Month: November 2009

ARMENIAN PM: EVERYBODY MUST BE EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW

ArmInfo
2009-11-18 20:17:00

ArmInfo. Social surveys have shown that Armenian citizens care not so
much for wages and pensions, employment and new jobs, inflation and
high foreign exchange rate, not even so much for the independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh and the recognition of the Armenian Genocide as for
social justice, Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan said while
presenting draft national budget 2010 in the parliament today.

Everybody must be equal before the law irrespective of what position he
holds or property he possesses. This problem will be in the center of
our attention. This, first of all, concerns big business. In order to
restore public confidence the big business should work transparently.

Each big company must meet its tax obligations. "We must work on
this together. For this purpose, we have drafted two big legislative
initiatives," Sargsyan said.

First and foremost, the matter concerns the fact that 500 high-ranking
officials will have to publicly declare their incomes and property, and
a single e-register will operate in Armenia, which will be available
for all the citizens of the country. The high-ranking officials are
to also declare the property and incomes of their relatives. Secondly,
the tax bodies’ control based on risks implies that first of all large
business should be transparent for public, and introduction of the
institute of compulsory external audit is an important measure on the
path to restoration of confidence in large business. "Unfortunately,
I should state that in this sphere we have gained no success, and
the criticism against the government is quite fair",- T.Sargsyan said.

PREMIER: ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ABLE TO FULFILL 2010 STATE BUDGET

ARKA
November 18, 2009
Yerevan

On Wednesday, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, speaking in
National Assembly at the discussion of the 2010 state budget, said
that Armenian government is able to fulfill the 2010 state budget.

He is convinced that the ruling party in cooperation with all concerned
parties "will manage to solve all the problems accumulated in the
country and fulfill all the objectives set by the Armenian president".

The premier said that the key aim of the 2010 state budget is to
maintain the 2009 social expenses.

Sargsyan said that health and education reforms have already reached
the crucial stage. This will make it possible to improve financing
mechanisms for these areas.

Social expenses constitute 45.7% of AMD 859.7 billion expenditure in
the 2010 budget.

Expenses for education are planned at AMD 95 billion, for healthcare
AMD 54.1 billion and social security AMD 239.8 billion.

The prime minister said that the government will put in practice the
concept implying the second stage of reformation.

The concept also implies separation of ministries and state agencies’
functions and specification of relations among them.

Besides, the government is going to implement insurance and pension
reforms.

The government is also planning to ease the country’s debt burden
and negotiating with IMF now on restructuring the loans taken from
international organizations.

The government is going to start negotiating with the World Bank and
Asian Development Bank over the matter.

Armenia is attracting foreign funds for bailout measures.

Russia has lent $500 million to Armenia, the International Monetary
Fund has pledged $822.7 million and the World Bank will transfer $545
million to Armenia in 2009 and 2010.

GHUKASYAN’S SENSATION IN THE U.S.
By Appo Jabarian

Lragir.am
16/11/09

The Noyan Tapan News Agency reported this week that Arkady
Ghukasyan, the former President of Artsakh, currently Armenia’s
Ambassador-at-Large, and the Vice-President of the Board of Trustees
of Armenia Fund has been visiting the United States and Canada to
solicit donations ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving Day Telethon on
November 26.

Mr. Ghukasyan started his North American tour with an October 19
reception in North Jersey, New Jersey; continued with an October 24
reception in Montreal, Canada; and as of press time on November 3,
he had been present in Los Angeles, in order to solicit donations
for the Telethon.

According to several participants, Mr. Ghukasyan’s stated purpose
of his appearances was to discuss the upcoming Telethon, which will
raise money for Shushi.

‘However, the bulk of his comments pertained to the Protocols.

Overall, his performance was reported to be fairly polished. He
admitted various weaknesses and shortcomings in the Protocols
throughout this process. At the same time, he defended the President’s
integrity and patriotism. In criticizing the Protocols, he did very
little sugarcoating; in fact, he probably went beyond the call of
duty. Overall, his comments left the audience slightly off-balance —
happy over criticisms that were quite strong at times, yet cynical as
folks realized that his criticisms were mainly designed to placate us,
not to change anything substantial,’ reported one participant.

Mr. Ghukasyan, who several months ago was appointed as Armenia’s
Ambassador-at-Large by Pres. Serge Sargsyan, said that he was aware of
and understands the Diaspora’s dissatisfaction with the Protocols. He
further claimed that he shares those feelings, and sees them to be
justified. He acknowledged that Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian is very weak and unprepared.

Mr. G hukasyan stated that he ‘realizes that dialogue with the Diaspora
occurred very late in this process, and that was a mistake also; that
he could not understand how bright Diaspora Armenian minds weren’t
included in the process, as they can offer their know-how in dealing
with such issues,’ especially when — as Mr. Ghukasyan underlined —
‘fighting against Turks on the battlefield is easier than dealing
with them in a diplomatic war. For the latter, Armenia is in serious
need of advisors,’ he reportedly said.

Mr. Ghukasyan claimed that he ‘has privately expressed his displeasure
about the Protocols to the President, ten times more than Diaspora’s
complaints.’ At the same time, while the Protocols are sub par,
they are not fatal and ‘we need to develop loopholeÕ½ and adopt new
laws to protect ourselves.’ He even noted that ‘it’s possible that
Pres. Sargsyan made a mistake, but he is a sincere and patriotic
person who has taken a heavy responsibility on his shoulders,’
appealing to everyone ‘to support the President, not to oppose him.’
In a related note, Mr. Ghukasyan acknowledged that Armenia went into
this ‘not fully appreciating the impact of the Protocols, and that it
must work on that; and that ‘Genocide recognition is something that
Armenia wants and it is not negotiable.’ In an attempt to relieve
Armenia’s current leadership of comprehensive responsibility on core
issues affecting all Armenians, Mr. Ghukasyan urged the Diaspora
‘to continue its fight for Genocide recognition, and that no one,
not even Armenia, has the right to prevent it from doing so.’ A donor
underlined that in saying this, he evaded the question of whether
Armenia itself bears responsibility for pursuing this issue, until
members of the audience stated that Armenia and Diaspora should be
working together, to which he agreed and moved on.

As for Artsakh, he said no one is prepared to give up a single village
from the liberated territories.

Regarding fund raising, he claimed that the Azeris are watching
closely, reminding his audience that ‘If we don’t raise enough
funds for Shushi, the Azeris will immediately say that Shushi is not
that important for Armenians.’ This rang hollow — a shallow fund
raising ploy.

He concluded by lavishly praising a number of well-known sponsors in
the audience, again to prepare the ground for fund raising.

While several influential members of the Armenian-American community
embraced Mr. Ghukasyan’s message with apprehension, there is no
doubt that Armenians worldwide should rally around Armenia-Artsakh
and forge ahead with their economic and moral solidarity.

WE SHOULD BE READY TO LIBERATE OUR TERRITORIES ANY TIME FROM INVADERS BY MILITARY MEANS: AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT – PHOTOS

Today
Nov 18 2009
Azerbaijan

"The cause of Azerbaijan is a right cause. Over the past years we
have suffered from the policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by
Armenian invaders," President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during
his speech at an inauguration of nine-storey apartment buildings for
the internally displaced people.

"This state of affairs is totally unacceptable. It is a crying
injustice, gross violation of human rights. However the world community
remains indifferent to this. Though, international organizations
adopted several resolutions, which failed to be realized," the
president said.

"In that case, these resolutions make no sense. Unfortunately, the
international law is flagrantly abused. The occupation of Azerbaijani
territories is a result of this," he added.

"With the Azerbaijan`s economy growing, all social problems will be
solved. There is the strong support for building the national army.

Our army grows stronger. We are holding negotiations but we should
be ready to liberate our territories any time from the invaders by
military means," Azerbaijan president stated.

"We seek a peaceful solution since we don`t want the war. Nonetheless,
we can not achieve it by peaceful means. We hold talks seven-eight
times a year. There is some progress, but we can not achieve a radical
solution, as the Armenians display the stance which contradicts all
international laws," President Aliyev said.

ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN DOESN’T CONTEND FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL POST

Aysor
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

"The information spread by media outlets some of these days, in
particular, by Haykakan Zhamanak paper and Azerbaijani Day.az web-site,
that Secretary of the National Security Council, Arthur Baghdasaryan,
will be appointed as Armenia’s Attorney General in place of Aghvan
Hovsepyian, is false," said in statement released by NSC’s spokeswoman,
Gayane Gasparyan.

"This is completely absurd information. Arthur Baghdasaryan holds one
of four highest offices in Armenia, so, sure, doesn’t put in lower
in rank," she said.

ARMENIA’S MINISTER OF LABOR RESIGNS

Aysor
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

Armenia’s Minister of Labor and Social Affair, Gevorg Petrosyan, has
resigned, told Aysor’s correspondent spokesman of Prosperous Armenia
Party, Baghdasar Mgeryan. The resignation is caused by poor health
and lack of experience, said spokesman.

It was also announced that chairman of Standing Parliamentary
Commission for Human Rights, a party’s member Mkhitar Mnatsakanyan
will be nominated on the post.

RA NA DISCUSSES FY 2010 DRAFT BUDGET

news.am
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

RA Parliament commenced debates on FY 2010 draft budget. Presenting
the document, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan stated that the
Government focuses on pension fund and insurance system reforms,
that will enable to increase diversification of Armenian economy.

According to him, state management will also undergo reforms and nine
tools will be used to modify the healthcare field. Sargsyan devoted
special attention to the betterment of financial techniques, adding
that reforms in social and educational fields are underway. As Armenia
will get financial aid from the "Millennium Challenges" fund in 2010,
the volume of budget expenditures will equal to those of 2009.

He deems GDP might register 1.2% economic growth in 2010. "We also
intend to retain social funding at the level of FY 2009," the PM added.

The draft budget provided for 533bnm AMD income instead of the
estimated 500bn AMD. Under favorable economic conditions the indexes
will overrun, otherwise, the expenditures items will be met through
reserve fund.

Compared to 2009, the funding of local government institutions will
increase for 17% making 32.5bn AMD in 2010. A separate article is
foreseen for NKR to receive 31bn AMD earmarked for the people’s
security. According to the PM, Armenian government will keep on
supporting small and medium enterprises. Domestic export will be
promoted, whereas tax and customs reforms to go on.

RA Finance Minister Tigran Davtyan said that in 2010 Armenia will
register economical stability with the 1.2% growth, and deflator of
2%. According to him the budget deficit will hit 5-7% of GDP which
is tangible compared to 2009. Davtyan said that the exchange rate
will be set at 376AMD against 1 USD.

FIRST ROUND OF GOALBALL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP IS OVER

Aysor
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

The First Goalball Championship was held in Yerevan on November 17
initiated by Armenia’s Sport Federation for disabled people.

Six teams from Yerevan, Gyumri, Stepanakert, Echmiadzin and Abovyan
participated in the First Yerevan Goalball Team Championship. These
teams are Nika and Eagle (Yerevan), Shirak (Gyumri), Storm
(Stepanakert), Zipper (Echmiadzin), and Lions (Abovyan). In the
first round, teams were divided into A class and B class. Lions,
Nika, and Storm are in A class while other three teams are in B class.

In round one after hard struggle Lions won 17:14 over Storm and
14:10 over Nika, thus, top-seeding with leader title and entering
the semi-final. Nika seeded second after 11:10 victory over Storm.

In B class’s first round Zipper won13:10 over Eagles and 17:3 over
Shirak. Eagles, in its turn, won 15:9 over Shirak entering the
semi-final.

Today marks the second round of Championship where Lions will play
against Eagles, and Zipper will play against Nika. Of these two
will later contend for champion title while losers will contend for
vice-champion title.

Goalball is a team sport designed for blind athletes. It was devised
by Hanz Lorenzen (Austria), and Sepp Reindle (Germany), in 1946 in an
effort to help in the rehabilitation of visually impaired World War II
veterans. The sport evolved into a competitive game over the next few
decades and was a demonstration event at the 1976 Summer Paralympics
in Toronto. The sport’s first world championship was held in Austria
in 1978 and goalball became a full part of the Paralympics from the
1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem onwards. Participants compete in
teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded in
it into the opponents’ goal. They must use the sound of the bell to
judge the position and movement of the ball. Games consist of two 10
minute halves.

FOREIGN SECRETARY ASKED ABOUT BRITAIN’S INTEREST IN CAUCASUS

news.az
nov 18 2009
Azerbaijan

David Miliband Azerbaijani MP Zahid Oruj asked Foreign Secretary
David Miliband about British foreign policy in the Caucasus during
the NATO Parliamentary Assembly session in Edinburgh.

David Miliband concentrated on Aghanistan in his address to the
assembly on Tuesday, Zahid Oruj said. The foreign secretary defended
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s call for more support
for the mission in Afghanistan.

After Miliband’s speech, Oruj drew parallels between the geopolitical
situation in the early 20th century and today, Oruj told APA news
agency. "I told David Miliband that at that time the USSR easily
occupied the region because British forces in the Caucasus preferred
economic interests to defending our independence and were forced to
leave the Caucasus.

"’What principles do you prefer in your present policy toward the
countries and conflicts: territorial integrity, sovereignty and
democracy or economic interests?’" Oruj asked Miliband.

"The foreign secretary said that he hoped the establishment of
regional cooperation would allow a solution to the conflict as soon as
possible. These problems should be solved not only by the diplomacy
of a single country, but by involving the international community in
the process," Oruj said.

He said that an Armenian representative was antagonistic over his
question to the secretary general. "He said Azerbaijan’s rapid armament
disrupts the military balance in the South Caucasus and threatens
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh against a background of increasing
risks. The Armenian parliamentarian said the international community
should take action to divert Azerbaijan from these steps. I said
in my speech that the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is not the place
for discussions of disputes between the two countries, but we will
declare everywhere that Armenia is an aggressor and I said that we
will liberate our lands from occupation."

"There is no place for aggressor countries in NATO," Oruj said at
the assembly.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY DECEIVES RUSSIAN FOREIGN OFFICE?

news.am
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

The normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations has its autonomous
importance in that it is normalization between two nations that have
had hard times in their relations," Andrey Nesterenko, an official
representative of the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated at a
press briefing.

"As far as we know issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh were raised
during the Yerevan-Ankara negotiations. This range of issue must be
considered in this process. Let us hope that all the issues will
be settled in conformity with the decisions made by international
organizations and meet the interests of all the nations of the region,"
Nesterenko said.

As regards Russia’s mediation in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process,
Nesterenko said: "We are doing our best to help the sides resolve
the problem in the interests of the Nagorno-Karabakh population. It
is not a new problem. It has numerous aspects and involves emotions,
memory of tragic events. Being involved in the negotiation process,
we are doing our best to get the expected result." Nesterenko found
it difficult to specify the date of the next Armenian-Azerbaijani
presidential meeting, referring journalists to the Armenian and
Azerbaijani Foreign Offices.

It is noteworthy that in their previous official comments the
Russian side, as well as the OSCE Minsk Goup — with Yuri Merzlyakov,
official representative of the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as
Russian Co-Chair – denied any link between the Nagorno-Karabakh peace
process and Armenia-Turkey normalization process.

NEWS.am inquired about the opinion held by Tigran Balayan, Acting
Spokesman of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on how the information
on the issues negotiated by Yerevan and Ankara became available to
the RF Foreign Office. Balayan said that the Armenian and Turkish
sides did not discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

So the Russian side must be getting information – or misinformation –
from Turkish sources.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress