Month: December 2008

Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran East Azarbayjan Provincial TV, Tabriz
Dec 29 2008

Armenian Iranians condemn Gaza offensive

The archbishop of Azarbayjan’s Armenians has condemned the crimes
committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza.

Archbishop Nishan Topouzian described the crimes in Palestine and Gaza
as inhuman and said that every day several defenceless people of Gaza
lose their lives due to bombing and brutish attacks of the occupying
regime of Israel. He added that the people of the world are witnessing
every moment of these killings.

He condemned these crimes and expressed his sympathies and the
sympathies of all Azarbayjan’s Armenians to the brutal attacks by the
Zionists. He urged freedom for occupied Palestine from the hands of
the criminal and occupier Zionist regime and an end to these crimes as
soon as possible.

[translated from Persian]

Armenian Public TV
Dec 29 2008

Armenian security head says improved ties with Turkey to benefit economy

[Presenter over video of the interview] National Security Council
Secretary Artur Baghdasaryan spoke about national security challenges
and way to overcome them with my new colleague today. Baghdasaryan was
the host today of "Haylur Hartsazruyts" [interview programme] and
spoke about the Karabakh issue, prospects of Armenian-Turkish
relations, priorities of Armenia’s presidency in the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the council’s plans for 2009.

[Baghdasaryan, speaking to a journalist] At present, Armenian-Turkish
relations are at a partnership stage, at a stage of dialogue and I
believe this is extremely important in the political sense. The
normalization of relations with Turkey means an additional incentive
for the economic development of our country and for the development of
numerous small and medium-sized businesses. Finally, this means
boosting of economy; this means getting rid of the image of eternal
enemy.

Tigran Sargsyan: Armenia has accumulated enough financial safety margin
to counteract consequences of world economic crisis

2008-12-30 22:48:00

ArmInfo. Armenia has accumulated enough financial safety margin to
counteract consequences of world economic crisis, Prime Minister of
Armenia Tigran Sargsyan told representatives of some local news
agencies. In response to ArmInfo’s question about anti-crisis measures
envisaged for 2009 and the model of macroeconomic regulation of crises,
T. Sargsyan said that like the government of any other country, the
Government of Armenia has several scenarios of developments on the key
macroeconomic indicators and each scenario has an action plan. He said
the key task of the government is to evaluate the internal potential of
economy, the private sector, to meet new challenges. In this aspect,
the premier said, there are several factors able to successfully
counteract challenges. First of all, it is a private sector that has
accumulated serious potential over the last ten
years, material and financial reserves and ability to work in
conditions of market economy, uncertainty and sharp market
fluctuations. The second factor is connected with the country’s
readiness for challenges from the point of view of reserves and
possibilities. The premier is sure that due to the reasonable
macroeconomic policy of the government for the last ten years, Armenia
has accumulated enough financial safety margin and tangible20reserves of
own funds at the Central Bank amounting to $300 million.

‘These funds will make its possible fulfilling the budget for 2009
irrespective of tax revenues>, Tigran Sargsyan said. Among key factors
of financial safety margin, the premier mentioned the low level of
internal debt in the ratio to GDP (about 17%) and the envisaged low
budgetary deficit in GDP ` 0.8%. This makes it possible spending big
funds not fearing for the negative influence on macroeconomic
indicators. The premier said the anti-crisis program of the government
mainly aims to sharply increase infrastructure costs. For instance,
construction of roads, energy, water supply, and irrigation facilities,
as well as disaster zone rehabilitation. Thus the Government intends to
invest in infrastructure projects in energy sector nearly $300 million,
in water supply and irrigation sector – nearly $300 million, in
large-scale construction in the disaster zone – about $250 million on
the funds of the budget, government reserves and the World Bank, Asian
Development Bank, credits from other sources. Tangible funds will be
invested also in construction and reconstruction of the highway linking
Armenia and Georgian town of Batumi.

Asked about the inflation scenario prime minister said that in the
conditions of the anti-crisis actions on stimulation of growth the
policy of the government will be ‘extensive in connection with supposed
deflation processes’. ‘The inflation=2
0level in November and December has
never been so low as in 2008. We think that the inflation potential
that was fixed at the beginning of 2008 and was stemming from the world
financial and trade markets (in 2008 Armenia imported 70% of inflation)
has sharply fallen because of prices reduction at the world markets,
reduction of bread and bread products, wheat and fuel and lubricants
prices. This creates favorable background for the extensive policy
which will be conducted by the government. That is to say, the
macroeconomic parameters which were involved in 2008 were also creating
coefficient of safety to reject negative consequences of the financial
crisis. This had and still has a serious anti-crisis element’, –
Armenian premier said. He also added in spring when negotiating with
the IMF and the WB the government fixed the circumstance according to
which if to follow strictly the planned macro-economic indices this
will create favorable conditions for prevention of the negative
consequences of the financial crisis. Moreover, sharp increasing of the
indices on tax collection was also of great significance in this
context. ‘We increased the final indices on the tax revenues threefold
by this correcting the budgetary revenues because of the growth of the
predicted index of the GDP. But at the dame time we decreased budgetary
expenses. Increasing revenues and decreasing expenses we have sharply
increased financial potential of the state’
, – he said.

Asked about the macro-economic indices for 2008, Sarkisyan replied the
current year will be finished with good marco-economic indices, the
budget will be fulfilled and there will be no non-fulfilled expenses.
Inflation will be within the frames of the predicted level. ‘In fact,
all these marco-economic indices were a serious ground for the rating
agencies Moodys Investor Servise and FitchRatings, which despite all
the challenges and problems increased rating of Armenia in 2008. ‘This
is very much important that the agencies correctly assessed as the
steps of the government were right. We shall not have the double-figure
growth of GDP this year. This is conditioned with sharp falling in the
mining industry and much reduction of the growing rates in
construction’, – the premier said. He is sure that the state support
programmes of the enterprises in 2009 will neutralize negative
consequences of the world financial and economic crisis.

Security Council of Nagorno Karabakh held a meeting

2008-12-30 15:54:00

ArmInfo. On 27 December at the Security Council of the Nagorno Karabagh
Republic held a meeting at the chairmanship of NKR President Bako
Sahakyan.

Issues related to the course and results of the 2008 telethon organized
by the "Armenia" All-Armenian fund, key events in 2008 and their
influence on the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict, as well as realization
of the settlement program in the republic were discussed at the
meeting, the Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR
president told ArmInfo.

Results of 3rd All-Armenian E-Content Competition summed up

2008-12-30 15:49:00

ArmInfo. The results of 3rd All-Armenian E-Content Competition were
summed up today. The organizers of the competition are ITF and ELBA,
the partners – ITFSC and Bi Line, the sponsors – Microsoft and Icon
Communications, the general sponsors – VivaCell-MTS and Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund. The competition was conducted under the patronage of
Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan. "The state gives top
priority to the development of e-content. This is a matter of
preservation of cultural identity of our people," says Deputy Economy
Minister Vahe Daniyelyan said. "We would like to point out the
importance of regular conduct of such competitions as e-content needs
constant development. We are glad to note that we have made a
significant contribution to the development of e-content in the
Armenian language, particularly, to the localization of Windows Vista,"
Director of Microsoft in Armenia G.Barsegyan. 8 web-sites have been
granted the highest award – 300,000 AMD: the site of the Armenian
Genocide Museum (), the site of the State
Migration Service of Armenia (), the Armenian
educational portal of the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia
(), the site of the Information Center for Climate Changes
() and the site of the State Agency for
Intellectual Property (). The awards were granted in the
following nominations: electronic culture, business, recreation,
education, medicine, e-integration science. The English-Armenian
translator () and the virtual humanitarian community
of Armenia () received special prizes.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

President of "Bi Line": Priority sphere for IT development in Armenia
is elaboration of e-content

2008-12-30 15:41:00

ArmInfo. The priority sphere for development of information
technologies in Armenia is e-content elaboration, President of "Bi
Line" company Hayk Khanjyan told ArmInfo correspondent. To recall, "Bi
Line" localized Windows XP in Armenian. In 2008 the company localized
Windows Vista as well. "I see IT development in Armenia in the sphere
of e-content rather than in elaboration of computer programs as today
e-content is the most representative sphere in the world. The world
judges about a country by its e-content. In the near future this sphere
will considerably leave behind the whole IT sphere by its growth rates.
Therefore, being quite creative people, we can create high-quality
content by involving not only programmers, but also actors, writers,
painters. This content will deserve to be presented in many languages
all over the world",- Khanjyan stressed.

Central Bank of Armenia manages to ensure inflation at 5,2-5,5% target
level in 2008

2008-12-30 15:32:00

ArmInfo. Armenia is one of the few countries which managed to ensure
inflation at the 5,2-5,5% target level (according to preliminary data
of the Central Bank of Armenia), CBA Chairman Artur Javadyan said at
the official reception on the results of the year 2008, Monday.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan and the leadership of the
financial-banking sector of Armenia attended the reception.

Javadyan said that despite the numerous challenges of the global
financial crisis, the year 2007 turned out to be quite efficient for
Armenia’s financial system from the viewpoint of development and
stability. The year 2008 demonstrated considerable progress in
qualitative and quantitative improvement of indices and in respect of
institutional development, he added. According to Javadyan, the largest
part of Armenia’s financial system is the banking sector (91% of
assets). In 2008 the banking system assets increased by 33% and
totalled 1.2 trillion AMD, this index being considerably higher than
the indices of 1998 and 1999 (122 bln AMD and 160 bln AMD
respectively). At the same time, thanks to its stability, the banking
system of Armenia attracts foreign investors who ensure inflow of
foreign resources to Armenia in conditions of the global financial
crisis. In the framework of different programs institutional investors
invested over 70bln AMD in Armenia. In 2008 10 commercial banks whose
shares are held by foreign institutional investors increased their
authorized capitals by 34bln AMD. Just to compare, in 1998 the capital
of the banking system of Armenia was just 22bln AMD, in 1999 – 32bln
AMD. In 2008 crediting was steadily growing: it grew by 51% to 210bln
AMD. For the moment the share of credits of total assets exceeds 60%.
Despite decline in crediting worldwide, the credit portfolio of
Armenia’s banking system is stable with the share of standard loans
exceeding 96%. This year the parliament of Armenia has adopted three
important laws protecting the rights of consumers: on financial
ombudsman, on consumer loan and on deposits as well as laws on
all-Armenian bank and financial companies. The latter are meant to
foster business development projects in the "Armenian world."
Three new companies will enter Armenia’s insurance market in 2009:
subsidiaries of Rosgosstrakh and UniRECO (both Russia) and subsidiary
of Alfa Insurance (Ukraine). "We expect that the year 2009 will be more
effective and will see stable development of our financial system,"
Javadyan said.

To remind, presently, there are 22 commercial banks, 23 credit
companies and 11 insurance companies in Armenia with two new banks –
Cedrus and Postbank – and one universal credit company – Aniv – to
start their activities in 2009.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

President of Armenia charges government to complete preparations
necessary for increasing governmental stake in CJSC ArmRusgasprom till
the end of the year

2008-12-28 21:20:00

ArmInfo. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has charged the government
to complete preparations for increasing governmental stake in CJSC
ArmRusgasprom till the end of the year, Prime Minister of Armenia
Tigran Sargsyan told media. He could not say how much the stake will be
increased since it requires evaluation of infrastructure assets of the
government and the self-government and completion of the negotiations
with the Russian party. He said the process will be over in the first
quarter of 2009.

Earlier in November, Minister for Energy and Natural Resources of
Armenia Armen Movsisyan said the government will make a proposal for
increase of its share in the authorized capital of the Armenian-Russian
JV by a total of $20-25 million. The government intends to further
ensure uninterrupted exploitation of internal gas pipelines and gas
supply to consumers.

The Armenian Government holds 17.32% stake in CJSC ArmRusgasprom.
Gazprom OJSC holds 78.93% stake in the company and ITERA Group – 3.85%
stake. The authorized capital of the JV is 365.622 billion drams.

Prison term of Sargis Hatspanian extended for another two months

YEREVAN , DECEMBER 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The closed-door sitting of the court
of first instance of Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash community
(judge: Gayane Karakhanian) on December 30 granted the prosecution’s
petition to extend the arrest as a precautionary measure with the
respect to Sargis Hatspanian, a French Armenian, former azatamartik
(freedom fighter) for another two months.

To recap, S. Hatspanian was arrested after he had said in an interview
with Armenian Time daily in October that an attempt upon Armenian
president Serzh Sargsyan’s life was being prepared. After a talk at the
National Security Service, the former azatamartik was charged under
Article 333 Part 2 of the RA Criminal Code (false crime reporting),
which envisages an imprisonment for up to 5 years.

The Los Angeles Times
Kirk Kerkorian sells remaining Ford shares
The investor spent about $1 billion acquiring a 6.5% stake in the struggling
automaker this year, then saw the value of its stock plummet.
By Martin Zimmerman

December 30, 2008

Kirk Kerkorian wasn’t kidding when he said he was putting the brakes on his
latest foray into the auto industry.

A spokeswoman for Tracinda Corp., the billionaire’s Beverly
Hills-based investment company, confirmed Monday that it had dumped
its remaining stock holdings in struggling Ford Motor Co. She declined
to provide details of the stock sales.

Kerkorian owned 107.1 million Ford shares, or 4.9% of the company, in
late October, when Tracinda reported in a regulatory filing that it
had unloaded 7.3 million shares and planned to sell the rest of its
holdings by the end of the year.

Because it owned less than 5% of the company — the regulatory
threshold for reporting changes in stock ownership — Tracinda was not
required to file information with the Securities and Exchange
Commission regarding the more recent sales, such as when the shares
were sold or at what price.

But Kerkorian, who began buying Ford shares in April and spent about
$1 billion acquiring a 6.5% stake in the automaker, clearly took a
bath on the investment. Ford was trading at about $7.75 a share when
Kerkorian began acquiring his stake. The average price since his last
SEC filing in late October: $2.33 a share.

Kerkorian has had a long, if not always profitable, relationship with
Detroit. He was the largest shareholder in Chrysler before it was sold
to Daimler-Benz in the late 1990s. In 2006, he bought a 9.9% stake in
General Motors Corp. and tried to use the resulting leverage in an
unsuccessful effort to force GM into a relationship with
Nissan-Renault.

And when Daimler put Chrysler on the block last year, Kerkorian sought
to mount a buyout bid with the help of the automaker unions, but
failed.

Although Ford is considered to be in better shape than GM or Chrysler
— unlike those two, it has yet to formally request a financial
handout from Washington — the company is burning through cash at an
alarming rate as auto sales plunge in the U.S. and abroad.

Ford shares closed down 7 cents, about 3%, at $2.22.

[email protected]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress