Armenian News... A Topalian...9 editorial

Armenpress.am

8 May 2019

2019 budget revenues to be overfulfilled in Armenia by 62 billion drams rather than 40 billion AMD

The 2019 budget revenues in Armenia will be overfulfilled not by 40 billion drams, but 62 billion AMD, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during today’s press conference summing up the 1st anniversary of his election as PM.

“The budget revenues have increased by 25% or 64.1 billion drams in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, which is mainly conditioned by the increase of budget revenues as a result of cutting the shadow. Based on the reduction of the shadow, the tax revenues and state fees comprised 21.8% of the GDP in 2018 with comparable figures, which has been improved by 1.3 percentage point against 2017”, the PM said.

He stated that for many years an issue was being discussed in Armenia that the tax authorities have demanded overpayments from the economic entities. “As of January 1, 2018, the debt comprised 130 billion drams, this means that the business has paid so much money. After the change in power the tax authorities have accepted a report from the business, but have not charged money for that and 120 billion AMD liability has been paid, this means that the government has returned nearly 300 million drams to the business with this article only”, he said.

After the revolution nearly 19 billion drams worth of VAT has been returned to the economic entities compared to the same period of the previous year. 51.000 jobs have been removed from the shadow.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenpress.am

8 May 2019

Armenia debt-to-GDP ratio improving, says PM

As a result of introducing the Governmental Debt Reduction Program, the Debt-to-GDP-ratio has dropped 2,3% points – totaling 51,4% in 2018 against the previous year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a press conference dedicated to his 1st year in office.

He added that Armenia has advanced by 6 points in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report. Armenia is ranked 41st among 190 countries.

The PM added that Armenia has improved its position by 19 notches in the World Press Freedom Index. Pashinyan noted that “press is freer than ever before in Armenia”. He pointed out the Freedom on the Net report of Freedom House, whereby Armenia has recorded significant progress and is now ranked among “free” countries, instead of the previous “partly free”. As another achievement, he noted The Economist’s naming Armenia the Country of the Year.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenpress.am

8 May 2019

Immigration trends continue in Armenia

The number of people who returned to Armenia in 2018 has exceeded the number of those who left the country by 15.313 people, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters during today’s press conference, stating that this is the first such case in the past 12 years.

“According to the data of Eurostat, in 2018 the number of the Armenian citizens seeking asylum from the EU states has decreased more than three times. Last year 2190 citizens of Armenia have applied for asylum to the EU, meanwhile, this number was 6805 people in 2017”, Nikol Pashinyan said.

The immigration trends continue. The number of citizens, who returned to Armenia in the first quarter of 2017, surpassed those who left the country by 2536 people.

“Here, I would like to talk about a nuance: when last time I released such a figure, there were concerns according to which there are illegal migrants from other countries and etc. In the first quarter of 2019 nearly 3000 such migrants left Armenia. Moreover, we haven’t taken any repressive measures”, the PM said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenpress.am

8 May 2019

Hundreds of thousands receive pay raise during Pashinyan administration

Nearly 1650 employees of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant have received an average of 16% salary raise, and soon the government will also raise the wages of nearly 650 employees of the High Voltage Electric Networks of Armenia, the electricity distributor, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference on his 1st year in office, presenting the reforms and changes during the period.

He also noted that the salaries of 209,000 people have also been raised as a result of the 2018 July 1 changes in the accumulative pension system, and the salaries of an additional 200,000 people will be raised as a result of the adoption of the new Tax Code.

During the 1st year in office, the Pashinyan government has also raised the pensions for 85,000 pensioners to overcome poverty.

“From July 1, 2018, and then from January 1, 2019, more than 10,000 primary healthcare providers received 30% raise in salaries. 15,000  state primary healthcare providers in Yerevan and provinces have been included in the social package and will benefit from the healthcare component,” he said.

Nikol Pashinyan added that they’ve also raised salaries in a number of universities, and nearly 2600 lecturers are now receiving higher wages.

An additional 530 governmental employees in environmental agencies have received an average of 40% raise, and in some cases 100% raise, he said.

The government has increased the salaries in other governmental agencies also, such as the Zvartnots Aero-Meteorological Center.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenpress.am

8 May 2019

Economic monopolies are eliminated, Armenian PM on 1st year in office

Economic monopolies in Armenia are eliminated, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a press conference today on his 1st year in office.

As an example, he noted that in late 2018 the largest sugar importer had 78% of the market share, instead of the previous 95%. The same trend is seen in other products, such as banana importer – 38% instead of previous 57%, petroleum importer – 29% instead of previous 43% etc.

“Please, draw your attention on the fact that these are figures of 2018 May – December. Some other businessmen have decided to begin sugar and petroleum imports. They can import whatever they want, we are not the ones to decide,” he said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Panorama, Armenia

May 9 2019

Nare and Davit most popular names for new-born children in Armenia last year

Last year Nare was the name that was most given to newly born girls, 658 children, the National Statistics Service reports. According to the source, in 2018, boys were mostly named Davit -1404 children. According to the statistics, a total of 36,574 babies were born in Armenia in 2018 of them 17 322 are girls and 19, 252 – boys.

Maria, Mane, Mary, Anahit, Milena, Eva and Arpi are also names that were mostly given to girl children. For boys, popular names are Narek, Hayk, Mark, Alex, Aren, Gor, Samvel Arthur and Tigran.

Grigoryan is the most popular surname in Armenia with Hovhannisyan, Harutyunyan, Sargsyan, Khachatryan, Hakobyan in the top ten.  

Panorama, Armenia

May 10 2019

Minor quake strikes near Armenian town

The Seismic Protection Service of Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations detected a magnitude 2.8 earthquake in the territory of Armenia on Friday, at 9:21am local time (GMT 5:21am).

The earthquake struck 10km south of the town of Dastakert (Syunik Province) at a depth of 10km.

The tremor measured magnitude 3-4 points at the epicenter.

The jolts were felt in the village of Geghi with magnitude 3 points.  

RFE/RL Report

World Bank To Fund More Road Construction In Armenia

May 09, 2019

The World Bank has disbursed a $15 million loan that will be spent on 

rebuilding and repairing 61 kilometers of more roads across Armenia.

The bank announced on Thursday that the Armenian government will contribute $3.8 million to the “additional financing” approved by it as part of the Lifeline Road Improvement Project (LRIP) launched in 2009. It said 433 kilometers of Armenian roads have already been upgraded thanks to the LRIP.

“Despite visible improvement in the last decade, about 40 percent of the roads in Armenia remain in poor condition, and one-third of the rural population lacks access to an all-weather road,” read a statement released by the World Bank.

“The rehabilitation of additional lifeline roads will facilitate better access 

to jobs, markets, and other basic social services for over 60,000 people in the provinces,” it quoted Sylvie Bossoutrot, the bank’s country manager for 

Armenia, as saying.

This will allow local farmers and small business owners to “bring their 

products to market more easily and at a lower cost,” said Bossoutrot.

The disbursement raised to almost $2.4 billion the total amount of mainly 

low-interest loans provided by the World Bank to Armenia since 1992. It will 

solidify the bank’s status as the South Caucasus state’s leading foreign 

creditor.

The Armenian government is also planning to finance other road projects from the state budget. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Wednesday that most of 62 billion drams ($129 million) in additional taxes which the government intends to collect this year will be spent on road construction.

Football.London

May 10 2019

Arsenal issue Henrikh Mkhitaryan statement amid fears Armenian could miss Europa League final

Arsenal news includes the latest on the involvement of Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the Europa League Final

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is set to miss the Europa League final in Baku later this month unless UEFA can provide Arsenal with guarantees of the Armenian international's safety that they have so far failed to do.

Mkhitaryan has missed games in Azerbaijan for Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund in the past, including the Europa League group stage match against Qarabag earlier this season.

"The safety and security of all of our players is of paramount importance," an Arsenal spokesperson said. "We are seeking guarantees from UEFA that it will be safe for Henrikh Mkhitaryan to travel to Baku for the Europa League Final, which both Arsenal and Micki require for him to be included within our squad.

"Acceptable guarantees have not been received yet, and we hope that UEFA will be able to supply these promptly. We are of course hugely concerned that the location of the final could lead to Micki not being able to play in a European final."

Mkhitaryan has twice decided not to travel to Azerbaijan, where Armenians are banned from travelling, though the government in Baku has previously indicated that it would allow the 30-year-old to play in the country.

UEFA have also said previously that they will ensure Mkhitaryan is given a visa by the Azerbaijani government.

In a statement earlier in the season UEFA said: "It is a standard procedure for UEFA to send letters of support to associations, clubs or embassies in order to obtain visa for players in order to be able to travel to another country and play in UEFA competition matches."

Arsena will prioritise Mkhitaryan's safety before making any plans for him to be part of Unai Emery's squad, who face Chelsea in the all-London final on May 29.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Barabakh dates back to the early 20th century. The region has been controlled by the Azerbaijani military since 1994, after a ceasefire brought an end to six years of conflict.

However tempers still flare up in the area, most recently in 2016 when at least 30 soldiers were killed.

Mkhitaryan's potential non-involvement in the final will bring further questions over why UEFA chose to award the final to Baku, with supporters facing travel costs of around £1,000 to see two London sides in action.

Arsenal and Chelsea supporters have been given allocations of around 6,000 seats each for the final, which takes place in the 68,700 capacity Olympic Stadium.

Panorama, Armenia

May 8 2019

Mkhitaryan linked with Borussia Dortmund return

Armenian national football team and Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be heading back to Borussia Dortmund this summer, Onefootball said, citing reports in Italy.

Mkhitaryan enjoyed the best spell of his career so far at Dortmund before he left to join Manchester United in the summer of 2016.

The Armenian playmaker then joined Arsenal in a swap deal for Alexis Sánchez in January 2018 and has since scored nine goals and assisted 12 others in 54 appearances for the Gunners.

But the 30-year-old’s time in England has been underwhelming overall and with Arsenal set to overhaul their squad this summer, Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb claim he could be offered a route back to Dortmund in the summer.

Mkhitaryan previously spent three years at the Westfalenstadion and was voted Kicker’s Bundesliga Players’ Player of the Season in 2015/16.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, the players’ agent Mino Raiola has told Italian media that his client would be interested in a move back to his old stomping ground.