“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” sees geopolitical motives behind Russia’s disclosure of the types of weapons which Armenia will be able to purchase by the end of 2017 with a $200 million allocated by the Russian government. “The list of weapons sold to Armenia is publicized at a time when the likelihood of localized Russian-Turkish clashes [over the conflict in Syria] is quite high and the question of whether or not to participate in that war is discussed in Armenia,” writes the paper. “Fortunately, the Armenian authorities are very restrained and cautious on this issue.”
“The purchasing power of Armenia’s population is continuing to decline, which testifies to growing poverty in the country,” claims “Haykakan Zhamanak.” “Even official indicators published by the National Statistical Service (NSS) indicate that. The total volume of trade [in Armenia] in January this year was down by 1.7 percent from January 2015. That is, people are buying fewer goods than they did a year ago.”
The paper notes that the falling retail trade volumes have contrasted with continued economic growth recorded by the Armenian government over the past year. “This was again the case in January: there was alleged growth in all sectors of the economy,” it says. “The average wage also went up [according to official statistics,] but somehow people keep getting poorer.”
“Even in developed countries, the parliament deputies must not necessarily be scholars,” “Aravot” writes in a commentary on verbal abuse shouted by Mher Sedrakian, a controversial pro-government deputy, at an Armenian journalist last week. “But let us set the bar high. May be having deputies passing that threshold is more necessary for us than the Europeans at the moment.”
(Anush Mkrtchian)