Tag Archives: Armenia

Armenian court says pension reform is illegal

APRIL 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruled that the government’s flagship pension reforms were illegal, triggering a fresh crisis at the top of the Armenian political spectrum.

The ruling was a major blow to the government which has stubbornly stuck to its pension reform agenda despite increasing levels of public discontent. It also appeared to come as a surprise.

The following day Tigran Sargsyan resign as Armenia’s PM, although he did not link his resignation explicitly with the Court’s ruling. There have been perpetual rumours about his health and other job offers.

Later this month, the government also faces a vote of no confidence in parliament. Opinion polls have shown that its popularity has sunk to fresh lows.

And most of this unpopularity stems from the pension reforms.

Thousands have marched against changes which were introduced at the start of the year. The reforms stated that everybody born after Jan. 1 1974 would have to pay 5% of their salary into a state pension fund. The state has promised to match private contributions to the pension fund up to a maximum of $61 per month.

But now the Constitutional Court has ruled that the pension reforms introduced by the government restrict the rights of its citizens.

The problem for Armenia is, similarly to other countries in the former Soviet Union, it simply has to reform its state pension system to pay for its aging population and to compensate for the large grey economy.

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(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Azerbaijan and Armenia’s foreign ministers meet

APRIL 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov, met in Moscow under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group to discuss setting up talks between their presidents on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. All incremental moves towards high-level talks over Nagorno-Karabakh are important.

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(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Azerbaijan and Armenia’s leaders meet

MARCH 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It may not sound like much but it is, in fact, important. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met on the sidelines of a summit on nuclear security in the Hague between March 24/25, media reported quoting the OSCE. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Grey economy is 40% of Armenia’s GDP

APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The grey economy in Armenia generates roughly 40% of GDP, media quoted human rights activist Karen Andreasyan as saying. Mr Adreasyan said that the high proportion of GDP generated by the grey economy creates problems in tax and customs areas.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Armenia votes against Ukraine

MARCH 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia firmly staked out its position on international affairs when it voted against a motion in the UN General Assembly to reaffirm the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

It was join by a dubious list of 10 other countries that also voted against the motion which asked for Crimea to be restored to Ukraine after the de facto annexation last month by Russia.

The list is telling. Armenia now, it appears, keeps company with a range of countries variously described as eccentric, awkward and anti-capitalist. It includes North Korea, Zimbabwe, Cuba and Syria.

For Armenia, this feels like a watershed. It has increasingly leaned towards Russia over the past few years. Moscow gives Armenia much financial and military support. And it needs both. Armenia is wedged between two enemies — Turkey and Azerbaijan and needs as many allies as it can gather.

Last year Armenia turned its back on further EU integration in favour of the Russia-led Customs Union.

But Central Asian countries have also chosen a pro-Russia agenda. Yet they were able to abstain from voting during the Ukraine UN Assembly debate.

If there was ever any doubt on where Armenia’s loyalty lies, there isn’t any more. Armenia’s UN Assembly vote underlines its trajectory.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Armenians flee from Syrian town

MARCH 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Arman Sahakian, an Armenian MP, said that roughly 600 Armenian families fled from Kessab, a town in Syria, last month after Islamic extremists captured it, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Armenia’s government has said it’s concerned about the fate of Armenians living there.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Radical Islamists attack Armenians in Syria

MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Radical Islamists fighting government forces in Syria’s civil war have attacked and killed people living in a predominantly ethnic Armenian town, news reports have said.

An estimated 2,000 Christian Armenians have fled the city of Kesab in western Syria for Latakia, a nearby town, reports said.

Syria has been home to a large Armenian minority for the past hundred years but thousands have fled to Yerevan since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011.

The civil war in Syria presents president Serzh Sargsyan and his government a major headache both externally and domestically.

On a pre-planned trip to a conference in Brussels, Mr Sargsyan voiced his concern and offered help.

The attack is blamed on the Nursa Front, affiliated to Al Qaeda.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Armenia inches towards the Customs Union

MARCH 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia may be able to complete all the steps needed to join the Customs Union by the end of May, Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan said. His announcement is the clearest indication so far of when Armenia hopes to join the Customs Union.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Armenia looks to Iran for gas

MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia may quadruple its gas imports to 2b cubic metres a year from Iran, media reported quoting Armenian energy minister Armen Movsisyan. Over the past few years Armenia and Iran have improved relations. Both countries have been searching for regional allies.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Thousands protest against Armenia’s new pension plan

MARCH 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Several thousand people demonstrated against the government’s new pension scheme that means that people born after 1974 have to pay 5% of their salary into a central pot. The demonstration was the biggest against the scheme for some time, indicating how passionately people feel about it. There have been several protests this year.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)