Author: Andres-Papazian

STAR prepares surprise for its customers on occasion of Independence
Day of Armenia

2010-09-17 18:47:00

ArmInfo. STAR chain of supermarkets offers watermelon for 140 drams
per kg though the season of watermelon is over and the prices are
rapidly growing in the market – 150-200 drams/kg. The wholesale price
of watermelon in the market reached 150 drams/kg on September 16, STAR
press-service reported.

The source reported that STAR chain of supermarkets offered the best
price of watermelon in July and August, even for 50drams/kg. Today, on
the threshold of the Independence Day , STAR is expected to make
another surprise for its customers. Thus, in the period from September
18 up to 20 watermelon at STAR supermarkets will be available at 95
drams/kg. Afterwards from September 21 up to 30, STAR announces a
10-day action “Boom of the Day” offering one fruit or vegetable with
30%-50% discount.

“STAR congratulates everyone of the 19th Independence Anniversary of
Armenia,” the source reported. At present, the largest chain of
supermarkets STAR has 16 shops, including 1 in Hrazdan and 15 in
Yerevan.

From: A. Papazian

Van governor does not expect any problems occurrence during tomorrow’s
divine service

2010-09-18 14:27:00

ArmInfo. Van Governor Munir Karaloglu said preparations were complete
for the religious gathering, as Today’s Zaman reported.

“We have our technical preparations complete. In terms of security,
our city’s police will be sufficient. We will have a helicopter to
observe the island from the air. The church on the island is very
small, so a lot of people will follow the service from live television
on the island. Our press tent will serve journalists who come to the
city to cover the event,” Van’s popular governor told Today’s Zaman.
On Friday, the press center at the governor’s office was busy with
foreign and domestic journalists who were receiving accreditation for
the Sept. 19 event. The staff was helpful and quick. So far 118
Turkish and 27 foreign members of press had been accredited. The
governor’s office also said the city’s hotels and hostels were full
and that if there were more visitors, the people of Van were ready to
host them in their homes. “Our goal is to serve people. We want our
visitors to be happy. When you look at the old city of Van, you see
that a mosque, a church and a synagogue existed not far from each
other. This religious service is an opportunity to show our
hospitality and our tolerance,” Karaloglu said, while adding that he
felt lucky to be a governor at this historic time. ‘Cross will be
erected after ceremony’ There had been problems surrounding erecting a
100-kilogram cross on top of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on
Akdamar Island, but the problem was mostly solved by temporarily
placing the cross on a wooden base. Turkish officials said there were
difficulties in erecting the cross on the steeple in time for the
historic service, leading to the temporary solution. Armenian
Patriarchate clergymen from Istanbul will decide where to display the
cross — inside or outside of the church — until it is erected on the
church after the service and when preparations are complete.

To recall, earlier Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, had
agreed to send two senior clerics to the church for the service, but
at present he recalled his decision after refusal of the Turkish
authorities to set a cross at the top of the church.

From: A. Papazian

Problems with traffic of Armenian trucks through Upper Lars check
point resolved

2010-09-18 12:42:00

ArmInfo. The problems with passage of Armenian trucks transporting
grape to Russia through the Upper Lars checkpoint have been resolved,
Spayka Freight Traffic Company told ArmInfo. To recall, 8 trucks
loaded with Armenian grape were not allowed to Russia through the
Upper Lars on Friday.

The company told ArmInfo that the Georgian authorities motivated the
refusal to allow the Armenian trucks to Russia with technical problems
only. At present the situation is normal and the trucks of the company
passed the checkpoint yet on Friday evening.

The Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communication told ArmInfo the
problem was connected with transportation of grape because the trucks
loaded with other goods passed the Upper Lars checkpoint without any
obstacles.

From: A. Papazian

Smartphone users to get Armenian fonts in December 2010

September 18, 2010 – 15:39 AMT 10:39 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

Armenian fonts for Symbian, Android and Windows mobile smartphones
will be ready by December 2010.

`There are not many Armenian font users, so these are available in 2
Nokia models as well as in iPhone 3G and iPhone 4G as of today,’
programmer Alexei Chalabyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

The developers’ main goal is creation of licensed fonts. Applications
will be available in Internet.

According to Chalabyan, about 20% of Armenians use smartphones. `This
market will be developing and the number of smartphone users will
reach 80% in some 5 years,’ he said.

From: A. Papazian

Armenia’s FM due in for New York for UN General Assembly session

armradio.am
18.09.2010 17:21

The delegation headed by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
will leave for New York to participate in the 65th session of the UN
General Assembly.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia will have a number of bilateral
meetings on the sidelines of the session.

From: A. Papazian

Hrayr Karapetyan: Armenian-Turkish protocols should be removed from NA agenda
18.09.2010 17:07

Lena Badeyan
`Radiolur’

The Armenian-Turkish protocols, which still remain on the National
Assembly agenda, are not important any more, MP from ARF
Dashnaktsutyun faction Hrayr Karapetyan says.

`Very few people still believe that Turkey will open the border at our
initiative. Life has shown that Turkey is trying to bargain the issue
at the cost of our national and state interests. We think the
protocols should be removed from the NA agenda, because it’s obvious
that Turkey is in no way able to discuss the issue today. Turkey keeps
to its traditional position,’ he said.

`Armenia’s policy is distinct. We are not trying to mislead anyone,’
says Galust Sahakyan, head of the Republican faction of the National
Assembly.

`It’s our rivals trying to cast a mist before the eyes of others. We
never do that,’ he said.

From: A. Papazian

Boris Navasardyan: Turkey’s attitude towards Armenians has obviously changed
18.09.2010 16:31

Lena Badeyan
`Radiolur’

A few days ago a group of Armenian journalists came across the real
state of Armenian-Turkish relations at the Istanbul airport. President
of the Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardyan, who faced the harsh
attitude of the Turkish policemen, does not rule out that this could
be a result of the decision of Armenians not to accept the invitation
of the Turkish authorities to participate in the holy liturgy at St.
Cross Church of Akhtamar.

The attitude of Turks towards Armenian has obviously changed, said
Boris Navasardyan, who has been regularly visiting Turkey since 1998
to participate in or organize international conference there.

On September 13 two groups of Armenian journalists came across
unexpected problems at Istanbul airport. The law-enforcers even
threatened to deport the Armenian passengers. The problems were
finally settled and Armenians were allowed to leave the airport.
However, Boris Navasardyan made a statement at the opening of an
international conference.

`There have never been such problems, and if something has changed,
we’ll reconsider our attitude towards Turkey as a country where it is
possible to have international, regional and other meetings,’ Boris
Navasardyan said.

According to YPC President, the interest to have close cooperation
with Armenia in different spheres is obviously decreasing in Turkey.
This is reflected in media publications, as well. `I have talked to
Turkish journalists, who say that they cover Armenia-related issues
once a month as compared to 3-4 articles a week in 2008-2009. This
speaks for the fact that our neighbor has decided at this stage that
the development of relations with Armenia does not have perspectives
in the near future,’ he said.

From: A. Papazian

No UN special representative capable to resolve Karabakh conflict

September 18, 2010 – 14:54 AMT 09:54 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

Director of Caucasus Institute, political analyst Alexander
Iskandaryan said that no UN special representative is capable to
facilitate the Karabakh conflict settlement.

`The OSCE Minsk Group abolishment, far less its duplication in another
instance will decelerate even the current process,’ Iskandaryan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, similar statements are propaganda rather than real
attempts aimed at accelerating the conflict resolution. `Readiness for
compromises is required for real facilitation,’ Iskandaryan said.

The idea to appoint a special representative for Nagorno Karabakh was
suggested by Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Vice-president of the Reflection
Group on the long-term future of the European Union, and Anne-Marie
Lizin, President of the Senate of Belgium.

From: A. Papazian

Parliament to convene hearings on pension reform

YEREVAN, September 18, /ARKA/. The Armenian National Assembly
(parliament) said it will hold parliamentary hearings Wednesday on a
draft law on pensions.

The hearings are initiated by a committee on social issues. The bill,
designed to shift to the so-called accumulative pension, was pushed
through in the first reading.

Under the new scheme the amount of retirement pension is supposed to
grow to 50% of an average national wage. Any potential pensioner will
have to pay 5% of its monthly income to the Pension Fund. The
government will add to it a similar amount.
The pension reform calls for shifting to a multi-stage pension system
to be made of two components- government distributive and private
accumulative. The passage to voluntary accumulative system is expected
in 2011 and to the mandatory accumulative in 2014.-0-

From: A. Papazian

Armenian president downplays apprehensions that Armenia’s state debt
may jeopardize economy

YEREVAN, September 17, /ARKA/. Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan
downplayed apprehensions that Armenia’s state debt may jeopardize the
country’s economy. In an interview with a Ukrainian magazine Profile
he said the country’s state debt makes less than half of its Gross
Domestic Product (GDP).

`If we calculate all attracted loans our state debt makes about 40% of
the GDP and if we calculate also all signed loan agreements it will
make 47-48%. These are normal figures. I can name a dozen of countries
whose state debt exceeds their total GDPs,’ he said.

He said that no cent from loans attracted from international lending
organizations was spent on paying wages or social benefits. `All of
them were channeled into economy and the stabilization fund,’ he said.
According to Armenia’s National Statistical Service, Armenia’s foreign
debt on June 30 stood at $3.027.4 billion (or 1.112.57 trillion
Drams), growing by 2% or $60.7 million from 2009 December.-0-

From: A. Papazian