Author: Badalian Vardan

VivaCell-MTS & Fuller Center for Housing Armenia Partnership Continues

23-10-2014 18:44:15 |

23 October, 2014, Yervandashat Village, RA. Owing to the partnership
between VivaCell-MTS and Fuller Center for Housing Armenia the current
year has become prominent for eight families – has been solved their
top priority issue – the housing problem.

VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian, staff members from the
company and Fuller Center for Housing Armenia team had a regular visit
to Armavir region, the villages of Yervandashat and Margara sharing
with five families their happiness.

Nine families from Armavir region, the villages of Yervandashat and
Margara, will meet the winter without worries and concerns.

“It is already a month that some of our fellow villagers have already
finished the construction of their homes. We were feeling awe
following the process, sometimes we were getting discouraged thinking
whether the day when we finish the renovation of our house would come
or not, whether we would feel the happiness of living in a safe and
decent home. Now the sense of despair has disappeared,” said Tsovinar
Grigoryan, whose family more than anyone else knows what it means to
live with deteriorated roof and without basic housing conditions.

“It was a month ago that the teams of VivaCell-MTS and Fuller Center
for Housing Armenia as well as a group of foreign volunteers joined us
helping with the construction of our house. In one day the teams did
such a great work that we wouldn’t have managed to do ourselves in
this period and wouldn’t have finished the construction till now. Now
my family has a safe roof over its head. There are no words that can
express my feelings and the sense of gratitude,” said Hakob Muradyan.

“Fatherland is a sacred idea, the purest of all the beliefs. It is the
fundament upon which our identity relies on. Yet it is tangible as
anything else around us. It’s about soil cultivated by the farmer and
the harvest that the land yields, it’s about village kids who live in
harmony with the nature, it’s about strong families who pass their
knowledge of land cultivation from generation to generation together
with their love for the birthplace. Fatherland is the air that we
breathe; it’s the eyes of the young shepherd, clean as the spring
water he drinks. Fatherland is the cumulative belief that each of us,
nowadays Armenians, should hold: we are the means to pass this holy
land inherited from our ancestors to our children. For preserving our
Fatherland, we have to work a lot, day and night, sparing no effort.
We have to build – and with each of the houses that we build, we
rebuild our belief. No one else will do this for us,” said
VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian

In the frames of this project 6 houses were renovated, 2 half-built
houses completed and one house purchased in Armavir region.

”The least each of us can do for these people is to create basic
housing conditions, safe roof and solid walls. For an Armenian the
home is more than a place to live in and we try to do the possible to
make more families live without the concern of living in comfortless
conditions,” said Ashot Yeghiazaryan, Fuller Center for Housing
Armenia president.

VivaCell-MTS has invested 55 million AMD for the housing project in
the borderland villages of Armenia and Fuller Center for Housing
Armenia has undertaken the implementation of the project.

VivaCell-MTS (K-Telecom CJSC) is Armenia’s leading mobile operator,
having the widest 2G/3.75G/4G network reach and spreading a wide range
of Voice and Data services all across Armenia. Having the best of the
Armenian people interest at heart since its launch on 1st July 2005
and in a short period of time VivaCell-MTS has managed to build a
nationwide network and a considerable customer base. VivaCell-MTS
drives innovation and aims at always being at the forefront of any
development serving the Armenian mobile communications market. The
company follows the guidance provided by ISO 26000 (International
Standard of Social Responsibility). For more information, visit

–
News from Armenia and Diaspora – Noyan Tapan
– See more at:

Predicting the danger of isolation

October 25 2014

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan by the invitation of the First
Vice-President of Islamic Republic of Iran, Eshaq Jahangiri, recently
visited Iran. At the meeting with Jahangiri, Hovik Abrahamyan
expressed confidence that the visit will give a new impetus to
mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. IRI First
Vice-President noticed that the economic relations yield to the
available high-level political dialogue. Both sides emphasized that
there is a great potential for economic partnership and it is
necessary to do everything possible to give a new impetus to joint
projects and programs for bringing them to life. They also emphasized
the need for activating the economic relations. H. Abrahamyan
mentioned that Armenia’s agreement to join the Eurasian Economic Union
would open new perspectives for the future development of the
country’s economy, as well as opportunities for foreign investments.
H. Abrahamyan’s and Jahangirii’s one-on-one talk was followed by an
extended staff meeting, during which they touched upon the
implementation process of a number of projects of strategic
significance, and their prospects. The Prime Minister of Armenia met
with IRI Foreign Minister Mohammad Zafad Zarif and discussed regional
issues and bilateral cooperation. And in the meeting with Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani, has mentioned that Iran is willing to
support the Armenian initiatives, as well as implementation of joint
programs. In the meeting with the Iranian president, the Prime
Minister of Armenia also spoke about Armenia’s accession to the EaEU
and emphasized that it enables to assume the role of a liaison for the
members of this structure and foreign business communities, and that
favorable conditions have been created in Armenia for investments. A
day before the visit of the Prime Minister, the RA President’s advisor
had shared some information on partnership with Iran and the programs.
In the “Armenia’s economic prospects in the EaEU” conference, the RA
President’s Advisor Karine Minasyan said that Iran is interested in
closer relations with Armenia, given Armenia’s accession to the
Eurasian Economic Union. “Joining the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia
can become a road for Iran to the Russian market, so it is interested
in continuing and further deepening the partnership with Armenia,”
mentioned Minasyan according to “Armenpress”. According to the “Ekho
Kavkaza”, Armenia and Iran are planning to open another, the third
electricity transmission line over Araks river. Iranian Energy
Minister Hamid Chitchian informed that the two parties want to expand
their capabilities of transmitting the electricity. Moreover, Iran,
Armenia accelerates the paces of construction of two hydro power
plants on the Araks river. “The bank problems were hampering the
implementation of the project for some time, but now those issues are
resolved,” informed Chitchian. The last moves implemented by Armenia’s
government authorities on the way to joining the EaEU, are quite
remarkable. One gets the impression that the government of Armenia is
trying to keep balance in foreign policy directions. Official Yerevan
is expressing readiness to expand the relations with the EU and there
have already been responds and assertions by several European
diplomats that with regard to co-relations with Armenia, Brussels is
thinking about what direction to take on to move forward. A few days
ago, the Prime Minister visited the United States, now the neighboring
country Iran, a country towards which the sentiment of international
community in recent times has been changed significantly. The former
US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s assessment a few days ago was
noteworthy that Iran is a natural ally of the United States. According
to his words, it’s the ideological, religious component that makes it
an antagonist. Under the current sentiment of the West towards
Armenia’s strategic ally Russia, and the sanctions against Russian,
perhaps, Armenia’s government authorities moving toward the Eurasian
Union are conscious of what unpredictable situation, first, the
isolated “sponsor” country may appear, moreover, its ally or
“satellite” countries. The recent moves implemented by Armenia’s
government officials in the foreign policy are probably due to this.
As to what results will be, is still, of course, too early to speak
about, but it should also be noted that, however, at lease attempts
are made by the government authorities to show some independence in
the foreign policy and not to hand over everything under the
“disposition” of Russia.

Emma GABRIELYAN

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Ambassador of Kazakhstan about reading of Ilham Aliyev’s letter by
Nursultan Nazarbayev (Video)

October 25 2014

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of
Kazakhstan to Armenia, H.E. Mr. Ayimdos Bozzhigitov, was in Gyumri.
After meeting with the Governor of Shirak Marz, Feliks Tsolakyan, and
discussing some issues especially about economic cooperation, he
attended the international conference entitled “Cultural and
humanitarian partnership between the Republics of Kazakhstan and
Armenia” at the Gyumri Pedagogical Institute. It was organized in
cooperation of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Armenia,
Globalization and Regional Cooperation Analytical Centre, and the
Gyumri Pedagogical Institute. In the beginning, the Ambassador spoke a
little about his country. He also informed that according to official
data 25 thousand Armenians are living in Kazakhstan, and according to
the data by the Armenian community in Kazakhstan, the number of
Armenians is 45 thousand people. He also stressed that Kazakhstan is a
country with 130 different nationalities. Various speeches were
delivered about the Armenian-Kazakh scientific, educational, cultural
and humanitarian partnership. Then, Q&A between the participants and
the ambassador began. Political scientist Gagik Hambaryan reminding
Ayimdos Bozzhigitov that the reading of Ilham Aliyev’s letter by
Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana, on 29 May 2014 was not univocally
adopted in Armenia, and asked whether it would not affect the
Armenian-Kazakh relations. “All Armenians realize of what Kazakhstan’s
stance is today. Kazakhstan’s political stance is clear. Kazakhstan
welcomes Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union. As for May 29, a
letter was received, the letter could be received in Moscow if it were
held in Moscow, but since the conference was held in Astana, the
coordinator here was the President of Kazakhstan. He has just voices
the letter, you remember the text: it was clear and definite, and it
referred to the fact that Armenia’s borders for the accession to the
Customs Union should comply with the legislation of the Customs Union,
which had certain requirements,” said the Ambassador. The political
scientist countered that such letters are addressed by the President
of Azerbaijan to the Presidents of the Russian Federation and Belarus,
but they did not read these letters. He also reminded that Armenia
being a member of numerous international organizations since 1992 has
never dealt with this problem, in addition, Armenia has never
announced that Artsakh is a part of Armenia, it is a sovereign and
unrecognized republic… “I said Nazarbayev was the coordinator as it
was held in Kazakhstan. What he received, he voiced it, there was
nothing else to offend anyone,” continued the ambassador. Watch the
video for the details

Nune AREVSHATYAN

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Armenia president to leave for a working visit to France

16:19, 25.10.2014

YEREVAN. – President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan is leaving for a
working visit to France on Sunday at the invitation of French
President Francois Hollande.

On Monday, President Sargsyan will hold talks with French counterpart
to discuss issues of Armenia-France cooperation. They will also
discuss issues related to the peaceful settlement of Karabakh
conflict.

On the same day, the talks between Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents
will be held within the framework of OSCE Minsk Group initiated by
President Hollande.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

Ecotechnology Company wins Armenia’s National Cleanses Business Ideas
Competition

YEREVAN, October 24./ARKA/. Ecotechnology Company has won Armenia’s
National Cleantech Business Ideas Competition, Anahit Simonyan, head
of UNIDO programs in Armenia, said on Friday.

“Three other prize winners are Solvar Sysytem, MSK and NanoHi
companies,” she said.

She said that the aim of the contest is to put new ideas into practice
and to support their authors.

The contest is being held as part of the Global Cleantech Innovation
Program for SME in Armenia and is aimed at finding and encouraging
Cleantech startup companies and SMEs.

Armenia is the first country in the Eastern Europe to join this UNIDO
program that is financed by the Global Environment Fund.

At the final round of the competition on October 23 and 24, four of 22
projects were singled out by the jury as best. The four mentioned
companies will receive $10,000 each for developing their technologies,
and the national winner, Ecotechnology, received a chance to present
its business model to venture funds, investors and experts at the
Global Forum Silicon Valley on November 12 and 13.

Mark Drayek, head of the UNIDO energy and climate changes management
programs, said if jurors could they would award prizes for a larger
number of contenders. They also awarded $5,000 to two other companies
– the Renewable Energy Research Team and Bitlis-Men.

Armenian Deputy Economy Minister Emil Tarasyan, on his side, said that
the ministry will work with all the participants of the contest on
their projects.

The program’s duration is three years. Its national partners are the
Armenian nature protection and economy ministries as well as energy
and natural resources ministry and the agriculture ministry. –0—-

Russian Ambassador: Armenia’s accession to Eurasian Economic Union was
a wise strategic decision

by Marianna Lazarian

arminfo
Saturday, October 25, 13:32

Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) was a wise
strategic decision, Ambassador of Russia to Armenia Ivan Volynkin told
journalists on Saturday.

“This does not mean that the doors for contacts with other countries
are closed. Russia also has contacts with the European Union. This is
quite normal for a state to build relations with different sides,”
Volynkin said.

When asked if the political processes developing in Armenia can
influence its foreign policy, the Russian Ambassador said that judging
from what the opposition parties said during their last rallies, all
of them, except one, support Armenia’s accession to the EEU.

Volynkin refused to comment on the speeches made by the leaders of the
parliamentary opposition during the Friday rally. He just said that
they spoke a lot about the EEU.

ARMENIE
L’Arménie et l’Iran vont bientôt entamer la construction d’une
nouvelle ligne à haute tension

L’Arménie et l’Iran ont convenu d’entamer d’ici deux à trois mois la
construction d’une troisième ligne à haute tension entre les deux
pays, rapporte la presse ce mardi.

L’accord de coopération énergétique a été conclu lors de la visite
d’une délégation officielle arménienne en Iran ces lundi et mardi,
indique l’agence de presse russe Regnum.

L’Iran exporte du gaz à l’Arménie et en importe de l’électricité. La
nouvelle ligne à haute tension va permettre d’accroître encore
l’échange énergétique entre les deux pays.

Au cours de la visite, les deux parties ont aussi mis l’accent sur
l’importance stratégique de leur coopération sur la scène
internationale.

samedi 25 octobre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

DIPLOMATIE ARMENIENNE
Inauguration d’un Consulat d’Arménie à Fresno (Californie)

Le 20 octobre s’est déroulée à Fresno (Californie) l’inauguration du
premier Consulat d’Arménie aux Etats-Unis en présence de Dikran
Sarkissian ex-Premier ministre arménien aujourd’hui Ambassadeur
d’Arménie aux Etats-Unis, du consul d’Arménie Los Angeles Sergueï
Sarkissov, du vice-Premier ministre de la République du Haut Karabagh
Artur Aghabekian ainsi que du représentant de la République du Haut
Karabagh à Washington Robert Avedissian. Un public de 400 personnes,
personnalités du monde culturel, associatif et religieux était
également présente à cette inauguration. Dans son discours, Berdj
Abkarian le Consul honoraire d’Arménie à Fresno a affirmé que l’un des
objectifs de ce Consulat était le développement des relations
culturelles et économiques entre Fresno et l’Arménie.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 25 octobre 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

EDUCATION-ARMEE ARMENIENNE
Le Premier ministre arménien présent à l’inauguration de l’école
militaire > à Erévan

Hovig Abrahamian le Premier ministre arménien était présent à
l’inauguration de l’annexe du complexe culturel > (Le
petit Mhér) à Erévan. Situé dans le quartier de Noubarachén, ce centre
qui est une école avec préparation de militaires accueillera 154
élèves. Le chef du gouvernement arménien a pris connaissance des
installations éducatives ainsi que des conditions d’accueil des
élèves. Une cérémonie s’est déroulée en compagnie des élèves. Nombre
de ces derniers ont offert à Hovig Abrahamian les foulards > (Croix de guerre). Des démonstrations de préparation
militaire et de combats furent offertes par les élèves aux officiels.

Krikor Amirzayan

Le Premier ministre arménien à l’inauguration de l’école militaire
“Pokr Mhér” à Erévan
Le Premier ministre arménien à l’inauguration de l’école militaire
“Pokr Mhér” à Erévan

samedi 25 octobre 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

Dead man’s body found near Yerevan restaurant

00:04, 25.10.2014

YEREVAN. – The dead body of a young man was found Thursday in the
empty area adjacent to a restaurant complex in Armenia’s capital city
of Yerevan.

Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned that there were scratches on his face.

The cause for the man’s death is still unknown.

A forensic examination has been commissioned, the Police informed
Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Measures are taken to identify the body, and an investigation is underway.

Armenia News – NEWS.am