Economics & Finance

Neo-liberal policies have dealt a serious blow to the economy

Ara Nranyan, ARF-D parliamentarian and member of the ARF-D Supreme Council of Armenia, spoke about the Armenian government’s forecast of the current economic conditions of the country in an interview with the Hayastani Zrucakic newspaper, published in the September 10 issue of the weekly. While the authorities have made an effort to illustrate growth in…

“Official statistical indexes in Armenia are controversial,” Ara Nranyan says

“Statistical indexes, which relate to the Republic of Armenia must be studied, researched, discussed; however, I believe, that there is an unnecessary uproar connected with these indexes because all of those indexes are contentious,” Ara Nranyan, a member of the ARF-D parliamentary faction said in an interview with www.7OR.am. “Taking into consideration our economic condition,…

Armenia’s Government introduces an unfair income tax

By Professor Ara Khanjian About a month ago, the National Assembly decided to privatize the pension system and adopted an extreme version of a private pension model, where 100% of employee pension payments will be allocated to private individual pension accounts. Along with the pension system, the National Assembly also radically changed the income tax…

From PACE to economic issues, ARF-D reps in the Armenian press

10 July 2010 – In an interview with “Capital,” Ara Nranyan, a parliament deputy from the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and a member of the ARF-D Supreme Council of Armenia , criticizes the ongoing reform of Armenia’s pension system initiated by the government. “A model of a backward country is being built in Armenia,”…

ARF-Dashnaktsutyun continues to voice serious concern regarding proposed pension reform

YEREVAN — The ARF-Dashnaktsutyun faction in the National Assembly has been voicing serious concern with the government’s decision to privatize pension funds in the country. The Armenian government adopted a decision to privatize the country’s pension plan back in November, 2008. While the stated intention of the government’s pension reform is to increase pension benefits…

Socialist Approaches to Armenia’s Challenges: Global Perspectives and Local Realities

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (Armenian socialist party) held a two-day international conference in Yerevan, on March 25-26, 2010. The conference had two main objectives: first, to discuss socialism today in its ideological and practical aspects; and, second, to consider the social and economic challenges facing Armenia and the adequate socialist responses. To that aim, the…

Social democracy in Armenia:
State of play

Levon Mkrtchyan (Member of the ARF Dashnaktutiun Bureau, Armenia) S O C I A L    D E M O C R A C Y    I N     S O U T H    C A U C A S U S Conference co-organised by the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity, the S&D Group in the European…

Will gas price hike cause social upheaval?

Natural gas prices will go up by 37.5 percent on April as was confirmed following a decision by a public utilities regulatory body today to largely approve an Armenian gas monopoly’s hike bid. The new price of natural gas set for consumers is only insignificantly lower than that requested by ArmRosgazprom (ARG), a joint Russian-Armenian…

Politically motivated tax reforms

After meeting with fierce resistance from lawmakers, the Armenian government has heavily watered down a controversial bill that would empower local self-government bodies to set and collect new taxes. A package of corresponding amendments to three Armenian laws was submitted to the National Assembly early this month. It envisaged eight “local taxes” that could be…

New package of tax amendments criticized

The recurrent “taxing package,” submitted by the Armenian Government for discussion by the National Assembly of Armenia last week, was criticized not only by representatives of the opposition but also by some pro-government MPs. The Government particularly has not managed to ground the draft on Making Amendments and Addenda (providing communities with a privilege to…