Month: November 2009

FOREIGN MINISTER OF LITHUANIA VYGAUDAS USHACKAS TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA ON TWO-DAY OFFICIAL VISIT ON NOVEMBER 20

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
YEREVAN

Foreign Minister of Lithuania Vygaudas Ushackas will arrive in Armenia
on a two-day official visit on November 20 at RA Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian’s invitation.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
Vygaudas Ushackas will meet with RA National Assembly Speaker Hovik
Abrahamian, National Security Council Secretary Artur Baghdasarian,
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, and Minister of Economy Nerses
Yeritsian during the visit.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSIAN LEAVES FOR YALTA ON WORKING VISIT ON NOVEMBER 20

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian
leaves for Yalta on a working visit on November 20 to take part in
a regular meeting of CIS Prime Ministers’ Council.

According to RA government’s Information and Public Relations
Department, Head of RA government’s staff David Sargsian, RA Deputy
Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian, Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of RA to Belarus Oleg Yesayan, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of RA to the Ukraine Armen Khachatrian, other
high-ranking officials are included in the delegation led by
T. Sargsian.

RA FOREIGN MINISTER EDWARD NALBANDIAN RECEIVES OSCE/ODIHR DIRECTOR JANEZ LENARCIC

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian, on November 19, met with OSCE/ODIHR Director Janez
Lenarcic who is in Yerevan on a working visit. Issues related to
Armenia-OSCE/ODIHR cooperation were discussed at the meeting.

Appreciating ODIHR’s role in the issue of pushing forward human rights
and democracy principles E. Nalbandian said that Yerevan attaches
importance to cooperation with the Office.

Janez Lenarcic, in his turn, expressed satisfaction with efficient
cooperation with the Armenian authorities.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
the interlocutors attached importance to the assistance of the Office
in improvement of electoral processes, as well as in implementation of
an observation mission as the discussion and work at their results and
conclusions make a contribution to recording progress in this sphere.

E. Nalbandian and J. Lenarcic also discussed the process of democratic
reforms in Armenia and steps undertaken in that sphere.

The RA Foreign Minister drew ODIHR Director’s attention to Azerbaijan’s
propaganda sowing anti-Armenian and national hostility mentioning
that it is an obvious violation of OSCE criteria.

RA NA SPEAKER RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF POLISH NIK

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. On November 19, RA NA Speaker Hovik
Abrahamian received Jacek Jezierski, the President of the Polish NIK
(supreme audit institution), the Chairman of the European Association
of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) Governing Board.

H. Abrahamian expressed satisfaction with RA Control Chamber’s activity
and drew his interlocutor’s attention to legislative and practical
guarantees aimed at ensuring RA Control Chamber’s independence. In
that context the interlocutors agreed that the most important factor
from point of view of supreme audit institutions’ efficiency is
their independence.

According to the RA NA Press Service, Chairman of the RA Control
Chamber Ishkhan Zakarian also took part in the meeting.

PROMINENT BOTANIST-EVOLUTIONIST, ACADEMICIAN ARMEN TAKHTAJIAN DIES

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
SAINT PETERSBURG

SAINT PETERSBURG, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. One of the most prominent
botanists of the 20th century, Academician of the Academy of Sciences
of Russia and the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Hero of
Social Labor Armen Takhtajian died in Saint Petresburg on November 13.

He was 99.

A. Takhtajian belonged to the constellation of the world’s renowned
botanists-evolutionists. He created an evolution system of the
plants, which was accepted by the scientific botanical society and is
considered as the best and most reliable. He made a great contribution
to almost all the main branches of the contemporary science on plants.

For many years he held the post of director of the Institute of Botany
of the USSR Academy of Sciences and participated in the development
of strategic directions in botany.

A. Takhtajian’s contribution to the development of botany in Armenia
was also considerable. He was the first director of the Institute of
Botany of Armenia’s Academy of Sciences in 1943-1948. After moving
to Leningrad, he continued cooperting closely with Armenian botanists.

Thanks to his efforts, the Armenian botanical school has become
one of the leading schools. With his assistance, such directions in
contemporary botany as taxonomy, palynology, karyology, etc. have
developed in Armenia.

NT was informed by the information and analytical center of the RA
National Academy of Sciences that Armen Takhtajian was buried in
Smolenski cemetery of Saint Petersburg.

FAMOUS COMPOSER ROBERT AMIRKHANIAN CELEBRATES 70TH BIRTHDAY

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. A concert dedicated to the 70th
birthday of the renowned composer, recipient of a Surb Mesrop Mashtots
order, People’s Artist of Armenia Robert Amirkhanian took place in
Yerevan on November 18. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan with his
spouse attended the event.

Popular singers and bands took part in the concert organized by
the Ministry of Culture, the Union of Composers and the Union of
Musicologists of Armenia.

In the words of R. Amirkhanian, his creative activity is valued not by
the number of years, but by his songs which are reflected in Armenian
eyes (NT: "Armenian Eyes" is a famous song by R. Amirkhanian).

RUBEN MATEVOSIAN PERFORMS CONCERTS IN TEHRAN

NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
TEHRAN

TEHRAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Renowned Armenian
singer Ruben Matevosian performed concerts of gousan (Armenian
national bard) and variety songs between November 7 to 16 in Tehran,
at Armenian Club’s, Nairi Union’s Sukerian and Sasun district’s Nairi
halls. According to Alik, Ruben Matevosian’s concerts proceeded to
the accompaniment of Aram Merangulian Folk Instruments Ensemble of
RA Public Radio and Television and received a warm welcome by the
spectators.

2010 ACTION PLAN OF ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO BE BASED ON LESSONS OF 2009

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The 2010 action plan of the Armenian
government will be based on the lessons of 2009 and aimed at solving
the existing problems. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan made
this statement at the November 18 sitting in the National Assembly,
when presenting the main directions of the 2010 draft state budget.

He said the crisis has revealed the vulnerable points of the
country’s economy. The ecomomy has a low level of diversification,
there is an acute lack of "long money" and the absence of intitutions
working on it. The prime minister underlined that this circumstance
reduces the possibility of diversification. Secondly, the Armenian
economy is characterized by the existence of oligopolies and a low
competition level. The prime minister considered the low flexibility
of prices as a serious challenge to Armenia, adding that it results
in a disproportionate distribution of the tax burden among economic
entities. Thridly, the motivational mechanisms in the state government
system are either absent or weak. Fourthly, the current mechanisms
of financing the healthcare and education sectors are imperfect. The
prime minister also pointed out the slow process of economic reforms
to be accelerated by the government.

In his words, the studies and social surveys show that the Armenian
citizens "are concerned most of all about the problem of social
justice, rather than about such issues as low pensions and salaries,
unemployment, job creation, inflation, the exchange rate, even the
problems of Nagorno Karabakh and the Genocide". "Everybody must enjoy
equal protection of the law, regardless of their social position and
incomes. This problem will be in the center of our attention," T.

Sargsyan declared.

He said this problems concerns first of all big business whose
activities should be transparent in order to restore the trust of
society. With this aim the government will present two important
legislative initiatives.

The first one is that 500 high-ranking Armenian officials will have to
publicly present statements on their incomes and property, including
the property of closely related persons. A single electronic register
will be launched in Armenia and be available to all citizens.

The second initiative – risk-based control by tax bodies means that in
the first place, the work of big business should be transparent to the
public, and the introduction of a compulsory audit institution is an
important step for restoring and increasing the trust in big business.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PURCHASE AND SALE TRANSACTIONS OF 2.4 MILLION DOLLARS CARRIED OUT AT NASDAQ OEMEX ARMENIA OJSC ON NOVEMBER 19

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Purchase and sale transactions of
2.4 million dollars at the weighted average exchange rate of 387.06
drams per dollar were carried out at Nasdaq Oemex Armenia OJSC on
November 19. According to the press service of the Central Bank of
Armenia, the closing price made 386.95 drams.

OPENING BORDER WITH RUSSIA… FOR ARMENIA’S SAKE

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 18, 2009 Wednesday
Russia

THE GEORGIAN AUTHORITIES WILL OPEN CHECKPOINT VERKHNY LARS ON THE
BORDER WITH RUSSIA; Russia and Georgia open the border.

Armenia aspired to it for a long time because nearly 30% of all
shipments to this country had come via Verkhny Lars once. Its shut
down made life hard for Armenia. At first, official Tbilisi used to
say that the opening of the checkpoint depended on Moscow implying
that it should reopen the Russian market for Georgian produce. No
such demands are made any more but Tbilisi warned that the checkpoint
would be closed again the moment Russia announced that terrorists
were crossing the border from Georgia.

The problem of the checkpoint (it is called Kazbegi in Georgia)
was discussed at a special meeting of the Georgian National Security
Council.

President Mikhail Saakashvili outlined three arguments for the
opening. First, it would benefit the population of several regions
of Georgia. Second, it would confirm Georgia’s status of a transit
country. "What counts is that it will enable Georgia to ship its
produce to the third countries via Russia," he said.

The border between Russia and Georgia was closed in 2006 when Russian
officers were seized in Tbilisi and charged with espionage. Russia
closed its market for Georgian produce and locked up Verkhny Lars. It
said a new terminal was being built nearby. In late 2008, Moscow
informed the Georgian Foreign Ministry that a new terminal with the
running capacity of 400 vehicles per day had been built and could be
opened. Tbilisi said it wanted to discuss the matter in Geneva with
Switzerland being the intermediary. Moscow told Georgia to forget it.

Consultations between Russia, Georgia, and Armenia began this autumn.

It seems that certain progress has been made. Kazbegi on the territory
of Georgia and Verkhny Lars in Russia will function in unison, trying
to harmonize the border regime. At first, the border will only be
open for trucks.

Saakashvili warned that Russia might renege on the deal at the last
moment. "They probably never counted on us playing ball. They thought
we would refuse. Well, we did not. It’s up to them now. Let’s see
them agree to open the border now that we do not object."