Author: Chavushian

BANK VTB (ARMENIA) OFFERS POPULATION BETTER TERMS ON TIME DEPOSITS

ARKA
December 17
Yerevan

Bank VTB (Armenia) started accepting time deposits from citizens on
improved terms on December 15.

Apart from this, names of the current six time deposits were changed
as follows: VTB-Prospects+, VTB-Prospects, VTB-Comfort, VTB-Income,
VTB-Target and VTB-Social, the press service of VTB (Armenia) closed
joint stock company reported. The bank welcomes all time deposits on
the new terms at all the branches as from December 15 this year.

Back in November the bank had introduced two new time deposits for
individuals – Prospects and Prospects+ with up to 11% and up to 11.5%
annual interest rates respectively.

According to the report, maximum duration for VTB-Prospects+ and
VTB-Prospects is one year. Interest is paid to depositors at the end of
the period for VTB-Prospects+ and every month in case of VTB-Prospects.

Maximum annual interest year for replenishment of VTB-Target is raised
to 11% with interest paid on monthly basis.

Terms on other deposits, including the special deposit for pensioners
(VTB-Social), are considerably improved. From now on, the deposit
is taken at a rate of 10% p.a. with interest paid every month. The
depositor has an opportunity to replenish the amount and draw out
money from the deposit during the period of the deposit agreement,
says the report.

Upon request, the bank is providing a free VTB-VISA plastic card with
free servicing, encashment of interest on deposit with no commission
fee and with no card remainder limits set.

Time deposit terms are democratized under the program of expansion of
retail banking services to the population of Armenia and reflects the
real situation on the financial market, General Director of Bank VTB
(Armenia) Valery Ovsiannikov said.

Deposits with improved terms are intended for a larger target group –
all individuals, both residents and non-residents.

Under the current conditions, these deposits are most competitive,
convenient and profitable products for depositors. The country’s
legislation and the high status of VTB brand make these products
guaranteed and reliable, Ovsiannikov said.

According to the report, VTB is to offer depositors two completely new
and interesting products – "VTB-Ruble and VTB-New Year time deposits.

Bank VTB (Armenia) (Armsavingsbank before June 20 2006) joined the
VTB Group in April 2004. Currently the bank VTB is the full owner of
Bank VTB (Armenia) closed joint stock company.

As of October 31 2008, the total capital of Bank VTB (Armenia) was
23.2bln Drams, assets 98bln Drams and liabilities 74.8bln Drams.

According to the information of ARKA Agency, as of the end of Q3 Bank
VTB (Armenia) was the second among Armenian banks in terms of total
capital, credit investments and ranked the third in terms of share
capi tal. The bank had the fourth largest assets, liabilities and
profit gained in January-September 2008. ($1=308.55Drams).

Public Radio of Armenia
Erdogan says they do not need to apologize to Armenians
17.12.2008 17:50

It is unacceptable to affirm support to the recent internet campaign
launched to issue a public apology to Armenians, Turkish Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday.

A group of Turkish intellectuals on Monday issued an apology on the Internet
for the World War I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey.

The group of prominent academics, journalists, writers and artists avoided
using the contentious term "genocide" in the apology, using the less
explosive "Great Catastrophe" instead.

"My conscience does not accept that (we) remain insensitive toward and deny
the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected in 1915,"
read the apology. "I reject this injustice, share in the feelings and pain
of my Armenian brothers, and apologize to them."

The efforts of the intellectuals drew fierce reaction in Turkey.

"I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime,
therefore we do not need to apologize," Erdogan said.

ECHR OBLIGES TURKEY TO PAY COMPENSATION TO ISTANBUL-BASED ARMENIAN FOUNDATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.12.2008 17:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled
Tuesday that Turkey violated the property rights of two Armenian
foundations in Istanbul.

The Board of Governors of the Samatya Surp Kevork Armenian Church,
School and Cemetery and the Foundation for the Armenian Hospital in
Yedikule appealed to the Strasbourg-based court claiming the decision
taken by Turkish courts setting aside their title to property acquired
as a donation, violated their property rights under the European
Human Rights Convention.

The two Armenian foundations were established by Imperial Decree in
1832 under the Ottoman Empire and founded under modern Turkish law.

According to the ruling, Turkey must return the titles of all
properties to each foundation and pay compensation of 600,000 euro
to the Samatya Foundation and 275,000 euro to the Yedikule Foundation.

The charter of both foundations complies with the provisions of the
Lausanne Treaty affording protection to foundations that provide
public services for religious minorities.

The ECHR said Turkey had violated the protection of property rights
defined under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the convention, Hurriyet
Daily News reports.

CONFERENCE DEVOTED TO CONFLICTS IN BALKANS AND CAUCASUS HELD IN LION

DE FACTO
Dec 15, 2008
STEPANAKERT

STEPANAKERT, 15.12.08. DE FACTO. A conference entitled "The
International Recognition of Unrecognized Balkan and Caucasian States"
initiated by a youth wing of ARF Dashnaktsutyun was held at the
Supreme School of Political Sciences of Lion City.

The conference was led by renowned scientists. Robert Charvent,
the Dean of the University of Nice, delivered a speech on the Kosovo
issue. Florence Martirosian, an analytic, a member of the Conflict
Research Center, presented Abkhazian and South-Ossetian conflicts.

Hovhannes Gevorgian, NKR Permanent Representative in France, delivered
a speech on the Karabakh conflict and its settlement process, the
NKR MFA Press Office reports.

TURKEY TO OPEN ARMENIAN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT AT UNIVERSITIES

Dec 11 2008
Turkey

Turkey took one more step to boost relaiton with Armenia since
President Gul visited Armenia in September.

Turkey took one more step to boost relaiton with Armenia since Turkish
President Abdullah Gul visited Armenia in September for football match.

Turkey’s Higher Board of Education (YOK) contributed to Armenia move
which was initiated with a soccer match between national teams of
Turkey and Armenia.

YOK will open Armenian language and literature department at
universities in Turkey next year. Trakya and Nevsehir universities
will accept a total of 40 students to that department, reported
Anadolu Agency.

Also Bogazici University has been teaching Armenian language as an
elective course since last year.

SUMMIT HARD ON TURKEY IN EUROPE

Hurriyet
Dec 12 2008
Turkey

BRUSSELS – Turkish diplomats had a rough time in Brussels during a
foreign ministers meeting this week, with European Union President
France refusing to call the process "accession" talks, which would
imply the possibility of full EU membership for Turkey, as well as
its harsh criticism of Turkey’s relations with Cyprus and the slow
pace of its reforms.

French opposition to full Turkish membership in the European Union was
once again carved into an official document, as the final declaration
of the summit of heads of states, which started yesterday, made no
reference to "accession" as the final aim of the talks.

While Turkey has been enjoying a long holiday, Turkish diplomats
in Brussels have had a tough time ahead of the summit. Due to the
determination of the French presidency of the EU not to discuss
enlargement issues during the summit, the conclusions concerning
Turkey were sealed at the meeting of foreign ministers Monday.

The declaration, to be officially adopted today, reflects the
unpleasant nature of relations between Ankara and Brussels, as well
as the ongoing objection by France to the word "accession," which
implies membership to the EU.

France critical of Turkey France not only avoided labeling
Turkey’s process "accession negotiations" but also used the term
"Intergovernmental conference" instead of "accession conference," to
describe the event to be held next week to open two new negotiation
chapters.

Admitting that the insistence to omit the word "accession" is the
reflection of their President Nicholas Sarkozy’s well-known position
against Turkey, French sources said hopes for a different text during
the French presidency would only be unrealistic.

Although the French position is nothing new, a strong warning for
Ankara to refrain from threatening Greece and Cyprus in disputed seas
has added to problems. Turkey’s obstruction to the oil prospects
of Greek Cyprus in the Mediterranean found a considerable place in
the EU’s declaration. The wording conveyed a European perception of
Turkish naval activities as a source of threat to its neighbors.

Ports must be opened "Turkey needs to commit unequivocally to good
neighborly relations and to the peaceful settlement of disputes
in accordance with the United Nations Charter, having recourse, if
necessary, to the International Court of Justice. The Union urges the
avoidance of any kind of threat, source of friction or action which
could damage good, neighborly relations and the peaceful settlement
of disputes," the declaration read.

The Council also recalled its expectations of Turkey to open ports
and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels and added that "progress is now
urgently awaited." The European Union, which suspended negotiation
in eight chapters December 2006 due to Turkey’s refusal to open its
ports, will review the progress on the issue November 2009, which
marks a new consequential deadline for Ankara.

Disappointed by the harsh EU reaction in the document, Ankara argued
Brussels should acknowledge that Greek Cypriots tried to undermine the
ongoing peace talks on the island by undertaking unilateral activities,
ignoring the rights of Turkish Cypriots.

Meanwhile, French sources claimed that they saved the opening of
two new chapters with Turkey by penning a declaration favorable to
Greek Cyprus. During the technical preparations for the chapter on
free movement of capital, Ankara included an agreement signed with
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, or TRNC, in the negotiation
framework document sent to Brussels.

Since Greek Cypriots were outraged with the use of the term TRNC, which
implies an independent state for Turkish Cypriots, they threatened
to veto the opening of the chapter. France, not wishing to fail
in its promises to open two chapters with Turkey before it hands
the presidency to the Czech Republic, intervened with a formula to
remove the agreement from the real document and annex it as a cover
letter. According to French sources this incident was an example of
Turkey not handling technical negotiations well.

Slow pace of reforms "Despite our efforts for a fair attitude
towards Turkey during our EU presidency and our support for Turkey’s
temporary seat at the United Nations Security Council, all we get is
nothing but complaints," a French diplomat said, on the condition of
anonymity. France wants Turkish permission for the participation in
military procurements and also the Nabucco pipeline project.

Ankara excluded Paris from all big-scale tenders after a lower house of
the French Parliament adopted a bill making it a crime to deny Armenian
genocide allegations in 2006. The European Union also noted with regret
that Turkey was making very limited progress on political reform.

"The Council is disappointed to note that over the year just passed
Turkey has made only limited progress, particularly in regards to
political reforms," read the summit declaration. Asking Turkey to
redouble its efforts to implement the measures so long awaited,
the European Union underlined that more needs to be done to reform
the judiciary, fight corruption and torture, guarantee freedom of
expression and religion, and protect minority rights.

Meanwhile, EU heads condemned all terrorist attacks and violence in
Turkish territory in the strongest terms and expressed full solidarity
with the people of Turkey. However, they also reiterated expectations
that Turkey must conduct its fight against terrorism with due regard
for human rights, fundamental freedoms and international law, while
preserving regional peace and stability.

CSTO SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARIES TO ADDRESS FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM IN ARMENIA

AKIpress News Agency
December 9, 2008 Tuesday
Kyrgyzstan

Security Council Secretaries of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization member countries will meet on December 9-10 in Armenia,
CSTO Under-Secretary General Toktasyn Buzubaev said.During this
meeting CSTO Security Council Secretaries will discuss fight against
terrorism and extremism, drug trafficking."The Security Council
Secretaries will discuss the joint efforts in fight against terrorism
and extremism, intensification of efforts to counter drug trafficking,
illegal migration, building capacity for prevention and liquidation
of consequences of man-induced and natural emergency situations,"
Buzubaev said.National Security Council Secretary Arthur Bagdasaryan
will preside during this meeting.The Collective Security Treaty
Organization includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

FOUR MORE CONTRACTS WITH BULGARIA

Panorama.am
20:33 10/12/2008

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan left for Bulgaria accepting
the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Prvanov. The
Presidential delegation includes the Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
Culture, Economy, Transport and Communication, other officials and
famous Bulgarian reporter Svetlana Paskaleva, reported the press
service of the President’s Administration.

According to the source, the Presidents have had a separate meeting
which was followed by open format discussions. The Presidents have
highly evaluated the political dialogue between Armenia and Bulgaria,
and mentioned that irrespective of that the economic cooperation and
trade circulation have to be improved. They notified that serious
measures should be taken to fill the gaps.

The Presidents agreed upon the point that the two nations have much
in common, including historic developments, and that most of the time
they have managed to meet the challenges together. The President of
Armenia added that Armenians and Bulgarians have common future and
they should build this future on common values.

There are fifty contacts signed between Armenia and Bulgaria which have
been completed by four other contracts. One of them is on organizing
Days of Bulgarian Culture in Armenia in 2009 and Days of Armenian
Culture in Bulgaria in 2010. The other three are on civil service,
cooperation in state governing system and in revenues system.

RA PRESIDENT RECEIVED MEMBERS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF FRANCE

De Facto
Dec 9, 2008

YEREVAN, 09.12.08. DE FACTO. On December 8, President Serzh Sargsian
received members of the National Assembly of France, Chairman of the
France-Armenia Friendship Group Francois Rochebloine and Vice-Chairman
Rene Rouquet, who have arrived to Armenia to attend the commemoration
of the 20th anniversary of the devastating earthquake of 1988.

The President of Armenia said that Armenia is grateful to France for
the assistance provided to our country after the earthquake.

Serzh Sargsian hailed the activities of the French parliamentarians and
informed that he has signed a decree to award Francois Rochebloine and
Rene Rouquet with the Medal of Honor for their assistance to Armenia
after the devastating earthquake of 1988 and their continued work
directed at strengthening friendly relations between the peoples of
Armenia and France.

The President of Armenia thanked them and handed the high state awards.

Mr. Francois Rochebloine said the award was compelling and he would
continue to do his best to be worthy of it. Mr. Rene Rouquet noted
that he considers the award to be the acknowledgment and recognition
of his twenty-year long activities.

Stressing particularly warm feelings of our people toward France and
the French people, Serzh Sargsian spoke with satisfaction about the
prospects for development of the bilateral economic and political
relations, noting that during his short time in office he has had
met with the President of France twice.

The parties spoke also about the Armenian-French cooperation in the
framework of international organizations, the RA President’s Press
Office reports.

US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HOLDS CONFERENCE ON "SUCCESSFUL TECHNIQUES FOR THE INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF CORRUPTION"

armradio.am
09.12.2008 11:12

The United States Department of Justice held a conference on
"Successful Techniques for the Investigation and Prosecution
of Corruption" in Yerevan, Armenia, on December 8-9, 2008. Three
U.S. prosecutors and three high-ranking U.S. police chiefs participated
– Prosecutor Steven Kessler (US Embassy, Yerevan), Prosecutor Kevin
Richardson (Brooklyn, New York), Prosecutor Karen Bennett (Nassau
County, New York), Police Chief Charles Campisi (New York City Police
Department); Chief Charles Ribando (Nassau County, New York), and
Deputy Chief Rick Armstrong (Kansas City, Kansas).

They were joined by thirty Armenian prosecutors, ten investigators from
the special investigative service, ten police investigators, two NSS
officials, two officials of the tax service, two customs officials,
the Armenian representative to GRECO, and the presidential aide on
corruption issues.

The American and Armenian law enforcement officials discussed
their countries’ respective approaches to fighting all forms of
corruption, including misconduct by police, judges, and other
high officials. Numerous investigation techniques were discussed
at the conference, including: the use of confidential informants,
undercover police officers, drug screening, financial investigations,
electronic surveillance, debriefing of police prisoners, and random
integrity tests.

The December conference was just one of many sessions held by the US
Department of Justice in Yerevan to support Armenian law enforcement
and the judiciary. In 2008, the USDOJ held conferences for Armenian
judges, prosecutors, police and defense attorneys on the European
Convention on Human Rights, financial crime investigations, the rules
of evidence in adversarial proceedings, and the development of Armenian
jurisprudence and case law.