Author: Chmshkian Vicken

DESPITE HIGH ECONOMIC GROWTH RATES, INFLATION RELATIVELY LOW IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Jan 23, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. The high economic growth in Armenia
in 2007 was accompanied by macroeconomic stability. Particularly,
inflation was lower than in regional countries and Armenia’s main
trade partner states, the RA minister of trade and economic development
Nerses Yeritsian stated at the January 23 press conference. In 2007,
Armenian GDP grew by 13.8% compared with the previous year, while
inflation made 6.6%.

According to N. Yeritsian, industry started developing at high rates:
there was a 2.6% growth in 2007, whereas a 0.9% decline was registered
in 2006 on 2005. Industrial production without diamond production
grew by 8.8% in 2007.

The ministry’s monitoring of industrial enterprises showed that in
2007 high growth rates were registered in mining industry – 106.6%,
machine-building and instrument making – 128.4%, chemical industry –
120.4%, and in woodworking industry – 103.1%.

Mediamax, Armenia
Jan 16 2008

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTY SURE OF ELECTION WIN IN FIRST ROUND

Yerevan, 16 January: "There are people in all state structures, who
cooperate with us secretly," Aram Manukyan, the member of the
governing board of the Armenian Pan-National Movement said today in
Yerevan.

While speaking at a news conference in Yerevan, Manukyan did not tell
concrete names, noting that the number of people supporting the
candidacy of former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan "continues
to grow in a stable manner."

"According to our research, if Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s electorate
continues to grow at the current rates, we will already win in the
first round of the election [on 19 February 2008]," the member of
governing board of the Armenian Pan-National Movement said.

Manukyan said that he does not rule out attempts of falsifying the
election results by the authorities, adding that "the Armenian
Pan-National Movement will not let this happen". "Any attempt to rig
the vote will turn out against those who will try to resort to it,"
he said.

[translated]

DayAz, Azerbaijan
January 18, 2008 Friday

ETHNIC AZERIS PROTEST AT IRAN’S PLANS TO OPEN ARMENIAN CONSULATE

18 January: The decision to open a consulate-general of Armenia in
Tabriz has elicited protests from ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran.

In this connection, representatives of the intelligentsia have sent a
letter to the country’s president, the governor of Tabriz region and
the Foreign Ministry.

A group of Azerbaijani intellectuals met Akbar A’lami, the MP elected
from Tabriz, the editor-in-chief of Iran’s Azerbaijani-language
Yarpaq newspaper, Said Muganli, told APA.

The MP was given a protest letter from local Azerbaijanis. In
addition, an open campaign to gather signatures has been launched in
the country, Muganli said.

"A campaign to gather signatures to protest at the opening of a
consulate-general of Armenia in Tabriz has been under way for five
days. The Iranian authorities have yet to speak out on this issue.

"We believe that the Iranian authorities have to take into account
the opinion of millions of Azerbaijanis and not to give permission to
opening a consulate-general of Armenia in Tabriz where few Armenians
live. This is a wrong move which could result in serious protests
from the ethnic Azerbaijani population," the editor said.

ACCORDING TO EDUARD SHARMAZANOV’S OBSERVATION, HOLDING OF FAIR
ELECTIONS IS FIRST OF ALL NECESSARY FOR ARMENIA’S CITIZENS

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. The first and foremost task of the
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is to hold legitimate, legal, fair
elections. Eduard Sharmazanov, the RPA Spokesperson, stated at the
January 18 press conference reminding to journalists the words of Prime
Minister Serge Sargsian, a candidate for presidency from RPA:
"democratic elections should become a tradition in Armenia." Fair and
transparent elections, according to E. Sharmazanov’s observation, are
important for Armenia not in the respect of pleasing Europe, but they
are first first of all necessary for Armenia’s citizens.

In response to the question of why voters should vote for S. Sargsian,
E. Sharmazanov said that the Prime Minister has been in the focus of
public-political events for already two decades, and progress was
registered in all spheres, where he worked. E. Sharmazanov stated that
late Sparapet Vagzen Sargsian had also expressed a positive opinion
about the RPA candidate saying that no one can question S. Sargsian’s
honesty and patriotism.

E. Sharmazanov refuted the news presented in media that allegedly RPA
is going to relieve RA Territorial Administration Minister Hovik
Abrahamian of the post of the head of S. Sargsian’s central
headquarters appointing another member of RPA Board, Karen Karapetian
in his place. The RPA Spokesperson named that rumor the result of
anti-propaganda.

"ARMENIAN RAILWAY" DISSOLUTED

Panorama.am
20:53 17/01/2008

Today the Armenian Government made a decision about the dissolution
of the "Armenian railway" CSJC, The dissolution committee was ordered
to satisfy the demands of the shareholders of the company and to hand
the rest stuff to the Ministry of transport and communication.

According to the information and public relations department of the
Government, all the rights of Armenian railway passed to "Russian
Railways" CSJC for consensus governing and "South-Caucasus Railway"
CSJC is the official company to carry out company’s mission in Armenia.

The Ministry of Transport and Communication was charged with presenting
to the discussion the contract project of Armenian railway within a
month. The Ministry of Finance and Economics was charged with release
from duties and from 12.6 million dollars loan disposed to the company
by "Development credit agreement".

KHAZAR IBRAGIM: "IF KAZIMIROV HAVE CALLED THINGS BY THEIR NAMES, HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REMEMBERED AS A BIASED MEDIATOR"

Today, Azerbaijan
Jan 16 2007

If Kazimirov have called things by their names, that is occupation
is occupation and ethnic cleansing is ethnic cleansing, he would
have been remembered from the positive point of view, but not as a
biased mediator.

The due statement was made by spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of
Azerbaijan Khazar Ibragim, commenting on the speech of the former
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov in Yerevan,
who accused the leadership of Azerbaijan of "militaristic spirits".

"I do know whether he lacks courage, professionalism or anything else
to do it…", Kh.Ibragim continued.

"The President of Azerbaijan is a guarantor of the Constitution and
it is in his competence to restore the territorial integrity of the
country. Fortunately, the legislation of Azerbaijan and international
law envision clear opportunities for that", the spokesman for the
Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan noted.

URL:

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Jan 14 2008

Proposals on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Regulation for the first time
Submitted by OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs Simultaneously to Azerbaijan
and Armenia in Madrid
14.01.08 10:48

Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. Ê.Ramazanova / Bernard Fassier, the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, answering to the questions of journalists
in Baku airport on 13 January stated that the proposals on the
regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were for the first time
officially submitted in Madrid.

`For the first time since the beginning of the negotiations the three
Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group submitted the proposals on the
regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict simultaneously.’
According to Fassier, the proposals have a positive character for
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

`Now, the both sides have enough time to think over the made
proposals,’ Fassier said. The monitoring on the contact line between
the both countries is expected to hold on 16 January.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988, due to the Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
Since 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of
Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven
neighbouring districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a
ceasefire agreement which ended the active hostilities. The Co-Chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently
holding the peaceful negotiations.

The Times, UK
Jan 11 2008

David Nalbandian guarantees Britain will get warm welcome in Buenos
Aires

Neil Harman, Tennis Correspondent

David Nalbandian is laughing out loud, uncontrollably, which is
unusual in itself. When it comes to stereotypes, Rafael Nadal is the
indefatigable warrior, Andy Murray the shaggy-haired wunderkind and
Nalbandian the guy from Argentina who rubs people up the wrong way,
wears a look of permanent indifference and is regarded by many as the
trickiest of all to get along with. So why is he guffawing?

He has just been receiving ice-pack treatment on a back injury, which
means that he will enter the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday
without a preparation match under his belt. That is no laughing
matter, but he is in ebullient mood – he has just been asked what
kind of welcome the Great Britain team can expect on their arrival
for next month’s Davis Cup World Group first-round tie in Buenos
Aires.

`Hmm, I think it will be really good,’ Nalbandian says, laughing all
the while. `No, I think it will be a nice atmosphere. It will be a
very good week – beautiful weather at the end of the summer, an
excellent crowd, a beautiful city. A very good week for us, I think.’

When he learns that Britain are employing a security team the
strength of which would shame a visit by George W. Bush, Nalbandian
asks: `Why would you want to do that? There are absolutely no worries
at all on that score. We respect the British players very much. We
are not out of control when we play Davis Cup ties at home,
absolutely not.’

He reluctantly confesses that there `may be people’ who are not
predisposed to a red-carpet welcome for a sporting team from Britain.
Last year, on the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict of 1982
in which 907 lives were lost in 74 days, 649 of them on the Argentine
side, the Government of Argentina renewed its claim of sovereignty.
The response was that Britain was seeking to extend its seabed
territory around the islands to prevent the exploitation of their
natural resources – the waters are abundant in fish and oil.

Argentina took exception. `So maybe it will be a little tough for you
and I cannot tell for sure how everybody will react,’ Nalbandian
says. `The Davis Cup is very important for the Argentinian people. It
is something we have never won. We reached the final two years ago
and lost in Russia, so this year we think we have a good chance and
the first opponent is Britain. We are ready to win the cup this
time.’

Nalbandian will be phoning Diego Maradona in the hope that his friend
will attend the match, from February 8-10. Seeing the barrel-chested
football legend in the front row will only add to the frenzy of the
occasion. `He is still the No 1 sporting superstar of all time,’
Nalbandian says. `The people worship him.’

They love their tennis, too. Nalbandian is the Argentina No 1, so he
would need to lose at least once for Britain to have a chance of
pulling off a massive upset. If he picks up this year where he left
off in 2007, John Lloyd’s team can forget that.

Nalbandian, who was 26 on New Year’s Day, is the tenth-best player in
the world, thanks in no small part to his success in the final two
Masters events of last year, in Madrid and Paris, weeks that included
back-to-back victories over Roger Federer and Nadal as well as the
scalps of Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet and David Ferrer. When he
is on such a roll, he is a match for anyone. There are few better
double-handed backhands and for someone who has been accused of
carrying too much weight, he moves beautifully.

`I feel I can be better again this year,’ the former world No 3 and
2002 Wimbledon finalist, says. `I want to return to the top five, the
top three. I will be pushing hard. It is not going to be easy because
there are many good players coming through, but I am 100 per cent
ready for the challenge.

`I feel I can win a grand-slam [tournament], the Davis Cup for my
country and do well at the Olympics. It is tough to compare years,
but I definitely feel very good right now.’

ARAM HAROUTIUNIAN IS CONVINCED THAT HE WILL PASS TO SECOND TOUR OF
ELECTIONS

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, NOYAN TAPAN. According to Aram Haroutiunian, the
Chairman of the National Consent party, a candidate for presidency in
the forthcoming presidential elections in RA, his preelection program
differs from other candidates’ programs in the respect that the
suggests differentiating business from politics. As he mentioned at the
January 11 press conference, an economic parliament should be created
for that purpose and only businessmen should be included in it. The
latters, according to A. Haroutiunian, will be admitted to that
parliament not through elections but through the amount of the taxes
they paid and their conscientiousness. "In this way we will secure that
businessmen will not evade paying taxes," A. Haroutiunian said.

Besides the above mentioned, the National Consent’s leader also
proposes making amendments to the electoral system, in particular, when
voting not marking in front of the name of the preferable candidate,
but to estimate all candidates by giving them points, for instance,
giving 9 points to a preferable candidate, 8 points to a less
preferable one and 0 points to an absolutely not preferable candidate.
In this case, as A. Haroutiunian assured, the task of falsifiers will
become rather complicated, as they will have to do "hard creative
work."

He added that his election campaign will be held under the mottos "It
is time of national consent" and "I will be President of not only all
but also everybody." In case of fair elections, as A. Haroutiunian is
convinced, a second tour will be held without fail, and he will be one
of the candidates taking part in it. "And I am ready to dispute with
all candidates within the framework of the election campaign, except
Tigran Karapetian," A. Haroutiunian said.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Jan 15 2008

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs meet Armenian President

[ 15 Jan 2008 16:53 ]

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs-Mattew Bryza (US), Bernard Fassier
(France) and Yury Merzlyakov (Russia) met Armenian President and
Andrzey Kaspszyk, personal representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office
met Armenian President, APA reports quoting Armenian media
They discussed the issue on the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict and co-chairs learned Armenian President’s opinion of the
proposals presented in Madrid on November 29.
Co-chairs will observe the monitoring at the opposite side with
Andrzey Kaspszyk that will be held in the contact frontline of troops
in Yusifjanli village of Aghdam. They will return Yerevan at the same
day. They will return Azerbaijan on January 18.They met Azerbaijani
President and Foreign Minister and carried out talks on January
14./APA/