MARCH 17 2015 (The Bulletin) – Air Armenia, Armenia’s only major passenger airline, has delayed re-starting services, media quoted head of marketing, Sirakan Hambardzumyan, as saying. Air Armenia’s suspended flights in October last year because of a cash flow problem. It had been due to resume flights in March.
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(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)
MARCH 5 2015 (The Bulletin) – Gagik Tsarukian, head of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party, resigned after a month-long row with Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan. Mr Sargsyan had denounced Mr Tsarukian as evil. The row had threatened to bring Armenian politics into disrepute.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – Armenia has lined up Hollywood superstar George Clooney to present the inaugural Aurora Prize in Yerevan on the 100th anniversary of the alleged genocide by Ottoman Turks of Armenians in eastern Turkey, media reported. Turkey denies genocide (March 10). Armenia is using the anniversary to bolster support for its cause worldwide.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 10 2015 (The Bulletin) – Iran is planning on opening a customs house in Armenia to try and bolster trade between the two neighbours, media reported (March 10). Both Armenia and Iran are short of regional allies and need to develop relations.
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances to Armenia, a vital part of its economy, were 40% lower in January 2015 compared to January 2015, media reported quoting the Central Bank.
Like other countries in the Central Asia/South Caucasus region, Armenia’s economy is partially reliant on workers in Russia sending back cash for their families back in Yerevan and other Armenian towns and villages.
But the Russian economy has dipped over the past 12 months because of Western imposed sanctions and a sharp drop in global energy prices.
This has had a large knock-on effect. Armenia’s economy is especially tied-in to Russia’s financial health.
The data shows Armenia’s dependency on Russia in more detail. Total remittances to Armenia were $72m in January, compared to $122 in the same period in 2013. Of this, the amount from Russia fell 56% to $38m from $87m in 2015.
Economists have been lining up to say that economic growth in Armenia this year will measure around zero, below even the government’s estimates of 2% growth.
The ARKA news agency quoted economist Vilen Khachatryan.
“Given the strong dependence of Armenia on the Russian market we expect the negative developments in Russia and our region will lead to a reduction in turnover and unemployment among Armenian labour migrants in Russia which will in turn affect Armenia’s economy,” he said.
“If Russia fails to get out of the current crisis, Armenia’s economic growth this year will be zero.”
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)
MARCH 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia accused Azerbaijan of shooting dead two of its soldiers around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. There was no immediate Azerbaijani reaction to the accusation but it does appear to be an escalation. A 1994 cease-fire keeps a fragile peace around Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
FEB. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s economy grew by 3.4% in 2014, lower than the expected 5.2%, the country’s statistics office said quoting preliminary data (Feb. 27). The economies of Central Asia and the South Caucasus suffered from a general downturn in the second half of last year due to falling oil prices and problems in Russia’s economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
FEB. 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia has asked Russia not to raise the price it pays for gas despite a drop in the value of its dram currency, media reported quoting the head of the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) Robert Nazaryan.
Russia’s Gazprom owns the gas distribution system in Armenia and can, therefore, dictate the price that Armenians pay for their gas.
The worry for officials in Armenia is that the dram lost around 15% of its value against the US dollar at the end of last year. Energy prices are set in US dollars, making it more expensive for people in Armenia to buy.
“In this connection at this moment the Armenian side is conducting negotiations with the Russian side for the natural gas price not to be raised because of the dram-dollar fluctuations,” media quoted Mr Nazaryan as saying.
Russia dominates Armenia’s economy and by asking Gazprom to keep the cost of gas consistent, Mr Nazaryan is effectively asking for a subsidy. If Gazprom agrees, Armenia will fall further under the control of the Kremlin.
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(News report from Issue No. 221, published on March 4 2015)
FEB. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia has agreed to allow Iraq Airways to fly a direct flight from Baghdad to Yerevan and also to grant Iraqis visa-free access, Iraqi media reported. If confirmed by Armenia the move will open it up to tourism and business from Iraq. Neighbouring Georgia already hosts thousands of Iraqi businessmen and tourists.
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(News report from Issue No. 220, published on Feb. 25 2015)
FEB. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan and the main opposition party’s leader, Gagik Tsarukyan, are embroiled in an increasingly bitter and acrimonious row.
Parliamentarians aligned to the Prosperous Armenia party walked out of the national assembly to protest against a government crackdown on Mr Tsarukyan.
They accuse Mr Sargsyan of launching a tax investigation on Mr Tsarukyan for purely vindictive reasons. The argument appears to have started at the beginning of the month with Mr Sargsyan describing the thick-set Mr Tsarukyan as “evil” after he accused the governing Republican Party of complicity in the abduction and beating of an Armenian civil rights protester.
In retaliation for ordering the tax investigation, Mr Tsarukyan called for demonstrations against the government on Feb 20.
The demonstrations didn’t materialise but the image of mainstream politics in Armenia has been tarnished.
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(News report from Issue No. 220, published on Feb. 25 2015)
