Month: November 2006

TURKEY INSISTS ON GENOCIDE STUDY OFFER
By Aza Babayan in Moscow
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 1 2006
Turkey renewed on Wednesday its calls for joint Turkish-Armenian
academic research of the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire, saying that their acceptance by Armenia is a precondition
for normalizing relations between the two nations.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Ankara insists on the idea of
setting up a commission of Turkish and Armenian historians which
was floated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a letter to
President Robert Kocharian last year.
Kocharian effectively turned down the proposal, saying that this and
other problems hampering Turkish-Armenian rapprochement should be
tackled by the two governments. Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora
believe that the 1915-1918 genocide of some 1.5 Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey is a proven fact that can not be disputed by historians.
Armenian leaders see the Turkish proposal as a ploy to scuttle greater
international recognition of the genocide.
“We wish to establish good neighborly relations with Armenia, but
there are some political problems,” Gul said, speaking to RFE/RL on
the sidelines of a meeting in Moscow of foreign ministers of Black
Sea countries. “To solve them, our parliament, our prime minister
sent a letter to [the Armenian] president. But unfortunately, we
haven’t received a positive response.”
“This is a great opportunity, in fact,” continued Gul. “So many
countries are supporting this initiative. I hope that your leadership
will think it over again and that we will talk and solve our problems
in good faith.”
The initiative has been backed by the United States and some European
Union countries. The European Parliament also effectively endorsed
it in a September resolution that at the same time reaffirmed the EU
legislature’s earlier calls for Turkish recognition of the Armenian
genocide.
Gul made no mention of another Turkish precondition for the
establishment of diplomatic relations and reopening of the border
with Armenia: a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that
would satisfy Azerbaijan, Turkey’s closest regional ally.
The unresolved conflict seems to have been overshadowed by last
month’s approval by France’s parliament of bill making it a crime to
deny the Armenian genocide. Ankara has reacted furiously to the move
which undermines its strong denial of the genocide. In an October 17
statement, the Turkish parliament said Armenia greatly contributed
to the passage of the bill with its “hostile policies against the
rights and pride of the Turkish nation.”

29% OF ARMENIAN POPULATION ARE UNDERFED
Lragir, Armenia
Nov 1 2006
29 percent of the population of Armenia are underfed, states the report
of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The report states that
Armenia has managed to halve hungry people. The authors of the report
point to the immense number of malnourished people in Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan. These countries and Armenia are included in the list
of countries which are facing serious food security problems. The
experts state that Azerbaijan and Georgia have made considerable
progess in this sphere. There are 700-800 thousand underfed people
in these countries against 2.5 million in 1993-1995.
The UN report states that there are 25 million undernourished people
in the countries with a transitional economy, 21 million live in
the CIS. The worst situation is in Tajikistan, 60 percent of the
population is underfed.
The report states that it will be impossible to bring into being the
goal set in 1996 in the summit of Rome to halve hungry people in the
world by 2015.

ARMENIA WISHES TO MAINTAIN EQUAL RELATIONS WITH ALL STATES
PanARMENIAN.Net
01.11.2006 17:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia wishes to build relations with all states on
the equal terms, RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan told reporters
on Wednesday. In his words, with establishing the principal policy of
European integration Armenia wishes to maintain equal relations with
the other states. “The commodity turnover and the level of investments
from the EU members states exceeds that from the other countries.
I think this is a natural process and do not want to change anything
either artificially or administratively,” the Prime Minister said. In
this context he remarked that Russia rates three among Armenia’s
trade partners, reports newsarmenia.ru.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LAVROV AND BEZHUASHVILI TO MEET SOON
By Nana Petrosian
AZG Armenian Daily
02/11/2006
Russian Embassy to Armenia informed that according to Denisov, deputy
foreign minister of Russia, it is envisaged that the foreign ministers
of Russia and Georgia are going to meet within the framework of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization sitting in Moscow on
November 1-2. The Georgian side also confirms the information about
the coming meeting.
Denisov stated that no preparations were made for the coming
meeting. At the same time, he added that the bilateral relations have
never been stopped. He stated that the officials of the Georgian and
Russian foreign ministries met on October 16 in the course of the
Ministerial Council of the CIS States in Minsk.

VARTAN OSKANIAN: COMMON FEATURES OF BSEC COUNTRIES SHOULD PREVAIL OVER THEIR DIFFERENCES
Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006
MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian took part in the 15th meeting of the Council of Foreign
Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC)
in Moscow on October 31 – November 1. According to the RA MFA Press
and Information Department, within the meeting’s framework, he met
with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The sides discussed
the bilateral relations and regional problems, and addressed the
issue of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
During the 15th meeting of BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers ,
V. Oskanian made a speech, in which he noted that despite the existing
problems, BSEC member states have much in common. In his words,
these common features should prevail over the existing differences,
which will allow to create a environment conducive to the solution
of political problems. He said that along with the efforts to create
a transport link, there are also attemps to resort to the policy
of by-passing or forcing out some member states or ignoring the
already existing transport means, which is unacceptable for members
of the same organization. Speaking about the upcoming Bulgaria’s and
Romania’s joining the EU, V. Oskanian underlined that this opens
a new opportunity for close cooperation of the BSEC and the EU,
taking into account certain common interests and some countries’
membership of both organizations. The minister proposed studying the
experience during preparation for the summit on the 15th anniversary
of the BSEC in Istanbul and making institutional reforms to increase
the organization’s efficiency. A joint declaration was adopted at the
meeting of the BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers. The chairmanship
of the organization was assumed by Russia (from Serbia).

CBA PROPOSES DECLARING FOREIGN CURRENCY BROUGHT INTO ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. It is envisaged to require that
citizens make a declaration in case of bringing more than 10 thousand
dollars into Armenia. Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)
Tigran Sargsian said during the discussion of the 2007 draft state
budget in the RA NA standing committees on November 1 that the
introduction of this declaration system will allow to calculate the
amount of foreign currency flow into Armenia. According to him, the
surveys conducted by the CBA at Armenian airports and customs points
show that this year cash of more than 3 billion USD has flown into
Armenia with about 450 thousand tourists. Surveys were also conducted
to calculate the cash brought out of the country, as a result of
which the positive balance made about 450 million USD. In the opinion
of T. Sargsian, this amount may be much greater, as large amounts of
cash brought into Armenia are not declared and those surveyed do not
give exact information about it. The CBA Chairman said that inflow
of large amounts cannot but affect the price of foreign currency on
the domestic market.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION DECLINES BY 1.6% IN ARMENIA IN JANUARY-SEPTEMBER 2006 ON SAME PERIOD OF LAST YEAR
Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-September 2006, idustrial
production made 468 bln 10.6 mln drams (about 1 bln 88 mln USD)
in Armenia.
Production of 477 bln 570.5 mln drams was sold, including sales of
production of 39 bln 540.3 mln drams in CIS countries and that of
126 bln 221.7 mln drams in other countries. According to the RA
National Statistical Service, the industrial production declined
by 1.6% compared with January-September 2005, idustrial production
without production and distribution of electricity, gas and water –
by 1.3%. Industrial organizations of Yerevan accounted for nearly 44%
of Armenia’s industrial production. 13.2% of the total industrial
production was manufactured by very small and small organizations
making up 88.4% of the organizations included in the statistical
monitoring, whereas large organizations that made up 8% of the
total number of organizations manufactured 84% of the industrial
production. The production level of January-September 2005 was
maintained or exceeded with respect to 73 out of 123 main goods
produced in January-September 2006, including 44 out of 70 production
and technical goods and 29 out of 53 consumer goods.

VARUZHAN VOSKANIAN RESIGNS POST OF REPRESENTATIVE OF ROMANIA TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Nov 01 2006
BUCHAREST, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Romanian
authorities accepted the resignation of Romanian parliament’s Armenian
Senator Varuzhan Voskanian from assuming office of representative
of Romania to the European Commission. According to the Marmara’s
report, European Parliament’s socialists spoke against V.Voskanian’s
candidature. Rumors were also spread that in the years of the communist
regime Voskanian cooperated with secret police organizations. The
very rumors became the reason for V.Voskanian’s resignation.
According to the same source, the socialists’ faction in the European
Parliament had an apprehension that Voskanian cannot be unbiassed when
discharging his obligations in consideration of the fact that he is
the head of Armenian Unions in Romania and played an important role
in making the decision on proclaiming April 24 Day of Commemoration of
the Armenian Genocide in Romania. He has headed the Budget Commission
at the Romanian Senate for many years. To recap, Romania is to become
EU member since 2007 January.

BY LATE 2007 ARMENIA’S STATE DEBT TO MAKE ABOUT 1.56 BILLION DOLLARS OR 19.1% OF GDP
Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA government presented the 2007
draft state budget at the joint sitting of the RA National Assembly
standing committees on November 1. The revenues of the state budget
make 489.5 bln drams, expenditures – 557.8 bln drams, deficit –
68.3 bln drams (about 179.7 mln USD).
Speaking about the main orientation and ideology of the budget, RA
Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatrian noted that the
levels of the draft budget’s revenues, expenditures, deficit and debt
have been formed in the context of the government’s common long-term
and medium-term tax and budgetary goals. The minister presented the
macroeconomic indices that formed the basis for calculation of the
indices of the draft budget. Thus, real GDP growth is programmed at 9%,
GDP deflator – 4%, average annual inflation – 4% plus-minus 1.5%, the
settlements rate of 1 US dollar – 357 drams. The growth of commodity
import is programmed at 13.5%, export growth – at 16%. As a result,
the import and export of goods make 2.151 billion USD and 1.248 billion
USD respectively. The ratios of imports/GDP and exports/GDP make 31.7%
and 20.1% respectively. The ratio of overall state budget revenues/GDP
is programmed at 16.8%, the ratio of tax revenues and duties of state
budget/GDP – 15.7%, the ratio of state budget expenditures/GDP –
19.1%, and the ratio of state budget deficit/GDP – 2.3%. Accoording to
V. Khachatrian, external sources will prevail among finance sources of
the 2007 state budget’s deficit: they will account for nearly 60.5%
of the total. Domestic sources of financing the budget deficit will
include revenues of 8.5 bln drams from the sale of state securities,
as well as privatization and currency resources of a total of 19.1
bln drams. By late 2007, state debt is forecast to make about 1.56
bln USD or 19.1% of GDP. Foreign debt accounts for most of the state
debt – 87.7% or 1.36 bln USD.
“The programmed growth in foreign debt will not have a significant
impact on the country’s solvency, because a number of qualitative
indices either will not change or will change positively,” the minister
said. In his words, by several indices Armenia is among the states
with a small debt burden, while by the ratio of foreign debt/exports,
it is among the countries with a middle-size debt burden.
From: Baghdasarian

TIGRAN SARGSIAN: BY TAX COLLECTION LEVEL ARMENIA IS IN ONE OF LAST PLACES AMONG TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES
Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Depsite the high growth rate of
its economy, Armenia is in one of the last places among transitional
economes by its t axes/GDP ratio. Chairman of the Central Bank of
Armenia (CBA) Tigran Sargsian said this during the 2007 draft state
budget’s discussion in the RA National Assembly standing committees
on November 1. According to him, in 2007 the government plans to
increase the tax collection to 15.6% of GDP, which is by 1.1% more
than in 2006. Taking into account that a 0.4% annual growth in the
ratio of taxes/GDP has been programmed in recent years, a 1.1% growth
planned for 2007, according to the CBA Chairman, creates serious
problems for the government. He said that in order to achieve this
index, the government will submit to the NA a legislative package,
whose purpose is to reduce considerably the share of shadow economy
and improve tax administration. Particularly, the package includes
measures aimed at reducing the dollarization and the amount of cash
in circulation. Some laws proposing new instruments to fight against
the shadow economy and improve the competition atmosphere will also
be submitted to the parliament. T. Sargsian said that the government
had considered it expedient to plan an inflation of 5% plus-minus
1.5% for 2006. An inflation of 4% plus-minus 1.5% is programmed
for 2007, while in 2008, it will return to 3%. In his words, the
cause of more than 3% inflation is the increase in the prices of
some goods, particularly fuel and bread products, on international
market in 2006. The CBA Chairman noted that the settlement rate of 1
US dollar of 357 drams in next year’s state budget has no relation to
calculations of the market exchange rate. “This is not the exchange
rate that is formed in the market, but the one allowing to express
the budget’s foreign currency revenues and expenditures in drams,”
he explained. He attached importance to this idea in terms of not
sending wrong signals to the public and economic entities. He added
that the government has calculated this index based on the programmed
financial flows and the macroeconomic indices.