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October 19, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 3
the devaluation of the ruble. This year the ruble has weakened by 17% YTD.
Imports of goods were flat in 3Q18 at -1.3% y/y and remained almost unchanged vs. 2Q18 at $63bn, marking the end of the post-2015 volume recovery. VTB believes that import volumes will stabilise at close to $60bn per quarter.
Finally, despite the inflow of money, the accumu- lation of international reserves has been halted
Armenian PM steps down to seek stronger mandate from snap vote
mayoral race in the capital, Yerevan, in September. The HHK still have a majority in parliament, despite the people’s revolution.
Under the Armenian Constitution, snap elections can only be called if the prime minister resigns and the parliament fails to replace him or her with someone else within two weeks. New elections must then be held no earlier than in 30 days and no later than in 45 days.
In early October, the HHK, ARF Dashnaktsutyun and Tsarukyan parliamentary factions backed down after passing controversial legislation that would have made it more difficult for Pashinian to carry out his pledge to move for early elections.
Pashinian said his government will "guarantee the free expression of the people’s will" in the general elections.
Prior to a government meeting on October 16, Pashinian said Armenia is entering “a new histori- cal period” during which “it should complete the nonviolent velvet revolution that started in spring”, RFE/RL reported.
after the CBR decided to stop buying foreign ex- change on the open market – part of the Russian government’s battening down the hatches policy this year ahead of possible “crushing” sanctions on Russia in the autumn.
“Considering that open market purchases were put on pause in early August, it comes as no surprise that the international reserve growth rate halved and stood at $5bn vs. $11.3bn in 2Q18,” says Isakov.
An overwhelming majority of Armenians view the government led by Pashinian positively,
a poll released last week by the International Republican Institute's (IRI's) Center for Insights in Survey Research found.
Kremlin’s feelings rather less clear
The feelings in the Kremlin towards the “People’s PM” are rather less clear. Pashinian’s moves against cronyism, corruption and former ruling politicians he accuses of human rights offences have ruffled plenty of feathers in the old estab- lishment. In early September, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it plain that Moscow is watching the situation carefully and described the South Caucasus country as “still boiling” fol- lowing the revolution in late April and early May.
However, on September 8, a closely watched encounter between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pashinian resulted in both leaders praising the present state of relations between their two countries.
At the encounter, Pashinian noted that he was having his third meeting with Putin within just four months. “I think that such frequency emphasises the special nature of relations between our coun- tries, let me say also the special nature of our personal relations,” he said.
“Despite certain pessimism that is present both in the Armenian and Russian press and in social