Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

NEW BANK IN ARTSAKH

NKR Government Information and
Public Relations Department
06.03.2012

Converse Bank has already its branch in Artsakh. Official opening of
the bank is foreseen later but the bank has already started to work.

On March 5 a meeting of the representatives of Converse bank with
the Prime Minister Ara Haroutyunyan took place where the prospects
of cooperation had been discussed.

The Government of Artsakh has a working experience with the private
sector especially with banks. A number of state projects are realized
within the frameworks of the cooperation. The main direction of
cooperating with Converse bank will be agriculture. The government
foresees to import farming machines up to 2 milliard AMD in the
forthcoming years. It is also foreseen that the producers of the
abovementioned machines will have their representations in Artsakh.

Converse bank’s participation in the realization of this issue will be
direct. During the coming month will be clarified terms of crediting.

The Government of Artsakh will subsidize percents fully or partially
or will pay a part of the total sum.

From: Baghdasarian

SERZH SARGSYAN: AZERBAIJAN TURNS DOWN ANY CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURE

armradio.am
06.03.2012 17:10

“Armenia is actively cooperating with NATO in all spheres. We are
successfully implementing reforms in the fields of defense, security
and emergency situations,” Armenian President declared at a joint
press conference with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

According to President Sargsyan, the Armenia-NATO Individual
Partnership Action Plan remains the cornerstone of our allied
relations.

“We are glad that the NATO and its Secretary General appreciate
Armenia’s efforts towards ensuring international peace and security.

We realize that only with combined efforts it is possible to withstand
the challenges and threats. For that purpose we tripled the number
of Armenian troops in Afghanistan,” the President stated.

Touching upon the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, President Sargsyan said:
“Azerbaijan turns down any confidence-building measure, be it targeted
at promoting regional cooperation or relieving the tension at the
line of contact. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan refuses to withdraw the
snipers from the line of contact and stands against investigation of
incidents. Furthermore, Azerbaijan’s war-mongering never stops. The
Azerbaijani leadership continues inciting hatred towards Armenians.

Azerbaijan’s President declared just a few days ago that world-spread
Armenians were number one enemy of Azerbaijanis. This fact should
be properly evaluated by the international community,” President
Sargsyan stated.

“We agreed with the Secretary General that the conflict should be
solved exceptionally through peaceful means and negotiations within
the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. We are confident that the
final resolution of the Karabakh conflict is possible only on the
basis of respect for the right of peoples to self-determination and
security guarantees,” Serzh Sargsyan stated. He reiterated Armenia’s
willingness to continue the mutually beneficial cooperation with the
North Atlantic Council.

From: Baghdasarian

SERZH SARGSYAN’S STATEMENT

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 16:46:35 – 06/03/2012

Serzh Sargsyan, currently in Belgium on a working visit, met today
with the NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. At the end of
the meeting, the Armenian President and the NATO Secretary General
issued a joint statement.

The statement in particular runs that Armenia is actively cooperating
with NATO in all the spheres, the process of reforms in the defense,
security and emergency situation spheres is going on efficiently
which is a part of the domestic reforms of Armenia.

In this connection, the statement reads that NATO-Armenia Individual
Partnership Plan is the keystone of the partnership. Last November,
we confirmed the steps of the third stage of the project and engaged
in the achievement of the goals.

We highly assessed the continuous process of NATO-Armenia dialogue and
in this context I attached importance to NATO-Armenia meeting to start
in a while, which is a good opportunity to present to our partners
from NATO, our ideas on the challenges and security issues the South
Caucasus is facing, as well as on overcoming them, Serzh Sargsyan said.

He said the Secretary General and the Alliance appreciate Armenia’s
efforts aimed at the maintenance of global peace and security. We
realize that the current threats and challenges can be overcome only
by way of joint efforts.

Serzh Sargsyan added that he had discussed with the NATO Secretary
General the latest developments of the Karabakh issue settlement.

Azerbaijan refuses radically any proposal aimed at confidence
building aimed at promotion of regional cooperation or weakening
of tension at the line of contact, said Serzh Sargsyan adding that
Azerbaijan, unfortunately, disagrees with the removal of snipers and
the investigation of border incidents. Moreover, Azerbaijan has never
ceased making war appeals. Just a few days ago, Azerbaijan’s president
stated that number one enemy of Azerbaijan is the Armenians worldwide,
said Serzh Sargsyan.

According to him, they agreed with the Secretary General that the
conflict needs to be solved through peace measures and negotiations
within the Minsk Group. We are sure the settlement of the Karabakh
issue is possible only through respect of self-determination and
comprehensive security guarantees, the joint statement runs.

From: Baghdasarian

ARF-D SENIOR OFFICIAL ON PUTIN’S VICTORY

07:52 pm | March 05, 2012 | Politics

Kiro Manoyan, Head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau’s
Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office, thinks that Vladimir Putin’s
victory during the Sunday presidential elections can in no way affect
Armenia’s external or internal policy. Nor can it influence on the
negotiation of the Karabkh conflict

From: Baghdasarian

UNIFIED YOUNG ARMENIANS CONDEMNS AZERBAIJAN’S WARMONGERING, CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

– March 2, 2012

President Ilham Aliyev,

WHEREAS, Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic are the
two independent homelands of all Armenians across the world, and

WHEREAS, The Soviet law of April 3, 1990 “On the Procedures of the
Resolution of Problems on the Secession of a Union Republic from the
USSR”, particularly Articles 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 19, provided
that the secession of a Soviet Republic from the body of the USSR
allows an autonomous region within the territory of the same republic
to trigger its own process of independence, and

WHEREAS, The people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Autonomous Oblast,
in compliance with domestic Soviet law, initiated the process of
independence through the adoption of the “Declaration of Independence
of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh” by the local councils of
Nagorno-Karabagh, and

WHEREAS, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) was founded on concepts of
democracy, rule of law, and in accordance with the unalienable and
firmly recognized rights of self determination, and

WHEREAS, Republic of Azerbaijan resorted to campaigns of fear,
massacres, and military aggression aimed at forcefully quenching the
free will of the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh, and

WHEREAS, More than half a million innocent Armenian men, women, and
children were killed, raped, maimed, and driven away from their homes
in Azerbaijan and the illegally occupied Shahumian Region, and

WHEREAS, The illegal Nagorno-Karabakh War imposed by Azerbaijan on
the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, claimed the
lives of thousands of Armenians and inflicted horrendous damage to
their physical, mental and socio-economic well being, and

WHEREAS, From February 27th to February 29th, 1988, the Azeri regime
caused and facilitated the rape, massacre, and pogrom of Armenians
in City of Sumgait, only miles away from Baku, and

WHEREAS, In November 1988 in Kirovabad, over 130 Armenians were killed,
hundreds more wounded, and over hundred thousand people were forced
to flee their homes, and

WHEREAS, From January 13the to January 15th, 1990, the Azeri regime
caused and facilitated the death and deportation of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians in and from City of Baku, and

WHEREAS, On April 10, 1992, the Azeri regime caused and facilitated the
massacre and kidnapping of hundreds of unarmed and innocent Armenian
civilians in village of Maragha, and

WHEREAS, The Azeri regime treats as a National Hero its Officer Ramil
Safarov, who on February 19th 2004, like a coward and in the cover
of darkness axed the sleeping Armenian officer Gurgen Margryan to
death while on NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in Budapest, and

WHEREAS, In 2005, the Azeri soldiers completely demolished the
cemetery of medieval Armenian khachkars (cross stones) near the town
of Julfa, and

WHEREAS, Azerbaijan continuous to violate the 1994 Ceasefire Agreement
between the Armenian and Azerbaijan, and

WHEREAS, Azerbaijani military aggression is strongly condemned by
the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk
Group co-chairs, the European Union (EU), and other international
organizations, and

WHEREAS, Security and sovereignty of the Republics of Armenia and
the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and the safety of their respective
populations are two the most precious and vital pillars of the
Armenian Cause,

BE IT RESOLVED THAT, We demand that Azerbaijan stop its false and
misleading propaganda aimed at distorting and falsification of history,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, We demand that Azerbaijan stops
threatening Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and its populations,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, We demand that Azerbaijan stops its
anti-Armenian hysteria and campaign of hatred around the globe,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, We demand that Azerbaijan gives
appropriate reparations to each and every Armenian who has lost a
loved one, has lost a home, or has lost belongings as a result of
Azeri aggression,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, We proclaim our readiness to take any and
all required measures, as permissible by international law and subject
to applicable international conventions, to defend the sovereignty
of the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from
any foreign aggressors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, We proclaim our willingness to take
any and all required measures, as permissible by international law
and subject to applicable international conventions, to protect the
safety and security of the populations of the Armenian Republic and
the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Los Angeles, California February 27, 2012

From: Baghdasarian

THIRD DEATH CASE IN HOSPITAL OF CONVICTS DURING ONE WEEK

20:09 . 05/03

The third death case during the past week was recorded on March 2 at
the “Hospital of Convicts” penitentiary of the Justice Ministry.

55 years old Rafik Barseghyan died, who was accused of illegally
preparing and selling drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as
of preparing false documents.

At the same penitentiary 31 years old Harutyun Aghekyan died on
February 24. He was sentenced to 7 years’ of imprisonment.

The other case took place on February 25. 29 years old Mushegh
Jumshudyan died, who had been sentenced to imprisonment once before.

He was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment on July 9, 2011.

Reportedly, investigation is carried out in connection with the cases.

From: Baghdasarian

“NAVAL” BATTLE OF LEVON TER-PETROSSIAN AND “PARADE OF MEETINGS” SUM UP LAST WEEK’S POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Hayk Khalatyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 5, 2012

The week was summed up by Armenian Eagles rally headed by notorious
deputy minister for sport and youth affairs Khachik Asryan.

The past week was rich in various political events. On the one hand,
heated debates developed in the parliament on the bill “On legal
regime of the state of emergency” and over voting on the opposition’s
bill proposing shift to 100% proportional system of elections to the
National Assembly; on the other hand, the Armenian National Congress
held its first rally in 2012 scheduled for February 17. In addition,
some parties held rallies as part of their election campaigns for
the upcoming parliamentary elections.

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Armenian National Congress (ANC) held its rally
on March 1 in commemoration of the tragic events of 2008.

Traditionally, the concluding remarks of ANC leader, first president of
Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian abounding in sarcasm and irony, were the
most interesting part of the meeting. The participants particularly
liked the remark that “the ship of the second president (Robert
Kocharian) has already sunk, and the ship of the third one (Serzh
Sargsyan) is sinking”. During previous rallies Ter-Petrossian used to
compare the political fight to chess, while now he seems to be obsessed
again by the “naval battle”game so popular among Soviet-era students.

Failing to reach agreement over the ANC list for the upcoming
elections, and thus confirming rumors about conflicts over the
number and order of candidates in the list, the ANC Political Council
entrusted their leader with this mission. This vividly demonstrated
the route Ter-Petrossian’s own ship follows in the ocean of political
battle. Indeed, Ter-Petrossian still enjoys indisputable authority
within the ANC; meanwhile, making up an electoral list for 18 parties
is a challenging task. However, Stevenson’s novels hint us that
captains of pirate ships were getting a “black label” from their
crew in case they failed to implement a mission, with all subsequent
consequences.

Another indirect proof of ANC ship condition was the meeting of
the opposition Heritage party on March 2. Though the meeting did
not officially announce the alliance between the Heritage and Free
Democrats, the parties confirmed that they have reached a principle
agreement on the matter, and they just need a formal procedure which
is likely to be finalized at Free Democrats meeting on March 11. By
joining efforts with the Free Democrats, Heritage will acquire both
financial support and skilled election experts. It’s worth mentioning
that 11 heads of regional offices of Ter-Petrossian’s 2008 presidential
campaign are currently members of Free Democrats, including the head
of the chief office Alexander Arzumanian.

A number of pro-governmental parties and unions also organized their
meetings and rallies. The coalition party Orinats Yerkir which many
experts believe will fail at the coming elections due to lack of
popular support, held its meeting on March 3. Leaders of the party’s
coalition partners, head of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia,
President Serzh Sargsyan and head of Prosperous Armenia party Gagik
Tsarukyan attended the event. As always, the meeting praised party
leader Artur Baghdasaryan who spoke for about 45 minutes, once again
voicing his loyalty to current President.

An interesting remark: following the stand-up party organized during
the meeting, the doors of the Sport Concert Complex that hosted
the event appeared to be closed. This was perhaps done to prevent
participants of the meeting driven by “support and commitment” to
the party, from escaping. This was the first time I witnessed such
a thing during a SCC-hosted event.

Pro-governmental MIAK party bringing together young liberals also
convened a meeting during the weekend. The meeting participants
voiced their support to President Serzh Sargsyan and said several
MIAK members may appear on RPA election list.

The final stroke of the week was the rally of public patriotic
organization Armenian Eagles held in Freedom Square on March 4.

Notorious leader of the party, deputy minister for sport and youth
affairs of Armenia Khachik Asryan spoke at the meeting. Claiming he is
“ready to protect the gates of hell by Serzh Sargsyan’s order”, Asryan
voiced his unconditional support for the current president. Quoting
numerical superiority of the rally’s “eagles” over ANC supporters,
he declared that “it is Levon Ter-Petrossian’s ship that sinks,
and not Serzh Sargsyan’s one.”

From: Baghdasarian

PETROLEUM PRICES IN ARMENIA HAVE ALREADY GROWN BY 9.3% SINCE EARLY 2012

arminfo
Monday, March 5, 18:20

Petroleum prices in Armenia grew by 10 AMD per liter in early March,
and by 9.3% since the beginning of 2012.

According to ArmInfo’s monitoring, it is the third price growth
since early 2012. As a result, the petroleum prices rose by 40 AMD
per liter. Today Super AI 98 petroleum costs 520 AMD per liter,
Premium AI 95 – 490 AMD, Regular AI 91 – 470 AMD, diesel fuel costs
450 AMD per liter (growth by 30 AMD since early 2012). Since the
beginning of 2012, the price of Regular petroleum has grown by 9.3%
since early 2012, and Premium – by 8.3%.

The oil traders of Armenia continue explaining the price growth in
the republic by the growth of world prices of oil products, as well as
by the amendments introduced in the Armenian legislation on 1 Jan 2012.

According to the amendments, value-added tax is set on the imported
oil products against the former fixed payment. This has risen the
tax burden on import. The oil traders think that the prices will keep
on growing.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN STATE BUDGET REVENUE GROWS 3% IN JANUARY 2012

news.am
March 05, 2012 | 16:32

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s state budget revenue increased by 3 percent,
in January 2012, and comprised US$ 151 million, Finance Ministry
official Gayane Zargaryan informed reporters on Monday.

Total tax, tariff, and social payments made up AMD 55.4 billion,
which were primarily conditioned on the value added tax.

The revenue growth was at 4.6 percent. By and large, the tax
payments-except for income tax-likewise increased.

The budget spending was close to $96 million in January 2012, and the
expenditures grew by 0.7 percent as compared with January 2011. The
main expenditures were current, comprising AMD 36.4 billion, and they
increased by 3.5 percent.

In line with the current exchange rate, US$ 1 is equivalent to
approximately AMD 389.

From: Baghdasarian

HERITAGE PARTY CONFUSED BY COLLABORATION FORMAT WITH FREE DEMOCRATS IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

/ARKA/
March 5, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, March 5. /ARKA/. Heritage Armenian Opposition Party has
not identified the collaboration format with Free Democrats Party in
the upcoming parliamentary elections of Armenia on May 6, said Ruben
Hakobyan, Heritage Party deputy leader.

“Unfortunately, throughout the experience in Armenia, political
unions are formed only at the eve of elections, after which they
immediately collapse, as have no common points in their ideologies. We
want to establish long-lasting and effective cooperation ( with Free
Democrats),” Hakobyan said Monday at the press conference.

First of all, Heritage Party wants to build a common ideological
platform with Free Democrats aimed for future cooperation, according
to him. Hakobyan also said that the format of joint participation of
Heritage and Free Democrats parties in the parliamentary elections has
not been discussed yet. In his turn, Stepan Safaryan, head of Heritage
parliament faction, clarified that cooperation with Free Democrats
had never implied a joint participation in the elections. “Today we
can’t be sure of anything as the question has not been discussed.

At present, Heritage will participate in the elections alone. Time will
show what is going to happen in the future,” he said.Earlier, Ararat
Zurabyan, a member of Free Democrats Party, stated that Heritage and
Free Democrats would go to the elections as a united bloc, and that
they were likely to declare on this union at the congress of Free
Democrats on March 11. And even though electoral list has not been
yet discussed, it will be composed on 50/50 proportional principle,
he said.

The head of Heritage faction said he had no clue on why Zurabyan
made such statement, as the electoral list had not been discussed
yet. He reminded that the Party was expected to spell out details
on its participation in the elections at Party’s Council session on
March 18.The next parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia
in May of 2012. Free Democrats Party was founded by the former
members of Pan- Armenian National Movement, headed in the 90s by
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first president of Armenia.Heritage Party,
liberal-democratic political force, was founded in 2002 by former
Armenian Foreign Minister Raffi Hovhannisyan . At present, the party
has six representatives in Armenian parliament.

From: Baghdasarian