Month: December 2008

BANK VTB (ARMENIA) OFFERS POPULATION BETTER TERMS ON TIME DEPOSITS

ARKA
December 17
Yerevan

Bank VTB (Armenia) started accepting time deposits from citizens on
improved terms on December 15.

Apart from this, names of the current six time deposits were changed
as follows: VTB-Prospects+, VTB-Prospects, VTB-Comfort, VTB-Income,
VTB-Target and VTB-Social, the press service of VTB (Armenia) closed
joint stock company reported. The bank welcomes all time deposits on
the new terms at all the branches as from December 15 this year.

Back in November the bank had introduced two new time deposits for
individuals – Prospects and Prospects+ with up to 11% and up to 11.5%
annual interest rates respectively.

According to the report, maximum duration for VTB-Prospects+ and
VTB-Prospects is one year. Interest is paid to depositors at the end of
the period for VTB-Prospects+ and every month in case of VTB-Prospects.

Maximum annual interest year for replenishment of VTB-Target is raised
to 11% with interest paid on monthly basis.

Terms on other deposits, including the special deposit for pensioners
(VTB-Social), are considerably improved. From now on, the deposit
is taken at a rate of 10% p.a. with interest paid every month. The
depositor has an opportunity to replenish the amount and draw out
money from the deposit during the period of the deposit agreement,
says the report.

Upon request, the bank is providing a free VTB-VISA plastic card with
free servicing, encashment of interest on deposit with no commission
fee and with no card remainder limits set.

Time deposit terms are democratized under the program of expansion of
retail banking services to the population of Armenia and reflects the
real situation on the financial market, General Director of Bank VTB
(Armenia) Valery Ovsiannikov said.

Deposits with improved terms are intended for a larger target group –
all individuals, both residents and non-residents.

Under the current conditions, these deposits are most competitive,
convenient and profitable products for depositors. The country’s
legislation and the high status of VTB brand make these products
guaranteed and reliable, Ovsiannikov said.

According to the report, VTB is to offer depositors two completely new
and interesting products – "VTB-Ruble and VTB-New Year time deposits.

Bank VTB (Armenia) (Armsavingsbank before June 20 2006) joined the
VTB Group in April 2004. Currently the bank VTB is the full owner of
Bank VTB (Armenia) closed joint stock company.

As of October 31 2008, the total capital of Bank VTB (Armenia) was
23.2bln Drams, assets 98bln Drams and liabilities 74.8bln Drams.

According to the information of ARKA Agency, as of the end of Q3 Bank
VTB (Armenia) was the second among Armenian banks in terms of total
capital, credit investments and ranked the third in terms of share
capi tal. The bank had the fourth largest assets, liabilities and
profit gained in January-September 2008. ($1=308.55Drams).

HEAD OF THE WORLD BANK EXPRESSES READINESS TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMS OF DIASPORA MINISTRY

ARMENPRESS
Dec 16, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Diaspora Minister Hranush
Hakobian received today head of the Armenian office of the World Bank
Aristomene Varudakis.

Public relations department of the Armenian Diaspora Ministry told
Armenpress that H. Hakobian stressed the importance of the World
Bank in the implementation of programs in Armenia. She presented the
guest the programs of the Diaspora Ministry which are possible to be
financed by the World Bank.

The Minister put a specific stress on the programs of educational
issues in the Diaspora and the organization of distant education.

A. Varudakis presented the programs which are intended to be
implemented within the frameworks of the Strategy of support to the
country by the Bank during the upcoming four years.

He noted that essential programs will be implemented in higher
education sphere and the general aim is the increase of the education
quality in pre-school and secondary education spheres.

The sides also discussed the creation of pan Armenian professional
net through high technologies as well as the cooperation opportunities
in the issues of organization of video-conferences and TV-bridges.

A. Varudakis stressed the importance of initiatives and suggestions
of the Ministry and expressed readiness to support the implementation
of its programs and promotion of relations.

NO VIOLATION OF CEASE FIRE REGIME REGISTERED DURING MONITORING OF KARABAKH-AZERBAIJAN CONTACT ZONE

ARMENPRESS
Dec 16, 2008

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS: According to the initially
achieved agreement with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic today OSCE mission conducted a planned monitoring of Nagorno
Karabakh-Azerbaijani contact zone in south-eastern part of Martuni
region’s Kuropatkino village.

Karabakh Foreign Ministry press service told Armenpress that from the
Karabakh Defense Army the group was headed by personal representative
of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk. The group consisted
of field assistants of the personal representative Peter Keen (Great
Britain) and Antal Herdic (Hungary).

>From the Karabakh side the mission was accompanied by representatives
of Nagorno Karabakh foreign and defense ministries.

HAMMARBERG’S REPORT WILL BE ADEQUATE

A1+
[05:09 pm] 16 December, 2008

"The "Case of the Seven" trial will come crashing on administration,"
said today representative of the Armenian National Congress Levon
Zurabyan and called on everybody to participate and follow-up on
the trial.

As far as the ANC forum is concerned, for which the Congress has
appealed to the Government session hall and received a denial,
Zurabyan assured that the ANC can always find a small area without
the control of the administration.

Levon Zurabyan considered the government’s rejection as nonsensical
and didn’t go into details.

"We will hold our forum on those days and distribute the DVDs to the
people because we have very important things to say," said Zurabyan.

The ANC is not concerned about the size of the hall.

"The administration is afraid that 2-3,000 people will show up,
who will feel the spirit of the meeting and they will try to create
obstacles."

According to him, today the ANC needs a hall that will seat 20,000
people. "Today, we are the only political party that can fill a hall
with supporters."

Zurabyan also informed today that the ANC is not planning on holding
its congress in Georgia because that is connected to additional
technical and financial issues and after all, the administration may
also close the border.

Since tomorrow the EU Commissioner for Human Rights must present the
situation in Armenia and has publicly stated that his evaluation
is going to be critical, Zurabyan touched upon the efforts of the
members of the Armenian delegation to soften the report.

"To tell you the truth, we still don’t know what Hammarberg has
prepared to say, but taking into account the fact that he is a man of
principle, we are sure that he will present an adequate report. As
to what our delegates may do, unfortunately, all their efforts will
be aimed at keeping the regime."

As far as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is concerned, especially
the Madrid principles, Zurabyan stated that the ANC has already
declared its stance on the principles and after the release of the
principles, everyone will be convinced that the ANC, in particular
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, was right.

According to Zurabyan, the administration’s only concern is to have
the Council of Europe continue to close its eye on issues relating
to democracy in Armenia, not use the term "political prisoners"
and apply sanctions against our delegation.

Levon Zurabyan is sure that the efforts of the Armenian delegation will
be in vain. In response to journalists’ questions, Zurabyan recalled
that on May 2, Ter-Petrosyan had declared that he was against freezing
funding for Armenia by the "Millennium Challenges" Corporation,
had appealed to the U.S. government to not apply sanctions to Armenia.

Let us recall that the Board of Directors of the "Millennium
Challenges" Corporation has decided to discuss the issue of conceding
6 million 811 thousand 305 dollars for restoration of rural roads
and improvement of irrigation network in Armenia in March 2009.

IS AN "ARMENIAN" NEW YEAR MANDATORY?

A1+
[06:13 pm] 16 December, 2008

Prices go down during the holidays in almost all countries, except
Armenia. Prices in the market are going up day after day.

Citizens will not see a drop in prices for clothes, at least that’s
what we saw during our tour of the stores.

"We are not going to have discounts because demand is low. We might
set a 5-50% discount at the end of January on old items," said store
clerks at one of the stores we visited.

The store clerks at one of the home appliance stores informed that
although they are not paying too much attention to the global economic
crisis, they haven’t decided whether there will be discounts or not.

We conducted a survey among citizens of Armenia on whether they were
planning on celebrating the New Year with the same "Armenian" splendor.

"To be honest, I am not that interested in what’s going on in the
world. Why should the crisis impact us? Prices always go up before the
holidays in Armenia. I have already bought the pig for the table and I
will start buying the rest little by little," told "A1+" citizen Armen
Harutyunyan. We always see inflation in Armenia before the holidays.

"I don’t think that the crisis will hit Armenia because our country
is small and we don’t cut, so-called "deals" abroad," says programmer
Anush Minasyan.

Meanwhile, engineer Sargis Chepelyan is sure that people will feel
the effects of the crisis for a couple of more years.

Housewife Gayane Arakelyan is not planning on paying a lot of money for
food and presents. "I have decided to buy small amounts of necessary
items," said Arakelyan.

Surveys showed that the least amount of money that citizens will
spend is 80,000 drams.

MEETING WITH LEVON TER-PETROSYAN

A1+
[06:59 pm] 16 December, 2008

RA First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan met with the delegation headed
by OSCE Secretary General Mark Perrin de Brichambaut.

In the beginning of the meeting, the OSCE Secretary General informed
that the OSCE is following-up on the issues facing the region and
developments in Armenia.

During the meeting, issues relating to the NKR conflict settlement
and Turkish-Armenian ties were discussed.

The sides also touched upon the inter-political situation, issues
facing political prisoners and the trial to be held on December
19. Both sides mentioned the need for deepening of democracy in
Armenia.

>From the Armenian side were Levon Zurabyan, David Shahnazaryan and
Vladimir Karapetyan, according to the information of the central
office of the Armenian National Congress.

WILL RESPOND ON THE BATTLEFIELD

A1+
[07:12 pm] 16 December, 2008

"We have refrained from giving political evaluations to this day with
the hope that the administration is leading a pro-Armenian foreign
policy. But it is strange and unclear why NKR is currently deprived
of the status of a conflicting side, which it acquired in 1994, and
why that deprivation was ratified in the Moscow declaration signed
recently," this was the concern expressed by members of the "Special
Regiment Veterans" NGO.

Recalling that their organization was established in 1990 and has gone
through thick and thin during the Karabakh war, the veterans stated:

"The position adopted by our administration to Azerbaijan’s bellicose
announcements forces us to recall that the liberated lands of
Artsakh and Armenia are not a subject for bargaining neither through
concessions or mutual concessions."

The "Special Regiment Veterans" NGO is reaching out to the people of
NKR and announces:

"If a war restarts, as in 1990, the "Special Regiment Veterans" NGO
is ready to serve Armenia and Artsakh for the sake of liberty and
independence. We will respond to Aliev’s bellicose announcements on
the battlefield," threatened the veterans.

PLYUSHCHENKO AT THE PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE

A1+
[07:24 pm] 16 December, 2008

Serzh Sargsyan received Olympic champion of figure skating, three-time
world and five-time European champion Evgeni Plyushchenko who is
in Armenia to participate in the current construction of the "Figure
Skating School" named after him and to get acquainted with the material
and technical foundations for the figure skating ring. The opening
of the school will take place at the end of December.

"Armenians love sports. It helps people get to know each other,
especially for small nations," said President Sargsyan.

Serzh Sargsyan expressed gratitude to Evgeni Plyushchenko for showing
support in the development of figure skating in Armenia. He added
that more and more Armenians are becoming fans of figure skating and
the opening of the ring has made its contribution. Serzh Sargsyan
expressed support for the initiatives aimed at developing figure
skating in Armenia.

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO RETURN

A1+
[07:59 pm] 16 December, 2008

Who must apologize on behalf of the Republic of Armenia for
disrespecting all Diaspora Armenians by denying Jirair Sefilyan and
when?" asked the administration today historian, Diaspora Armenian
Gevorg Yazrchyan taking into account the fact that the President,
the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Prime Minister, the Diaspora
Minister and others have already apologized for the deprivations
and issues that those who repatriated in 1946-1948 faced during the
conference "The Great Repatriation of 1946-1948 and lessons learned"
held December 12-14 in Tsakhkadzor.

Did you ask the state officials the question regarding Sefilyan’s
citizenship during the conference? In response to this, Yazrchyan said:

"No, that issue was raised in front of everyone by Syrian Armenian
Garbis Lepenjyan."

Yazrchyan marked that during the conference, the RA administration
accepted that the reasons behind the huge flow of emigration from
Armenia are not socio-economic, but rather legal. "People are not
coming back to the homeland due to scandalous injustices and they
leave for the same reason."

One of the members of the Armenian Volunteers’ Union Hayk Nahapetyan
made some references to the speeches made by state officials during the
conference. Serzh Sargsyan said: "Our government will do everything it
can to contribute to the establishment and preservation of Armenian
identity, as well as repatriation. The homeland of all Armenians is
always waiting for its children. It is never too late to return."

The prime minister’s speech was rather inspiring as well: "We are
witnessing the formation of a new world order and we don’t have
the right to make mistakes or wrong predictions so that we won’t
have to apologize again for implementing a fruitless repatriation
program." After making references to the speeches, Nahapetyan appealed
to the gathered:

"Do you think that our fellow Armenians in the Diaspora will take
these words seriously, or the reality that non-Armenian citizen
Lebanese Armenian Jirair Sefilyan is living in?"

Hayrapetyan considers the denial of Sefilyan’s appeals as the decision
of diminutive and evil people at the top of the ruling pyramid.

Sefilyan’s last appeal for RA citizenship was denied on November
18. "This attitude not only shows illegality and injustice out in the
open, but also the waywardness of Armenians, especially for somebody
dedicated to his nation. We will do everything we can to put an end
to the waywardness of this administration."

Members of the Armenian Volunteers’ Union explain the RA
administration’s decision to not grant citizenship to Sefilyan by the
enmity of the administration, which doesn’t forgive critics regardless
of whether they are locals or Diaspora Armenians.

WORLD CUP TO GIVE CONFIDENCE TO ARMENIAN BOXER

Panorama.am
15:42 16/12/2008

Armenian boxer Andranik Hakobyan (75kg.) became a World Cup Winner
in Moscow after defeating his Venezuelan rival Alfonso Blanco.

"The fight too hard. Our boxer has had good and strong rivals," said
the chief secretary of Armenian Boxing Federation Lyova Hovhannisyan
to Panorama.am.

"This victory has great significance for him. He has had many victories
but did not manage to gain any prize. This will give him confidence
for future victories," he said.

The new appointed President of the Boxing Federation of Armenia left
for Russia to meet the champion and accompany him to Armenia.