Author: Chmshkian Vicken

In 2007 the volume of retail turnover in Armenia increased by 10%

2008-02-02 13:24:00

ArmInfo. In January-December 2007, the retail turnover in Armenia
totalled 934 bln AMD, or $2.7 bln at present prices, having increased
by 10 % as compared with the same period of 2006. The share of shops
made up 50,9%, or 475 bln AMD ($1.4 bln), the share of markets of
consumption goods – 27,9%, or 261 bln AMD ($763 mln). The share of
retail turnover in Yerevan only made up almost 85% (782,5bln AMD) of
the total volume.

As ArmInfo was told at the National Statistical Service of Armenia, in
the structure of retail turnover the share of stalls made up 4,6%, or
43,2 bln AMD ($126 mln), the share of markets of farm products – 2,5%,
or 23,5 bln AMD ($69 mln) in 2007.

In January-December 2007, the total volume of trade turnover made up
1422 bln AMD ($4.2 bln) at present prices. The share of car trading
(including cars sold by official dealers, spare parts, as well as
technical service and repairs) made up 6%, or 84 bln AMD ($247 mln).
This index is by 39,4% higher than that of the same period of 2006.

The volume of wholesale trade increased by 3,1% as compared with
January- December 2006, and totalled 403.1 bln AMD ($1.2 mln), or 28,3%
of the total volume of trade turnover.

LONDON DOESN’T SUPPORT ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.02.2008 16:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The UK doesn’t support Germany and France in their
attempt to prevent Turkey from EU membership. "My opinion is the
official position of Great Britain, which sees Turkey a member of the
European Union," said Alan Waddams, European Commission representative
in Azerbaijan.

"I am hopeful Turkey will be accessed to the Union soon," he said
adding that he doesn’t think that protraction of talks can be caused
by religious issues, Trend reports.

Addressing a UMP conference, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and
German Chancellor Angela Merkel have reaffirmed their opposition to
full membership of Turkey in the European Union.

France and Germany understand that Turkey’s membership will press three
informal EU leaders – France, Germany and UK. With its vast territory,
population of many millions, tremendous economic and geopolitical
significance will comprise the leading ‘four’ of Europe, experts say.

THE GHOST OF FREEDOM: A HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS
Harry Willems

Library Journal Reviews
February 1, 2008

King, Charles. The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus.

Oxford Univ. Feb. 2008. c.320p. photogs. maps. index. ISBN
978-0-19-517775-6 . $29.95. HIST

The Caucasus region, which now consists of Georgia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and parts of Russia, has a complex history, not least
owing to its interactions with the surrounding nations of Europe and
the Middle East and its tremendously diverse ethnic populations. One
can be familiar with the history of Russia without really understanding
the long and complex history of the Caucasus. King (Romanian studies,
international affairs and government, Georgetown Univ.; The Black
Sea: A History ) unravels the region’s history from the start of
Russia’s involvement in the region under Ivan the Terrible to the
present. Recently, a few books have been published about the Caucasus
(e.g., Nicholas Griffin’s Caucasus: A Journey to the Land Between
Christianity and Islam ), but King’s is the most comprehensive,
weaving in the history of all the events from the past two centuries
that shaped czarist, Soviet, and Russian relations with the region. He
briefly discusses the Armenian genocide, a label that Turkey has
objected to, which has recently been discussed in the U.S.

Congress. King mainly raises it so as to question whether it was
indeed a genocide as we define that today. This book would be a wise
pick for any scholarly institution.-Harry Willems, Park City P.L., KS

HEAD OF TER-PETROSIAN’S PRE-ELECTION STAFF ACCUSES THE ARMENIAN MEDIA AND BELIEVES THAT THE RESULT OF THE SURVEYS "CAST A SHADOW ON THE REPUTATION OF GALLUP"

Mediamax
February 1, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Head of the pre-election staff of the presidential
candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian Aleksandr Arzumanian stated in Yerevan
today that "Levon Ter-Petrosian is worth of 1890 Serzh Sarkisians".

Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today,
Aleksandr Arzumanian expressed confidence that their candidate will
win in the very first round of the presidential elections.

According to him, "the whole state apparatus, the press and the
electronic media, as well as the General Prosecutor’s Office of
Armenia serve to the process of regeneration of the ruling regime".

Commenting on the refusal of Levon Ter-Petrosian to participate in a
TV-interview, Aleksandr Arzumanian stated that "all the TV-channels of
the country are controlled by a single center and fulfill an order –
to drive our candidate out of his wits and to transfer the controversy
into another dimension".

The Head of the pre-election headquarter of Ter-Petrosian allowed
himself today tactless statements against journalists, present at the
news conference, and the TV-channels, which allegedly "obey 2-3 owners
and ask questions concocted beforehand and print distorted materials".

Aleksandr Arzumanian informed that "we have collected many facts on
violation of the Electoral Code of Armenia by the candidate from the
ruling party, which will be presented to the international observation
missions in the nearest future".

Commenting on the results of the latest sociological poll of Gallup,
according to which Levon Ter-Petrosian may claim to gain only 5%
of the electors’ votes, Aleksandr Arzumanian stated that "in such
totalitarian countries as Armenia the activity of sociological
institutions is quite doubtful and casts a shadow on the reputation
of such authority organizations, as Gallup".

Senior officials visit Yerablur

armradio.am
28.01.2008 16:02

On the occasion of the 16th anniversary of formation of the Armenian
Army, RA President Robert Kocharyan today visited Yerablur Pantheon to
pay homage to the memory of the soldiers of the liberation war in
Artsakh. President Kocharyan was accompanied by the Speaker of the
National Assembly of Armenia Tigran Torosyan, Prime Minister Serge
Sargsyan, Deputy Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, members of
Government, NA Deputies, senior Officers. The President laid flowers at
the memorials to Vazgen Sargsyan, Karen Demirchyan and soldiers that
fell in the liberation war in Artsakh.

`I feel regret, pain and excitement every time I visit Yerablur,’ PM
Serge Sargsyan told journalists.

RA Defense Minister Michael Harutyunyan congratulated everyone on Army
Day and noted that the Army grew from childhood to youth.

`Though a child, during the past 16 years our Army fulfilled the tasks
posed to it: it won the war, developed and showed its power.’ `The Army
is strong, effective and is ready to defend the Armenian people, our
state and the security of borders,’ Michael Harutyunyan said.

Today, Azerbaijan
Jan 28 2008

Head of Dashnaktsutun’s central office: "The ultimate goal is to
annex Garabagh to Armenia"

28 January 2008 [18:45] – Today.Az

Existence of two Armenian republics can be regarded as an
intermediate, while the ultimate goal is to annex Garabagh to
Armenia.

The due statement was made by the head of the central office of the
Dashnaktsutun party on political issues Kiro Manoyan.

He refused to comment on what he considers to be a compromise,
explaining that the concessions must be defined during negotiations
and not prior to them. Otherwise, the talks would be senseless.

According to Kiro Manoyan, the self-determination of Garabagh does
not define its status and the current problem is mainly the
definition of its status.

He considers that availability of two Armenian republics can be
regarded as an intermediate, while the ultimate goal is to annex
Garabagh to Armenia.

/ArmInfo/
URL:

ARMENIAN MPs PARTICIPATE IN DISCUSSION OF KOSOVO PROBLEM AT PACE SESSION

Noyan Tapan
Jan 24, 2008

STRASBOURG, JANUARY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The first part of the PACE
session started on January 21. The RA National Assembly’s delegation
composed of Davit Harutyunian, Avet Adonts, Raffi Hovannisian and
Vahe Hovhannisian are taking part in the session.

According to the press service of the RA National Assembly, based on
the agreement reached by the PACE political groups, Luis Maria de Puig
(Spain) was elected as new president of the PACE. In accordance with
the rotation order of the PACE vice presidents’ election, the head
of the Armenian delegation Davit Harutyunian will be invluded in the
PACE Bureau in 2008 (the total number of vice presidents is 20).

Lord Russel-Johnston’s report on the future status of Kosovo was on
the January 22 agenda of the PACE session. In his speech concerning
the report, Raffi Hovannisian expressed his disagreement with the
rapporteur’s idea that Kosovo may not establish a precedent for
resolution of other conflicts. In his words, the constitutional and
legal bases of Nagorno Karabakh are indisputable. R. Hovannisan called
on the say "no" to the use of multiple standards and "yes" to the
pivotal principles stated in the report, underlining the necessity for
relation of democratic standards and political status. Avet Adonts
pointed out in his speech that all conflicts are unique by their
nature, require specific solution and may not be a precedent for
other conflicts. Conflicts should be settled based on international
law, without using double standards. He also spoke about the opinions
expressed in the speech of the Azerbaijani delegation’s member Ganira
Pashaeva and the parallels with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict indicated
by her, saying that G. Pashaeva’s views have no relation with the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the Kosovo problem should not become
a subject of speculation in discussion of other conflicts.

Raffi Hovannisian was elected a member of the PACE Monitoring Committee
by the European People’s Party (EPP) group. As a result, Armenia will
be represented by three members in the committee.

ERDOGAN LABELED OBAMA AS "AMATEUR OF POLITICS"

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.01.2008 13:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
dubbed Barack Obama, one of the Democratic frontrunners in the
U.S. presidential elections who promised to recognize the killing
of Armenians in 1915 as Genocide, an amateur of politics without
explicitly mentioning his name.

"Presidential elections campaigns continue in the United States. Some
politicians’ discourse demonstrates that they do not have an adequate
knowledge of their country’s policies," said Erdogan in his Justice
and Development Party (AKP) meeting yesterday. He noted that Turkey
nurtured good relations and a strategic partnership with the United
States. "Everybody knows that adoption of such a resolution would
cause irreparable damage to Turkish-American relations," Erdogan said.

"Ankara-Washington relations cannot be subdued by lobbies, slander
and petty internal political calculations."

"A day may come when you will have to choose between 70 million
Turkey and two million Armenia. One has to think carefully before
uttering such words. I suggest that he outgrow the amateur period of
his political career," he said, the Turkish Daily News reports

BREAD FACTORY OF STEPANAKERT PRODUCES LESS DUE TO REPAIRS

KarabakhOpen
23-01-2008 11:29:44

As we already have informed, the government sold the bread factory
of Stepanakert and the Mill for 750 million drams. The buyer of this
major company is ERMI, which imports wheat to Armenia. The owner of
the company is Karen Baghdasarov.

The company went bankrupt and was sold to ERMI. According to Prime
Minister Ara Harutiunyan, the government bought the company from
Artsakhbank for 400 million drams and sold for 750 million drams to
cover 350 million drams of company’s debt.

The minister of agriculture, vice premier Armo Tsatryan says the
company owed 359 million drams to wheat suppliers. So far 80 million
has been repaid. The vice prime minister says this activity requires
control, and now checking is underway.

"In May and June of the past year the government paid about 13 million
drams to cover part of the salary debts to the workers of the Mill,"
Armo Tsatryan said, noting that the money should be returned to the
state budget.

With regard to the reduced volume of production of bread at the bread
factory of Stepanakert, Armo Tsatryan said the factory mainly supplies
the army, and sells a little part of its production in Stepanakert.

"The new owner repairs the factory, the equipment is being improved. In
other words, they are preparing for the harvest season," Armo Tsatryan
concluded.

"IT IS YOUR CHOICE" STARTS OBSERVATION MISSION

A1+
23 January, 2008

"It’s Your Choice" NGO will deploy short-term observers in 1923 polling
stations during the presidential elections of February 19. The NGO has
started a long-term observation mission since January 21," Chairman
of the organization Harutiun Hambardzumian informed A1+.

Two observers are deployed in each polling station to watch the
pre-election campaign. At present they are checking the authenticity
of the electors’ lists, posted up in the polling stations throughout
the country.

Harutiun Hambardzumian says that their observers haven’t managed to
meet with the precinct electoral commissions so far. The Organisation’s
interim reports will be published once each 10 days of the pre-election
campaign. The preliminary and the final reports will be presented
after the election.

Our observers are assigned to report on everything so that we could
submit the facts with the Central Electoral Commission."

"The addresses of some pre-election offices are not specified yet. We
only know the addresses of the HHSh, HHK, AMK, OYP and ARFD. Being
an impartial organization we are to meet representatives of all
the nine candidates to get acquainted with their observations,"
Hambardzumian added.