TURKEY WILL TRY TO DRAG OUT RATIFICATION OF PROTOCOLS TILL MARCH
PanARMENIAN.Net
21.10.2009 11:09 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey will try to drag out ratification of Protocols
till March, according to Richard Giragosian, Director of the Armenian
Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS).
"Armenia made a wise political move. It will wait for the decision of
the Turkish parliament and then take action," he told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter.
BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA INVOLVED IN YEREVAN CAR ACCIDENT
Novinite.com
Oct 20 2009
Bulgaria
Police in Yerevan are investigating a car accident involving the
Bulgarian Ambassador to Armenia. Photo by imageshack.us The Ambassador
of Bulgaria to Armenia, Todor Staykov, was involved in a car accident
late Monday evening.
The information was reported by the Russian Information Agnecy RIA
Novosti-Armenia.
Local police say the accident happened in downtown Yerevan when the
Nissan Extera driven by the Bulgarian diplomat hit a Volkswagen Golf.
One of the passengers in the Volkswagen suffered injuries and was
taken to the hospital. The case is under investigation.
FORMULA OF SUCCESS
Hayk Aramyan
s15590.html
12:41:03 – 19/10/2009
The Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met with the delegation
of the World Bank headed by the World Bank’s managing director, Dr
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. In answer to the observation of the WB managing
director, that Armenia must take into account the modernization
experience of other countries, Tigran Sargsyan said that our country,
taking into account the world best experiences must not copy them
but elaborate its own formula of success.
On September 19, the Singaporean Senior Minister Li Kwan Yu, the
author of the economic miracle of that country, the former prime
minister of Singapore took part in the board session of the National
Competitiveness Council. He presented the lessons taken from the steps
aimed at the Singaporean national competitiveness and was answered
in a similar way.
What Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Li Kwan Yu said: very simple things: that
they have to eliminate the monopolistic mechanisms, the oligarchic
economy and create equal start conditions, to separate the business
from the government and to create such tax and customs legislations
for the small and midsize businesses to develop. Right what happened
in Singapore. In other words, things that our prime minister says
on different occasions. But he adds "in accordance with out national
characteristics" when the time to act comes.
Now, it is comprehensible for everyone that the misfortune of Armenia
is determined by its political-economic structure. Such a structure
does not have anything in common with "national characteristics". And
the elimination of such a structure has anything in common with the
"national characteristics neither. There have long before been created
effective mechanisms of overcoming such situations in the world and
of taking up the way of constructing a dynamic, effective country.
So, they do not need to hide behind the "national characteristics".
Either they have to do what the interests of Armenia and people demand,
or they do not need to convince people that an Armenian oligarch may
become a lawful citizen who comes out of the shadow and pays taxes
renouncing electoral breaches and shaved-heads.
RA CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO RETURN VERDICT ON PROTOCOLS
Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Oct 19 2009
The RA Constitutional Court is to confirm the constitutionality of
the Armenian-Turkish Protocols signed on October 10 before they are
submitted to the Armenian Parliament for ratification, RA Presidential
Spokesman Samvel Safaryan told NEWS.am.
He explained the procedure of ratification of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols by the Republic of Armenia:
– the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall follow the interagency
procedure of considering the documents;
– the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall send the documents to the
RA President;
– the RA President shall send the signed Protocols to the RA
Constitutional Court for confirming the constitutionality of the
documents;
– the RA Constitutional Court shall confirm the constitutionality of
the Protocols;
– the Constitutional Court shall send its verdict to the RA President;
– the RA President shall submit the Protocols to the RA National
Assembly for discussion and ratification;
– according to the established order, the RA Ministry of Foreign
Affairs shall prepare instruments of ratification and submit it to
the RA President for signing;
– the instruments of ratification signed by the RA President shall
be sealed with the State Seal of the Republic of Armenia and signed
by the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs;
The sides are to exchange the instruments of ratification, after
which the documents take effect.
Gov.am
Oct 19 2009
Armenia
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received co-chair of the
Armenia-Ukraine intergovernmental commission on trade and economic
cooperation, Ukrainian minister of industrial policy Vladimir Novicki
In greeting the guest, the head of government indicated that there
is a good outlook for bilateral trade considering that much of the
existing potential remains unused.
The Prime Minister stressed that the intergovernmental commission
needs extra momentum which in turn can boost bilateral ties. Mindful
of developing direct linkages between individual regions, Tigran
Sargsyan highlighted Kharkiv governor’s recent visit to Armenia.
Notwithstanding the global crisis-caused downturn in bilateral
trade turnover as recorded in the first semester of 2009, commodity
circulation was said to be short of the actual economic potential
of our two countries. It was stressed that intergovernmental
commission-backed efforts should be taken to expand them in future.
Mechanical engineering, aviation, agriculture, transport, information
technologies, science and education, culture and health care were
cited on either side as priority areas of improved cooperation.
The head of the Armenian government expressed hope that by stepping up
its efforts, the intergovernmental commission may help boost economic
interaction to the mutual benefit of the two nations.
TO OVERCOME FALLOUT FROM GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS SOUTH CAUCASUS SHOULD SECURE TAX-BUDGET STIMULUS: WB
ARKA
Oct 19, 2009
YEREVAN, October 19, /ARKA/. In a last week interview to the Armenian
daily ‘Hayastani Hanrapetutyun’ the World Bank Managing Director, Ms.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said in order to overcome and mitigate the fallout
from the global economic crisis the South Caucasus countries should
secure a tax-budget stimulus to neutralize the economic activity fall.
According to her, this can be implemented either through the budget
means or through borrowings from international lending organizations.
She said the success of these steps will be depending on their
tax-budget capacities to increase spending and cut taxes. According
to her, it will be a hard task with reduced Tax collection rates.
>From this point of view, she said, donor assistance to Armenia and
Georgia proved useful, while Azerbaijan used its oil proceeds to
support different government-funded projects.
The World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the
governments should keep in their limelight, during the time of the
crisis, protection of insecure segments of the population. She said
in this sense all the three countries have decided to expand their
social spending.
She also said these governments should work actively to create more
jobs and therefore, pursue more targeted investing policy. She said
investments in irrigation, construction and rehabilitation of rural
and community roads may promote creation and maintenance of new jobs.
According to her, in the current conditions it is important to base on
past achievements as well, to raise the plank of government policies
and support economic competition in the mid-term perspective.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala dissatisfied with internet connection speed in Armenia
19.10.2009 10:32 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ To provide economy growth in post crisis period,
Armenia has to diversify its economy and invest in infrastructure
development, WB Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala believes.
According to her, Armenia has to work towards rising the level of
intellectual possibilities, specifically, through IT sphere
development.
Adjacent spheres also have to be developed, including improvement of
internet connection speed, WB MD added.
WPS Agency, Russia
October 12, 2009 Monday
MUTE PEACE
by Gajane Movsesjan, Ivan Soloviov
SERJ SARGSJAN’S VISIT TO MOSCOW: ARMENIA AND TURKEY SIGNED PROTOCOLS
ON NORMALIZATION; Armenia and Turkey pledge to normalize bilateral
relations.
President of Armenia Serj Sargsjan will visit Moscow today on Dmitry
Medvedev’s invitation. Presidents of Russia and Armenia recently met
at the CIS summit in Kishinev, Moldova, but the forthcoming meeting in
Moscow is going to be memorable all the same. It will be Sargsjan’s
first international event following what happened on October 10.
That day, Armenia and Turkey made a first step to normalization of the
relations after a more than century-long period of animosity. Foreign
ministers Edward Nalbandjan and Ahmet Davutoglu signed two protocols
in Zurich, Switzerland, on establishment of diplomatic relations and
on advancement of bilateral relations.
The signing was preceded by colossal efforts of international
go-betweens Switzerland, Russia, and particularly the United States.
They persuaded the authorities of Armenia and Turkey to push domestic
political considerations into the background and neglect serious
opposition to the signing in both countries. Regrettably, the
opposition just might have its sweet revenge yet because the documents
will have to be ratified by national parliaments now.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who was present at the ceremony
in Zurich pointed it out. "Signing of the protocols is but the first
step," he said. "The signatories have to ratify the protocols the
sooner the better and get down to their realization in practice." The
Armenian-Turkish border is to be opened two months after the protocols
go into effect.
Some Armenian politicians and political scientists emphasize in the
meantime that the signed protocols might weaken Armenia’s ties with
Russia. Russia has a military base in Armenia at this point. Will
official Yerevan retain the interest in so close a military
cooperation with Moscow after activization of contacts with Turkey, a
NATO member?
The opened border with Turkey will enable the Armenians to trade with
the world and that may eventually cause a shift in Armenia’s
traditional emphasis on cooperation with Russia. Its borders with
Azerbaijan and Turkey closed (leaving only the Iranian one), Armenian
foreign trade was lately restricted to Georgian ports. What counts is
that Armenia could not even maintain land contacts with Russia via
Georgia because the Russian-Georgian border was closed after the war
in the Caucasus in August 2008.
All the same, Lavrov said that the signing of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols made Moscow "sincerely happy" because the matter concerned
"friendly countries". Instead of perceiving this development as a
potential threat to its strategic partnership with Armenia, Russia
chose to expect some economic gains.
In any event, Armenia and Turkey made a step towards each other.
Sargsjan is convinced that normalization of the relations with Turkey
without any preliminary conditions has no alternatives.
Source: Vremya Novostei, No 187, October 12, 2009, pp. 1 – 2
GORAN LENNMARKER: THE SITUATION ON KARABAKH MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN EVER BEFORE
armradio.am
16.10.2009 11:34
"The situation when it comes to Nagorno-Karabakh is rather
optimistic," OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s special representative for
Nagorno-Karabakh, and the special envoy on Georgia Goran Lennmarker
said after a meeting with the delegations of Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Georgia to the OSCE PA at the Parliamentary Assembly’s autumn session
in Greece.
There have been many meetings between the foreign ministers, and also
the presidents of the two countries – Armenia and Azerbaijan; and this
is the sign that the negotiations are intensified, and my personal view
is that there is a good opportunity for a solution," Lennmarker said.
Asked whether the sides are about to come closer and there is a golden
opportunity in the settlement of the conflict, Goran Lennmarker said:
"I said that even four years ago, a golden opportunity, and sometimes
one may think for how long is an opportunity; but I am glad to say
that I think the situation now, late 2009, is more optimistic than
I have ever seen before."
Touching on the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia, OSCE
representative considers that it will have a positive influence on
the entire region.
"I think the Turks have made a great contribution for the situation
with Armenia but also for the region of Southern Caucasus. I will
also mention that the European Union through its Eastern partnership
is now – finally, I would say, come in and also give a positive
contribution. And that was a positive thing also for Georgia," he said.
ARMENIAN AMERIABANK INTENDS TO BEGIN IMPLEMENTATION OF CREDIT PROGRAMS TOTALLING $ 40-60 MILLION
ARKA
Oct 13, 2009
YEREVAN, October 14. / ARKA /. Armenian Ameriabank intends to begin
the implementation of two loan programs of $ 40-60 million in the
fourth quarter of 2009, the director of corporate Ameriabank Levon
Arevshatyan told the journalists on Tuesday.
According to him, the first program, valued at $ 20 million, will
be realized in the field of renewable energy, in particular, small
hydropower and wind energy.
"It is planned to build or renovate 5.7 SHPP with a total capacity
of 15 to 20MVt," he said.
Arevshatyan explained that the funding for the program would be
implemented jointly with two international financial institutions
that provide credit to $ 15 million and $ 5 million.
He did not specify their names, saying that the formal issues have
still to be resolved.
Arevshatyan noted that interest rates would start with approximately
11% per annum. The credits will be granted for a period of eight
years with a three-year grace period.
"The first loans will be provided in December of this year, and the
active phase will begin in the first quarter of 2010," he explained.
In addition, the bank intends to launch a program of lending to
small and medium businesses, with particular emphasis placed on the
development of medium-sized enterprises.
"Small business is certainly very important for the economy, but a
layer of medium-sized businesses, in fact, requires flexible use of
credit at preferential terms," – he said, adding that the middle-sized
business is important to diversify the economy.
Arevshatyan noted that the approximate amount of credit would be $
20-40 million, and all those businesses and companies whose annual
turnover reaches $ 15 million and the number of employees is up to
250 people will be able to obtain credit," he explained.
"The terms of loans under this program will be similar to those voiced
in the context of renewable energy," he added.
Ameriabank (former Armimpexbank) was established in July 1992 on the
basis of the Armenian branch of the USSR Vnesheconombank. On September
8, 1992, the Central Bank of Armenia issued a license to the bank.
TDA Holdings Limited, affiliate of the Russian Troika Dialog Investment
Company, became the bank’s principal shareholder (96.15%) in August
2007. In May 2008 the bank was renamed Ameriabank.
Armenian Stock Exchange awarded a status of market-maker of the bonds
of IMEX Group to Ameriabank on November 3 2008.
The bank’s assets grew by 65.1% up to 80.9bln Drams in the first
quarter of 2009, which is a 3.8-time increase as compared with the
same period of last year.
The bank’s liabilities were 60.4bln Drams in the first quarter of 2009
and total capital was 20.51bln Drams. Authorized stock totaled 18.2bln
Drams by the end of the first quarter. The bank’s credit investments
were 32.8bln Drams in the period with liabilities to clients totaling
53.8bln Drams. Net profit after taxes amounted to 113.6mln Drams in
January-March 2009 – an increase of 110.2% as compared with 54mln
Drams in the beginning of the year.