list of major taxpayers, Chorrord Ishkhantyun points out: “It seems people in Armenia are born to eat food products which are imported by Samvel Alexanyan, pay for municipal services, talk to each other by phone, smoke, and die. At least the list of top-10 major taxpayers confirms it. The top-10 includes Gazprom Armenia and Electric Power Networks of Armenia, two mobile phone companies, two fuel importing companies, two cigarette importing companies, and the Alex Grig Company of Samvel Alexanyan. It is notable that the companies rely on imports; meanwhile, politicians discuss how to tax small and medium-sized business. And everybody is concerned about the situation – all of them are fighting the 'shadow economy'. It is a pity that they don’t know where to do it,”  the author writes.

If the head of the Military Institute didn’t feel guilty, he wouldn’t resign, Zhokhovurd reports. “The former head of the Military Institute n.a. Vazgen Sarkisyan, Martin Karapetyan, told the periodical that he felt bad and, even after his resignation, it was difficult for him to talk about the brutal murder in the institute. Martin Karapetyan stated: “If I didn’t feel guilty, I wouldn’t resign. Leave me alone!” On January 29th four students of the Military Institute cruelly beat their comrade-in-arms, killed him, and hanged him, presenting the case as a suicide,”  the newspaper reports.

The drastic drop of the ruble became a serious problem for producers in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, including those in Armenia, Aykakan Zhamanak reports. “The problem is that the ruble halved in Russia, while in the countries of the EaEU it fell by 20-50%. It means Russian goods become cheaper and more competitive on the EaEU market. To restore the balance, the EaEU members should devaluate their national currencies as well through administrative measures or they should put an embargo on imports of Russian goods,” the newspaper writes.

Notwithstanding what is going on in the country, the Constitution should be blamed for everything, according to Chorrod Ishkhanutyun. “Speaking about the beating of an activist of Prosperous Armenia, Artak Khachantryan, an MP from the Dashnaktsutyun party, Artsvik Minasyan, said: “The reason for this is the Constitution. There are many illegal armed groups in Armenia, and only constitutional reforms can help to fight them.” Notwithstanding what is going on in the country, the Constitution should be blamed for everything. Everyone says that it should be changed. It seems the Constitution let illegal armed groups beat people, while the police are forbidden from fighting them,” the authors stress.

During all the years of independence, immigration from Armenia has never stopped. Zhokhovurd reports: “Still we are hoping that if Armenia became a democratic state someday, a country of justice and law, at least some of our compatriots would return to the country. On the other hand, it is obvious that those who rejected citizenship of Armenia will never come back to their homeland. The official statistics present the general number of Armenian citizens by the phrase “permanent residents.” Referring to official data of the National Statistics Service, it should be stated that in the last 14 years Armenia has lost 453 thousand citizens,” the newspaper notes.

The Armenian government is trying to agree with the Russian side on payments for imported gas in rubles. Annually, the country pays 350-400 million dollars in cash, according to Aykakan Zhamanak: “According to our information, the Premier of Armenia Ovik Abramyan and the Premier of Russia Dmitry Medvedev will conduct talks on the issue. However, the chances of shifting the payment system into rubles are minimal. Armenia can hope that at least a half of the payments will be turned into rubles. At the same time, Russia pays $200 million to Armenia for its 102nd military base. Apparently, the governments will agree that the sum will be transferred to Gazprom, while Gazprom Armenia will pay it to the Armenian side in drams. So, Armenia will pay $150-200 million for gas, and the rest of the sum will be paid in rubles. It could reduce pressure on the monetary market of the country,” the newspaper reports.