Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenia’s National Assembly has this week been debating the Government-initiated state property privatization program for the period 2017-2020, which seeks to privatize as many as 47 state-owned facilities in Yerevan and the country’s provinces, including national postal operator Haypost, film studio Hayfilm, the Hrazdan stadium, the Hovik Hayrapetyan Equestrian Center, the Government Reception House, nearly dozen medical centers, and the state-owned shares of 14 companies.
Lawmakers from the opposition Yelk alliance and the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) faction have spoken against the bill, which MPs from the parliamentary factions of the ruling Republican Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) party (Dashnaktsutyun) have largely supported. ARF Armen Rustamyan today praised the initiative, insisting that it did not just present a “dry list” of state property and had “certain principles, unlike previous privatization plans.”
PAP lawmaker Mikayel Melkumyan, in turn, criticized the plan, saying: “A privatization procedure entails three conditions – an auction price, investment volumes, and number of jobs. But we are putting all this aside and allowing the government to decide the price, the number of jobs, and the investment volumes. What if the process drags on for years, and prices are reduced through auctions?”
Opposition lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan expressed his indignation at parliament speaker Ara Babloyan’s request to remain in the hall until 4pm to vote on the bill. According to Pashinyan, such an important bill “cannot be passed without proper public and parliamentary hearings.” The oppositionist noted that, for instance, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has been left out of the discussion over the potential privatization of nearly 10 important medical centers. Meanwhile, according to Pashinyan, “this could have given an opportunity to talk about the country’s sphere of health care; about the fact that private hospitals are good, but that treatment there is too expensive, while polyclinics look like an earthquake has hit them.”
Another Yelk lawmaker Artak Zeynalyan, in turn, pointed out that the bill itself blatantly mentions that there is no need for public hearings on the plan. “But power in Armenia doesn’t belong to the government and it cannot just decide whether public discussions should be held or not. The power belongs to the people, and it is up to them to decide whether they want to discuss the initiative. I believe it is obvious that behind this wording lies at least a corruption risk,” Zeynalyan said.