Economics & Finance

Parliament Minority To Challenge Pension Reform In Court

by Astghik Bedevian (azatutyun.am) – The Armenian parliamentary opposition said on Tuesday that it will appeal to the Constitutional Court to scrap a controversial reform of the national pension system that has triggered continuing street protests by mostly young professionals. The three opposition parties represented in the National Assembly as well as the Prosperous Armenia…

(azatutyun.am) – Armenian Parliament Refuses To Block Pension Reform

(azatutyun.am RFE/RL) – The Armenian parliament rejected on Wednesday an opposition proposal to freeze a controversial reform of the national pension system that will force workers under the age of 40 to pay more social security taxes. A bill that would delay the unpopular government measure by at least one year was narowly voted down…

ANCA Welcomes Results of US-Armenia Economic Talks

Supports Shift of Bilateral Dialogue from Aid to Trade (armenianweekly.com) WASHINGTON—The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) welcomed the realignment of the U.S.-Armenia economic dialogue away from primarily “donor recipient”-based discussions and toward a focus on practical steps to promote a robust bilateral trade and investment partnership. At a State Department press conference held at…

Open Letter From “N. Aghbalyan” Student Association To Coalition’s Youth Organizations

Open letter addressed to the Youth Organizations of the Armenian Republican and Rule of Law Parties and to the Student Councils of Armenia’s State and non State Universities With this letter we would like to draw your attention on a number of issues included in the legislative package about the mandatory accumulative pension system that…

Opposition Issues Statement

On November 15, 2013, an extraordinary session of the Armenian Parliament was initiated to discuss the postponement for a year of the implementation of the mandatory component of the pension system reform. The session did not convene because of the majority’s (Republican Party of Armenia, Rule of Law Party) boycott. And this came just a…

The Incompatible Pension System Reform And The Insufficient Budget

“Until now we have worked on building solidarity between the generations. It has been a moral value for the child to tend for his father who has tended for his when he was a child. We are now resigning from this legacy. We are cutting our nation off its tradition and its roots. This cannot…

Government Includes Parts of ARF-D Anti-Emigration Plan

(armenpress.am) – ARF-D is preparing to shortly publish the “We will live in our country” anti-emigration plan said to Armenpress, ARF-D Parliamentary Faction member, Artsvik Minasyan. The government has included parts of that plan into various draft bills. “Certainly the government’s approach is acceptable but there are deficiencies on the implementation part. We intend to…

Vardanyan: Tension Between Control Chamber And Government Is Real

Speaking to media representatives, ARF-D Parliamentary Faction Secretary, Aghvan Vardanyan said that tension between the Control Chamber (CC) and the government is quite obvious, real and not fabricated, yerkir.am reports. Otherwise the government wouldn’t get so actively involved. The tension between the executive power and CC was caused after the latter’s report indicating that a…

ARF-D Comments On Vorotan HPP Privatization Plan

(azatutyun.am, June 12) – A U.S. energy company announced on Wednesday that it is close to buying three big hydroelectric stations generating a considerable part of Armenia’s electricity. The New York-based ContourGlobal said it is engaged in “advanced negotiations” with the Armenian government over the takeover of the plants built along the fast-flowing Vorotan river…

Minasyan Critisizes Government, Central Bank Policy

During the Parliament’s discussion the monetary policy program of Armenia’s Central Bank for 2013, ARF-D MP, Artsvik Minasyan pointed out that both the government and the Central Bank don’t know what is going on with the country’s economy, lragir.am reports. Minasyan said that the banking system has choked other sectors of the economy and as…