Author: Andres-Papazian

ARMENIAN CONTROL SERVICE ADDRESSES MEDICINE SALE PROBLEMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 24, 2010 – 14:19 AMT 10:19 GMT

Head of the Control Service under the RA President Hovhannes Hovsepyan
said healthcare problems, specifically import and sale of medicines,
are in the focus.

“Investigation showed that the company, which won the competition for
supply of medicines to the RA Ministry of Healthcare under a state
program, sells the same medicines by 30-40% cheaper in drugstores,”
Hovsepyan told a press conference on December 24.

“A meeting on the inspections results will be held at the President’s
office. Mr. Sargsyan has been already informed of the existing
problems,” he said.

Hovsepyan also said that medicines, which are delivered to Armenia as
humanitarian aid, often do not meet the relevant quality requirements:
sometimes, they are expired, or producer is not mentioned on them.

According to him, the Control Service also revealed violations in
license issuance to drugstores. “In 2008-2009, we conducted inspections
in 96 drugstores, as a result of which 176 violations of terms for
license issuance were revealed.”

“One of the main problems is that the medicines meant for hospitals
and polyclinics are often illegally sold,” Hovsepyan concluded.

From: A. Papazian

LOW LABOR CAPACITY AMONG EVIDENT PROBLEMS OF ARMENIA’S ECONOMY

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 24, 2010 – 15:17 AMT 11:17 GMT

Board member and leading analyst of Economy and Values research center
Sevak Hovhannisyan said that the global financial crisis showed that
Armenia’s economy reacts rather rapidly to global developments.

Armenia is among the countries, which recorded a significant drop in
GDP in 2009 and slow rehabilitation of economy in 2010, Hovhannisyan
said, presenting 2010 Report on Armenia’s National Competitiveness:
Challenges of Higher Education.

“Low labor capacity is among the evident problems of Armenia’s
economy. 70% of the country’s population is employed in the fields
of low capacity,” he said.

According to the expert, a working person in Armenia annually produces
goods and services at the amount of $7,930, while the figure reaches
$68,400 in Israel.

Labor capacity is distributed unevenly among the fields in Armenia,
like in majority of developing countries.

The fields of financial intermediation, business service and
construction have high labor capacity. And the labor capacity in these
fields exceeds the capacity in agriculture, education, healthcare
and other fields by seven times.

From: A. Papazian

INEFFICIENCY OF ARMENIA’S FINANCIAL SYSTEM GIVES RISE TO HIGH INFLATION

ArmInfo
24.12.2010

ArmInfo. Inflation has become the gravest “event” of 2010. Its level
upon the results of 2010 can make up 10%, ex-Head of Armenia’s Central
Bank Bagrat Asatryan said when summing up the social and economic
results of the departing year. According to him, such a high level
of inflation was fixed in Armenia for the first time in 1997 and was
caused primarily by the price liberalization process in the country
but not by pure economic factors, like in 2010.

B. Asatryan recalled that control of inflation risks is one of
the major tasks of Armenia’s Central Bank. “For this purpose, CB
has been applying different tools during the year, however, their
efficiency turned out to be extremely low”, Asatryan said. He drew the
journalists’ attention to the fact that the country’s CB is returning
to the policy it took on board in 2008-2009, when a mega-regulator
carried out currency interventions in the market. He also said the
foreign exchange reserves of Armenian CB over 10 months of 2010
reduced by $160 mln.

According to B. Asatryan, Armenia’s financial system works
inefficiently. He confirmed his estimation by a number of indisputable
facts. In particular, as he said, dram revaluation in December 2010,
as compared to the similar period of 2009, revaluation of dram to
dollar made up 5,5%, to Euro – 15%, to ruble – over 7%. B. Asatryan
assures that in conditions of dram revaluation, the influence of
“external” factors on inflation, of which the economic authorities
of our country often recall and by which they explain the high level
of inflation, had to be insignificant.

To note, inflation in Armenia in November 2010 made up 1,6%, over
Jan-Nov 2010 – 7,5%, in November 2010, as compared to the similar
month of 2009 – 9,6%.

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY SKILLFULLY USED ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS IN ITS FAVOR
Aram Araratyan

ArmInfo
2010-12-22 15:01:00

Interview with Richard Hovhannisian, well-known American historian
of Armenian origin, Professor of UCLA (University of California,
Los Angeles)

Mr.Hovhannisyan, you have repeatedly said that you don’t share
the view that the international campaign for the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide is over. Will it end when the Genocide is recognized
by Turkey?

Yes, it will. Sometimes this policy seems to be over and it’s time
to pay the compensation, however, this is not so. Now Ankara is
conducting a consistent policy of non-recognition and oblivion of the
Genocide. Today Turkey has a very strong lobby in the United States,
which operates very actively and has a lot more funds than we have,
as many large companies present money to them. At the same time,
it is necessary to think about what if Turkey recognizes the fact of
the Armenian Genocide some day. I wonder if Armenia’s leadership has
a national program on this, or what demands Armenia will have in that
case. I think such a program should be worked out.

Which of the aspects of the Armenian Genocide problem is the most
important: political, moral-psychological, territorial, compensation?

If Turkey recognizes Armenian genocide, the problem of moral and
material compensation payment will arise. Besides the material
compensation to the offsprings of the Armenian genocide victims,
there are many other aspects. For instance, there are hundreds if not
thousands former Armenian organizations, cultural values, monuments,
including the ruined ones, in Turkey, which should be returned to the
Armenian nation. I think that the churches should be returned not to
the authorities of Armenia but to the Patriarch’s office. There are
many such problems. Let the Turks not distort their history any more
and speak the truth; let them build the monuments to the memory of
innocent victims of the Genocide. This will also be one of the forms
of compensation by Turkey.

What do you think about Armenia’s efforts to make the fact of the
Armenian Genocide known to the world? Are they doing their best to
make the truth generally known?

We can make a number of concessions to Turks, but not at the expense
of our historical memory. Armenians should conduct a “clever”
policy, have and work out various programs in this sphere. “Football
diplomacy” was certainly a good attempt to improve relations with
Turkey, but the question is where this policy leads us and at what
price. The Armenian-Turkish Protocols had an item on creation of a
commission of historians. The Turks stated that one should not use the
expression “Armenian Genocide” before the commission takes the final
decision. Therefore, we should deeply analyze our steps and should
not yield our historical memory. A compromise on a number of factors
is possible, but not at the expense of Armenia’s historical memory.

As a historian and one of the biggest experts in this field, do you
believe that Turkey will ever recognize the Armenian Genocide?

Turkey will recognize the Armenian Genocide if it realizes that this
meets its interests. This may also happen in case the superpowers –
the USA and Russia – exert enough pressure on Ankara and persuade it
to wash off the black spot. They should make Turkey understand that
if the latter really wants to occupy a worthy place in the modern
system of international relations as a civilized partner, it should
raise the problem of recognition of the Armenian Genocide. I do not
know whether this approach may have success, but at the same time one
should never say never. Some twenty years ago I did not think that some
Turkish expert or historian would openly say that he would recognize
the fact of the Armenian Genocide, but I was mistaken. There are such
scientists today and they are not few. Some of them do not openly use
the term “Armenian Genocide”, but their attitude and words demonstrate
that they recognize this fact. Probably, if the number of such persons
in Turkey increases, something will change inside that country.

At the same time, nationalist and racist moods are still strong in
Turkey. This is proved by one of the recent incidents in Turkey when
the fans of Bursaspor, a Turkish football club, yelled the following
slogan with reference to Besiktas, another Turkish football squad,
managed among others by an Armenian: “Armenian dogs are defending
Besiktas.” But despite such slogans the Armenians should continue their
efforts to persuade Turkey into recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Does the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement process fit into the logic
of the Armenian Genocide international recognition campaign? It is
not a secret that the Armenian Diaspora objects to this process. Can
improved relations with Armenia stimulate Turkey to recognize the
Armenian Genocide?

Armenia should by all means normalize its relations with Turkey. As
regards the issue of the Armenian Genocide, the expert thinks that
improvement of relations between Yerevan and Ankara may contribute
to Turkey’s recognition of this crime. But this does not concern
the current Turkish political regime, which very skillfully used
the Armenian- Turkish process, first of all, for indirect and final
recognition of the bilateral border, which means Armenia’s refusal
from territorial claims. Secondly, the consent to creation of a
commission of historians cast doubt on the fact of the Armenian
Genocide”, he said and pointed out the Karabakh problem as well,
which is present indirectly. Therefore, I think one should have deeply
analyzed the situation before taking that step. Armenia and Turkey
are neighboring countries and should look for the ways to normalize
their relations. When I travel in Western Armenia, I feel homey, as we
are alike in many issues, first and foremost, cultural and social ones.

So, it turns out that the rapprochement process was good for Turkey
only and what has Armenia got?

Unfortunately, the Armenian party has got nothing from the
Armenian-Turkish process. Moreover, I think that Turks will use
the Armenian-Turkish process to demonstrate to the whole world that
the want and are ready to continue the process, but we, Armenians,
do not want it. On the other hand, this may be a good lesson to us.

From: A. Papazian

EXPECTING CHANGE OF POWER IN ARMENIA WITHIN COMING SEVERAL DECADES IS HOPELESS
David Stepanyan

ArmInfo
2010-12-23 14:00:00

Interview of one of the initiators and heads of the Karabakh movement
in 1998, a well-known analyst Igor Muradyan with ArmInfo News Agency

Mr. Muradyan, you often visit foreign countries and has contacts with
the analytical community. Which trends do you currently trace in the
world power centers with respect to Armenia?

We are getting the impression that the attitude to Armenia
significantly changed over the last 15 years. Different big capitals
have always treated the Armenians differently. Some sympathized,
the others loved, the thirds were interested and the fourths were
not interested in Armenia at all, and, finally, there were those
who perceived Armenia as a barrier for them or a useless element in
politics. Today, contacting the colleagues from abroad, I experience
none of these sensations. this is caused by the fact that Armenia
has lost its place in geopolitics and in the world politics in general.

However, the problem is not even in losing this place. The problem
is that we are just out of discussion and nobody discusses us. Some
parallel events are discussed at best, for example, the Karabakh and
Armenian-Turkish processes but truly not Armenia.

Let us speak of the reasons…

When speaking of the reasons, everything must be projected for
complementarity and tolerance which has been playing a determining role
in Armenia’s foreign policy for many years. Our authorities have not
been saying “no” but “yes” to anyone for a too long period of time. As
a result, it has been found that this is the most dangerous of what
could happen with us. We have not been saying “no” to anyone on the
Karabakh issue for 15 years, we just agreed to all the proposals by
OSCE MG on Madrid principles introducing some limitations. Today
I do not see even these limitations. Of course, one may say that
Armenia has not yet agreed to implement the provisions fixed by the
principles, however, there was Aquila statement of the “Great Three”
which is the whole world’s stance anyway. It does not happen that
one agrees to the cochairmen’s proposals for 15 years and finally
refuses from them. The OSCE MG cochair countries activated a huge
process and reported the whole world on it, drew up their policy,
including with respect to Armenia, as well as rendered financial
aid to it, including a military one. All this was done based on the
fact that Armenia takes just this and no other position. This is an
extremely important circumstance which is ignored in our country, even
by the prepared people. It is groundlessly considered in Armenia that
these are no more than words. Well, it does not happen so, and our
position is too dangerous, since the great powers have already made
a statement in favour of their stance on Karabakh, at least once,
while we just thanked them in response and marked the statement as
“valuable”. I am sure that currently there is even no hint that we
shall have to implement these “valuable” ideas.

Nevertheless, what is our omission in the process?

The parties to the Karabakh process have their arguments. Azerbaijan’s
arguments are known to everyone: 20% of territories, one million
refugees, Khojalu etc: What does Armenia have? A doubtful principle
of the peoples’ right to self-determination in the UN Statute,
which is, in its turn, doubtful, at least because it is not clear
where the UN Statute is part of the international law or not. No
one in the world wants even to speak of the people’s right to self-
determination principle now. Armenia constantly raises that principle
after well-known Galina Storovoytova planted in on Armenians 20
years ago in exchange for the Karabakh Committee’s refusal from the
national liberation movement. That principle does not work and cannot
work inherently.

But why? And what about Kosovo?

It was the geopolitical expediency, not the self-determination
principle that snapped into action in case of Kosovo. At least I have
seen not a single document on Kosovo referring to this principle. At
the time of Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s tenure the following undisputable
arguments were rejected in the Karabakh negotiating process, like
refugees, the territories where they had to live, northern part of
Karabakh – Shaumyan region, Sumgait, Old Jugha, Magara and Baku.

Absolutely nothing was said about all this. They do not say even
about the ruined cemeteries of the Old Jugha. The Council of Europe
has not yet managed to send its delegation there to watch this act of
vandalism. And at present after 20 years of silence we have started
agitating caps and speaking about all these things. At present they
have suddenly started speaking about patriotism and remembered all
these things, but the time to speak about it has already passed. Who
will listen to it? Nobody. Sumgait, Magara, Shaumyan and Old Jugha
did not find room in the and the Karabakh process, as they were
not involved in it by Armenia from the very beginning. Actually,
the Karabakh peace process was based on oblivion of a number of
extremely important events, it was based on a horrible and illogic
thing, according to which there are some borders of the Nagorno-
Karabakh autonomous region. If these borders exist, it is first of
all necessary to acknowledge that these are borders of a state,
but this is also missing in the Madrid Principles. So what do we
have then? A vague promise to hold a referendum? And against this
hopeless background some people have suddenly took up patriotism. To
be honest, I do not know how to come out of this situation. Earlier
I knew when there were goals, arguments, tasks, but now I don’t know
what to do. Shall we restart the process? Perhaps, we should.

It is necessary to have a new power to restart the process …

Armenia will never have a new power. I mean the current generation’s
life. The sociocultural regime, our public, political culture and
culture in general allow speaking of this with confidence. I doubt
that in Armenia there is national culture except “duduk”, “khash”
and “dolma”. Change of power requires sociocultural prerequisites. We
should see how new political class is formed. However, I do not see
that and there is no such process. Therefore, we still live in a
provincial country. But, our public does not care for that.

Then what is considered essential?

Today resignation of mayor, beating of an official by another official,
various crimes are considered essential in Armenia, but no one cares
about why all this takes place. The Armenian nation has no political
status, it is apolitical and lacks political culture. All this is
reflected in our national features. That is why, other nations do
not like us. They cannot like a nation just for priority features,
talent, for instance. It is not a temporary phenomenon. It is not a
temporary phenomenon. There are many people in Armenia who deserve
lead political culture, but they do not represent the Armenian nation,
unfortunately. Instead, people who do not care for the statehood and
policy of Armenia represent our nation. They need nothing but feeding,
even money, because money should work. Within the coming decades
nothing new will be in Armenia. Twenty years for reform in Armenia is
too long in the modern age of Internet and high communications. Three
presidents replaced each other in Armenia over that period of time
and the efforts to change anything proved useless. What was created
in Armenia over decades bears nothing in common with the Armenian
culture, it was the Soviet culture.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN LAW-ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES INVESTIGATE REASONS OF CHILDREN INTOXICATION IN SWIMMING POOL AFTER HAMBARTSUMYAN

ArmInfo
2010-12-24 12:00:00

ArmInfo. Armenian law-enforcement agencies have been investigating
the reasons of children intoxication in the swimming pool after
Hambartsumyan in Yerevan.

It has become clear over the investigation that 9 children were
intoxicated in the swimming pool on 8 December. That day workers of
the swimming pool were testing the new equipment for chlorine treatment
and surplus of chlorine poured in the pool through the damaged valve,
which was damaged a month ago. Testing of the chlorine treatment system
was held in 2009-2010 and numerous breakings of the rules of safety
technique were found, in case of availability of which exploitation
is forbidden.

But the expert of the state non-commercial organization ‘National
center for technical safety’, R.Danielyan, gave positive conclusion
and allowed using the system. Moreover, the non-licensed bombs were
used for the water chlorine treatment, which were purchased from
V.Beglaryan, the head of the pomp station ‘Tsarav akhpyur” under CJSC
‘Yerevan jur’. The investigation is underway.

The charge was brought against V.Beglaryan by the part 1 of article
No 214 and by part 1 of article No 179 of Criminal Code of Armenia
(official misconduct and misappropriation).

From: A. Papazian

KPMG: CORRUPTION – MAJOR FACTOR IMPEDING DEVELOPMENT OF ARMENIAN ECONOMY
Elita Babayan

ArmInfo
22.12.2010

ArmInfo’s exclusive interview with KPMG Managing Partner Andrew
Coxshall

Mr. Coxshall, what are the factors impeding social and economic
development of Armenia?

I think the major factor impeding development of Armenia’s economy is
corruption. Forms of corruption vary. One of the ways that corruption
manifests itself is through the under-recording of revenues by
businesses which leads to underpayment of taxes, this in turn
impedes programs of development and modernization of the country’s
infrastructure. This, in its turn, curtails foreign investments in
the economy of Armenia.

What mechanisms and levers can be used to fight corruption?

There are two ways to fight corruption. One of those methods is
actively used in Georgia where the authorities dismissed a large number
of individuals (both government employees and private individuals)
involved in corruption at one time. The second method implies a
step-by-step reduction of corruption levels through the creation
of a mechanism of control over the activity of the persons involved
in corrupt practices. In the given case, it is necessary to ensure
transparency, openness of state government bodies, develop the key
dimensions of anti-corruption policy in terms of an uninterrupted
natural function of the government. Also it is very important for the
government to show that it is serious about tackling corruption by
actually putting senior corrupt officials and big businessmen on trial.

Do you observe any steps towards reduction of corruption scales in
the country?

I am informed of various programs aimed at reduction of corruption
risks in the country. Similar programs were implemented also by the
USAID. However, those measures brought no significant results and
nothing changed in fact. International surveys showed that Armenia is
in the rating of the worst countries in terms of corruption (the latest
TI Barometer report showed that in Armenia 85% of people felt that
corruption had got worse or stayed the same over the last 3 years).

Why do we fail to reduce corruption level in the country?

Actually, it is a very difficult task because hundreds and even
thousands of people are engaged in corrupt practices: these are
politicians, officials and their families. International surveys
show that high corruption level is characteristic to many countries
in the world. This is a difficult problem and its solution affects
the interests of many representatives of the world community. Lack
of political will.

There have been many cases recently when local entrepreneurs
transferred their business to other countries, particularly, to
Georgia. What makes them do that?

KPMG has an office in Georgia and some Armenian businessmen who intend
to transfer their business to Georgia have applied to our company for
relevant consultation. The business environment in Georgia is more
favorable than in Armenia. In particular, the corruption level in
Georgia is lower and the tax burden is lighter. To put it shortly,
there is less red tape there.

Which companies do you deal with in Armenia?

First of all, we work with transparent and open companies. Our clients
are mainly banks and mining enterprises. We cooperate also with some
credit organizations and one of the biggest industrial enterprises
in Armenia, the sole producer of aluminum foil in the Caucasus,
ARMENAL Company.

Mr. Coxshall, what hinders development of industrial production
in Armenia? Everyone knows that economy cannot have a strong basis
without developed industry…

To reactivate and develop industry in the country relevant resources
are required, including fuel – energy feedstock – gas, petroleum, and
electric power. Due to the lack of these resources the country imports
raw materials from foreign markets, which increases the cost value
of production and makes it noncompetitive in the world market. Also
due to the business environment in Armenia many basic products are
supplied under monopolistic circumstances, which also increase the
prices and limits choice. To be competitive in the world market, a
country must have some sort of competitive advantage, which Armenia
lacks, unfortunately.

Expert assessments of the shadow economy level in Armenia vary. What
is your assessment of shady economy in the country?

I think shadow economy is nearly twice as much as the non-shadow
economy, but this is my subjective assessment.

Mr. Coxshall, this year a number of companies having over 1 billion
drams profits for 2009 are to undergo compulsory financial audit. Some
of them did not fulfill the given requirement…

There are several big companies that have probably not undergone a
proper financial audit. There are companies that were provided with
the auditor’s report by audit companies having no proper specialization
with a staff comprising two persons at best. Such audit companies have
an audit license and the right to provide an auditor’s report. It can
be quite easy to obtain an audit license in Armenia if you know how.

Why?

At present the Finance Ministry regulates the under-recording of
activity of audit companies. However to regulate audit companies
requires good knowledge of accounting standards, selection procedures,
certain technological methods of auditor’s activity and the people
supervising activity of audit companies must significant knowledge
in the sphere.

Does it means that our supervisory authorities have no relevant
knowledge?

Although there is regulation the regulation focuses on administrative
details rather than the audit work that is actually carried out and
whether or not the auditors have the required knowledge and experience
to carry out the audits. KPMG would be glad if the sphere was regulated
with more focus on audit quality. As the leading audit company in the
quality audit market KPMG is ready to provide assistance in the sphere.

Many local and foreign experts often speak of stability of the Armenian
banking system. What is your assessment of activity of our banks?

Although the banking system of Armenia is not big, it is quite stable.

This sector is well regulated and banks operate adequately. Almost
all banks have restored consumer lending that was suspended in the
crisis period.

What do you think of the interest rates of business and consumer loans?

Banks raise credit funds from various sources at the annual interest of
7% in average but on-lend these funds at quite a high annual interest –
17% in average. They have many ways to reduce interests.

In fact, they can reduce interest rates on loans…

Yes, if a bank increases the interest rate, all the others follow it,
as a rule. Therefore, a special mechanism is necessary to regulate
the sphere and make the banks reduce interest rates. In addition,
the economy in Armenia is small size, which seriously restricts its
possibilities of fund raising from external sources and leads to
appreciation of money resources in the country.

How will economic situation in Armenia change in 2011? What GDP growth
do you forecast and what spheres will become a locomotive for growth?

By my assessment economy in the country will grow significantly in
2011, first of all, thanks to growing money transfers from Russia and
the growth of copper and gold prices. These two factors will result
in nearly 8% GDP in 2011 in Armenia. Construction sector will also
has a positive impact on the economic growth. This sector is already
begun growing.

What would you advise to investors? Where they should make investments
and where they shouldn’t?

At present mining sector is favorable for investments considering the
growth of gold and copper prices. In Armenia there are many small idle
copper/gold mines and their price may grow and attract investments.

Someone may arrive and buy those mines. I’d not recommend making
any investment in the petrol business. You can hardly manage to sell
anything because of high monopolization of the given segment.

What must an investor take into account when investing in the mining
industry? What risks may he face?

It is very difficult in our country to pay taxes because of the
very high level of corruption. These risks impede investments in the
given sphere.

Your company is engaged also in the market of consulting services.

What are the tendencies in the given market now? What is our
businessmen’s attitude to consulting in general? What is the central
failure of our business?

Local businessmen are not able to take effective steps to improve their
activity. They do not pay proper attention to professional skills of
their employees. They give instructions to less experienced employees
not to spend more on a professional consultant. Many Armenian companies
still use consulting services just to observe formalities though
consulting helps upgrading the management of a company. Consulting
services in the neighbor countries, in Georgia, are not cheap. In
the meantime, in Armenia consulting services are not expensive. One
of our clients once joked when speaking of the cost of consulting
services and said that he prefers “Zhiguli” to “Mercedes”.

What does it mean?

A Zhiguli will not go very fast and will break down soon – so in the
longer run the Mercedes is a better option.

From: A. Papazian

HEAD OF RPA PARLIAMENTARY GROUP: GAGIK BEGLARYAN WAS THE BEST

ArmInfo
2010-12-23 15:04:00

ArmInfo. Ex Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan was one of the best mayors
so far and will remain a member of the Republican Party of Armenia,
says Galust Sahakyan, the head of the RPA parliamentary group.

“Today many people demand further steps to punish Beglaryan. Some
even say that he must be prosecuted. I think that he has already been
punished enough,” Sahakyan said.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PARTY EXPECTS OSCE ASSESSMENT IN VIEW OF ACCUSATIONS BY AZERBAIJAN OF SHOOTING FROM ‘GRAD’ FACILITY

ArmInfo
2010-12-24 12:57:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian party expects the OSCE assessment in view of
accusations by Azerbaijan of shooting from ‘Grad’ facility, spokesman
of Armenia’s Defense Ministry David Karapetyan told ArmInfo.

To recall, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan has recently come out
with accusations about the allegedly happened ceasefire violation
with the use of ‘Grad’ facility. “On 17 December at 9:30 PM Armed
Forces of Armenia broke the cease-fire regime and issued a reactive
fragmentation fougasse with a caliber 122 mm from “Grad” BM-21″,
Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan said. According to Azerbaijani mass
media, the projectile was allegedly issued towards Borsunlu village
from the distance 15-16 km. There were no suffered.

When commenting on this information at the request of Arminfo
correspondent, press- secretary of the NKR Defense Ministry,
Colonel Senor Hasratyan said “this is disinformation from head to
foot and the Karabakh party remains attached to cease fire regime
observing”. Along with this, D. Karapetyan advised the Azerbaijani
AF command to tighten control of its own ammunition for it not to
explode without a corresponding order.

According to the Azerbaijani media, on December 23, Antal
Herdich, field assistant of Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, got acquainted with
the place where the artillery shell fell, however he refrained from
any comments. When commenting on this information at ArmInfo’s request,
D. Karapetyan said a discussion was held with the Ambassador’s Yerevan
office and the Armenian party is expecting the OSCE assessment.

From: A. Papazian

U.S. GAVE AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT A CARTE BLANCHE FOR KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION?

PanARMENIAN.Net
December 24, 2010 – 14:50 AMT 10:50 GMT

Weekly Arguments Moscow-based newspaper reported that the U.S.
administration gave Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev a carte blanche
for resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

“Washington will not prevent military operations, in case these are
quick. In response, the U.S. will ask Aliyev to use his country’s
territory as a platform to attack Iran,” the publication says.

Commenting on the report, director of Caucasus Institute Alexander
Iskandaryan said that threatening war is a part of Azerbaijan’s
domestic policy and will hardly become a reality.

“I don’t think a carte blanche for war is possible,” he said.

From: A. Papazian