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Armenia's New Pro-Biz Prime Minister

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  • Armenia's New Pro-Biz Prime Minister

    ARMENIA'S NEW PRO-BIZ PRIME MINISTER
    by Arpi Harutyunyan

    BusinessWeek
    http://www.businessweek. com/globalbiz/content/aug2008/gb2008085_363717.htm ?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_top+stories
    Aug 6 2008

    In office less than six months, Tigran Sargsyan is trying to change
    Armenian politics, vowing to fight graft and overhaul the government

    Environmentalists campaigned fervently against plans to open a large
    tract of relatively untouched forest land to strip mining, only to
    watch the Armenian National Assembly approve the deal anyway.

    This spring, as the snows in the mountainous north began to melt and
    work started at the Teghut mine, a coalition of conservation groups
    renewed their push to have the government reconsider the approval
    of what they contend will cause irreversible damage to the nation's
    dwindling forestland.

    More accustomed to setbacks than progress in dealing with political
    leaders in Yerevan, environmentalists got a shock when the country's
    new prime minister, Tigran Sargsyan, not only agreed to discuss their
    concerns, but seemed to cozy up to their arguments.

    "We can't damage nature, because it'll cost our state and the people
    much more to repay," Sargsyan told a group of conservationists on
    20 June. "And clearly, we need to take that into account from the
    very beginning and make balanced decisions. We need not be seduced by
    industry's statistics alone, but realize the importance of providing
    a proper living environment for people."

    Environmentalists hailed as unprecedented the prime minister's
    decision to meet face-to-face and to openly discuss the government's
    controversial approval -- even if the mining operations in northern
    Armenia's Teghut forest continue.

    "This was the first serious meeting with a high-ranking official
    like the prime minister within the last 15 to 20 years," said Hakob
    Sanasaryan, chairman of the Greens' Union. "But the outcome of the
    meeting showed the discussion in fact was a formality. Maybe he will
    carry out serious reforms in other spheres, but not Teghut, I think."

    A NEW STYLE OF LEADER

    Formality or not, the meeting is one sign that the prime minister, who
    has been in office less than six months, is trying to change Armenian
    politics. With a reputation for corruption, divisive politics, and a
    political culture wedded in favoritism, the country has a long way to
    go. But the former Central Bank chairman has been talking change --
    and has already ruffled some feathers in the process.

    Since taking office after an explosive political spring, Sargsyan
    met lawmakers discouraged by the deadly crackdown on demonstrators
    who claimed that the dominant Republican Party stole the February
    presidential election. He is also setting standards almost unheard
    of among public officials in Armenia -- punctuality, competence
    and openness.

    Tatul Manaseryan, an economics professor at Yerevan State University
    and a former independent member of the National Assembly, believes
    the prime minister is trying to shake up the system and rattles off
    a long list of changes.

    "The PM has started important reforms from his office: the work
    day starts at 9 a.m., the government sessions are as transparent as
    possible, he demands computer and other kinds of literacy from the
    ministers, organizes regularly scheduled meetings with citizens and
    actively responds to the questions raised, made a call for cooperation
    to the opposition and participated and spoke at the opposition
    congress, set a compulsory requirement for the ministries to work
    with non-governmental organizations, and so on," Manaseryan said.

    Indeed, Sargsyan has been unafraid to criticize corruption, bribery,
    smuggling, and other problems -- charges often made by monitoring
    organizations and citizens, but rarely from the mouths of senior
    politicians.

    "The number one problem in the Republic of Armenia is not the problem
    of democracy, nor the lack of freedom of expression," Sargsyan recently
    told the National Assembly. "The number one problem is the corruption
    that hinders all our reforms. If we don't manage to create equal
    conditions of competition for economic entities, there won't be any
    democracy in Armenia. That is the basis and corruption is our number
    one enemy."

    In an effort to combat corruption and improve the tax system in this
    close-knit nation of 3 million people, the prime minister announced
    on 19 June the creation of a council to monitor the customs service
    and tax collections. He also set up telephone hot line to record
    feedback and complaints.

    DIFFICULT HURDLES AHEAD

    Sargsyan has promised to openly discuss these problems and make public
    cases when public servants are punished for breaching the rules.

    "We have thousands of corrupt people and the problem is that even when
    we replace them with others, we have no guarantees the newcomers will
    not continue the tradition," he told an anti-corruption committee
    on 26 June. "We have 2,000 tax collectors in the tax agency, and
    200,000 more dreaming of taking the position not because they are
    ready to honestly serve the country, but because they see it as an
    easy opportunity to get rich."

    Whether Sargsyan can overcome entrenched interests and succeed is open
    to speculation. "It will take several months to reveal whether the
    middle and minor corrupt officials, or the Â'sharks,' have been made
    accountable," Manaseryan said. "It is still too early to make judgments
    whether the open and transparent work style will be compulsory for all,
    or just the PM and the colleagues obedient to his call. But I see no
    grounds to mistrust the newly appointed officials. At the same time I
    believe the atmosphere in which those promises were given will create
    more obstacles than favorable conditions for reforms."

    Although Sargsyan is not aligned with a party, he calls the
    shots in parliament. The Republican Party controls 64 of the 131
    National Assembly seats, and draws support from smaller political
    groups. Sargsyan's anti-graft campaign plays into the hands of the
    opposition, which for years has accused the leading party of arrogance
    and fostering corruption. After stormy parliamentary elections in 2007
    and a bitter presidential contest earlier this year, the premier's
    polices may appeal to a disillusioned public thirsty for change.

    President Serzh Sargsyan appointed Tigran Sargsyan prime minister on
    9 April. (The men are not related.) The new premier is a graduate
    of the Yerevan State Institute of National Economy, and studied at
    the N. A.Voznesensky Financial-Economic Institute in Leningrad, now
    St. Petersburg. He's also been trained at Georgetown University's
    International Law Institute in Washington.

    After serving in various government posts when Armenia gained
    independence in 1991, Sargsyan served as chairman of the Armenian
    Bankers' Association before moving to the Central Bank in 1997.

    At 48, the guitar-playing father of three is a member of the Armenian
    Orthodox Church and is well known around the capital. During the
    blazing heat of Yerevan's summer, Sargsyan and his family are often
    seen at swimming pools in town.

    REPUTATION HONED IN FINANCE

    Sargsyan developed a reputation as a reformer while at the Central
    Bank, and won praise from international institutions for helping
    the country emerge from the dire economic conditions it endured
    after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its turf war with
    Azerbaijan. Armenia's economic fortunes have improved markedly in
    the past decade, including a decline in poverty and sharp rise in
    growth, but the World Bank and monitoring agencies say corruption
    and bureaucratic inefficiency continue to be a drag on the country's
    potential.

    Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary
    Fund, was among the first to congratulate Sargsyan when he became prime
    minister. "Numerous very important reforms were realized within your
    10-year chairmanship of the Central Bank, including the alleviation of
    inflation, introduction of an effective system of bank supervision,
    and development of anti-laundering legislation." Strauss-Kahn also
    praised Sargsyan's "particular commitment to the continuity of reforms
    and intelligent governance."

    But not everyone is so glowing. Levon Ter-Petrosian, a former president
    who lost to Serzh Sargsyan in the February election, recently told
    an opposition rally that as Central Bank chairman, Tigran Sargsyan
    cost the country dearly when he sold gold reserves for $17 million
    when prices were low.

    "This is absurdity in all aspects," he told the rally. "Gold is the
    most liquid asset. States sell gold in serious situations when famine,
    war, natural disasters and other things threaten the country. What
    stupid man on earth would sell gold, when there are no such threats?"

    Beyond combating corruption, the prime minister has vowed to improve
    the quality of public service, which in many offices still suffers
    from a Soviet-era work ethic.

    "Our citizens' major complaints with the state here is that the
    state provides bad quality, untimely services and creates problems
    for them," Sargsyan told the National Assembly. "As a result we have
    serious complaints and mistrust in the government. The order given
    to all ministries and agencies was the following: Â'Together we have
    to catalog the services provided to our citizens and monitor their
    quality.' "

    Sargsyan also wants overhaul the passport and visa agency. The
    government gets dozens of complaints about the agency from citizens
    and the country's large diaspora returning for work and holidays.

    "Obviously, we have serious problem in this sphere. It's corruption --
    when the service is delivered in the name of the state, but money is
    extorted by a set price list," the prime minister said.

    BURIED IN GRAFT

    Sargsyan appears intent to tackle the graft that is inescapable
    in Armenia, even in death. "The corruption [in cemeteries] simply
    flourishes. If you want a proper burial plot, a big place, money will
    solve the problem. And the cynicism has reached its height and nothing
    keeps people back," the prime minister said in a speech on 26 June.

    "Last week, we took part in the funeral of one of our chess
    grandmasters. He was a renowned, talented chess player; the chairman
    of the chess federation is the president of the republic, I am the
    deputy chair, which means that everyone was well aware we were in close
    contact with that talented chess player. However, no one appeared to
    be constrained from taking a bribe of $2,000 to provide a place in
    the cemetery."

    Changing this system could take time and not everyone is convinced
    Sargsyan can succeed.

    "Tigran Sargsyan seems a well-bred, smart person at first sight,"
    said Gayane Ohanyan, 48, a resident of Yerevan. "He is well educated,
    has a lot of work experience. But it is unbelievable [that he can]
    make significant reforms in a corrupt system like this, especially
    as the officials are the bearers of the system of traditions."

    Yerevan State's Manaseryan says Sargsyan's reform plans will take time,
    but are feasible. "The process of getting rid of weeds is never short."

    --Boundary_(ID_V9kKsCcrdjCj34nw/eXJG w)--

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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