Tag Archives: Armenia

Armenia to raise electricity prices

JUNE 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s government is considering increasing electricity prices for the second year running.

Ara Simonyan, deputy minister for energy, made the omission after questions from parliamentarians who were trying to find out whether rumours of a price increase had any substance.

“The electricity tariffs are not frozen in Armenia and shall be reviewed from time to time. There is no certain decision at the moment,” he said.

Last year the state’s body for regulating electricity prices raised the cost of a kilowatt hour to 38 drams from 30 drams. Now, media has reported, the government is considering putting up prices by another 20% to around 45 drams.

This is important because rising utility prices stirs anger.

Armenians have already vented their frustration this year against proposed changes to the pension system, triggering the downfall of one government. The new government has said that it will look again at the proposed changes which would have meant that people have to put 5% of their income towards their state pension.

Mr Simonyan said hydroelectric stations were unusually dry last year meaning that less electricity was generated and that this meant prices had to rise.

Regardless, if the government does take the decision to increase electricity prices, it could generate public resentment.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 187, published on JUNE 4 2014)

Georgia gas pipeline restarts

MAY 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) -Georgia has resumed supplying gas to Armenia through its north-south pipeline after a rock fall earlier this month damaged it, Gazprom- Armenia said. The pipeline from Russia through Georgia is the main supply route to Armenia. Rock falls, though, are a problem and can trigger shortages each year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Ex-PM to be Armenia’s US envoy

MAY 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tigran Sargsyan, Armenia’s former PM, is likely to become the country’s next ambassador in the US, media reported. Mr Sargsyan resigned as PM in April after six years in the job. It had been unclear, until now, what job Mr Sargysan would take on next.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Armenia drops growth forecast

MAY 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s Central Bank dropped growth rate predictions for 2014 by around a fifth mainly because of a slowdown in Russia’s economy.

All the Central Asian and South Caucasus countries are vulnerable to a slowdown in Russia’s economy but Armenia has perhaps been the first to warn publicly of the impact.

It said economic growth this year would now be between 4.1% and 4.8%, down from an earlier prediction of between 5.4% and 6.1%. Russia is by far Armenia’s biggest trading partner and Yerevan has been looking to join the Russia- led Customs Union to cement this relationship.

But sanctions imposed by the EU and US because of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine earlier this year have impacted its economic growth and the domino effect means that this has weighed on economies across the former Soviet Union.

Russia owns much of Armenia’s businesses, supplies its gas and is a magnet for seasonal labourers from Armenia who generate an important remittance flow.

Armenia’s Central Bank also said a delayed copper mine and a weak tax regime also hindered economic growth rates.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Armenia commemorates genocide

MAY 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Throwing the gauntlet down to his Turkish counterpart, Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan invited Turkey’s president to commemorate the 100th anniversary of what Armenia calls the genocide of its people by Ottoman Turks next year. Turkey denies the charges and instead says people were killed during inter-ethnic fighting.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Kazakhstan unveils pension plan

May 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin)- In 2020, Kazakhstan will probably introduce a new pension scheme that will deduct 5% of an employee’s wages and automatically place it in a government plan, the labour ministry told the Tengrinews website.

Employers will match this employee contribution.

It appears that these planned reforms haven’t been announced more widely and loudly because of a very real fear of upsetting people.

The risk for Kazakhstan is fairly obvious. In Armenia a similar plan triggered widespread demonstrations. The problem is that Kazakhstan and other former Soviet States need to reform and update their pension schemes.

Last year, the Kazakh labour sacked its ministers because of backlash over trying to make women retire at the same age as men.

Persuading Kazakhs to accept the latest plan is also likely to be a serious challenge for the Kazakh government.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

Electronic transactions rise in Armenia

May 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia increased by 14% the amount of transactions completed through their bank cards or credit cards during the first quarter of the year compared to the same period a year earlier, media reported. This is important as it highlights increased consumer sophistication in Armenia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

Armenian farmers ask for loans to be cancelled

May 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A row is brewing in Armenia over whether banks should write off loans to farmers as a form of compensation for damage to their crops caused by a cold snap in March.

Despite pressure from farming unions, Armenia’s Central Bank chief, Artur Javadyan, said that banks could not simply write-off the loans.

Mr Javadyan said that banks could not risk financing farmers who already receive beneficial loan rates. The government partly pays the interest on loans to farmers.

“We have no right to force the banks to risk deposit holders’ and stockholders’ funds,” he said according to reports.

A heavy snow storm on March 30 seriously damaged crops in Armenia and farmers have asked for compensation. The row highlights just how important farming is in Armenia.

Rural Armenia is poor and the farmers often merely scrape a living. They are heavily reliant on loans and beneficial rates from the government.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

Gas supplies cut to Armenia

May 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A landslide in Georgia damaged a pipeline, temporarily cutting off gas supplies to Armenia, media reported. It’s unclear how serious the damage caused by the landslide is or when gas supplies through the pipeline will resume. Gazprom Armenia said it had enough reserves to cover the shortfall from the pipeline

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 185, published on May 21 2014)

Pension reform still causing problems in Armenia

MAY 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s pension plan reform is still causing problems. It was one of the main contributing factors on the resignation last month of the previous government and is also top of the agenda for the new government.

To appease massive discontent over the proposed plan, the government dropped the most controversial part of it — imposing a mandatory 5% salary contribution towards people’s pension. Thousands of people had hated this concept and taken to the street to voice their anger.

Parliament has now heard the government’s new plans which called for an optional 5% salary contribution.

This is a rare concession from the ruling Republican Party but it still may not be enough. The opposition has said that the government has enough power to force companies to impose the 5% salary contribution on its employees.

It looks as if the new government will have to tackle the pension issue head on too.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)