Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

U.S. TO CONTINUE ITS EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend, Azerbaijan
Dec 5 2013

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 5

By Emin Aliyev – Trend:

The U.S. is encouraged by the resumption of the dialogue between
Azerbaijan and Armenia, which is critical in achieving progress
in ending the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the U.S. Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Eric Rubin said
on Dec. 5 in Baku.

“As a Minsk Group Co-chair country we will continue to do everything
we can to further the chances in achieving settlement, furthermore
we will try do everything we can in coming year to help settle the
conflict,” Rubin said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since
1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding
districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

From: Baghdasarian

ROSNEFT, ARMENIA’S OIL TECHNO SIGN SHAREHOLDER AGREEMENT ON FUEL JV

Interfax, Russia
Dec 3 2013

YEREVAN/MOSCOW. Dec 3

Rosneft (MOEX: ROSN) and Armenia’s Oil Techno have signed the
shareholders agreement for a joint venture that will supply Armenia
with fuel.

Rosneft said in a press release that its president, Igor Sechin,
and Arthur Alaveryan, president of Oil Techno, signed the agreement.

“The JV’s primary objective will be to provide Armenia with stable
supplies of high quality petroleum products through wholesale and
retail operations within the territory of the country as well as
through the development of corresponding infrastructure for storage
and distribution of petroleum products in Armenia,” Rosneft said.

“The agreement, signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir
Putin and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan, is a step forward
in implementation of the cooperation agreement seeking to set up a
joint venture in marketing and distribution, which was signed between
the parties on April 4, 2013,” Rosneft said.

Oil Techno was founded in November 2012 and supplies lubricants
to the Russian market for farmers, transport enterprises and food
industry enterprises.

Pr of

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA’S ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION WILL BOOST INVESTMENT CLIMATE – PUTIN

Interfax, Russia
Dec 3 2013

GYUMRI (Armenia). Dec 3

Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to promote Armenia’s effective
accession to the Customs Union.

In his speech given at the third Russian-Armenian interregional
forum in Gyumri on Monday, Putin said Armenia’s intention to join the
integration structures of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan provides
broad opportunities for cooperation.

He reiterated that Eurasian integration is “a sovereign choice of the
people of Armenia.” “Naturally, Russia will do everything to support
this area of cooperation with Armenia,” Putin said.

“We see Armenia as a full-fledged integration participant,” Putin
said, recalling that this approach was approved by the Troika at the
meeting of the Supreme Economic Council in Minsk in October.

“Practical preparations have begun for the republic’s accession to
the Customs Union in line with the agreements achieved them. We are
conducting consultations with the Eurasian Economic Commission and we
plan to approve a large package of legal, administrative, and other
issues,” Putin said.

“We, on our part, will continue helping our Armenian friends to ensure
that the accession is as effective as possible,” Putin said.

Putin said he is convinced that Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian
integration project will seriously strengthen its economic potential,
will boost the investment climate, and will help establish direct
business contacts, including on the regional level.

av mk

From: Baghdasarian

HYPOTHETICAL AND REAL ANSWERS

December 4 2013

At the joint press conference with the President of the Republic of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, the statements of Vladimir Putin were not so
interesting with regard to Armenia. To the point, I do not agree that
the RF President’s behavior was humiliating or contemptuous, some
of our opponents, here, accept the reality as they want. The entire
“custom” situation, yes, is unpleasant and dangerous, but Putin’s
(so as Serzh Sargsyan’s) behavior during the visit fits into the
diplomatic etiquette; there is no need to invent things that allegedly
are conveying additional drama to the situation. If I were present at
the conference and I had the opportunity to ask a question, I would
have asked, “Is it true that there will be a single ruble zone in the
Customs Union, as it is claimed by our Prime Minister?” Naturally,
like all political figures, the RF President would not definitely give
a positive or negative answer. However, it would be clear from the
intonation of the answer whether there is such a thing in his mind,
or not. I am also wondering whether there would be a certain ideology
in the Eurasian Union initiated by Putin, to which we are all obliged
to obey. It is clear that Putin would give even more indefinite answer
to this question, though his Armenian adepts claim that it would happen
like that. However, of course, it is better to be guided by what the
Russian President said rather than by the hypothetical answers that
Putin might give to my concerned questions. To this respect, the last
response of our guest related to Ukraine was the most interesting.

According to the RF President, a/ the events taking place in Kiev have
nothing to do with European integration; these are the scenarios that
were prepared for the presidential elections scheduled for next spring,
but, due to whatever circumstances, they were introduced earlier,
b/ among others, specially trained gunmen were participating in the
demonstrations in Ukraine. I have no doubt that the RF President has
comprehensive information about what is happening in Ukraine through
his former department. And if the protest of citizens in Ukraine
is truly organized, so to speak, to implement “the second orange
revolution”, then it might make sense to treat Viktor Yanukovich
milder, whom they wanted to dismiss through this plot.

Maybe they shouldn’t exert so hard pressure on Ukraine’s President
regarding the EU Association Agreement. Otherwise, on one side,
they are playing with the reputation of the man, on the other hand,
they want him to resist various plots.

ARAM ABRAHAMYAN

Read more at:

From: Baghdasarian

ROSNEFT, ARMENIA’S OIL TECHNO SIGN JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT

YEREVAN, December 3. /ARKA/. Major Russian oil company Rosneft
and Armenia’s Oil Techno closed joint stock company have signed an
agreement about a new joint venture, the Russian company reported.

The main aim of the new enterprise is to ensure stable and high-quality
oil supplies to Armenia through wholesale and retail networks and to
develop the required storage and distribution infrastructures in the
Republic of Armenia, says the report.

The document has been signed in the presence of the two countries’
presidents Vladimir Putin and Serzh Sargsyan and has become the next
step in implementing the previous agreement about a joint venture in
marketing and distribution signed between the sides on April 4 2013,
Novosti-Armenia reports.

Last year Commersant newspaper, referring to its sources, said Rosneft
was considering the possibility of becoming the main supplier of oil
products to Armenia through a joint venture. -0–

– See more at:

From: Baghdasarian

SUFFERING’ IN ARMENIA SECOND HIGHEST WORLDWIDE – GALLUP SURVEY

YEREVAN, December 2, /ARKA/ A Gallup survey revealed that 37 percent of
Armenians rated their lives poorly enough to be considered “suffering.

The list of ‘suffering’ nations was topped for the third year in a row
by Bulgaria with 39% of Bulgarians rating their lives as ‘suffering.’
Following closely were Cambodia, Haiti, Hungary, Malagasy, Macedonia
and Iran, which all reported more than 30 percent of adults rated
their conditions low.

Gallup classifies respondents as “thriving,” “struggling,” or
“suffering” based on how they rate their current and future lives on
a scale of zero to 10 based on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving
Scale. The Princeton, N.J., polling agency said it considers people
to be suffering if they rate their current lives a 4 or lower and
their lives in five years a 4 or lower.

In 20 out of 143 countries and areas surveyed in 2012, at least a
quarter of the adult population rated their lives low enough to be
considered suffering, Gallup said. Worldwide, one in seven adults
was suffering in 2012, results indicated.

Suffering was 2 percent or less in 17 countries and areas, which Gallup
said tended to be wealthier and more developed, including Iceland,
Qatar, Sweden, Norway, United Arab Emirates and Nigeria.

Four percent of Americans ranked themselves low enough to be considered
suffering in 2012.

Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with about
1,000 adults per country. For results based on the total sample of
national adults, the margin of error ranged from 1.7 percentage points
to 5.6 percentage points.

According to the survey, 21 percent of Georgians, 16 percent of
Byelorussians and Russians, 6 percent of Turkmen and 5 percent in
Kyrgyzstan and 4 percent in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan rated their
lives as ‘suffering.’ -0-

– See more at:

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA’S AGRICULTURE OUTPUT GROWS 5.9% IN JAN-OCT 2013 TO AMD 788.9 BILLION

YEREVAN, December 3. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Jan-Oct 2013 agriculture
output amounted to about AMD 788.9 billion in current prices – 5.9%
year-on-year growth, National Statistical Service reports.

Agriculture and fishery aggregate output grew 6.3% in Jan-Oct 2013,
compared with the same period a year before, to over AMD 804 billion.

According to the statistical report, the cattle breeding segment
released products worth AMD 254.4 billion in Jan-Oct 2013 (4.9%
year-on-year growth), the plant-growing segment accounted for an
output worth about AMD 534.5 billion (6.4% growth) and fishery for
an output amounting to AMD 15 billion (30.2% growth).

Some 23.6 tons of cattle and chicken meat were sold in October 2013 –
24.9% year-on-year growth.

Milk output grew 16% in October 2013, compared with October 2012,
to AMD 43,500 tons.

Kotayk province released the largest milk output – 20,600 tons.

Instead, egg production feel 20.1% to 32.6 million eggs. Kotayk
produced the greatest number of eggs – 7.2 million.

Fish output totaled 946 tons in October (18.7% year-on-year growth),
and the whole output has been sold. ($1 – AMD 403.31). —–0—-

– See more at:

From: Baghdasarian

A LIFE OF OPPORTUNITY

Idaho Argonaut: University of Idaho
December 2, 2013 Monday

by: Andrew Jenson

>From one side of the world to Moscow, Ruben Tsarukyan has seen and
done much in his 18 years of life.

Currently a junior at the University of Idaho, Tsarukyan was born
in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1995. Only two years later, his family would
migrate to the United States and set up residence in Los Angeles.

“It was just after the collapse of the Soviet Union and there was a
war that went on in Armenia. Just, the conditions weren’t so good,”
Tsarukyan said. “The United States being the land of opportunity,
my parents filed for a green card and we got it.”

The spring semester of 2013 was Tsarukyan’s first semester at UI.

Since then, he has become more involved and active in the Moscow
community – he currently sits on the Moscow Human Rights Commission
and recently attended the National League of Cities 2013 Congress
of Cities and Exposition with Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney and city
councilmember Tom Lamar.

“This beginning of the semester, I came back to (the) University of
Idaho after being home for three months for summer break, and I was
just so homesick,” Tsarukyan said. “I just wanted to go back home
and, I was like, you know what? In order not to be homesick, to make
time go by fast, I have to get involved with something, volunteer,
do something.”

This moved Tsarukyan to contact Chaney and seek ways to become more
involved in the community. Chaney applauded Tsarukyan’s initiative
and determination.

“He is a person of – only 18 years of age – great initiative, he’s
terrifically bright and motivated,” Chaney said. “He knows where he
wants to go in this world and he’s taking initiative to pursue those
interests. So I applaud him for that.”

Tsarukyan lived in California for most of his life. At just 14 years
old, Tsarukyan decided he wanted to take his first college course.

“And after I took that first college course, I really liked college,”
Tsarukyan said. “I didn’t want to go back to high school because,
you know, it’s just a bunch of immature kids. After going from a
college course to back to high school, I thought, ‘Why don’t I just
start this early?'”

Tsarukyan left public high school in 10th grade and earned his high
school diploma via homeschooling. He attended Glendale Community
College for a few years before deciding to move on.

“I was 17 years old – I started looking at universities I could
attend,” Tsarukyan said. “I wanted to go away from home, live alone,
you know, just to experience life, what it’s like to be alone and have
responsibilities, and just that transition from being a teenager to
being a man.”

In his search, Tsarukyan sought a university that could provide a
program to match his love for international politics. He found it in
UI’s Martin Institute of International Studies.

“So, I looked into that and I love the program,” Tsarukyan said.

Chaney said Tsarukyan would be a great asset to international
delegations, like the one she led to Japan in 2010. Tsarukyan said
he is grateful for what he has in the U.S., especially after a visit
to Armenia in 2008.

“Going from, you know, Los Angeles to visiting some of these villages
where their bathroom is in their backyard, it made me appreciate life
so much more. It made me appreciate life and what I had,” Tsarukyan
said. “And, the opportunity my parents are providing me for a higher
education, a better education, better opportunity in life to get
somewhere. I don’t know if I would if I was in Armenia.”

Tsarukyan said he will return to Armenia the summer of 2014 for an
internship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Tsarukyan said, from his own experience, it is important for UI
students to find and take advantage of their opportunities.

“I think it’s really important to tell the students here … know your
opportunities and take advantage of it,” Tsarukyan said. “Know the
resources and take advantage of it. I’m just, I’m really connected
now with the community.”

Andrew Jenson

From: Baghdasarian

AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA: NO MEETING OF MINDS

Institute for War and Peace Reporting UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #712
Dec 2 2013

Presidents take a step forward by meeting face to face, but fundamental
positions on Karabakh look as immovable as ever.

By Sevda Samedova, Yekaterina Poghosyan – Caucasus

While the first meeting in two years between the presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan is an important step in itself, subsequent statements
by officials have underlined how little substantive progress was made.

Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan discussed
the Nagorny Karabakh conflict at a meeting in Vienna on November 19.

The talks process on Karabakh is being mediated by the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation, via the Minsk Group chaired by France,
Russia and the United States. There has been little movement towards
a settlement since the conflict ended in a truce in 1994.

The Armenian-run administration in Karabakh says it will never give
up its claim to independence, while Azerbaijan insists that in any
solution. It must regain control over its sovereign territory.

Sargsyan and Aliyev last met in January 2012. Then, too, they failed
to agree on a way to move the stalled negotiations process forward.

Azerbaijani foreign ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev gave a cautious
welcome to the latest meeting, while stressing that no concessions
were being made.

“The meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan which took
place in the Austrian capital is definitely seen as a positive step,”
he told IWPR. “The question of the territorial integrity of our
country has never been a subject for discussion, and never will be.

The main aim of the talks is the restoration of the territorial
integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.”

Azerbaijan remains committed to a peaceful resolution of the dispute,
Abdullayev added.

Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Aliyev’s administration, said the
reason why little was being said about the meeting was that “there
have been two years in which the heads of state have not met, and
the talks process has stagnated”.

“Of course, this stagnation is connected with Armenia’s stance,”
he told IWPR. “But as time has passed, the Armenian government has
realised that this position will bring them no benefit, and hence
another meeting between the presidents has taken place.”

Mammadov said the fact the meeting took place was a positive thing
in itself, and Armenia’s response afterwards was an improvement on
previous occasions.

“Armenia always behaves well at such meetings, so as to show its
best side to the OSCE [Minsk Group] co-chairs. After the meeting,
it always starts making provocative, even accusatory statements,”
he said. “So far, however, we have not seen any of these traditional
Armenian statements. All the same, it is hard for us to fully believe
the Armenians.”

Armenian president Sargsyan expressed cautious optimism about the
meeting, which he saw as a new stage in the talks process.

“I saw in the president of Azerbaijan a desire to solve the problem,
but that isn’t enough,” he said in televised comments. “We have the
same desire. I personally want this problem to be resolved in as
short a timescale as possible. However, the issue is the terms on
which the Azerbaijani president wants to solve the problem, and the
terms on which I wish to do so.”

Sargsyan said the two countries’ foreign ministers would meet in
early December.

“The co-chairs will visit the region in December and hopefully the
agreement I made with the president of Azerbaijan about a meeting
soon will become a reality as a result,” he said.

Analysts in both countries agreed that it would require some kind
of pressure from outside to force the presidents to make the kind of
concessions needed to get peace talks moving.

Zardusht Alizade, a political analyst and head of the Baku School of
Journalism, said that Aliyev was happy to keep the conflict in its
present “frozen” state.

“The perpetuation of the conflict gives him something to trade with
politically, and a guarantee of partnership from Russia., Baku will
therefore reject any initiatives for peace,” he told IWPR. “The
current situation benefits only Armenia. It believes that in holding
Karabakh, it has already succeeded in its main aim. All that remains
is to legalise its occupation. Armenia is thus waiting patiently for
Azerbaijan to give up its position.”

The Karabakh Armenians’ claim to statehood has not been recognised
by any member of the United Nations, including Armenia. Their
administration has consistently pressed to be included in the talks
process. Azerbaijan has refused to countenance this, saying it will
only deal with Yerevan.

Karabakh’s foreign ministry welcomed the Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting but
reiterated that it too needed a place at the table.

“The resumption of meetings at the highest level between Armenia
and Azerbaijan is of great importance for activating the process of
peaceful conflict settlement and for maintaining peace and stability
in the region,” a statement from the foreign ministry said. “It must
be pointed out that real progress in this process can only by achieve
by accepting the existing realities, and by [holding] meetings in
which Karabakh participates, directly and unmediated.”

Sevda Samadova is a freelance reporter in Azerbaijan. Yekaterina
Poghosyan is a journalist with Mediamax in Armenia.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA: PROTESTERS AND ALL, A HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR PUTIN

EurasiaNet.org
Dec 3 2013

December 3, 2013 – 5:41am, by Marianna Grigoryan

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenia, in many ways, must
offer a welcome contrast to Ukraine and its building protests against
economic integration with Russia and its proposed trade bloc, the
Customs Union.

The South Caucasus country, where Putin popped in for a visit on
December 2, depends on Russia for energy, migrants’ jobs, border guards
and security, among other needs, and opted out of closer ties with
the European Union in favor of eventual economic merger with Russia,
Kazakhstan and Belarus.

It also knows how to put on a Soviet-style show of homage for a leader
openly nostalgic for the Soviet past.

It all adds up to a place where Russia would like to stay. In
comments in Gyumri, the northern Armenian city which hosts the Russian
military’s 102nd army base, Putin stressed that Russia “never intended
to leave the Transcaucasus” following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet
Union, and sees no reason to do so now.

“Just the opposite, we are going to reinforce our positions in the
Transcaucasus, based on the very best that we inherited from our
ancestors, and based on good relations with all countries of the
region, including Armenia,” he declared, without elaboration.

To smooth over any hesitations, Putin came bearing (as for Ukraine) the
gift of gas. Rather than the 156,000 drams (about $374) per 1,000 cubic
meters announced earlier this year, Moscow now will charge Armenia
lower, domestic prices for exported gas. Details were not available.

In turn, Armenia has handed over complete control of the country’s gas
distribution company, ArmRusGazprom, to Russia’s mammoth, state-run
gas exporter, GazProm.

But not all Armenians, cost-conscious though they may be, are happy
about this gigantic guest extending its stay indefinitely.

In the largest recent demonstration against closer economic ties
with Russia, hundreds of protesters, some carrying Ukrainian flags
and posters supporting Ukrainian demonstrators, poured into central
Yerevan in the afternoon of December 2 to tell Putin to “go home”
and to remonstrate with the government that “Armenia is not an object
for trade.”

At least 110 people were detained during the protest, according to
the interior ministry; two journalists were among them, according
to reports. Some parliamentarians claimed that individual activists
had been hauled into police stations for warnings against protesting
Putin’s visit; others alleged that state employees were ferried out
to wave flags at the visiting Russian leader.

Ahead of Putin’s arrival, roads and streets in both the capital,
Yerevan, and the northern city of Gyumri, which hosts Russia’s 102nd
army base, were hastily repaired, artificial turf was laid, a love
song from a Soviet-era film piped through loudspeakers in Yerevan,
and thousands of Russian flags distributed. Pro-government national
TV channels endlessly praised the centuries of friendship between
Armenia and Russia; a monument to commemorate that friendship was
erected in downtown Yerevan.

“The ‘king’ has arrived,” drily commented one Gyumri resident, who
asked not to be named. “They even banned funerals in Gyumri today,
and people are not allowed to approach the places [Putin] is supposed
to visit. Every spot is under strict control.”

“Seeing the events unfolding in Ukraine, the Armenian authorities
undertake such unprecedented preventive measures,” claimed independent
political analyst Yervand Bozoian. “The Ukrainian developments can
move to Armenia as well, so they try their best to prevent Putin’s
visit from inciting similar actions.”

Some may question that prediction – a series of national protests
against the Armenian government faltered this spring for lack of
momentum – but irritation with President Serzh Sargsyan’s government
for high unemployment, rampant corruption and a perceived lack of
attention to social-welfare runs strong.

For many Armenians, Yerevan’s September decision to opt for closer
ties with the Customs Union over the European Union seems destined
to isolate the blockaded, poverty-stricken country still further.

On November 29, during a discussion about neighbor Georgia initialing
an accord for closer ties with the European Union, a talk-show host
for the online TV station Civilnet.am, a government critic, lamented
that now Georgia and Armenia “will be living in two different worlds.”

That prospect does not seem to concern President Sargsyan, however.

“We live in a rapidly changing world,” he said in Gyumri. “New
approaches are needed constantly, and these are easier to find
through joint efforts, within the framework of integration unions
and processes. This is the reason stipulating Armenia’s choice to
join the Customs Union and enter the united economic area of Russia,
Kazakhstan and Belarus.”

Some local analysts and opposition politicians have charged that
pressure by Russia, which controls Armenia’s energy supplies as well
as other strategic industries, led to the about-face.

Standing amidst a police cordon in Yerevan, human-rights activist
Arthur Sakunts, an outspoken opponent of Armenia’s membership in the
Customs Union, declared the protest “only the beginning of the fight.”

“We will continue struggling” to force a reversal of the government’s
decision, he pledged, without elaboration.

But for many Armenians, closer ties with Russia, the destination for
most of the country’s labor migrants, carry no downsides. “Putin has
come, and now everything will be fixed in this country,” commented
41-year-old Karen Alumian, an unemployed Yerevan mechanic who added
that his “relatives prosper in Russia.”

“In any case, Putin can manage this country better than Serzh
[Sargsyan],” he concluded.

From: Baghdasarian