“Let’s assume that the authorities are sincere about the questions of combatting economic monopolies and the new Tax Code,” writes “168 Zham.” “At first glance, it may seem that most of Armenia’s problems are socioeconomic and that with a few radical steps in the economy it would be possible to substantially change the situation. In fact, Armenia’s most pressing problems lie on the foreign policy plane.” The paper points the finger at Russia, comparing its influence on Armenia with the Armenian monopolies obstructing faster economic growth in the country.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” strongly criticizes the proposed Tax Code that envisages higher income tax rates for a large part of Armenian workers and businesses. The pro-opposition paper says that President Serzh Sarkisian has opted for a totally wrong way of confronting the grave security challenges facing Armenia. “One gets the impression that this guy works not as president but as a juice maker whose job is to squeeze as much liquid out of a lemon as possible,” it says. “The problem is that the squeezing process has nothing to do with law. And no codes will help as soon as the stuff producing liquid runs out.”
“Aravot” says that many of more than 800 personal cars that have been used by various government agencies and are now being decommissioned as part of the government’s cost-cutting initiative are quite old and disused. “Some of these cars resemble scrap metal,” writes the paper. “Yet even that scrap metal requires maintenance and expenditures resulting from it.” It urges the government to release a detailed report on the decommission process.
“Zhoghovurd” reports that the Armenian government plans to spend 32 million drams ($67,000) on remodeling to be conducted at one of its main buildings in Yerevan. The paper questions the need for such capital repairs.
(Anush Mkrtchian)