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October 6, 2003 |
Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanian states that Turkey is “unlikely to reopen”
its land border with Armenian in the coming months despite the “ongoing
thaw in relations” between the two neighboring states, adding that
Turkish officials are gradually separating their relations with Armenia
from the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The foreign minister’s comments
come a week after his second meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul in the past five months. Oskanian notes that Turkey is
seeking to improve its relations with Armenia, mainly as step to please
the United States, and reveals that both Armenian and Turkish officials
have been engaged in a series of private talks to discuss the possible
lifting of the Turkish blockade of the Armenian border prior to any
possible extension of diplomatic relations. He further adds that Turkey
needs a normalization of trade relations as much as Armenia. In contrast
to the foreign minister, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian has recently
stated that he sees the “likelihood of the reopening of the Turkish-Armenian
border” as considerable, and has argued that an open border with Turkey
would benefit Armenia's economy by reducing the disproportionately
high transportation costs in its external trade. |
| October
7, 2003 |
In
comments during a press conference in Kiev, Armenian Defense Minister
Serzh Sarkisian announces that Yerevan is interested in purchasing
military equipment and ammunitions from Ukraine. The defense minister’s
comments follow a meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevgeni
Marchuk in Kiev. Sarkisian explains that without any significant stores
of ammunition or arms depots, Armenia needs strategic supplies of
ammunition and equipment to ensure the combat readiness of its armed
forces. Additional talks are also held on the possible training of
Armenian officers at Ukraine’s Kamenets-Podolsk Military Institute. |
| October
9, 2003 |
Parliament
approves a bill establishing alternative military service that would
require conscientious objectors to spend three years inside military
units performing non-combat-related duties. The objectors would also
be subsequently “barred for life” from holding any position with the
police or the judiciary. |
|
October 13-14, 2003 |
The
Armenian National Commission on Television and Radio rejects, for
the third time, a bid by the independent television station A1+ for
a new frequency that would have enabled it to resume broadcasting.
The A1+ station was forced from the air in April 2002 after losing
a tender for the frequency on which it had been broadcasting, with
subsequent tender bids repeatedly rejected. In a statement justifying
the latest decision, the commission rules that A1+ submitted inaccurate
data concerning its intellectual-property and financial assets. The
move triggers a number of critical media reports charging the commission
with assisting the authorities in their effort to curtail opposition
or independent press in the country. |
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October 17, 2003 |
Thousands
of people attend an opposition rally in Yerevan with leading members
of the opposition Artarutiun (Justice) bloc renew their call for a
referendum of confidence in President Robert Kocharian proposed by
the Constitutional Court last April, which was forcefully rejected
by Kocharian at the time. People's Party of Armenia Chairman and defeated
presidential candidate Stepan Demirchian declares to the rally that
a referendum would give Kocharian the legitimacy that he currently
lacks because the presidential election outcome was falsified. Former
Prime Minister and Artarutiun leader Aram Sarkisian predicts that
the next opposition rally will succeed in forcing Kocharian to step
down. |
|
October 19-20, 2003 |
The
parliamentary Audit Chamber issues an investigatory report highlighting
“significant shortcomings” in the government's three-year program
to privatize remaining state-owned enterprises. The government program,
due to be completed by the end of this year, envisages the sale of
almost 1,000 enterprises, although only 350 were sold in 2000-2001.
The report stresses that, in many cases, the sales were not transparent
and, according to Audit Chamber deputy head Gegham Gasparian, many
entities were sold for less than one fifth of their face value as
estimated by the State Property Committee. |
|
October 21, 2003 |
The
European Union’s (EU) special representative for the South Caucasus,
Heikki Talvitie, meets in Yerevan with President Robert Kocharian
and Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, and discusses Armenian-EU
relations, Armenian-Turkish relations, and the prospects for a solution
of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict in the wake of the Azerbaijani presidential
elections. Talvitie hails the Armenian parliament's decision to abolish
the death penalty, and again stresses the EU's demand that the Medzamor
nuclear-power station be shut down as soon as possible. Talvitie further
alludes to "new aspects" of that issue which, he said, it is premature
to discuss. Armenian officials have consistently argued that Medzamor,
which provides up to 40 percent of the country's energy, should not
be closed until an alternative source of energy is available. |
| October
21, 2003 |
Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian said this week that an agreement has not
been reached on the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border, calling
news reports to that effect an overreaction. But Oskanian said that
during the meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, they
agreed to begin moving towards normalization, by taking smaller steps.
Reports indicate that such “small steps” may include a temporary
border opening for visits to the historic Armenian capital of Ani,
now located on Turkish territory, or another initiative. The two ministers
plan to discuss such steps at their next meeting in September. In
comments late last month, Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
said that his country would not open the border unless Armenians around
the world stop the campaign for international affirmation of the Armenian
Genocide. Responding to these comments, the Armenian Assembly’s
Executive Director Ross Vartian said that “if that’s their
expectation, then it just not going to happen.” Meanwhile,
a statement by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), which
is part of the coalition government, said that normal relations with
Turkey were impossible until it acknoweledges the Genocide. The official
Armenian position does not put forward any preconditions for normalization,
however. ARF again warned that Turkey’s recent steps were only
a smokescreen designed to create an appearance of “good will.”
And an Armenian opposition daily, which supports normalization with
Turkey, said that opening of the border without establishing diplomatic
relations would make normal commerce problematic. U.S.
officials at all levels continue to impress on Turkey the importance
of opening the border. Undersecretary of State Alan Larson stressed
last month that an open border with Armenia would benefit Turkey.
David Phillips of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, in an article
published in the Turkish press last week, argued that opening the
border was both in Turkey’s national interest and part of its
international obligations. (Sources: Armenia This Week 6-13; Washington
File 6-28; Anadolu 6-29; Yerkir 6-29; RFE/RL Armenia Report 6-30,
7-8; Aravot 7-1; Arminfo 7-3; Radikal 7-4) |
| October
24, 2003 |
Officials
of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report that the Armenian
economy is expected to suffer a significant slowdown if the Armenian
government is unable to ensure reliable sources of revenue and funding.
The IMF reports that “the key point of the budget is how much it correctly
identifies financing sources and how much it relies on uncertainties,”
and notes that economic growth could slow in 2004 to seven percent.
Although the growth would still be fairly high, the seven percent
level would be far below government projections and seriously less
than the 12.9 percent growth for 2002 and 15.2 percent level for the
first nine months of 2003. The primary challenge for the Armenian
government rests with its need to secure the revenue side of the state
budget, which is now subject to some uncertainty over external financing.
This specific dependency stems from Armenia’s strong reliance on investment
in small and medium businesses from the Armenian diaspora, as demonstrated
in the case of the Lincy Fund, an Armenian-American group that granted
more than $80 million in 2003, or nearly one sixth of the state budget's
total of $515 million in revenues. The total amount of the Lincy fund’s
investments in Armenia's economy in 2001-2003 was more than $150 million.
The IMF further pointed out that Armenian GDP growth still failed
to meet the most basic needs of an overwhelming majority of the population.
Annual GDP remains a mere $623 per capita, with average wages in the
state sector averaging only about $40 a month, and only slightly higher
in the emerging private sector. The government’s latest poverty reduction
program, approved this past August, aims to reduce the percentage
of the population living below the poverty line from the current level
of over 50 percent to 19 percent by the year 2015. Toward this end,
the IMF has already disbursed $41 million to Armenia, with an additional
$13 million expected to be released in the coming months.
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| October
24, 2003 |
In
their closing arguments, Armenian state prosecutors call for life
sentences for the five defendants currently on trial for the October
1999 attack on the Armenian parliament which resulted in the deaths
of several senior government officials. The prosecutors are also seeking
prison sentences of fourteen and fifteen years for two other defendants
charged with complicity in the attacks and assisting the gunmen. The
trial of the five defendants in the case, including former journalist
Nairi Hunanian, his brother Karen and the three other conspirators,
has been underway since February 2001 but has been plagued by repeated
delays. The indictments allege that the murders of senior officials,
including parliamentary speaker Garen Demirchian and Prime Minister
Vazgen Sarkisian, were carried out by the two Hunanian brothers, with
Nairi accused of shooting the parliament speaker and his two deputies,
and Karen charged with the murder of the six other officials, including
the prime minister. Life sentences are the most serious rulings that
the defendants may receive, as the recently amended criminal code
has abolished the death penalty in line with Armenia’s obligation
as a Council of Europe member state. |
| October
24, 2003 |
Several
Russian atomic energy experts affirm their support for the Armenian
government’s decision to continue the operation of Armenia’s one nuclear
power plant. Armen Abakian, the director of a Moscow-based nuclear
research institute, dismisses concerns that the Medzamor nuclear facility
poses environmental risks and contends that the plant can safely operate
for at least another thirteen years. The European Union (EU) and several
environmental groups have called on the Armenian government to close
the aging Soviet-era plant, arguing that the plant’s light-water reactor
is inherently dangerous and unstable. Despite a preliminary agreement
to close the plant by 2004, the Armenian government has reversed its
position and now seeks to keep the nuclear plant in operation. After
its reactivization after a six-year closure, the Armenian nuclear
power plant now provides more than fifty percent of the country’s
energy requirements. The plant’s management has been recently ceded
to the Russian state-run Unified Energy Systems (UES) for a five-year
period in exchange for the repayment of some $40 million in arrears
for Russian supplies of nuclear fuel. |
| October
25, 2003 |
A new internal agreement is reached between the parties of the ruling
pro-government coalition, with the “Orinats Yerkir” party awarded
six portfolios of deputy ministers, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) to have five and the Republican party of Armenia to hold nine
positions. The remaining deputy ministerial positions will be assigned
to independents. The same day, officials of the People's Democratic
Party announce that their party is to merge with the “Country of Law”
party, led by Parliamentary Speaker Artur Baghdasarian. The centrist
People’s Democratic Party is led by Gagik Aslanyan, the minister of
territorial administration, but failed to secure any seats in the
new parliament. The merger effectively expands the support base for
Baghdasarian. |
| October
27, 2003 |
Armenia
commemorates the fourth anniversary of the attack on parliament with
separate low-key ceremonies led by government leaders and relatives
of the eight government officials killed in the attack. The ceremonies
are centered at the graves of the most prominent victims, Prime Minister
Vazgen Sarkisian and parliament speaker Garen Demirchian, where flowers
and wreaths were laid throughout the day. President Kocharian did
not attend those grave side events but laid wreaths to the Yerablur
Military Cemetery and the Komitas Pantheon where the two charismatic
founders of the now defunct Miasnutiun (Unity) bloc are buried. A
separate wreath-laying is also held, attended by a group of opposition
politicians led by Stepan Demirchian and Aram Sarkisian, a son and
a brother of the late leaders. The protracted trial of the killers
has been marked by widespread suspicion and criticism, with opposition
Artarutiun (Justice) alliance leader Stepan Demirchian openly accusing
the Armenian president of complicity in the attack. |
| October
28, 2003 |
With
the term of Constitutional Court Justice Vladimir Sahakyan expiring,
Armenian officials announce the appointment of Kim Balayan. According
to the Armenian constitution, justices serve on the Constitutional
Court for life, yet are limited to not serving beyond the age of seventy.
Balayan was born in Nagorno Karabagh and is a graduate of Yerevan
State University's Law Faculty and worked in Soviet Armenia's Ministry
of Justice from 1975 to 1990. Balayan, an active member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF), was imprisoned in 1996 during a campaign
against the opposition ARF party by then President Levon Ter Petrosian.
He also served as a parliamentarian until May 2003. |
| October
29, 2003 |
An
executive of the Russian Radioexport firm announces that his company
has formally assumed full ownership of Armenia’s MARS electronics
firm. The Russian acquisition of the plant, part of the bilateral
“assets-for-debt” plan, is for the cancellation of $56.29 million
in Armenian state debt to Russia. The MARS Company specializes in
the production of printed circuit boards and computer microchips,
mainly in for defense related work and its customer base in mainly
for the Russian defense industry. According to the MARS Acting Director
General of MARS, Radik Vanunts, the firm’s production surpassed $200,000
for the first nine months of 2003, representing a step decline from
$600,000 in production from 2002 and $1 million in 2001. There are
more than 250 employees working at the MARS facility. |
| October
29, 2003 |
President
Robert Kocharian began a four-day state visit to India and is to meet
Indian President Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The two countries are to sign agreements on avoiding double taxation,
exempting diplomats from visas and boosting cooperation in information
technology. Trade between India and Armenia stood at roughly $3 million
in the year to March and is expected to increase by almost 50 percent
in the current year. |
| October
30, 2003 |
Armenian
Deputy Defense Minister Artur meets with visiting Greek Deputy Defense
Minister Lazaros Lotidis and announces that a platoon of thirty Armenian
soldiers will be incorporated into a Greek peacekeeping battalion
for deployment in Kosovo. The deployment is set for January 2004 but
is conditional on clearance from parliament and the Constitutional
Court. Initial plans for the deployment were formalized in Yerevan
in early September by the chiefs of staff of the Armenian and Greek
armed forces. Officials also signed a program of Greek-Armenian military
cooperation for 2004, reportedly to involve military-technical cooperation
and the training of Armenian army personnel. |
| October
30, 2003 |
Armenian
energy officials announce that the final transfer of the Razdan Thermal
Power Plant to the Russian Unified Energy System (UES) firm will be
completed on November first. The Razdan facility produces some 20
percent of the country’s energy needs and employs a staff of over
a thousand. The plant is to be handed over to the Russian company
in exchange for a debt write-off of some $31 million, an element of
the broader $93 million “assets-for-debt” deals that the Kocharian
government has been actively pursuing with Russian state-owned firms.
Armenia's gas distribution system is already controlled by the Armenian-Russian
company ArmRosGazprom, while Russian giants Gazprom and Itera are
monopoly suppliers of the gas itself. Earlier this month, Armenia's
sole nuclear power plant came under the management of a UES subsidiary
for five years and Russia has also recently acquired the seven hydroelectric
power plants which make up the Sevan-Razdan Cascade. |
| October
30, 2003 |
The
Armenian government approves its draft 2004 state budget. The budget
calls for a 12 percent increase in expenditures, 372.7 billion drams
($662 million), to be offset by projected increases in tax collection,
and 330.3 billion drams in revenues, resulting in an $80 million budget
deficit of 2.5 percent of estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Armenian government is seeking continued Western and international
lending to cover the budget deficit. The state budget is based on
ambitious projections of continued economic expansion, with estimates
of at least 7 percent growth for 2004. The Armenian economy grew by
12.9 percent in 2002, and expanded by some 15 percent for the first
nine months of 2003. Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy Pavel
Safarian states that the government expects 256 billion drams in tax
revenues, or 16 percent more than this year, allowing for a significantly
increase in spending for education and health care, with an extra
7.5 billion and 4.5 billion drams respectively. The Ministry of Education
has announced plans to utilize the increase in large part to raise
the average monthly wage of school teachers from the current 18,000
to 30,600 drams ($54). The budget increases defense spending by 10
percent from last year, to 49.63 billion drams ($88.62 million) for
2004 and also calls for 11.2 billion drams in direct aid to Nagorno
Karabagh. |
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