Author: Badalian Vardan

IMF FORECASTS 15 PERCENT CONTRACTION FOR ARMENIAN ECONOMY

Agence France Presse
September 16, 2009 Wednesday 3:57 PM GMT
YEREVAN, Sept 16 2009

Armenia’s economy is expected to contract by 15 percent this year
as the ex-Soviet republic struggles with the global economic crisis,
an International Monetary Fund official said Wednesday.

"2009 has been a very challenging year for Armenia, with real GDP
(gross domestic product) now expected to decline by about 15 percent,"
the head of an IMF mission to Armenia, Mark Lewis, told a press
conference.

"In a difficult global environment, these developments have led to
some weakening in the balance of payments and public finances, and
posed additional hardships on the Armenian population," he said.

A significant drop in tax revenues could see Armenia’s budget deficit
rise to about 7.5 percent of GDP, he added.

Isolated Armenia has been among the countries hardest hit by the
global recession, especially as remittances from Russia have fallen
sharply in a severe downturn there.

Armenia’s economy shrank by 18 percent in the first seven months of
this year, according to official figures.

The IMF in March agreed to provide Armenia with a 540-million-dollar
(368-million-euro) loan to deal with the effects of the crisis.

Lewis also said plans for the Armenian-Turkish border to re-open
would give the country’s economy a boost.

"Opening the border will lead to a decrease in transport charges that
will in turn increase the competitiveness of Armenian companies. The
price of imported goods will also decrease, increasing the purchasing
capacity of the country’s population," he said.

Armenia and Turkey announced last month that they had agreed a
framework to establish diplomatic ties and re-open their border.

The two countries said they would hold internal political consultations
for six weeks before submitting to their parliaments two protocols
on establishing diplomatic ties and developing bilateral relations.

Armenia and Turkey currently have no diplomatic relations, a closed
border and a long history of hostility rooted in massacres of Armenians
under the Ottoman Turks during World War I.

ARMENIA NOT STATES A REASON FOR NOT ATTENDING BSEC CONFERENCE IN BAKU

Today.Az

Sept 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Armenia has refused to participate in the conference of the heads of
the emergency situations agencies of the Organization of Black Sea
Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in Baku.

"We have sent invitations to all member states of the BSEC, including
Armenia," said Altay Efendiyev, BSEC Deputy Secretary General at a
news conference following the event.

Today Baku is hosting a conference of the heads of the emergency
situations agencies of the Organization of Black Sea Economic
Cooperation (BSEC). The conference of the heads of BSEC has adopted
a declaration.

Afandiyev said Armenia did not mention the reasons for their refusal
to participate in the conference. Albania, along with Armenia, also
did not participate in the conference.

Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova,
Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine are the BSEC member states.

ARFD REFUTES RA MFA OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 18 2009
Armenia

"Article 19 of RA International Agreements’ Law reads: "International
agreements are negotiated up to their full signature. Thus, in
desired, changes can be made in Armenia-Turkey Protocols," Vahan
Hovhannisyan, Head of ARF Dashnaktsutyun, said at the briefing in RA
National Assembly thereby refuting RA MFA previous statements that
no amendments can be made in Protocols before signing.

Hovhannisyan emphasized that RA President Serzh Sargsyan did not
rule out the possible changes in documents. ARFD leader emphasized
the party will struggle for amending the Protocols till the very end
and if failed to do so, will do its utmost to torpedo the Protocols’
ratification in the Parliament.

He informed ARFD will join "Heritage" party initiative on
political-forces joint statement on Armenia-Turkey Protocols. "I
certainly have doubts that any other parliamentary force except ARFD
and Heritage joins the statement, but then non-parliamentary parties
could get involved," Vahan Hovhannisyan concluded.

SPAIN AND AZERBAIJAN TO FACE EUROVISION FINES?

esctoday.com
Sept 17 2009

The Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group that met in Oslo on 10th
September did discuss Spain’s breach of Eurovision Song Contest
rules by broadcasting the semi final on a time delay, rendering a
televote impossible. It has also concluded it’s investigation into
whether Azeri broadcaster Ictimai deliberately blocked or distorted
the picture to blur out the voting number for Armenia.

The Reference Group recommendations about any action to be taken
against Spanish broadcaster after the decision was made to broadcast
the conclusion of a live tennis match meant that the Eurovision
Song Contest semi final show was delayed for Spanish viewers by
approximately one hour. As a result, no televote could take place in
Spain and the country’s semi final vote was made via the back-up jury.

Several reports that Ictimai, the national broadcaster of Azerbaijan,
blurred or blocked the voting number for Armenia during the 2009
Eurovision Song Contest final have also been investigated. If they
are proved to be true, the broadcaster would face punishment. Earlier
today, Ictimai avoided any action by the EBU concerning the national
telecom company issuing records of Eurovision Song Contest voting to
the government, and the ministry of the interior questioning people
that voted for Armenia. The issue of blocking the voting number is
however being investigated separately.

If any punishment is to be made, the decisions would need to be
ratified by the EBU Television Committee. It is likely that the final
decisions will be made public in the next two weeks.

RA AUTHORITIES BEAR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL DEVELOPMENTS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.09.2009 22:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Touching upon the question who is to blame for March
1 events, I will definitely say that authorities bear responsibility
for all developments in the country," RPA Secretary Edward Sharmazanov
told today an extraordinary parliamentary session devoted to the
discussion of interim committee’s report.

At that he stressed the importance of making a clear-cut distinction
between "being guilty" and "bearing responsibility". Responsibility
certainly lies upon Armenian authorities, but we are to blame those who
instilled ideas of political denial in society for several months. "Had
Levon Ter-Petrosyan responded to President Sargsyan’s post-electoral
call for cooperation, March 1 tragic events wouldn’t have occurred,"
Sharmazanov stressed.

UAR ORGANIZES HEARINGS ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.09.2009 11:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On September 18, Youth Association of UAR Moscow
Organization organizes hearings on Armenian-Turkish Protocols.

Meeting will be attended by experts and leaders of Moscow’s Armenian
community, including RA Embassy’s Press Secretary Gevorg Minasyan, UAR
Vice President Gegham Khalatyan, UAR management board member and Head
of RA General Headquarters lieutenant general Norat Ter-Grigorynts, RAS
Academician Samvel Grigoryan, Russian-Armenian Commonwealth Regional
Organization’s President Yuri Navoyan and "Ararat" cultural-educational
association’s chair Emmanuel Dolabakyan, UAR press service reports.

RAZMIK STEPANYAN: OUR WRESTLERS WILL UPHOLD HONOR OF ARMENIA AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.09.2009 14:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Head of Armenian delegation, Vice President of RA
National Olympic Committee Razmik Stepanyan is optimistic about the
upcoming world freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling championship to
be held in Herning, Denmark from September 21 to 27.

"Our wrestlers will uphold honor of Armenia at the World Championship,"
he told a PanARMENIAN.Net.

He also explained why Denis Forov was replaced by Arthur Shahinyan.

"Forov is one of the best sportsmen of our team but he has lost ground
recently and the council of coaches decided to replace him by Arthur
Shahinyan, the winner of junior championship," Stepanyan said.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN ATTENDED TODAY THE OPENING CEREMONY FOR THE NEW BUILDING OF ARMAVIABANK

Thursday, 17 September 2009

Speaking about the Bank’s activities, Tigran Sargsyan indicated that
Armaviabank is a dynamically developing entity. He expressed hope
that it will help promote competition in the banking sector.

Concerning the challenges faced by the banking sector, the head of
the Armenian government said that domestic banks should be directed
to sharply increase the level of lending at home.

He similarly noted that the new building will help attract new
customers and expand the scope of services. Appreciative of the Bank’s
mission, Tigran Sargsyan said in particular: "Armaviabank came up
with interesting proposals some of which have already been accepted
by the Central bank, such as the building of an investment-friendly
legal framework for commercial banks. The development of securities
market has been central to the policy of economic reform. Here,
I would like to mention the involvement of OMX-Nasdaq in our country."

In conclusion, the Prime Minister wished the Bank a strong boost in
activities thanks to the new working conditions.

The opening ceremony was attended by NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutunyan.

RUSSIAN CO-CHAIR OF THE OSCE MINSK GROUP TO BE CHANGED

armradio.am
17.09.2009 17:48

Russian co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group will be replaced, Russia’s
ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin said, APA reports.

The ambassador said that Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov will be
appointed to a new position by the yearend.

Vladimir Dorokhin did not say anything about his appointment of the
new co-chair.

AZERBAIJAN VIOLATES CEASE FIRE REGIME ONCE AGAIN

ArmInfo
2009-09-16 16:42:00

ArmInfo. Violations of the cease fire regime were registered on the
contact line of the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan
Sept 15-16 night, reports the press service of the Ministry of Defense
of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The source reports that the Azeri troops fired at the positions of
the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic near Horadiz, Mehdili,
Kurdlar, Nuzger, Korgan, Kzylgaya, Muganlu, Jraberd, Saryjanlu and
Shurabad. When the Nagorno-Karabakh forces rebuffed, the enemy stopped
the fire.