“The Wall Street Journal” and the Washington-based Heritage Foundation rated the Armenian economy 32nd freest in the world in their 2007 Index of Economic Freedom covering 157 nations. They again praised the country’s liberal trade regime, low taxes and uncomplicated business registration procedures. “Armenia is ranked 19th freest among the 41 countries in the European region,” concludes the study. “Armenia’s score puts it above Europe’s average-an impressive feat for an impoverished landlocked country.” The rankings, topped by Hong Kong for a 13th consecutive year, are based on 10 factors of economic freedom such as the level of government intervention, trade and monetary policy, property rights and business regulations. Armenia’s overall score of 69.4 percent, measured on a scale of 100 percentage points, is considerably down last year’s level. Still, it remains the highest in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Even European economic powerhouses like France and Italy were assigned lower grade. “Low tax rates, low government expenditure, and low revenue from state-owned businesses contribute to its impressive fiscal and government freedom rankings,” the study says. “Armenia has low inflation, and its banking sector is both wholly private and well regulated. “Commercial regulations are flexible and relatively simple. There are few restrictions on foreign investment, except for land ownership.” Neighboring Georgia is 35th in the rankings. Two other regional states, Turkey Azerbaijan, fare much worse, occupying the 83rd and 107th spots respectively. The index primarily takes account of the legal framework for doing business in a particular country. Many analysts would argue that existing laws and regulations are often irrelevant to economic realities in Armenia where virtually all wealthy businessman are still dependent on government connections due to serious problems with the rule of law. WSJ/Heritage researchers appear to have partly acknowledged this fact, putting Armenia’s scores in the Property Rights and Freedom from Corruption categories well below the world’s average. “The Armenian judiciary is influenced by the executive and is also underdeveloped and corrupt, substantially impeding the enforcement of contracts,” they said. Armenia remains a “partly free” country because of its leadership’s “limited respect for political rights and civil liberties,” a renowned U.S. watchdog said January 17. In an annual survey of freedom around the world, Freedom House ranked Armenia among 58 nations which it believes are rife with corruption, lack free elections and rule of law, and are often dominated by a single political party. The Washington-based group again evaluated the state of political rights and civil liberties in each of the 193 countries surveyed on a 7-point negative scale. It found no changes in these areas in Armenia over the past year, giving it 5 and 4 points in the two respective categories. “Armenia’s scores are right on the border between a partly free and a not free country,” Christopher Walker, Freedom House’s director of studies, said. “So it’s actually one of the weaker Partly Free countries in the global review.” “This is a reflection of a weak performance in a number of key areas, including in the media and citizens’ ability to express their participation in the political process in a meaningful way,” Walker said. He expressed concern about what he described as an ongoing “oligarchization of politics in the country” and increased instances of violence against Armenian journalists reported in 2006. Freedom House underlined these concerns in a statement last November that urged the United States to withhold $235.6 million in promised economic assistance to Yerevan. It accused the administration of President Robert Kocharyan of “backsliding on promised reforms” and using “multiple anti-democratic methods” to cling to power. The leader of the Christian Democratic Party of Armenia Khosrov Harutiunyan stated on January 17 that the Armenian society does not acknowledge the necessity of a new round of reforms. “We cannot feel that the society, the political thought acknowledges the necessity of a new round of a political reform,” says Khosrov Harutiunyan. He means that it is necessary to set up a political system which can face to modern challenges, political parties which are ready to make adequate political decisions in accordance with the present requirements. Khosrov Harutiunyan thinks it is also important to set up a new economic relation. “There must be more focus on microeconomy,” Khosrov Harutiunyan says. Member of Parliament Tatul Manaseryan stated on January 17 that economic offenses in Armenia should be traced to the leadership of the customs service. “Economic criminals should be sought among the leadership of the customs service,” Tatul Manaseryan says. He also stated that President Robert Kocharyan is not aware of the real situation of the Armenian economy since all the officials are cheating him. “The prime minister, the minister of finance, the minister of development of trade and economy have nothing to do with the economy. Today in Armenia there is nobody who is aware where the Armenian economy is headed for,” said the Member of Parliament. According to him, the reason for Robert Kocharyan’s unawareness is the wrong manpower policy when he appoints officials who strike Robert Kocharyan with false information.
