SERGE SARGSYAN SAYS HE’S NO ADVENTURER

Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan stated September 12 at the parliament that Armenia’s budget 2008 which will be soon presented to the National Assembly will total about 2.5 billion dollars. This statement by the prime minister was the main topic of the following briefing because the reporters tried to find out how such a big budget will be accrued.
Mr. Prime Minister, you said the budget of 2008 will total 2.5 billion dollars. How will the government boost the budget to that level?
Traditionally, in Armenia the bulk of all the budgets is the national revenues. Return on tax and customs fees. You know we have no gas and oil. On the expense of boosted revenues, reduction of black economy, improvement of the tax policy, a more rigid tax policy, and not through increasing the tax load.
Mr. Prime Minister, you mentioned a 2.5 billion dollar sum, in other words, all through those years we could have raise tax collections and boosted the budget. Isn’t this a pre-election budget?
I didn’t say so, and only adventurers may endanger the normal development of our country out of election ambitions. I have never been an adventurer, even though an adventurer has a positive connotation. No, I don’t mean we could but we failed to collect taxes. What I said means the contrary. It means that we collected so much taxes in the past years that if we collect a little more, we will have this much. This is what my words mean.
Mr. Sargsyan, almost all the political forces, NGOs are speaking about your participation in the presidential election but you haven’t stated officially about your nomination, and they also say as an alternative if Levon Ter-Petrosyan is nominated, you and the first president will be the main opponents? What is your attitude, and what is your vision?
What shall I say? My attitude toward these forecasts is normal, I may be nominated, or the Republican Party may nominate me, but I think it’s early to speak about it. We are not going to change our strategy depending on the abundance or scarcity of candidates. We acted so in the parliamentary election and we will be acting so in the presidential election. We have a major goal. Our goal is to have at least a similar opinion of people and the international organizations on the presidential election as on the parliamentary election. This is our main goal. For the time being, we see no other problem. Afterwards we may speak about other problems.
Mr. Prime Minister, what are your thoughts about the settlement of former inmates in Javakheti by Georgia, which may later serve as a place of exile and cause the Armenian population to leave Javakheti? The members of parliament raised this issue yesterday. They called the government to take moves. What are your thoughts?
You see, I cannot imagine what our reaction would be if our neighboring country told us that we are solving one problem or another in Syunik or elsewhere. I think such interference with Georgia’s internal affairs, regarding such issues, is inappropriate. I think the government of the Republic of Armenia, we all should make efforts to improve the quality of life, security, of our compatriots in Javakheti, to have good schools there, to have good hospitals there like in Armenia. But we cannot tell them to do one thing or another. I think it is too much.

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Headlines for September 13, 2007

SERGE SARGSYAN SAYS HE’S NO ADVENTURER
Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan stated September 12 at the parliament that Armenia’s budget 2008 which will be soon presented to the National Assembly will total about 2.5 billion dollars. This statement ...
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