Month: November 2009

SERZH SARGSYAN CONGRATULATES COMPOSER ROBERT AMIRKHANIAN ON OCCASION OF HIS 70TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. On November 17, RA President
Serzh Sargsyan had a phone conversation with RA People’s Artist,
Merited Figure of Culture, Chairman of the RA Union of Composers
Robert Amirkhanian. According to RA President’s Press Office,
S. Sargsyan congratulated the composer on the occasion of his 70th
birth anniversary, wished him good health and further creative success.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN LANGUAGE COURSES FOR FOREIGN DIPLOMATS ORGANIZED BY WELCOME TO ARMENIA ASSOCIATION START

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian language courses for
foreign diplomats and members of their families organized by the
Welcome to Armenia association started on November 17 at the RA
Foreign Ministry. More than twenty diplomats and members of their
families were present at the first course.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press Service, the Armenian
language courses are a good opportunity for foreigners residing in
Armenia to more closely get acquainted with Armenian people’s history,
culture, and traditions.

The association founded this September, headed by Natalia Nalbandian
is a non-profit organization, the purpose of which is to facilitate
integration to Armenian life for foreign diplomats and their families.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRANCE NO LONGER ACCEPTS REFUGEES FROM DEMOCRATIC ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-11-17 19:57:00

ArmInfo. France will no longer accept refugees from Armenia, Turkey
and Serbia.

Le Monde reports that the key argument of OFPRA (the French Office for
the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) is that Armenia,
Turkey and Serbia comply with the freedom and democracy principles,
are constitutional states and respect human rights and fundamental
freedoms. Georgia was also in the list but was later removed.

Thus, the representatives of the above mentioned countries are
actually deprived of the right to apply for shelter in France and
can be expelled from the country before the court takes the decision.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS TURKEY WANTS TO JOIN EU SOON

ArmInfo
2009-11-17 18:37:00

ArmInfo. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey wanted
to join the EU as soon as possible.

"Spain waited for seven years to join the EU. I do not want to
talk about any definite date but we want to join the EU as soon as
possible," Davutoglu said in exclusive interviews with Spanish "El
Pais", "El Mundo" and "La Vanguardia" newspapers.

"This should not be perceived as if we would wait for seven years. We
have already been waiting for half a century," he also said.

Davutoglu said that France and Germany had concerns about Turkey.

Noting that France had concerns to prevent Spain’s EU membership,
Davutoglu said Madrid-Paris relations were better today than the past.

"We have a wide vision, and Ankara-Paris relations will be better when
Turkey becomes an EU member," he said. To remind, President of France
Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have repeatedly
said that Turkey must not be admitted into the EU. Particularly,
Sarkozy said during his electoral campaign 2007: "I want to say
that Europe must give itself borders, that not all countries have a
vocation to become members of Europe, beginning with Turkey which has
no place inside the European Union. Enlarging Europe with no limit
risks destroying European political union, and that I do not accept."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CASH TRANSACTIONS WITH ARCA CARDS IN PROCESSING NETWORK OF AREXIMBANK – GAZPROMBANK GROUP REDUCE BY 1% IN OCTOBER

ArmInfo
2009-11-17 15:58:00

ArmInfo. The volume of cash transactions with ArCa cards in the
processing network of Areximbank – Gazprombank Group reduced by 1%
in October, 2009, as compared to September, and the number of cash
transactions – by 5%. As Armenian Card CJSC told ArmInfo, the volume
of transactions with ArCa cards through Areximbank – Gazprombank
Group processing system made up 38 mln drams, and their number –
1920, including cashless transactions were carried out to the sum of
3.2 bln drams (165 transactions).

To recall, ArCa cards, within the frames of the agreement with
Armenian Card, have been served through Areximbank – Gazprombank Group
processing system since April, 2009. As of July 1, 2009, Areximbank
– Gazprombank Group numbered 16075 active plastic cards, the lion’s
share of which fell on Visa cards – 90% (14480 cards), the remaining
part fell on the cards of MasterCard system – 10% (1595 cards).

Areximbank has been member of VISA International since 2002, and
member of MasterCard – since 2005.

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL: ARMENIA RANKS 120TH BY CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX

ArmInfo
2009-11-17 19:37:00

ArmInfo. Armenia ranks the 120th in the annual Global Corruption
Report 2009 of Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions
Index (CPI). This year Armenia’s index dropped by 0.2 point, making
2.7 points. Georgia ranks the 66th (4.1 points), and Azerbaijan ranks
the 143rd (2.3 points).

The lowest indices testifying the high corruption rate are registered
in Somali, Afghanistan, Myanmar, while the highest index is in New
Zealand, Denmark, Singapore.

In the Report for 2009 published i Berlin on Nov 17, Transparency
International experts assess the level of corruption in 180 countries
on a 10-point scale (0 means total corruptness, 10 means practically
complete lack of corruption).

GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS RESULTS IN GROWTH OF POVERTY LEVEL IN ARMENIA: WB SPECIALISTS SAY

ArmInfo
2009-11-17 16:03:00

ArmInfo. World Bank surveys showed that overall poverty rate in
Armenia has increased from 25.6% in 2008 Q2 to 28.4% in 2009 Q2,
a nearly 3 percentage points increase. In other words, the number
of poor in Armenia had increased by over 90,000 in 2009 Q2 compare
to 2008 Q2. Lire Ersado, Senior Economist at the World Bank said
on Tuesday when presenting the report "Armenia – Poverty and Social
Impact of the Global Economic Crisis."

Without mitigation measures, particularly those by the government
through protection of social spending and improved targeting of the
Family Benefit, overall poverty would increase by about 6 percentage
points, L. Ersado said. The level of extreme poverty has nearly
doubled from 3.6% in 2008 Q2 to 6/9% in 2009 Q2 increasing the number
of extremely poor individuals by over 107,000.

The report says that households responded to the crisis though
several behavior changes, including: substitution of cheaper foods
to more expensive, reduction of spending on healthcare and medicines,
increased use of public transportation and less use of entertainment
and fewer meetings with friends. On the other hand spending on alcohol
spiked by over 60%.

L. Eesado said that these developments are a setback for Armenia
after a decade of nearly double-digit growth (which averaged 12% over
2001-2007) and reduction in poverty incidence from 56.1% in 1998/99 to
23.5% in 2008 (an over 32 percentage points decline in 10 years). To
preserve its hard-earned gains, the government ahs taken several
measures to sustain macroeconomic stability such as securing external
financing and abandonment of the fixed exchange peg of the dram to the
US dollar. The authorities also protected social protection spending
crucial for the poor and vulnerable, the WB representative said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VIVACELL-MTS AND GNC-ALFA SIGNED AGREEMENT ON ACQUISITION OF OPTICAL DARK CABLES

ArmInfo
2009-11-17 18:31:00

ArmInfo. VivaCell-MTS, the subsidiary of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC,
and GNC-Alfa CJSC signed an agreement that will allow VivaCell-MTS
building of an own high-speed, fiber-optic backbone network. Under
this contract, VivaCell-MTS will acquire the optical dark fibers
in GNC-Alfa’s Fiber Optic Cable system laid between Yerevan and
Armenian-Iranian border.

The GNC-Alfa’s Fiber Optic Network Cable is interconnected to
Iran’s long-distance fiber- optic network and is providing further
access to the worldwide telecommunications networks. Thanks to
the agreement VivaCell-MTS will have an independent and reliable
nationwide network having international access for voice and high
speed data and Internet services. GNC-Alfa will provide operation
and maintenance of the acquired fibers. The high-speed, fiber-optic
network will provide Armenia with high digital communications online
speeds. Higher education and R&D institutions may use the system
for educational and research purposes. It has a big potential for
increasing international collaboration and sharing resources.

"In Europe and the Western hepisphere optical fiber channels have
become widespread in the telecom networks and transfom companies to
cutting-edge technology players. VivaCell- MTS’ own fiber optical
network will provide high-bandwidth access for Armenia. Yerevan and
major cities will be put directly on line with Middle East, Far East,
Europe and the rest of the world. The fiber optic network will offer
new services," said VivaCell-MTS General Manager.

VivaCell-MTS (K-Telecom CJSC) is the leading Armenian mobile operator,
providing a wide range of Voice and Data services. Since its launch
on 1st July 2005, in a short period of time VivaCell-MTS has managed
to build a nationwide network and a considerable customer base.

VivaCell-MTS drives the development and offering of innovative mobile
communications products, services and features in the Armenian mobile
communications market. For more information, visit
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the largest mobile phone operator
in Russia and the CIS. Together with its subsidiaries, the Company
services over 96.68 million subscribers. The regions of Russia, as
well as Armenia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, in
which MTS and its associates and subsidiaries are licensed to provide
GSM services, have a total population of more than 230 million. Since
June 2000, MTS’ Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock
Exchange (ticker symbol MBT). Additional information about MTS can
be found at

GNC-Alfa is a licensed network services operator in Armenia. Its
network is based on Fiber-Optic Cable (FOC) infrastructure and
designed to satisfy growing needs of fixed and mobile operators,
Internet Service Providers and large enterprises in transport network
services and high speed Internet. The Southern Segment of our network
between Yerevan and Armenia-Iran border has been put into operation
in September 2009. The Network is interconnected with the FOC in Iran
having access to the worldwide telecommunications networks.

Construction of the Northern Segment between Yerevan and
Armenia-Georgia border is in progress. In the North, the Network will
be interconnected at least with two FOC systems in Georgia providing
high-capacity transit services via Armenia. Within Armenia, the
Network will be extended to the main towns of the country. The goal
of our company is to become a major Fiber Optic Backbone operator
in Armenia. Our personnel is comprised of qualified telecom experts
with sophisticated know-how in FO network operations and services
provision. Additional information about GNC-Alfa can be found at

RUSSIAN TELEVISION ACADEMY AND 4 ARMENIAN TV COMPANIES SIGN COOPERATION MEMORANDUM

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. A cooperation memorandum was signed
between the Russian Television Academy foundation and 4 Armenian TV
companies, H1, H2, Shant, Armenia on November 17 in Yerevan. The
memorandum, in particular, envisages retraining of Armenian TV
journalists and TV specialists in Russia.

PURCHASE AND SALE TRANSACTIONS OF 800 THOUSAND DOLLARS CARRIED OUT AT NASDAQ OEMEX ARMENIA OJSC ON NOVEMBER 17

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 17, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Purchase and sale transactions of
800 thousand dollars at the weighted average exchange rate of 387.25
drams per dollar were carried out at Nasdaq Oemex Armenia OJSC on
November 17. According to the press center of the Central Bank of
Armenia, the closing price made 387.25 drams.