blacklist Archives

EU may include Armenia on blacklist of tax havens: Bloomberg

November 23, 2017 by administrator

The European Union may include Armenia on a blacklist of tax havens as soon as next month, Bloomberg reports citing people familiar with the matter and a draft summary table dated November 21.

Also included in the list of possible tax havens is Turkey, as an EU working group tasked with screening “non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes” concluded that Turkey’s commitments to address transparency issues and abolish sweetheart tax regimes are so far “not sufficient.”

Ambassadors representing EU governments are due to discuss the list ahead of the finance ministers meeting.

As many as 36 countries could be blacklisted, including Serbia, Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, Panama and Tunisia.

According to earlier reports, European officials have told 53 countries and territories that they risk being blacklisted as tax havens after the UK earlier delayed warnings to a dozen jurisdictions with ties to Britain.

Azerbaijan to “blacklist” CNN Anthony Bourdain for visiting Karabakh

October 24, 2017 by administrator

Renowned American chef, author, and TV personality Anthony Bourdain will be put on the “blacklist” of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

Hikmet Hajiyev, spokesperson of the ministry, told about the above-said to RIA Novosti news agency of Russia.

Armenian media recently reported that Bourdain had visited Artsakh within the framework of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, his travel and food show on CNN.

In 2013, Azerbaijan publicized its “blacklist” of foreigners that have visited the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR). Those on this list are forbidden to enter Azerbaijan, and this list is “updated” on a regular basis.

US may blacklist Armenian officials under Magnitsky Act – politician

December 11, 2016 by administrator

The US Senate on Thursday passed a bill allowing the administration to enforce the Magnitsky Act against any country’s official responsible corruption and human rights violations.
The measure raises concerns that the “black list”, which formerly included only Russian citizens (predominantly government officials), may now apply also to Armenia.

Speaking to Tert.am, Styopa Safaryan, the founder of the Armenian Center of Strategic and National Studies, described the decision as a tool enabling the Congress to impose sanctions not only upon foreign countries’ officials but also US citizens responsible for corruption, torture, murder or other violations of human rights.
“Both former and current government members may be easily blacklisted. The former government members were comprehensively engaged in money laundering and were found to have spent money ineffectively. As for the current administration, any failure to combat corruption may serve as grounds for enforcing sanctions. ”
The sanctions in the Magnitsky Act require banning not only the said group of individuals’ entry to the United States but also blocking their access to the US financial systems and banks.

Back in 2010, Armenian businessmen-MP Samvel Aleksanyan (ruling Republican Party) was reported to be having difficulty in obtaining a visa for the United States. After repeated rejections by the US Embassy, he eventually turned to the Heritage party (of which Safaryan is a member) for help. “He had great hopes and expectations, which certainly got crushed,” the politician said.

But he hesitated to attribute that to any sanction. “In all likelihood, there were political reasons,” Safaryan said, not ruling out the possibility that the Magnitsky Act may now apply to a range of other Armenian government officials.

Ani Gevorgyan