ARMENIAN LEGISLATOR FORCES DEBATE ON COMPENSATION FOR DEVALUED SAVINGS

Armenian parliament deputies narrowly approved on 15 December a proposal by independent legislator Hmayak Hovannisian to debate two draft bills on ways to compensate those persons whose Soviet-era savings bank deposits were wiped out by hyper-inflation in the early 1990s. The debate has been scheduled for 20 December. One of the two draft bills was prepared by the opposition Artarutiun bloc, and the other by junior coalition partner Orinats Yerkir, whose chairman, parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian, suggested earlier this week that the proceeds from the privatization of the huge Zangezur mining complex be used to compensate depositors. Compensating depositors was a key tenet of Orinats Yerkir's election platform in the run-up to the May 2003 parliament ballot. Prime Minister Andranik Markarian's Republican Party of Armenia is opposed to any move to pay compensation, as are the IMF and the World Bank.