Month: April 2010

ARMENIAN LANDMARK IN CALCUTTA DESTROYED BY FIRE

2010/03/29 | 16:54

Diaspora

The following article is culled from today’s Hindustan Times. Dealing
with the legacy of one famous Armenian, Arathoon Stephen, in dovetails
well with the article on Liz Chater and the Armenian community in
India, elsewhere in today’s Hetq.

"Yet Another Colonial Hangover" by Pratik Kanjilal

Life on Kolkata’s Park Street will not be the same after the
devastating fire in Stephen Court. The hub of social life and
entertainment almost since the city was founded, the street has
recently been trying to recover from its decline during Marxist rule.

Now, its regeneration could falter. Kolkata is an old-style city with
a sense of public decency. The tragedy will be mourned for years
to come and going out for a bit of fun on the street where so many
people died needlessly could feel unnatural.

People are also mourning the destruction of a landmark of the
colonial skyline. Interestingly, though Stephen Court was a Raj
period building, it was not built by a colonial. In fact, much of the
remarkable heritage architecture of the Presidency towns is of Asian
provenance. The English mainly built government institutions to rule
from, educational institutions to generate manpower, and barracks
for the military that kept them in power. They built an astonishing
number of barracks. In fact, one of Kolkata’s satellite towns is
called Barrackpore. Ironically, that’s where the 1857 rising started,
precipitated by the court martial of the turbulent sepoy Mangal Pandey.

Stephen Court was built by the Isfahani Armenian Arathoon Stephen
(1861-1927), who arrived in Kolkata dirt-poor and became a real
estate baron. His impoverished refugee origin may be an exaggeration,
since his family was perhaps already in India when Pandey was turning
up the heat. But he was certainly a merchant prince committed to
institution-building. His most remarkable property was a Chowringhee
boarding house he took over from a Mrs Monk and turned into the iconic
Grand Hotel. When business declined in 1938 following Kolkata’s great
cholera epidemic, it was bought on the cheap by a certain Mohinder
Singh Oberoi. The Oberoi Grand was a lucky buy, minting money during
the war years when thousands of Allied soldiers were billeted there and
partied with single-minded determination as they waited to be shipped
out to fight the Japanese. It became the seed of the transnational
Oberoi chain of hotels.

The British did not exclusively build the colonial skyline, as we
imagine. Mercantile Asians, notably the Armenians, also invested in
building modern India. Armenians were trading with the Malabar Coast
from the 8th century and the seed of the British Empire, the Mughal
firman allowing the East India Company to set up shop in Bengal, was
brokered by an Armenian named Khoja Sarhad. By the time of Stephen,
about 30,000 Armenians were settled in India. And when Armenia was
under Soviet rule, this nation persecuted throughout history valued
India as a safe haven for its church.

In 2003, the Calcutta High Court ruled that the Company functionary
Job Charnock could not be identified as the founder of Kolkata. The
evidence against him included mention of the town in Abul Fazl’s
Ain-i-Akbari and the popular medieval text Manasa Mangal. But the court
neglected the most damning evidence: the oldest Christian gravestone in
India, in Kolkata’s Armenian Church. It is that of an Armenian woman
named "Rezabibi, wife of the late charitable Sookias, who departed
from this world to life eternal" in 1630. At the time, Charnock was a
suckling babe in London. So much for the British creating modern India!

ISTANBUL’S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY WISHES TO SEE SEBOUH CHOULDJIAN AS CO-PATRIARCH

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.03.2010 20:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s policy managed to create an atmosphere
of fear among Istanbul’s Armenian community, which later extended to
clergy, according to expert Ruben Melkonyan .

Istanbul’s Armenian community faces serious legal status-related
problems, the expert told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

Dwelling on oncoming election of co-patriarch at the Armenian
Patriarchate of Constantinople, Melkonyan noted that Istanbul’s
Armenian community wishes to see Bishop Sebouh Chouldjian as
co-patriarch.

"Sebouh Chouldjian’s election campaign was brilliant. The Bishop
advanced new and brave ideas, which were in synch with Armenian
community’s position; namely, modernisation of Armenian schools and
cessation of outmarriages" Ruben Melkonyan stated, characterizing
Sebouh Chouldjian as the spiritual leader community needs.

The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople also known as Armenian
Patriarch of Istanbul is today head of The Armenian Patriarchate of
Constantinople, one of the smallest Patriarchates of the Oriental
Orthodox Church but has exerted a very significant political role
and today still exercises a spiritual authority, which earns him
considerable respect among Oriental Orthodox churches.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople recognizes the primacy
of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, in the
spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Armenian Church, the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia,
in matters that pertain to the worldwide Armenian Church. In local
matters, the Patriarchal See is autonomous.

AZERBAIJAN IS GOING TOWARDS A WAR

347.html
13:13:57 – 30/03/2010

On March 30, reporters asked the former defense minister of Karabakh
Samvel Babayan whether he thinks the possibility for a war is big
and he gave a positive answer.

He says everything is going towards a war. According to Samvel Babayan,
we are condemned to win in this war. We have no alternative.

In answer to the question whether Armenia is preparing for a war, the
former NKR defense minister said Armenia is preparing for it every day.

In response to the question what holds Azerbaijan back- Armenia’s
power, the negative attitude of the superpowers or Azerbaijan is just
waiting for a term, Samvel Babayan said that first of all it is the
document which it used to refuse and which is refused by the Armenian
side now. The second factor, according to him, is the regional one.

And the third factor is that Azerbaijan is not confident.

Babayan says he already saw a war and would not like it to repeat,
but we need to be ready for it, we need to have a powerful country
to prevent it. By the way, Samvel Babayan thinks that is case of an
Armenian-Azerbaijani war, no superpower will support Armenia even
the CSTO members.

MONT TO REDUCE FIGURE OF PIRATED PRODUCTS IN ARMENIA

Panorama.am
13:31 30/03/2010

Economy

Fresh studies of "Microsoft" in Armenia recorded 97% of software
pirated products in the local market. What is the vision of MONT
Company to deal with that tumor in Armenia?

"We’re going to fight against pirated software joint with the
producers. The producers have founded a special commit, like "Microsoft
Armenia" did, which holds special events joint with Intellectual
property agency against pirated products," MONT Chief Manager of
Armenian representation Ruben Yesayan said.

He added all those companies which would be represented by MONT in
Armenia would fight against pirated market.

"We’ll try reduce pirated software figure making it 80% from 97%,"
Yesayan said.

NSS ARRESTED

os17346.html
13:05:51 – 30/03/2010

The press service of the Armenian National Security Service informs
that on March 29, as a result of operative work of the service
officials, the major expert of the Finance Ministry Staff department
on internal audit assessment Arman Hovhanyan was arrested for bribery.

In exchange of not registering breaches at an enterprise dealing with
metal constructions production, he asked 1, 500 dollars and 240,000
dram of bribe.

The National Security Service is investigating the criminal case.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

"THIS WAS SUCH A FANTASTIC DISCOVERY FOR ME AND THE FIRST I KNEW THAT I HAD ARMENIAN ANCESTORS IN MY FAMILY"
Sona Avagyan

20 10/03/29 | 16:24

Feature Stories diaspora

Liz Chater’s dream is to record every birth, marriage and death in
the Armenian community of India

Liz Chater’s database of Armenians who have some connection with India
over the last three centuries contains over 10,000 individuals and
approximately 3,000 families. Liz Chater is a family history researcher
specializing in Armenians in India and the Far East. In Liz’s words,
her web-site dedicated to Armenian family
history in India (1600-1950) fills a gap in that part of the history.

Liz Chater was born in the UK where she still lives. Her interest is
tracing her family stems from not knowing anything about its origins.

In Liz’s words, she didn’t train to become a family researcher; she
just fell into it by fortuitously in 2000. She knew quite a lot of
family information about her mother’s side (who is Welsh) but knew
very little about her father’s side of the family. Liz’s father, who
died in 1983, never talked about his family back in Calcutta. Liz’s
mother was able only able to partially answer the questions asked by
Liz about her father’s family.

"I continued to try and find information and my search took me to the
British Library in London which holds a great deal of information on
Colonial India, as well as birth, marriage and death records. On my
first visit there, I was lucky enough to be able to trace many members
of my father’s side of the family; many of whom had what I considered
to have "odd" names, such as, Arathoon, Arakiel and Martyrose. I posted
some queries to a genealogy mailing list and an Armenian researcher
called Nadia Wright, who specializes in Armenians in Singapore and
Malaysia, told me the names were Armenian. This was such a fantastic
discovery for me and the first I knew that I had Armenian ancestors
in my family," Liz Chater wrote to "Hetq".

In her web-site she offers some possible definitions of the name
Chater. According to one of these definitions, this surname could
have derived from the Armenian word Adsvazaturian. In 2005 Liz was
contacted by an unknown first cousin. He was interested to know about
their family.

Chater Family Bible dates back to 1831

"More importantly, he was able to let me see for the very first time,
the Chater Family Bible which dates back to 1831 and holds all the
names of my ancestors. This was an incredible moment – firstly when we
met the resemblance we saw in each other of our parents and secondly,
to be able to see that old Bible that had, over the years, travelled
so many miles in its life! Since then we have been in regular contact
and get together at various times of the year for different family
occasions," Liz writes in her web-site.

"Having discovered my Armenian heritage, I then tried very hard to
find more information, specifically about Armenians in India," she
writes to "Hetq".

In Liz’s words, many families of the Armenian community of India
are inter-related. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was not
unusual for cousins to marry. So when Liz is working on one family she
quite often solves a problem or query relating to another family. Her
research timeline is predominately prior to the Armenian Genocide,
between the 17th and the early 20th century.

Since Liz Chater has gathered much information, many people ask her
to help with their own Armenian-based family history queries. They in
turn are happy to share their family details with Liz. And it is not
unusual for Liz to actually turn their small amount of information
into a much bigger picture; a larger family than they thought they had.

"Internationally renowned artist, David Arathoon of Toronto, originally
from Calcutta and whose Armenian family in India has been associated
with the Armenian Church there for almost as long as the church has
been standing, is probably the person that I have helped the most and
whose own family tree hasn’t just expanded but exploded with the new
information that I have brought out into the open," Liz says.

"Armenian graves in India" photographic project underway

She is doing an "Armenian graves in India" photographic project. There
are photos of Armenian graves in India presented in Liz’s web-site.

Many of these graves have duel inscriptions, in Armenian and English.

But Liz still has several hundred photographs of Armenian graves whose
inscriptions are written only in Armenian that she has not been able
to put on her website yet because she doesn’t speak or read Armenian.

Thus, she completely relies on other Armenian family history
enthusiasts to help her with transcriptions. She has approximately
3,000 photographs of graves in various locations in India.

"To me, every cemetery and churchyard is a library and every grave
is a book. I am able to gain so much valuable information from the
various tombstones about the individuals and their families and that
is why I am completely dedicated and passionate about photographing
the Indian Armenian graves before they become so weather worn they
are no longer visible. Once that happens you slowly lose the history
and it doesn’t take many generations before the graves are no longer
remembered in terms of who they were. The Armenian graves in India
are exceptionally well cared for but you cannot stop mother nature,"
Liz Chater says.

When asked about the difficulties she most often faces in her work,
Liz Chater answers that the lack of money to be able to research
properly is the biggest obstacle for her. In her web-site Liz asks
visitors to make donations to keep the web-site going. But in her
words, she is lucky if she gets two modest donations a year. "At the
end of each December when I have to renew the contract it’s always
a worry that I won’t be able to run it for another year," she writes.

Speaking about her professional plans for the future, Liz said that it
would be a dream come true if she could turn her enthusiastic amateur
researching into a career. Ultimately, she wants to be able to record
every birth, marriage and death in the Armenian community of India from
available church records. But since the early registers are written
in classical Armenian, if she manages to copy the registers she then
will have to find someone willing to help with the translations.

Liz Chater said that researching family history is the fastest growing
hobby in the UK. "How my family came to be in India is actually still
a mystery for me," she writes.

Who is the most under-valued Indian Armenian of the 20th century?

Liz Chater said that the population of Armenians in India indeed is
very small now. The community in Calcutta is less than 200. In other
locations that were once large and economically strong communities,
such as Chennai (previously Madras) they have all but disappeared
completely. The bustling Armenian traders of Surat, Mumbai (previously
Bombay) are but distant memories. But during colonial times Armenians
were employed by the East India Company in positions of authority
and importance because of their trustworthiness and dedication.

"Armenians tended to anglicize their names so they blended in
easily with the British colonial way of life. An example will be
Catchick, Paul Chater’s father. Originally known as Astwachatoor Pogos
Astwachatoor, he worked for the Government of Bengal and was known as
Chater Paul Chater. As far as I am able to tell, the Armenians in India
have always strived hard to integrate into their surroundings. I know
that the current Armenian students at the Armenian College in Kolkata
learn the local dialects of Bengali as well as English and Armenian,"
Liz said.

In her words, the hub of the Armenians is in Calcutta and it is the
boys and girls educated at the Armenian College and Davidian Girls’
Schools respectively that keep the flame burning. But for how long
is anybody’s guess.

When asked if during her research she has found out information about
a talented, remarkable Indian-Armenian, who isn’t at all known in
Armenia, Liz Chater answered that Sir Catchick Paul Chater (known as
Paul) is probably the most under-valued Indian Armenian of the 20th
century. Liz stumbled across this person on one of her trips to the
British Library where she was collecting and noting every Chater name
held at the library.

"The name of Sir Catchick Paul Chater was the biggest discovery for
me," Liz said.

Catchick Paul Chater was born in Calcutta in 1846. His own parents
came from the Armenian community of Baghdad, Iraq. Paul, although
baptized in the Armenian Holy Nazareth Church of Calcutta, did not
go to the local Armenian College, a long and established Armenian
education centre first started in 1821, but was sent in 1855 to La
Martiniere School for Boys in Calcutta. Paul Chater arrived in Hong
Kong in 1864 with just a wooden chest containing his belongings. That
wooden chest was always part of his household furniture; it was a
reminder and a symbol of the life he had left behind in Calcutta. Paul
got himself a job in a bank. He observed and learnt enough to branch
out on his own as a broker within 2 years of his arrival. By 1869 he
was a member of the Hong Kong Cricket Club.

When His Royal Highness, Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh visited, Sir
Paul became a close friend and confidant of the royal family. He
regularly visited Buckingham Palace and other royal residences
and holidayed with the Duke and Duchess of Connaught in the South
of France.

By the 1870’s, Paul was buying plots, building and renting out those
properties. He had been joined by his younger brother Joseph from
Calcutta and they had joint enterprises. Paul also saw the potential
in pony racing and in the 1870’s he set up a stable with his business
partner Hormusjee Mody, a Parsee from Bombay. In Liz’s words, it really
is true that Paul never missed a horse race meeting in Hong Kong in
60 consecutive years between 1866 and 1926. He was Chairman of the
Hong Kong Jockey Club for 34 years and he still holds the record of
being the longest standing Chairman the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

In 1890, Catchick Paul Chater created land from the sea in Hong Kong by
constructing an extra 57 acres of ground space in a Praya reclamation
scheme. "It is the land that Hong Kong stands on today," Liz noted.

In 1902, Paul was honored with a Knighthood in London for his
contribution to the prosperity of the island of Hong Kong, something
which never left him until the day he died aged 79. He had brought
structure, stability, employment and social prospects to the island.

"He generously left his beautiful and unique house Marble Hall along
with his priceless china and art collection known as "The Chater
Collection" to the government of Hong Kong, probably in the hope
that they would make the house a museum. They did not. After a few
very generous bequests to some nephews, Sir Paul Chater, a "closet"
Armenian for the majority of his life, felt compelled to donate his
remaining estate to the Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth, Calcutta
where his life had begun," Liz writes.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DEBT DILEMMA: VILLAGERS FIND IT INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO PAY OFF AGRICULTURAL LOANS
Grisha Balasanyan

20 10/03/29 | 16:22

Feature Stories economy

Rise in U.S. Dollar a Primary Cause of the Problem

The village of Darakerd, in Armenia’s southern province of Armavir,
has 3,000 inhabitants. They all are involved in agriculture. Village
Mayor Ghoukas Simonyan said that while residents work the land,
benefits are few and far between.

90% of village residents have taken out loans from the ACBA-Credit
Agricole Bank Most, if not all, cannot pay back the loans. Their
situation is most serious.

We met Grigor Poghosyan in his store. He also took out a loan from
the bank and put up his house as collateral. He, like many others,
got a loan when the exchange rate for the U.S. dollar was low compared
to the Armenian dram. When the dollar started inching up in the past
couple of days, they ran into problems.

Bank only offers loans in dollars

Villagers told us that ACBA Bank only offers agricultural loans in
dollars and that they are now paying the price as a result. Mr.

Poghosyan used the money to buy seed, new peach saplings and to set
up a hothouse operation.

"I took out a loan when the exchange rate was $1.00 at 310 AMD. Work
it out for yourself. You’ll see the hole I’m now in. I needed potato
seed for planting. My house is up as collateral. If I can’t sell the
potato crop again like last year and if the roads are closed so that
we can’t export our produce, I’ll lose my house. I won’t be able to
repay on the loan. It’s that simple," Mr. Poghosyan explained.

When we asked if he hadn’t taken into account the possible rise in
the dollar when he got the loan, Mr. Poghosyan answered that he had,
but that he needed the cash. Right now, his sole concern is paying
off the interest and getting out from under the debt burden.

"I needed the money, I had no options"

"Even if I had thought about the risks, what could I have done? I had
no other option but take the loan. I’ve planted 300 peach saplings
but they’ve been hit with the frost. I don’t know what I’ll do. The
bank only gives agricultural loans in dollars, not AMD. The bank’s
not interested if the dollar rate rises or falls," Mr. Poghosyan said.

He added that the government had much to do regarding this problem
and pointed to the regulation of the dollar-dram exchange rate as a
priority. He talked about stabilizing the rate or at least lowering
the loan interest percentages.

His fellow villager, Slavik Arzmanyan, has wound up in the same boat.

Mr. Arzmanyan also took out a loan from ACBA Bank for $8,000 to
buy potato seed and construct a hothouse for growing tomatoes and
cucumbers.

Villagers want long-term loans at reasonable rates

Annual interest on the 3 year loan was fixed at 17%. Mr. Arzmanyan
put up 3,000 square meters of land as collateral.

"Villagers would really like to see long-term loans being offered
and not the 1-2 loans given today by the banks. And who can pay the
18-20% interest rates they demand? Nothing produced by the villager is
being sold. By the time our hothouse tomatoes are ready for picking,
they’ll already have imported cheap produce from Turkey and saturate
the market in Armenia. Our crop will be dumped in the garbage. The
government isn’t safeguarding our interests," said Slavik Arzmanyan.

Mr. Arzmanyan assured us that everyone taking out loans has plowed the
money back into agriculture but that no one is seeing any revenues
from all the effort. The reason is the rise in the dollar and the
fact that business expenses are rising as well.

"No one makes money from farming anymore"

"Before, you could cultivate one hectare of land for around 10,000
AMD. Now, it’ll cost you between 40,000-50,000 AMD. You could hire a
tractor to dig up a potato crop for 20,000. Today, you’d have to pay
80,000. We’d be better off if we just hug ourselves and have done
with it. There’s a family in the village that’s buried in debt and
go to bed hungry. What’s to become of them? I ain’t the only one in
this mess. 90% of the village faces a similar situation," added Mr.

Arzmanyan.

He, like many others we met, complained that farming is no longer a
profitable enterprise; the risks and costs are daily growing. Mr.

Arzmanyan snidely laughed when I asked him what his annual profit
was from working the land. "You must be joking. We buy seed at 180
AMD at can’t even sell the damn potatoes for 50."

Mr. Arzmanyan is also worried that he won’t be able to pay off his
loan. If that happens, he’ll be forced to sell his house since the
land is already put up as collateral. The man has nothing else to sell.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN WATER SEWERAGE COMPANY PROJECTS 4 BILLION AMD INCOMES IN 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.03.2010 20:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The main result of 2009 of the Armenian Water
Sewerage Company was the increased water supply of the Armenian
population from 12 to 13 hours, ensuring the high quality of supplied
water, the increased number of regular subscribers, Patrick Lorin,
general director of Armenian Water Sewerage Company said on March 30
in Yerevan.

He said the company will continue to improve the quality of services
provided.

In 2010 the company projects to increase the number of bona fide
subscribers to 150 thousand. In addition, the company plans 4 billion
AMD incomes in 2010 against 3.3 billion AMD in 2009.

BABAYAN ABOUT KOCHARYAN

hos17345.html
12:43:39 – 30/03/2010

The former NKR defense minister Samvel Babayan dwelt on Robert
Kocharyan’s latest interview and the political intrigues over it. He
said that journalists like to connect different things with each other,
while it is not true. According to him, when Oskanyan expresses his
thoughts, press writes that he supports Kocharyan, so they can say
that Babayan supports Kocharyan too. According to him, everything
started after Oskanyan’s speech and Kocharyan just answered those
who accused him of different things.

GYUMRI’S "KARHAT" PLANT FACES IMMINENT CLOSURE
Yeranuhi Soghoyan

2 010/03/29 | 16:14

Feature Stories economy

"Government must protect interests of local manufacturers", argues
Deputy Director

The plant in Gyumri that manufactures stone-cutting equipment has
been on the edge of closing ever since it was privatized back in 2002.

Formerly known as "Stromashina", the Soviet industrial plant now
belongs to "Karhat Mekena, CJSC". Company Deputy Director Davit
Ghazanchyan told Hetq," We have always been in the business of
manufacturing stone cutting and processing equipment. During the
Soviet era the plant employed 825 workers but today we can’t even
keep 55 people on the payroll."

Eight years ago, "International Business Center, CJSC" privatized
the plant and invested resources in an attempt to expand production
capabilities. The plant seemed to be doing fine until 2008. It exported
what it produced to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Russia.

"98% of our orders came from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. But since
Kazakhstan was the first of the CIS countries to feel the full impact
of the financial crisis back in 2007, the plant felt the fall-out
as early as June, 2008. When the crisis went global in 2009, we were
already operating in a crisis mode, says Deputy Director Ghazanchyan.

Plant to close by April 22 if new customers not found

If the plant doesn’t receive new orders by April 22, it will finally
shut its doors after operating in the red for the past two years.

Plant workers have already been notified of the inevitable closing.

Forty of the fifty-five current workers will be laid off. The director,
accountant and security staff will be the only ones left on the
payroll. Even Deputy Director Ghazanchyan has received a notice
warning that he too will be let go.

"Right now, we have eleven pieces of stone cutting equipment ready.

We’ve received deposits from Kazakhstan for three. But for the past
year and a half our customers haven’t been able to pay the balance
owed and take delivery, says Mr. Ghazanchyan. "Last year, we received
100 million AMD in assistance from "International Business-Center",
but we haven’t gotten anything this year."

"Karhat Mekena" hasn’t applied for government assistance even though
there are programs available. Mr. Ghazanchyan said the plant never
had the need since they had a constant customer base and that
"International Business" always lent a hand if the need arose.

40 more workers to get sacked in Shirak

The situation has really gotten tense. If the job cuts go through,
another forty families in the area will wind up in dire economic
straits.

"Even without the impending cuts, the region has the highest poverty
rates in the country. If we get sacked as well, the ranks of the
unemployed will just get that much bigger," complains Robert Manukyan,
the plant’s safety engineer. "I’m the breadwinner for a family of
five. We live in a hut. My son fought in Karabakh and came back
disabled. I’ve been working in the same factory for forty-four years
but the crisis doesn’t care about all that. And the government’s no
better. Forty more unemployed here, forty more there; it’s all the
same to them."

"Every month our costs run between 7-8 million AMD, without even
operating," says Davit Ghazanchyan. "And I must add that our product
is just as good, if not better, than the stone cutting equipment now
being imported into Armenia."

"We produce quality equipment but government allows imports from
overseas"

"We have this plant here in Armenia, but the government allows for
similar equipment to be imported from China and Italy. It pains me
to no end. Let me be straight with you, the interests of Armenian
manufacturers are being defended. As far as I know, in other countries
the governments see to it that importers are only allowed to bring in
goods and equipment that isn’t manufactured locally. Here in Armenia
it’s the exact opposite."

In 2007, "Karhat Mekena" manufactured 883 million AMD worth of product
and employed 114 workers who made, on average, between 100,000-110,000
AMD per month. In 2008, production fell to 525 million AMD at the
plant which had 115 workers making an average of 126,000 AMD.

"The picture in 2009 was even sadder. We only produced 26 million
AMD of goods but spent 131 million. We had 68 workers and wound up
spending 68 million of wages for the year," argues Deputy Director
Ghazanchyan."It was "International Business" that bailed us out with
100 million since we were 105 million in the hole. Now, we’re on the
verge of cutting 40 workers."

Plant accountant can’t imagine leaving after 40 years

Plant accountant Roza Muradyan has been working here for the past
forty years. Even though she’s not facing imminent dismissal, she
fears the day when she too will be gone, no longer climbing the
familiar stairs to her office at the plant.

"I’ve been working here since I was 18. I got married and got a job
for my husband here. Now, I have two sons working here," says Mrs.

Muradyan. "Our collective is one of the finest around. I just can’t
imagine that one day I too won’t be walking into this building after
all these years."

Deputy Director Davit Ghazanchyan assured us that neither plant
management nor "International Business-Center" had any inclination
of closing the factory but that they had to face reality.

"The immediate problem we face is coming up with new orders by the
April 22 deadline. It’s not much time," he said. "It’s with a great
deal of regret that the plant, the only one of its kind in the region
and the country, is on the verge of closing. We will do all we can in
the next two months to make sure another forty people don’t wind up
on the streets jobless. But, I repeat, the government must help out at
least when it comes to regulating imports. That way, we’d at least be
able to sell what we produce. Otherwise, the plant will surely close.