80-percent
Russian Gazprom-owned company, began his tenure with a requirement for
his employees to take Russian language courses. Reports in the media on
this decision have made lots of Yerevan residents wonder why a
municipality in Armenia needs the Russian language so urgently. Many
also wondered why Russian Embassy advisor Viktor Krivopuskov, who is
also head of the Armenia affiliate of Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian
agency for international humanitarian cooperation, was present at the
opening of the courses.Lessons for 26 employees in 11
divisions of the City Hall will be held for three months by Tereza
Mirjiferjyan and Armen Aghulyan, the two leading Russian language
educators of the Russian Educational-Methodical Center of the Russian
Language (REMCRL) of the Rossotrudnichestvo representation in Armenia.
Opening the courses, Krivopuskov noted that knowledge of the Russian
language will increase the quality of managerial decision making,
interaction with theRussian-speaking population of the city, as well as
facilitate work in “developing and strengthening friendly relations
with cities and regions of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent
States as a whole, where Russian still remains a working language.”A
summary of critical Armenian media writing in this regard is as
follows: Krivopuskov’s objective is to spread the Russian language and
influence in Armenia. Does the mayor of Yerevan also consider this to be
his objective? Apparently, he is still closely associated with
ArmRosGazprom and feels like a representative of the interests of the
Russian company, more than of Yerevan citizens. On the day of the
launch of the courses, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed the law
on introducing amendments and additions into the laws “On the
Language” and “On General Education”, which effectively removes the ban
on the functioning of school in