APRIL 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Thirty-six Armenian soldiers flew to Germany for a NATO military exercise, Armenian media reported. Armenia is the only former Soviet state to send a contingent to the exercise. Its participation shows that despite being a close ally of Russia, Armenia is still cooperating with the West.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
MARCH 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The World Bank has approved a $52m loan to upgrade Armenia’s power distribution network, media reported. The authorities in Armenia blame the aging power network partly for the patchy electricity supplies across the country.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A parliamentary inquiry in Armenia said the government subsidised gas for consumers between 2011 and 2013 ahead of a controversial buyout of the pipeline network by Russia’s Gazprom.
The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) said the government had previously denied it was subsidising gas imports from Russia.
The Armenian government was desperate both to retain support ahead of an election and to write off a $300m debt to Gazprom. To do this, it needed the public’s support to sell the pipeline distribution network.
The inquiry’s findings will pile more pressure on Armenia’s president Serzh Sargsyan whose administration has become increasing unpopular.
The RFE/RL report also said Gazprom cut the gas price when Armenia agreed to join the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan.
“The commission has found documentary evidence of unpublicized Russian-Armenian agreements that gradually raised the gas price from $180 to $270 per thousand cubic meters in 2011-2013,” RFE/RL reported.
“Gazprom cut the price to almost $190 per thousand after Armenia agreed to join the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union in late 2013.”
This is yet more evidence that Russia pressured Armenia into joining the EEU.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
APRIL 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia used its control of gas supplies to Armenia to pressure the government into joining its Eurasian Economic Union, a parliamentary inquiry has said.
The inquiry said Russia increased gas prices to Armenia until it agreed to join the Eurasian Economic Union in 2013.
The findings are strong evidence that Russia uses its economic leverage over Central Asia and the South Caucasus for political gain.
Also in the past week, Russia approved a $1 billion development fund for Kyrgyzstan. This, again, appears linked to Kyrgyzstan’s entry to the Eurasian Economic Union later this year.
The West has long said the Kremlin’s aim in the region is to coerce governments into doing its bidding.
In Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, it has found vulnerable partners. Both are relatively poor with few natural resources. They both host Russian military bases and are reliant on Russian business and remittances from workers living in Russia for growth.
Importantly too, Gazprom owns the gas pipeline network in both Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. This has often been the choke point. Controlling a country’s gas supply gives Russia huge power.
There is one other major similarity between Armenia and Kyrgyzstan regarding membership of the Eurasian Economic Union. Bulletin correspondents in both countries report that most ordinary people, and also many of the politicians, don’t really want to join the group. Instead, they feel compelled to.
Belarus and Kazakhstan, both far larger economies, are also members of the EEU.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia will update its definition of the term torture to meet international standards, the London-based media NGO Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) said. The update, the IWPR reported, was aimed at cracking down on police torture.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Valery Permyakov, the Russian solider who confessed to killing an Armenian family in January, will be tried in a Russian military court, the Interfax news agency reported (March 29). The murders angered Armenians who wanted Mr Permyakov tried by Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 225, published on April 12015)
MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia will give Armenia $47m as a sweetener for joining the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), media reported. Armenia joined the EEU on Jan. 1 but has yet to fully embrace it. Armenia’s president, Serzh Saargsyan, ducked out of a meeting of EEU heads of state last week.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenia-backed government of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh said that Azerbaijani forces had killed three of its soldiers, one of the worst breeches of a ceasefire in recent months. Azerbaijan said Armenian forces had initiated an attack which it repelled.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian president, Serzh Sargsyan, visited China, signing various deals with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and pledging greater cooperation between the two countries.
Short on regional allies, Armenia is looking for cash and investment to help it out of a worsening economic situation. It is currently overly reliant on Russian business and aid.
With this in mind, Mr Sargsyan’s trip to China was an important one.
“The Chinese government will encourage domestic enterprises to participate in transportation, mining, electricity, information technology and infrastructure sectors in Armenia,” the Xinhua Chinese state information agency quoted Mr Xi as saying.
This is exactly what Mr Sargsyan wanted to hear. Armenian state media said that Chinese trade had increased in importance over the past year and now accounted for 10% of Armenia’s total trade turnover, up from 8% in 2013.
Importantly, too, Mr Xi accepted an invitation to visit Armenia. For Armenia, successfully courting China is important.
China, eager to boost its regional presence, has probably found a willing partner in Armenia.
Perhaps also linked to this general diplomatic push, Armenia said that it is opening a consulate in Ebril, the capital of Kurdish Iraq.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)
MARCH 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia issued a 10-year $500m bond with a yield of 7.5%. Governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus have been borrowing to offset a drop in their economies.
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(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)