The draft Electoral Code, as well as the political and economic situation in the country are in the focus of the Armenian media. The press writes about what caused a spectacular increase in economic activity noted by the Armenian National Statistical Service, guesses how much Russia will be able to reduce the tariffs for gas for the country, and wonders why employees of the Moscow airports took such a keen interest in Armenian citizens.
The Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper writes: "The government seems to be doing everything in order to organize broad social and political debates around the draft of the new Electoral Code. But, according to the head of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, Vahram Baghdasaryan, they will work only with those forces which will notice positive things the draft of the new Electoral Code in addition to negative." "Imagine that some country's opposition is demanding the abolition of the death penalty. The authorities say it is impossible, but a new procedure will be developed: the executioner will be good-looking, neatly dressed and clean-shaven, will have a good haircut, his axe will be multi-colored, decorated with ribbons, and before the execution the convict will offered at least four types of coffee. So no one will dare to say that this procedure is not positive," the newspaper says ironically, drawing parallels with the situation.
The Chorrord Ishkhanutyun newspaper writes: "Tension is rising in the domestic political sphere in Armenia. And it is quite clear. The pre-election cycle has begun. Opposition political forces are struggling in two parallel planes. Firstly, they want to have a more or less tolerable Electoral Code. Secondly, they are trying to convince the public that they are the real opposition. Against this backdrop a quite remarkable discussion is taking place between the deputies of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan and Samvel Alexanyan. A member of the opposition faction speaks about fraud in a pro-government deputy's business, that is, accuses him of harboring tax from the state. The pro-government deputy responses to him with such an accusation: "Nikol, you are our brother," that is, Nikol Pashinyan tells Samvel Alexanyan: "You are a criminal," And the latter says, "You're a criminal too". So, it turns out that to be in power means to commit a crime for harboring millions from the state," the publication concludes.
Ayuts Ashkhar reports about a 'commotion' in the ranks of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP): "Many people recognize that this is not just a bad party, it's not even a party. But which category does it belong to, with whom is it in cahoots and what ideals did it betray? It raises these questions. Answers to these questions are likely to be given, but later, as currently the PAP leadership is busy paying off scores with the dissidents within the party."
One of the most actively discussed topics in recent days was the statement by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs during the reign of Robert Kocharyan, Vardan Oskanyan, on the establishment of a new political party, the Chorrord Ishkhanutyun newspaper writes.
"According to our sources, Oskanyan wants to create a party, but the creation of a political force from the ground is difficult, in addition, it takes a long time in terms of the preparation of documents and solving many other technical issues. And now, according to some reports, an easier option is being discussed: to reach an agreement with some fictitiously acting 'one man party' and rename it, because it is easier from a technical point of view and also makes it possible to be ready for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Our sources do not rule out that it could be Garnik Isagulian's 'National Security Party'. It is no coincidence that Oskanyan, talking about the new party, doesn't disclose its name," the author of the publication notes.
Once again, the Armenian National Congress (ANC) is creating a 4+4+4 format for secret negotiations with the authorities in order to reach an agreement on some issues, which will include four representatives from the government, opposition and civil society, the Zhamanak newspaper writes.
"The head of the parliamentary faction of the ANC, Levon Zurabyan, yesterday invited the head of the Armenian government staff, David Harutiunyan, to negotiate on the new draft Electoral Code in this format, which the latter did not exclude. It seems that the authorities don't mind talking with the ANC separately and agree with it," the newspaper concludes.
"Gas talks will have positive results for Armenia, as gas tariffs will further decrease in Armenia due to oil prices. According to my calculations, the reduction will be about 15-20%, taking into account the decline in oil prices. However, it is important to understand how the price of gas changes at the border,’’ the founder and CEO of the national energy security Fund of Russia Konstantin Simonov said, referring to the ongoing Armenian-Russian negotiations on the reduction of gas tariffs," the 168 Zham reports. "According to him, the issue was also discussed at the meeting between Sargsyan and Putin. Responding to the question about clarity on this issue during the scheduled Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Yerevan April, Simonov said that we couldn’t exclude this: "I'm not familiar with the agenda of the meeting, but I am sure that the heads of the governments will pay attention to this issue attention,’’ the newspaper cites him as saying.
The Haykakan Zhamanak reports: "The National Statistical Service (NSS) of Armenia has recently summed up and published the main socio-economic indicators identified in January and February of this year. The NSS recorded impressive growth again practically in all branches. In particular, the rate of the economic activity increased by 4.7% in comparison with the same period of the last year. The National Statistics Service recorded almost double-digit growth in the industry – 9.9%. Almost the same amount of growth in the service sector – 9.8%. By the way, the growth was also registered the group 'Culture, entertainment and leisure'.
The head of the IMF mission in Armenia Mark Horton stated during a press conference that according to their researches the increase in this group is due to a high attendance at the casino,’’ the newspaper reports.
The Zhamanak reports: "The official statistics of Armenia recorded that the economic activity in January-February increased by 4.7%. It is obvious that the sense of humor or imagination of the National Statistical Service also improved in Armenia... This is equivalent to the situation when a family with zero budget begins to show economic activity and get five instead of two jars of stewed fruits or tinned food out of the cellar in order to show economic activity, but there is no escaping the fact that the family devastates its own cellar,’’ the author sums up.
"On March 21st, newly appointed Minister of Energy Levon Yolyan made a strange proposal during the meeting of former employees of the Nairit factory. Firstly, he made it clear that former employees of the plant should not have relied on the government, and called for their own efforts to join the restart process of the plant. In particular, by proposing to find alternative ways in the implementation of caoutchouc and finding foreign investors,’’ the Hraparak reports.
"He changed the previous decision and in the working group that discussed further the fate of the plant and also included five employees: Aragehetsik Kareyan, Karen Israelyan, Shavarsh Zargaryan, Gagik Avetisian and Armen Demirchyan. The company doesn’t work since April 2010,’’ the newspaper reminds.
"All those Armenian citizens who travel abroad in transit through any airport in Moscow, find themselves in a rather unpleasant situation," the Zhoghovurd reports, recalling that the edition periodically receives calls that Moscow airport employees begin to carefully examine citizens of the Republic of Armenia why they travel to one or another European country, why flew there and how many time they spent there if they come back.
"We should note that in this case we mean not only citizens of Armenia who arrive in the capital of Russia. From a legal point of view, if a passenger arrives in Moscow with the help of a transit without crossing the border of the Russian Federation he remains in the so-called "sterile" zone up to the moment of his departure. Perhaps transit passengers aren’t subjected to such detailed questioning about purpose of their trip in any country of the world. Moreover, the passenger cannot answer the majority of these questions. It is not their business, because he is not a citizen of the country that interrogates him and he isn’t going to stay there. A few days earlier Zhoghovurd sent a letter about such a treatment in respect of Armenian citizens to the Russian embassy in Armenia, but we still haven’t received a reply,’’ the author of the publication reports.
The Haykakan Zhamanak reports: "according to our information, warehouses are already filled with imported, but not cleared goods by the customs that belong to small and medium-sized businesses. A large number of goods are in warehouses on the territory of Iran. Earlier we reported that the clearance of goods stopped through the so-called ‘‘cargo’’ after the division of the State Committee of State Revenues from the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Finance," the newspaper explains the situation.
