“Zhoghovurd” strongly condemns the release from custody of a notorious son of Suren Khachatrian, the governor of Armenia’s Syunik province, accused of orchestrating a brutal attack on two other men in May. The paper specifically blames Prosecutor-General Gevorg Kostanian and the head of the Investigative Committee, Aghvan Hovsepian, for the development, saying that they have made sure that Armenia’s entire security apparatus serves Khachatrian’s interests. It says that Kostanian’s office on Thursday offered a “ludicrous” explanation for Tigran Khachatrian’s “shameful” release from jail, which it believes was ordered by President Serzh Sarkisian.
“What happened yesterday is an ordinary phenomenon for Armenia,” “Hraparak” writes in a commentary on the high-profile case. “Liska’s son was set free. Shamelessness and lawlessness go hand in hand in our country, and nobody is able to establish justice, equality and order. Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General formalized the change of the situation [in the ongoing investigation into the May incident] unusually fast.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” describes as “very ugly” the sale of Armenia’s power distribution network to Tashir Group of Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetian. The paper points to the “secrecy” of the deal and the fact that it is being completed through an overseas tax haven. It says that Karapetian cannot claim do Armenia a big favor by acquiring its troubled electric utility.
“Zhamanak” reports that the Armenian government expects a slight drop in its tax revenue next year as evidenced by its draft 2016 budget approved by ministers on Thursday. Deputy Finance Minister Pavel Safarian tells the paper that this revenue projection is the result of “numerous discussions” within his ministry and other government agencies. “All macroeconomic trends of 2015 and 2016 have been taken into account,” he says. “The existing situation in countries surrounding us has also been taken into account.”
(Tigran Avetisian)