Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ARMENIA ATTRACTS ‘UNEXPECTED’ INTEREST FROM FOREIGN INVESTORS AMID TALKS FOR CUSTOMS UNION MEMBERSHIP

ECONOMY | 19.02.14 | 10:37

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

Before Armenia has completed negotiations with the Customs Union
and become its member interest towards it from foreign investors and
businessmen has unexpectedly risen.

The first major American investment – the purchase of the Vorotan
cascade of hydro-power plants generating 15 percent of electricity in
Armenia – was announced only a month ago. Recently it was reported
that a major international conference on the mining industry in
Armenia will be held in March. In this regard, Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan met with the ambassadors of the United States, Great Britain,
Germany and the head of the World Bank Yerevan Office. This year, a
British company plans to begin operation of the largest gold deposit
in Amulsar. Apparently, there is interest in other fields as well.

China has also shown interest in Armenia. Members of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China came to Armenia to explore
opportunities for cooperation. They are considering the possibility of
exports to China of Armenian brandy and tobacco. And the Chinese side
plans to enter Armenia’s aviation market, the sphere of information
technologies and communications.

Lebanese entrepreneurs are also showing great interest in the farming
industry in Armenia. In particular, they have been keen on engaging
in the processing of nuts.

Iran has long been offering some projects: as the Iranian ambassador
said at a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan,
of interest are also projects of transit-energy nature.

By the way, it became known on Tuesday that an UAE-based company,
Rasia, intends to invest in the construction of the Southern Railroad
(Iran-Armenia). The total cost of the project is estimated at $3.2
billion.

Meanwhile, Armenia is actively negotiating with Russia on how to
become a member of the Customs Union in a way that it does not hit
its sovereign economic and customs policies. It is very difficult to
achieve, because Armenia has no shared borders with the Customs Union.

And experts say that membership in the Customs Union will limit the
rights of Armenia on cooperation with third countries.

Armenia will consider the option of establishing in the country of
a special economic zone similar to that in the Kaliningrad region of
Russia, said Armenia’s deputy economy minister Tigran Harutyunyan.

But it raises the question of customs relations with Turkey. Armenia
does not want to give Turkey any trade concessions after its entry
into the Customs Union, said another deputy economy minister Garegin
Melkonyan. He reminded that the Customs Union has an agreement
with Turkey on the GSP System of Trade Preferences. “In this mode,
the Customs Union imports a number of goods from Turkey on slightly
reduced customs duties. But in negotiations with the United Economic
Commission we defend the view that Armenia should not apply these
benefits to Turkey,” said Melkonyan.

Relevant to this are also relations with Georgia, which already in
August plans to sign the initialed agreement on a free trade area
with the European Union. Armenia is trying to retain the right to
duty-free import of cars from Georgia, said Minister Melkonyan. If
Armenia gets this permission, it will not be able to re-export cars
to Customs Union-member countries.

From: Baghdasarian

YEREVAN COURT REJECTS ACTIVIST’S APPEAL, REFUSES TO PERSECUTE GUILTY PARTY

02.19.2014 14:01 epress.am

The Court of First Instance of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun
Administrative Districts of Yerevan on Tuesday rejected activist Karo
Yeghnukyan’s complaint, with which he was asking the court to overturn
the police decision to terminate persecution of the individual who
committed a crime against him.

The court’s actions, according to Yeghnukyan, was predictable and
determined in advance, though the judge asked for time to go to the
consultation room.

Recall, the case refers to the tires of Yeghnukyan’s vehicle being
slashed. The activist claims he is being persecuted because he
organized protest demonstrations against the Covered Market, which
now houses a Yerevan City supermarket, owned by ruling Republican
Party of Armenia MP, oligarch Samvel Aleksanyan.

The police stated that it has identified the person guilty of the crime
(though it did not name anyone); the person in question confessed
his guilt, saying that he was drunk when he slashed the tires of the
car. But the case was quashed due to the absence of corpus delicti.

The police assessed the damage valued at $1,000 USD at about 30,000
AMD (about $73).

Yeghnukyan informed Epress.am that he is preparing to appeal the
decision at the Court of Appeals.

From: Baghdasarian

DEFENSE MINISTER MEETS WITH MEMBERS OF BRITISH GROUP OF INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION

13:33 19/02/2014 >> POLITICS

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan met with members of the
British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on February 18, the
press service of Defense Ministry reports.

Armenian-British military cooperation was discussed at the meeting.

The sides also touched upon regional security, Armenia’s security
policy, in particular in the context of entry into the Customs Union,
relations with CSTO and NATO, Russia’s military presence in Armenia
and relations with neighboring countries.

The border incidents and Azerbaijan’s subversive acts were discussed.

The meeting also addressed other issues of mutual interest.

Source: Panorama.am

From: Baghdasarian

CZECH REPUBLIC PRESIDENT’S ADMINISTRATION: TURKEY WAS GIVEN EXPLANATION THAT PRESIDENT MILOS ZEMAN’S WORDS ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WAS HIS PERSONAL OPINION

by David Stepanyan

Wednesday, February 19, 16:08

The Turkish authorities were given explanation that President of
Czech Republic Milos Zeman’s statement during the January visit by
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to Prague, calling the massacre
of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915-23 the genocide, reflected his
personal opinion, the head of international department of the Czech
President’s Administration, Ginek Kmonichek, officially declared,
as Czech Television reported.

To note, although unlike Slovakia, Czech Republic did not recognize
the Armenian genocide, President Zaman said that the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian genocide will be marked in 2015. Czech Senator Jaromir
Stetina has welcomed the statement of the President of Czech Republic
about the Armenian Genocide. He intends to introduce a declaration
on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide to foreign relations and
defense committees of the Parliament of Czech Republic on the occasion
of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. “The declaration
will be introduced in 2015 ahead of the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. I would like Czech Senate to join the civilized
parliaments which have recognized the Armenian Genocide. Preparatory
work activities towards the declaration will launch in late 2014,”
Czech Senator stated.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA MUST NOT LOSE THIRD COUNTRIES’ MARKETS AFTER CU ACCESSION – ECONOMIST

February 19, 2014 | 11:19

YEREVAN. – It is very important for Armenia not to lose the markets of
the third countries following its accession to the Customs Union (CU).

Gagik Makaryan, Chairman of the Republican Union of Employers of
Armenia, told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to Makaryan, an attention should be paid to several staple
goods.

Accordingly, the customs duty percentage rate of cereals fluctuates
between 3 and 13.3 percent in the CU, whereas this is 0 percent in
Armenia. But if Armenia imports wheat from Russia, it will import
corn from Ukraine, and rice from Southeast Asia.

“It is natural that the geographical scope of imports will be
maintained. It turns out that it is important in this case that we
protect our interests,” Makaryan stressed.

>From the non-consumer goods, the economist reflected on the petroleum
products, since along with the increase in the customs duty, inflation
will be unavoidable.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian

ANKARA URGES TO SOLVE FROZEN CONFLICTS AS BAKU SLAMS OSCE MINSK GROUP

February 19, 2014 – 17:33 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Frozen conflicts are an obstacle to establishment
of peace in the Caucasus, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
said on Feb. 19, Trend News reported.

He made the remarks at a press conference dedicated to the results
of the third meeting of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Turkey in Ganja.

He said that all parties must do their utmost to resolve the frozen
conflicts.

According to Davutoglu, borders between Turkey and Armenia won’t be
opened unless the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is solved and Azerbaijan’s
“territorial integrity” is restored.

Meanwhile, political analyst Mubariz Ahmedoglu slammed the OSCE
Minsk Group mediation efforts, with 4 fundamental documents for
peaceful settlement as the only merit of their 22 years of work,
Novosti-Azerbaijan reported.

“Currently, the Co-chairs are unable to either offer a new concept
for peaceful settlement or even defend the ones offered by their more
successful predecessors,” Ahmedoglu said.

He went on to criticize the activity of the U.S. Co-chair James Warlick
as “unbalanced and stupid,” with the latter “having taken no effort
to study the history of the conflict.”

“Were the other 3 Co-chairing states serious about the settlement, they
would pick energetic and promising diplomats, rather than retirees,
for the mediators’ posts,” he said.

From: Baghdasarian

METSAMOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT EMPLOYEES PROTEST OUTSIDE OMBUDSMAN’S OFFICE

02.19.2014 16:22 epress.am

A few dozen Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant employees on Tuesday
demonstrated outside the Armenian Ombudsman’s office, asking the Human
Rights Defender to intervene and ask that the mandatory component of
the new pension system be removed. The employees stated their requests
in a letter delivered to the Ombudsman’s office.

During the demonstration, participants held signs of the popular Dem
Em (“I am against”) movement against the pension reforms and chanted,
“We’re not slaves!” Speaking to the press, demonstrators claimed that
99% of the nuclear power plant’s 1,800 employees support their rally.

“January’s [pension] deductions were already made, but we are against
our salaries going to pension funds,” said one of the employees,
lead engineer Tsolak Lazarian.

Speaking to staff of the Ombudsman’s office, the demonstrators
explained why they’re protesting outside their office. “It’s
clearly evident that our country’s leaders have put pressure on
the Constitutional Court — both publicly and privately. Don’t be
intimidated: we know that you have little leverage and knowing quite
well that the authorities don’t take your remarks into consideration,
we’ve come to you. We’re sure that for years our government has been
on an actual labor strike — our authorities are not fulfilling
their function. That is to say, in this case, when the government
is on strike, as nuclear power plant employees, we have the right to
work at least as our government does,” one of Metsamor’s employees,
Garik Zargaryan, said to the staff of the Ombudsman’s office.

Another protesting employee said that since they work under
particularly hazardous conditions, there is no guarantee that they’ll
live long enough to be eligible for a pension, which is why they
considered it pointless to make payments to a private pension fund.

As for their future plans, the nuclear power plant employees preferred
to remain silent. Nevertheless, they said the demonstrations won’t
turn into a labor strike, as the power plant must work, and they
decide their next steps after they receive the Ombudsman’s response.

From: Baghdasarian

GYUMRI RESIDENTS MARK BOOK-GIVING DAY BY PRESENTING RULING PARTY A BOOK OF CAMPAIGN PROMISES (PHOTO)

February 19, 2014 | 16:20

GYUMRI. – The citizens of Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city,
marked book-giving day by presenting the local branch of the ruling
party a book with their campaign promises.

The protesters joined “I am against” initiative against mandatory
cumulative pension plan.

“We will remind them of all campaign promises and will present demand
on abandoning mandatory pension plan,” said Arsen Vardanyan, member of
“I am against” initiative.

The participants say no jobs have been created in Gyurmi, therefore
it is senseless to introduce new pension plan.

The young people were received by the MP from Republican Party of
Armenia Sukias Avetisyan who promised to raise their problems during
the upcoming session of the National Assembly.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMAN NSHANYAN: “MANDATORY ACCUMULATIVE PENSION SYSTEM IS NOT FOR ARMENIA”

Wednesday, February 19, 16:10

The mandatory accumulative pension system is inherently a good idea,
but it is not for Armenia, a prominent actor, singer Arman Nshanyan
told ArmInfo. According to him, the given system would fit the
countries where average salary is $2,000-$3,000 and not $100-$200
like it is in Armenia.

“People in Armenia care for every 5,000 drams. This amount covers
their transport costs, for instance. Families need this 5000 AMD now
and not in 20-30 years,” Nshanyan said.

People are discontented not only at the mandatory component of the
system but also at the absurd situation following the Constitutional
Court’s decision of January 24 that suspended some provisions of
the Law on the Accumulative Pension until the Court considers its
constitutionality on Mar 28 2014. Nevertheless, the Finance Ministry
of Armenia urges employers to calculate and make accumulative pension
payments and employees to choose a pension fund and a manager for it.

The compulsory accumulative pension system will apply to the citizens
born after Jan 1 1974 (the citizens below 40). Starting Jan 1 2014, 5%
of their salaries will be transferred to their personal accumulative
accounts. The government will transfer a similar amount (but no
more than 25,000 drams). The pension reformed sparked large-scale
protests in the country. The staffs of such big companies as the South
Caucasus Railway, the Electric Networks of Armenia, NPP and others
went to street to protect their rights. The most original action of
protest was organized by the actors of the Opera and Ballet Theater,
who boycotted Anush Opera performance.

From: Baghdasarian

EUROPE DOES NOT LET GO OF ARMENIA – NEWSPAPER

February 19, 2014 | 07:10

YEREVAN. – Europe does not let go of Armenia in any way, Hraparak
daily reports.

“An economic conference is expected in April, with the participation
by Western investors, and a British interparliamentary delegation,
which until then had visited Karabakh–[thereby] complementing the
Azerbaijani ‘black list’ [of those visiting Karabakh]–, was in
Armenia yesterday [i.e., Tuesday].

“This group also met with representatives of the parliamentary
factions, including the [ruling Republican Party] RPA and the
[non-pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party] PAP representatives. The
latter made a stirring talk criticizing the Armenian authorities and
the situation in Armenia,” Hraparak writes.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian