Press Review

“Zhoghovurd” says that the current Armenian government has already managed to solve problems that had for decades been ignored by the previous authorities. In particular, the paper says, the government has made it mandatory for all gas stations operating in Armenia to open public toilets for travellers. “There are many thorny issues in other areas which need a solution,” it says. “For many years they were not solved because of logistical ineptness or inactivity.”

“Aravot” says that the head of Russia’s External Intelligence Service, Sergey Naryshkin, has spoken out against LGBT rights and called for a strong defense of “traditional values” at a meeting of fellow security officials from various parts of the world. “This means that it is a reflection of the country’s policy, rather the opinion of a private individual or an organization,” writes the paper. “Russia’s concern is not about those phenomena but a resulting decline of the state’s authority and the danger of color revolutions which Naryshkin talked about … The state’s authority declines not because of conspiracies hatched by [U.S. billionaire George] Soros or LGBT people but because of the abusive behavior and extreme corruption of rulers. Color and other revolutions happen for the same reason.”

According to “Zhamanak,” Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian has revealed that the Armenian government can borrow as much as $1.5 billion in fresh foreign loans. “Janjughazian sees nothing tragic about the fact that Armenia’s foreign debt could reach 60 percent of GDP,” writes the paper. “The question is how efficiently the state uses and spends loans and to what extent that contributes to development, instead of merely ensuring subsistence.” It notes that Armenia’s foreign debt has already doubled in the past decade.

(Lilit Harutiunian)