Author: Andres-Papazian

PRESS RELEASE
USAID Pension and Labor Market Reform Project (PALM)
8 Mher Lazarian Street
Yerevan Armenia 0019
(374 10) 529 334/5/6
[email protected]

THREE MODEL EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CENTERS MARK A NEW START IN SYUNIK MARZ

01/04/11 12:30 – RA Minister of Labor and Social Issues (MLSI) Arthur
Grigoryan and USAID/Armenia Mission Director Dr. Jatinder Cheema
welcomed local job seekers and employers at ribbon cutting events in
Sisian, Goris, and Meghri. These events marked a new step in
delivering active labor market programs to Syunik marz communities by
local Model Employment Service centers, newly renovated and
refurbished by the USAID Armenia, Pension and Labor Market Reform
Project (PALM).

Throughout the last three years prior to these renovations, SESA
trained its staff, including regional employment service centers, with
the help of USAID projects in addressing labor market gaps through
integrated public employment services, using active labor market
measures, and in stimulating demand-driven job matching.
`International experience has shown that refined active labor market
programs are the most efficient way to reduce chronic unemployment,’
noted Dr. Cheema in her opening remarks.

`As model offices, these centers have customer-service orientation and
introduce an array of programs to help employers and job seekers of
Sisian, Goris, and Meghri,’ said Mr. Grigoryan. Programs include labor
market research, forecasting of in-demand jobs, matching job seekers
to vacancies, and organizing job clubs that assist vulnerable
populations in obtaining marketable skills.’This is yet a new step in
improving Syunik marz workforce readiness and competitiveness!’ added
Ms. Harutyunyan, `We hope more centers will pick up the trend to
provide better services to their communities.’

Faced by the second highest unemployment rate among marzes in Armenia,
as of December 2010, all three centers needed the appropriate support
and infrastructure to offer modern-day model employment services to
their customers. In particular, the Goris center worked from the
Municipality building, while not having enough budget to provide for
safe and professional working conditions for its staff. The center was
badly in need of suitable reception area and training space among
other things.

>From October 2010 to February 2011, the USAID Armenia, PALM project
renovated the entire centers, including replacement of windows and the
doors, replacement of the floor, plastering and painting walls,
improving electric wiring, internal cold water system construction and
foyer, renovation of the restrooms and providing the room layout and
needed furnishings. As emphasized by Ms. Harutyunyan, through these
renovations the modernized offices will provide the setting to
catalyze new linkages at the local level between labor market supply
and demand. `We are very pleased to continue our work in a new
setting,’ said the Director the local employment center in Goris Mr.
Varuzhan Galstyan, `This is great encouragement to all of our staff as
well as center users and local employers!’

# # #

About PALM: PALM is USAID’s primary project aimed to assist
individuals, households, and communities better manage social risks or
needs, provide support to the vulnerable employed and jobless
individuals (particularly the low-skilled, women, and the disabled),
and give greater attention to countering the effects of the global
economic crisis. USAID PALM project has been providing technical
assistance and support for human and institutional capacity building,
and targets two key social protection areas: pension reform
implementations and labor market interventions.

From: A. Papazian

KCET TO AIR ‘ARMENIAN MINSTRELS’ AND ‘ARMENIAN EXILE’ DOCUMENTARIES

asbarez
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian

LOS ANGELES-KCET, independent public media for Southern and Central
California, presents a special night of programming featuring
back-to-back documentaries by filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian on Tuesday,
April 5, in observance of Armenian Remembrance. Larry Zarian, Vice
Chair of the California State Transportation Commission and former
mayor of Glendale, will host the evening with his son – film and
television actor Gregory Zarian. Armenian Minstrels begins at 8 p.m.,
followed by Armenian Exile at 9:30 p.m.

Armenian Minstrels – in his newest film, filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian
travels to Armenia in search of the soul of Armenian music. Through
a series of chance encounters, he attends a concert in Yerevan to
see the Sayat-Nova Minstrel Song Ensemble, one of the most renowned
minstrel groups in Armenia. Stunned by the beauty of their music and
professionalism, he embarks on an unprecendented musical journey
and spends a month filming them. Through songs and interviews the
minstrels recount the critical role their songs and music play in
keeping alive a once-dying art form, and the role music and songs
play as a tool for cultural survival.

In Armenian Exile (2009), his second film, Goudsouzian paints a
self-portrait in which he pursues a greater understanding of his
cultural roots. In 1988, Nagorno-Karabakh’s war for independence
was in the headlines worldwide. Halfway across the world in Canada,
Goudsouzian’s peaceful world was suddenly shaken: “I had forgotten I
was Armenian, until I saw the courage of these people who had never
forgotten who they were and knew what they had to do.” Seeking clarity
of both history and self, Goudsouzian reflects on Armenian identity,
which is at the heart of all his films.

Born in Egypt, Hagop Goudsouzian is of Armenian descent and currently
lives in Toronto. In partnership with TVOntario TFO, he has produced
and directed a number of television and documentary series.

Look for Asbarez’s exclusive interview with Goudsouzian tomorrow.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ASKED BARACK OBAMA TO USE THE G-WORD

Mediamax
March 31 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenian President Serzh Sargsian wants U.S.
President Barack Obama to use the word “genocide” on April 24, 2011,
in his annual address to the American-Armenians.

Mediamax reports that giving a joint news conference with Swiss
President today, Serzh Sargsian admitted that he has personally asked
U.S. President to do that.

“This has always been the wish of the Armenian side”, Armenian
President said.

“Of course, wishes and the reality are different things. But even
if U.S. President does not pronounce the word “genocide” this year,
we will continue struggling for that”, Serzh Sargsian stated.

From: A. Papazian

SWITZERLAND DIDN’T “WASH ITS HANDS” OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS

Mediamax
March 31 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenian President Serzh Sargsian said today that
Turkey “avoids fulfillment of its commitments, thus devaluing both
our imitative and the efforts of countries involved in the process.”

Mediamax reports that Serzh Sargsian said this in Yerevan today at
a joint press conference with President of Switzerland Micheline
Calmy-Rey.

For her part, Micheline Calmy-Rey said that Switzerland ended its
mediatory mission after the signing of Armenian-Turkish protocols.

Nevertheless, she noted, “it doesn’t mean that Switzerland has washed
its hands” and is indifferent towards what’s going on or what’s not
going on between Armenia and Turkey.

“We want the protocol ratification process to start and we are ready
to do our utmost to help the sides in this issue,” the Swiss leader
stated.

From: A. Papazian

ABOUT 300 FAMILIES MOVED TO KASHATAGH (LACHIN) IN 7 MONTHS

Mediamax
March 30 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Over the past three years, over 440 families moved
to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), and 130 of them in 2010.

Mediamax reports that NKR Minister of Social Security Narine Astsatryan
said this today at the Board of the Ministry of Social Security. And
the Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan noted that over the past 7 months,
about 300 families moved to Kashatagh (Lachin) region only.

Speaking of social policy, Narine Astsatrtyan noted that 25% of NKR
state budget expenses for 2011, or over AMD 16bln, represented means,
directed at social security.

In 2010, 83 charitable programs at the total cost of AMD 4.2bln were
realized in NKR.

From: A. Papazian

SERZH SARGSIAN DESCRIBED AZERBAIJAN’S STATEMENTS AS “ASININITY”

Mediamax
March 31 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenian President Serzh Sargsian described
Azerbaijan’s statements concerning shooting down civil airplanes
flying to Stepanakert as “asininity”.

Mediamax reports that, giving a news conference together with the
President of Switzerland today, Serzh Sargsian noted that “in modern
history such statements have been voiced by terrorist groups, but
not by countries”.

Armenian President promised that he will be the first passenger of
the first plane flying to Stepanakert.

From: A. Papazian

OSCE REPORT “CAUSES SERIOUS CONFUSION IN AZERBAIJAN”

Mediamax
March 31 2011
Armenia

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Secretary of parliamentary faction of Republican
Party of Armenia (RPA), Eduard Sharmazanov, said today that OSCE
Field Mission’s report, issued following the visit to territories
around Nagorno Karabakh, “caused serious confusion in Azerbaijan.”

According to Sharmazanov, this is proved by “various opinions expressed
by Aliyev’s administration and Azeri Foreign Ministry.”

“While the Head of Azerbaijani Presidential Staff Ali Gasanov says that
they doubt the report’s objectivity, the Foreign Ministry declares
that the report is objective and allows unveiling the situation
on these territories. Such unstable and vague positions, which are
characteristic of the Azeri side, give reasons for doubt both to the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and to the international community as well,”
RPA Chairman stated.

From: A. Papazian

YEREVAN CITY ADMINISTRATION SHOULD TEMPORARILY ALLOW STREET TRADE, “DASHNAKTSUTIUN” BELIEVES

Mediamax, Armenia
March 31 2011

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Vice-Mayor of Yerevan Kamo Areyan stated today that
the ban for street trade is the requirement of the law on “Trade and
Services”, and not a measure, initiated by the City Administration.

Mediamax reports that Kamo Areyan said this, speaking at parliamentary
hearings on “Street trade in urban communities”.

According to him, the law allows organizing street trade of a limited
number of goods (ice-cream, flowers, fresheners, seedlings), given
the corresponding infrastructure.

In the beginning of the year, Yerevan Mayor Karen Karapetyan made
a decision to ban street trade, which caused discontent and protest
actions among street traders.

Kamo Areyan noted that, taking into account the interests of citizens,
dealing with street trade, Yerevan City Administration ordered the
markets, functioning in the capital, to give the chance of organizing
trade on the territory of the markets without collection of rent fee
for the first three months.

People, dealing with street trade, who participated in the
discussion, expressed their discontent concerning the offer of the
City Administration. In particular, they said that the majority of
street traders are subpurchasers, who cannot compete in the market
with farmers, who offer their own agricultural products.

In response, Kamo Areyan said that at present 8 projects for setting
up mini-markets in Yerevan are in the process of consideration in
the City Administration, and this will allow solving to some degree
the problem of the subpurchasers. The issue of organizing a wholesale
agricultural market is also on the agenda of the City Administration.

“This decision will be based both on the interests of the farmers and
the subpurchasers. The idea of a wholesale market existing a long time
ago, however it was not realized in the view of non-consistency or
lack of determination among the city authorities”, Kamo Areyan stated.

MP from “Dashnaktsutiun” faction Artsvik Minasyan urged the city
authorities to temporarily allow street trade, simultaneously
establishing conditions for people to move to more proper places
for trade.

“Constitution of Armenia reads that the state should create
opportunities for citizens to earn money for living; however without
offering alternative variants for making a living and all of a sudden
depriving people of their living, the City Administration violates the
basic law of the country. I urge the city authorities to stop, admit
that they have made a grave mistake and, demonstrating an individual
approach to citizens, offer them alternative opportunities”, Artsvik
Minasyan stated.

From: A. Papazian

THE GERMAN HISTORICAL INSTITUTE HOLDS A GERALD D. FELDMAN MEMORIAL LECTURE 2011 ON “WHO STILL TALKS ABOUT THE EXTERMINATION OF THE ARMENIANS? GERMAN TALK ANDGERMAN SILENCES.”

The Washington Daybook
April 7, 2011

LOCATION: German Historical Institute, 1607 New Hampshire Avenue NW,
Washington, D.C.

CONTACT: 202-387-3355 [Note: RSVP to 202-387-3355.]

PARTICIPANTS: Margaret Anderson of the University of California
Berkeley

From: A. Papazian

EU practices acrobatics with Caspian gas flip-flop
By Robert M Cutler

MONTREAL – The changing geo-economic environment around the Central
Asian and South Caucasus hydrocarbon energy producers is reflected in
a public flip-flop by a major European Union official this week.

At a news conference in Berlin, European Union Energy Commissioner
Gunther Oettinger, who last November became the first EU figure to
admit that the EU-sponsored Nabucco and Russian-sponsored South Stream
gas pipeline projects were rivals, reversed course and declared they
were not actually competing projects.

Nabucco seeks to take gas from the Caspian Sea region through Turkey
to Southeast and Central Europe. Russia seeks to lay the South Stream
pipeline across the bed of the Black Sea to the Balkans, although its
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is ready to scrap the project if he can
find another way to block Nabucco. (See Compressed gas on the Caspian
table, Asia Times Online, March 25, 2011.)

Saying that the EU positively evaluates Russia’s contribution to
European energy security, Oettinger publicly asked Russia not to put
pressure on Central Asian countries against participation in the
Nabucco project. Oettinger said that the EU’s Southern Gas Corridor
(SGC), a program adopted in May 2009 to channel natural gas to Europe
from the Caspian Sea basin through Turkey and under the Black Sea,
rather than through Russia, was simply the shortest route. (See
Nabucco is still alive, Asia Times Online, July 3, 2009.)

It was an odd performance, of which the main purpose may have been to
conform to the new EU line that economics, not politics, will
determine European preferences over natural gas pipelines from Central
Asia. In this connection, a high-level Azerbaijani figure publicly
disclosed last week that his government was working on two documents
with Turkmenistan with a view towards facilitating the construction of
a Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TCGP).

The first document is a political declaration in which the two
countries affirm that they are ready to assist in creating the SGC.
The second would define more specifically the rights and
responsibilities of the two countries with respect to the physical
project construction, including legal provisions.

The latter document in particular signifies that there is definite and
specific progress in creating the conditions for overcoming the
territorial disagreement between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over
delimitation of subsoil Caspian Sea mineral and energy rights sectors.

The press leak to the media comes three weeks after Azerbaijan’s
parliament ratified a declaration that its government had signed with
the EU on the SGC project.

There are hints that Russia is not the only player discontent with the
specific pipelines that the EU has defined for inclusion in the SGC.
These are: Nabucco; White Stream, which would go under the Black Sea
from Georgia to Romania; and the Italy-Turkey-Greece Interconnector.
For example, the British firm BP has suggested that it might prefer to
evacuate 10 billion cubic meters per year (bcm/y) of gas from
Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz Two deposit by some route other than Nabucco.

The implication is that BP would like to build another string of the
South Caucasus Pipeline (running from Baku through Georgia into
Turkey), of which the throughput volume is 8 bcm/y but which is not
filled entirely to capacity. BP has in mind to transit this gas to
southern Italy through Turkey and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).
(See Nabucco, and Baku, filling up on gas, Asia Times Online, May 14,
2010.)

The reason behind this is the fact that BP’s other major partner in
Shah Deniz, the Norwegian firm Statoil owning 25.5% of that
development, also owns 42.5% of the TAP project, which is planned to
transit Greece and Albania, then passing under the Adriatic Sea to
reach southeastern Italy.

However, it is not certain that this idea by itself would be better
received in Baku than the Nabucco route. That is because it does not
make clear that Azerbaijan would own the gas for sale in addition to
merely supplying it. For Azerbaijan has made it clear that it wishes
not only to supply gas to Nabucco but also to sell gas to countries
along the route to Austria (ie, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary).

Moreover, Azerbaijan also wants to be able to sell to adjacent
countries in the region such as Albania, Croatia, the Czech Republic,
Macedonia, Slovakia, and so forth. Indeed, these countries in general
are those with the greatest gas dependence on limited number of
sources.

This possibility could be implemented through a series of relatively
inexpensive interconnectors to create a gas ring in the region. The
European Commission (EC) adopted such a decision in principle nearly
three years ago, calling it a “supergrid” project permitting members
states to share electric power from different sources.

However, like so many policy initiatives born in Brussels, the
implementation is the prerogative of the national governments, which
may have their own motives for ignoring the suggestions or adopting
them only in part. Moreover, due to industrial history in the energy
sector, such interconnectors for a gas ring are much easier to
implement in Southeast and Central Europe than among, for example, the
founding members of the European Economic Community from the 1950s.

If the EU cannot find itself able to provide a window for funding such
projects, then the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) should step in through its well-established cooperation with
the Central European Initiative (CEI) and the CEI’s Secretariat as
well as with the associated Central European Chambers of Commerce
Initiative.

Indeed, under the EBRD’s aegis, the CEI is already involved in five
EU-funded projects, including a “transport axis coordination” project
in Southeast Europe. The fact that Azerbaijan is able to make and
stick to a demand to be the seller of its own gas in Southeast and
Central Europe is in radical contrast to its relative powerlessness in
negotiations with Western energy majors in the 1990s.

The emergence of the country’s relative autonomy and its capacity to
assert its own interests with at least some success reflect the
beginning of the unfolding of a new phase of energy geo-economics in
the region, to which I pointed over a year ago. (See A delicate dance
of power, Asia Times Online, December 24, 2009.)

Dr Robert M Cutler, educated at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and The University of Michigan, has researched and taught
at universities in the United States, Canada, France, Switzerland, and
Russia. Now senior research fellow in the Institute of European,
Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University, Canada, he also
consults privately in a variety of fields.

From: A. Papazian