After the well-known events of 2018, the current Government of the Republic of Armenia announced the need to create a free, dignified and happy citizen. Overcoming poverty, eliminating extreme poverty in a short time, strengthening social security, increasing the effectiveness of support for vulnerable groups, as well as creating a large number of new jobs were considered as the key components for achievement of this aim.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the promises made by the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the political majority to overcome poverty, promote social justice and employment, and the steps taken by the Government for the implementation of that promises. The full material is only available in Armenian.

The primary document that defines the medium-term (that is, for the upcoming three years) objectives of the government of the RA is the framework of public medium-term expenditures (MTEF), which is at the same time one of the main tools for fiscal policy communication. The effective use of the MTEF for that purpose is especially important in times of crisis (such as the 2020 year), as it can give policy signals to economic agents, positively affect expectations and decrease the uncertainty in the economy.

The present analysis is aimed at exploring the MTEF for 2021-2023, in particular the structure of the program, the main macroeconomic forecasts and directions of fiscal policy, which reflect the government's expectations regarding the further development of the economic situation as well as government actions to respond to the crisis and ensure a rapid economic recovery. Full material is only available in Armenian. 

The victory on the battlefield during the offensive operations of Azerbaijan during the April war of 2016 was effectively capitalized by the Armenian diplomacy. As a result, the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements on building confidence and introducing mechanisms for investigating border incidents, as well as expanding the mission of the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office became a priority in the negotiation process. After the political changes in Armenia in the spring of 2018, these agreements were removed from the agenda of the negotiation process, creating favorable conditions for new provocations by Azerbaijan. In response to the criticism on this issue after the July events at the front, the Armenian authorities began to justify themselves insisting that they did not exclude the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements from the agenda of the negotiation process, while at the same time trying to question the importance of these agreements. In the framework of this comparative analysis, we have tried to study all the official statements and press releases of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs from April 2016 to July 2020, trying to compare the changes in their content before and after the change of power in Armenia. We tried to understand when the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements were pushed out of the negotiating agenda, what are the priorities of the current negotiation process. Full material is only available in Armenian․ 

In the present analysis, given the data published by the Statistical Committee of the RA, we study the recent social-economic developments in the economy of the RA. In particular, we consider the cumulative indicator of economic activity of the given month, its sectoral distribution, as well as the dynamics of individual sectors of the economy. We also analyze economic developments in the foreign trade, labour market and fiscal system of the RA. In addition, some aspects of the financial system (inflation, deposits and loans), as well as the behaviour of the exchange rate, are touched upon. Full material is only available in Armenian.

The more you know, the more you know you don't know. Meanwhile, the less one knows, the more confident he is. This phenomenon of the inflated self-esteem and the delusion of adequacy is called “The Dunning-Kruger effect”. Why some people cannot adequately assess their skills and abilities? What consequences this may have and what distinguishes truly competent people? These and other issues are analyzed in this article. Full material is only available in Armenian․

In the current paper we present the composition and risk characteristics of the credit portfolio in the financial system of the RA. We demonstrate that in 2018 and 2019 the shares of consumer and mortgage loans rose at the expense of “dilution” of relative volumes of business loans. As a result of outstripping growth of consumer loans, a disbalance between incomes and loan liabilities has emerged in the sector of households. The dynamics of mortgage loans is problematic as well, since it is significantly above its medium-term trend. Concerning the reduction of relative volumes of business loans, it poses serious constraints to small and medium-sized enterprises. The improvement of this situation is related to financial rehabilitation of the private sector and revitalization of economic processes, which can restore sustainability of private debt via outpacing growth of GDP. Full material is only available in Armenian․

This article attempts to explain the essence and ideological components of the term of populism. The social and ideological origins of the new populism are revealed, and is made an attempt to explain the growing support of the public to populists. In this article, we have attempted to describe in details the features of populism at different stages of historical development. We have described the formulas for the success of populist governments in transitional and developed countries. We drew Parallels between liberalism and populism, explaining their differences. Full material is only available in Armenian․

COVID-19 is a public health emergency - which is rapidly developing into a human rights crisis. States often impose restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus, without taking into account the fundamental rights and the requirements for their restriction. Since March 16, 2020, the right to assembly is completely restricted in Armenia while the functioning of a number of public facilities is permitted. А reasonable question arises, whether the implemented restrictions on fundamental rights are legitimate? Full material is only available in Armenian․

After the NKR presidential and parliamentary elections in April and the change of power in the Republic of Armenia in 2018, a situation has been formulated when in Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia people who had no connection with the process or have been out of the circle directly involved in the issue, have taken a key role in the settlement process.

The obvious lack of necessary knowledge and experience among responsible structures and officials, the lack of advanced Armenian professional environment, the formation of unfavorable views on the conflict in various international arenas in recent years, both on the nature of the conflict and possible settlement scenarios, significantly expand the range of challenges and increase the likelihood of negative developments.

In order not to allow the settlement process to have irreversible dangerous developments and not to lose the unprecedented result achieved during the three decades of independence, it is necessary to put the activities aimed at ensuring a favorable result in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict on various levels at the professional basis as soon as possible.

The article discusses the stages of the settlement process, reveals the evolution and results of the conceptual approaches used during them, the essence of the negotiated document, the challenges and possible developments.

Full material is only available in Armenian․

The political changes that took place in the country in the spring of 2018 should have had an impact on the main financial document of the country, the development and implementation of the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia. Having a majority in the National Assembly, the "My Step" Alliance, since 2019 has an opportunity to develop the State Budget in accordance with their statements, ensure its implementation for the achievement of the announced “economic revolution” or at least for establishing basis for that.

Provisions relating to the State Budget and public finance were reflected in pre-election programme of “My step” Alliance, which received the support of the majority of Armenian citizens in the 2018, as well as in the "Program of the Government of the Republic of Armenia" adopted on February 8, 2019.  This study presents the promises made by the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the political majority in the public finance and analyses the steps taken by the Government for the implementation of that promises in period 2018-2019. Full material is only available in Armenian.