Author: Badalian Vardan

PROGRESS IN ARMENIAN FREE ECONOMIC ZONES TO BE VISIBLE BEFORE END OF THIS YEAR

/ARKA/
SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 23. /ARKA/. Progress in Armenian free economic zones
will be visible before the end of this year, Hayk Mirzoyan, Armenian
economy ministry’s industrial policy division, said on Thursday.

“The ministry has already worked out necessary legislative acts,
which are now being considered by the government,” he said.

He also said that projects of deployment of enterprises in the two
probable free economic zones in Zvartnots Airport’s territory and
Mars works are being considered as well.

On June 21, the Armenian president signed the law on free economic
zones and related laws.

The law establishes a new legal regime for economic activities. The
law is also aimed at creation of proper economic environment,
solution of export problem and creation of favourable conditions for
export-oriented enterprises.

If a zone is not used within one year, the government will void its
decision. These zones will enjoy special tax and customs preferences.

USAID/ARMENIA ANNOUNCES END OF MOBILIZING ACTION AGAINST CORRUPTION

/ARKA/
SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 23, /ARKA/. The USAID/Armenia has announced today
the end of its Mobilizing Action Against Corruption (MAAC) Activity.

It also has announced the award of a grant to Armenian Young Lawyers
Association to operate the network of Advocacy and Assistance Centers
jointly with Armavir Development Center and Gegharkunik Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.

The network was initially established by the USAID Mobilizing Action
Against Corruption (MAAC) Activity in 2008.

Francois Vezina, Chief of Party, Mobilizing Action Against Corruption
(MAAC) Activity, said today the $10 million worth MAAC was launched
in 2007 June. It was designed to help the government and the civic
society combat corruption. According to him, it has created grounds
for serious changes in this matter in the next decades.

Francois Vezina also said the goals of the project were to encourage
civil society to strengthen work with government institutions, and
assist the latter to establish links with similar anti-corruption
agencies, as well as raise public awareness through meetings,
television programs and websites.

USAID Democracy Office director Stephen Brager said the establishment
and work of Advocacy and Assistance Centers is the most important
outcome of this project. He said that was the reason why USAID
decided to continue it by providing $600,000 grant to the Armenian
Young lawyers Association to support their network.

Karen Zadoyan, President of the Armenian Young Lawyers Association,
said the joint work will be focused on expanding and strengthening the
powers of Advocacy and Assistance Centers, including provision of free
legal consulting. Zadoyan said some 11,200 people sought help from
Advocacy and Assistance Centers from October 2008 to August 2011.-

DEPUTY SEAT IS NOT FOR RUBEN HAYRAPETYAN

arminfo
Friday, September 23, 18:21

I reiterated many times that the deputy seat is not my place. Just for
this reason, I am going to leave the politics and do my own business
and continue my activity in Football Federation, President of Armenian
Football Federation, Ruben Hayrapetyan, told journalists today.

“I am not going to stand for the parliamentary election in 2012. I
could even return my deputy mandate now, but taking into consideration
that only several months have been left till the election, there is
no sense to do that”, – he said.

GRAPE HARVEST IN ARMENIA TO BE HIGHER MAKING ABOUT 150-160 THOUSAND TONS – EXPERT

/ARKA/
September 23, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, September 23. /ARKA/. Grape harvest in Armenia will be higher
this year making about 150-160 thousand tons which is by 50 thousand
tons less than the last year indicator, said the Chairman of Agrarian
Union of Armenia Hrach Berberyan.

The reason for non-qualified harvest this year is vine fungal diseases
of grape (odium and mildew) that must be addressed by spraying the
vines. In this regard, Barberyan said that Armenian Agriculture
Ministry should more seriously deal with this problem taking into
account the program of protection of plants.

According to the data of Agriculture Ministry, grape harvest in Armenia
in 2010 was 210-215 thousand tons versus 185 thousand tons in 2009.

He also informed that this year apricot harvest was more than last
year. Only in Ararat valley the harvest was 20 thousand tons and
throughout Armenia – 24-25 thousand tons. Peach harvest was twice
less. “Peach prices in the market are 300 drams which is related to
high prices of fuel and pesticides”, he said.

In particular, a sack of nitrous fertilizer from Georgia costs 8200
drams and from Iran – 9200 drams.

He mentioned the efficiency of steps of the government in the import
of high-quality seeds which provided good harvest. “Imported seeds of
elite wheat provided high harvest of 4-6 tons from one hectare. But
it is only 5% of sowing territories and it is ridiculous to speak
about record harvest”, said Berberyan. Next year wheat harvest will
be higher making 2.2-2.5 tons from one ha.

In 2010, 1010 tons of elite wheat seeds from Russia were bought,
of which 50 tons was given to Nagorno-Karabakh republic.

Total demand of cereals in the country is about 700 thousand tons. The
level of self-provision reaches at best 40-45%. Deficit of cereals in
Armenia is covered due to import, especially from Russia and Ukraine.

Berberyan added that this year was favorable for irrigation lands and
in non-irrigation lands there is no harvest at all due to drought.-0–

HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN CONGRATULATES VALENTINA MATVIYENKO

ARMENPRESS
September 23, 2011
YEREVAN

Armenian National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan has sent a
congratulatory letter to newly-elected Speaker of the Russian Council
of Federation Valentina Matviyenko.

RA NA press service told Armenpress that in the letter Hovik Abrahamyan
congratulates Valentina Matviyenko on the occasion of being elected
in the post of Speaker of the Russian Council of Federation.

“The inter-parliamentary cooperation between Armenia and Russia is
at a high level today. The close and productive cooperation within
the framework of Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary commission,
CIS inter-parliamentary summit and other international parliamentary
organizations promote further expansion of the strategic partnership
between Armenia and Russia,” the letter runs.

Hovik Abrahamyan also expressed confidence that by Valentina
Matviyenko’s election the inter-parliamentary cooperation between
our countries will grow and afford new opportunities for its further
expansion.

DIASPORAN ARMENIAN REQUEST ARMENIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR ZHIRAIR SEFILYAN, SARGIS HATSPANYAN

Tert.am
23.09.11

Fifty-eight Diasporan Armenians have requested Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan that he grant Armenian citizenship to Zhirair Sefilyan
and Sargis Hatspanyan.

The Committee in defense for Zhirair Sefilyan’s right to citizenship
requested Dr. Aramis Mirzakhanian of the Royal Institute of Technology
(Sweden), who participated in the 4th congress of diasporan leaders
and members, that he organize a signature-collecting campaign among
the congress participants.

The committee reported that Committee Coordinator Aghavni Sahakyan
has handed over a letter signed by the 58 participants in the congress
to the Reception of the Armenian president.

ARMENIA INTENDS TO VOTE AGAINST THE ISSUE OF RECOGNITION OF THE PALESTINIAN STATE

arminfo
Friday, September 23, 10:29

Armenia is going to vote against the issue of recognition of the
Palestinian state. ArmInfo has been told this by a source close to
the foreign diplomatic circles.

Today the UN Security Council will consider the issue of recognition
of Palestine and hold a voting at the UN General Assembly.

The source says that in the future Armenia’s stance may undergo
modulation in case the incumbent authorities of Palestine give up the
radical position on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s sovereignty with
a categorical turn towards supporting Azerbaijan’s stance.

The source recalls that this position has recently been stated in Baku
by the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Notwithstanding the fact that
Russia advocates the independence of Palestine very actively and all
the CIS states support Russia in this matter, Armenia is categorical
in it stance and will vote against, the source says.

To remind, Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian negotiator, has recently
visited Armenia to enlist Armenia’s support at the UN General
Assembly. According to the rumors in the press, Armenia was inclined
to support the issue of Palestine, however, the Palestinian leader’s
statement in Baku apparently left no chance to Yerevan.

To note, in a conversation with ArmInfo correspondent in Ramallah in
2010, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad refused pointblank to
draw any parallel between the sovereignty problems of Palestine and
Nagorno-Karabakh. To note, Russia was one of the first countries
to support Mahmoud Abbas’ initiative to seek recognition of the
Palestinian state at the UN unilaterally. According to international
sources, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asked the United
States not to exercise the veto when considering the Palestinians’
request at the Security Council.

“OTHER” JUDGE SAHAKYAN ALSO DENIES HIS SON IS A GANG MEMBER

hetq
15:07, September 23, 2011

Minutes ago, Hetq was able to get in touch with Judge Tigran Sahakyan,
President of the Criminal Appeals Court of Armenia.

He too refuted press reports that his son was picked up today by
police in an early morning raid of suspected criminal gang members.

Judge Tigran Sahakyan of the Civil Appeals Court had earlier denied
charges that his son had any connection with the gang.

SERZH SARGSYAN AND NOUBAR AFEYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:33:46 – 23/09/2011

Serzh Sargsyan received National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations,
NECO’s Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Other medalists are: Muhammad Ali, Toni Blaire, George H.W. Bush,
Bil Clinton, HIllari Clinton, Gerard Ford, Martine Scorsese, Frank
Sinatra, Armenian Noubar Afeyan and others.

Noubar Afeyan is Managing Partner of Flagship Ventures, an early-stage
Venture Capital firm. Dr. Afeyan is currently a Senior Lecturer on
entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Dr. Afeyan has
authored numerous scientific publications and patents since earning
his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT in 1987.

Currently Dr. Afeyan serves on a number of public and private company
boards. He is a director of Flagship portfolio companies Affinnova, BG
Medicine, Bind Biosciences, Ensemble Discovery, Helicos BioSciences,
Joule Biotechnologies, LS9 and Eleven Biotherapeutics. Previously he
was a member of the founding team, director and investor in several
successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals, Color
Kinetics, Antigenics, EXACT Sciences and Adnexus Therapeutics.

Dr. Afeyan serves as Member of the Board of Directors of “Ameriabank”
CJSC from July, 2010

Dr. Afeyan is currently a visiting Scholar at the Wyss Institute at
Harvard University. In addition, he is a member of several advisory
boards including the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation
at MIT, the Whitehead Institute at MIT and the SKOLKOVO School of
Management in Moscow. He is also a member of the Board of Overseers
of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Afeyan is co-founder and board
member of Armenia 2020 and the National Competitiveness Foundation
of Armenia.

KOCHARYAN HINTS AT HIMSELF
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:36:07 – 23/09/2011

6-7 months are left till the scheduled parliamentary election but
it is not clear who will take to the arena and with what forces they
will ally.

One of the main intrigues of the pre-election campaign is whether
the Armenian National Congress will run in the scheduled elections
to parliament, and who will head the Republican ticket.

The congress which insists on early elections, first to president, then
to parliament, may boycott the scheduled parliamentary elections in a
demarche if the dialogue is not launched in autumn, and it launches the
“square” confrontation. However, the Congress may choose to proceed
with “small steps”, first entering the parliament, then forming a
parliamentary group and, afterwards, gather momentum to plunge into
the presidential elections.

A more interesting situation has occurred in relation to the Bargavach
Hayastan Party. Wikileaks has published a document which reads that
the ex-president Robert Kocharyan told the ex-U.S. Ambassador Marie
Yovanovitch that the Bargavach Hayastan Party is a one-man party. This
statement was commented by Member of Parliament Aram Safaryan from
this party who thinks there is nothing bad about having a party around
Gagik Tsarukyan.

Since then the experts have been saying that Robert Kocharyan may no
longer view Bargavach Hayastan as a possible platform to return to
politics. There were opinions that Kocharyan has decided to extend
the break.

However, the ex-foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan hinted that the
second president may run in the parliamentary elections. However, in
which party is he likely to run? Or will he run under the majority
system? Most probably, he will run on the ticket of the Bargavach
Hayastan Party.

Evidence to this could be the interview of the spokesman of Kocharyan’s
office, Victor Soghomonyan, who stated that Kocharyan had meant
“the party known to everyone”, not the Bargavach Hayastan Party.

This public “refutation” is evidence that Kocharyan does not want to
spoil his relations with Tsarukyan, and hints at himself. In this
context, Kocharyan’s appearance on the first line of the ticket
of the Bargavach Hayastan Party is quite possible. The question is
whether besides Tsarukyan the other members of the party will agree
to adhere to the opposition and lose their positions. Will Robert
Kocharyan be able to guarantee that they will keep their positions
and leverages and will not oppose to the present government. In other
words, Kocharyan himself needs guarantees, and if he has decided to
run for parliament, it means he has no guarantees yet and he also
chooses to take “small steps”.