Author: Garo Vardanian

Outer transfers help only improve nourishment of Armenian families

Garo Vardanian
Public Radio of Armenia

Aug 14 2017
14:05, 14 Aug 2017

Food prices rose in Armenia recently, while the prices of other kinds of commodities did not, news.am reports.

The inflation reached 0.9% in Armenia in July. It has been particularly evident in retail trade which increased for 6.2% from January to June. The favorable factors are supposed to be the outer financial transfers – substantially from Russia – to physical persons in Armenia. The purchasing capacity increase has entailed price increase of several commodities. The food prices rose for 3.3% in July. The increase of alcohol and cigarette prices is probably connected with the excise taxes for the cigarettes and not with the increase in number of the consumers.

However, the transfers did not change much. A limited supplement to the frugal family budgets has helped only to improve the nourishment. The prices of other kinds of commodities have not increased and even dropped to some extent.

The prices of communication services decreased but only for 0.1%. There is a negative tendency in the sphere of mobile services (24.7% fall). The situation is almost the same with landline phone – profits dropped for 18%. On the contrary, the physical availability of internet connection increased for 34.8%.

Internet provides large opportunity for communication, as for example video-communication by Skype and social networks, as well as Viber. It is natural that free video-communication is more attractive than paid talk. Thereby, the shift from paid phone communication to internet is not ruled out.

 

Artsakh MFA Head received Baroness Caroline Cox

Garo Vardanian 
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Thursday
Artsakh MFA Head received Baroness Caroline Cox
 Yerevan August 10
Naira Badalyan. On August 10, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic) Karen Mirzoyan
received a delegation led by Baroness Caroline Cox, member of the
House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland.
Welcoming Caroline Cox's 86th visit to Artsakh the Minister highly
appreciated her consistent efforts aimed at advocating the interests
of Artsakh and its people, as well as disseminating truthful
information about the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh
in the international arena.
During the meeting the sides also exchanged thoughts on a range of
issues of mutual interest, including those related to the current
stage of humanitarian projects initiated by the Baroness in Artsakh.

Armenia refutes opening fire towards Azerbaijani village, injuring teenager

Garo Vardanian
PanArmenian, Armenia

Aug 8 2017
August 8, 2017 – 13:37 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijani media outlets disseminated disinformation on Monday, August 7, alleging that Armenian troops had opened fire towards the Azeri village of Garalar and wounded a teenager as a result.

Armenian defense ministry press secretary Artsrun Hovhannisyan in a Facebook post refuted the claims as completely false.

“We warn the Azerbaijani authorities that no provocations will go unpunished, with Baku bearing full responsibility for the incidents,” Hovhannisyan wrote.

“The border situation was more or less calm yesterday and throughout the night, the Armenian units have not opened fire from any type of weapon whatsoever.”

According to Hovhannisyan, Azerbaijan’s fabrication is revealed with the photo of the child’s injuries, which are obviously old bruises and cuts and have nothing to do with shrapnel wounds.

German-Turkish relations under severe strain currently, Armenian expert says

Garo Vardanian
Panorama, Armenia

Aug 5 2017

Tensions continue to grow between Turkey and Germany, an Armenia turkologyst said on Saturday.

“The relations between these two states aggravated especially in 2016, when the German Bundestag recognized the Armenian Genocide. The tensions in the German-Turkish relations were also triggered by the failed military coup in Turkey, after which many Turkish soldiers fled to Germany and were granted asylum there. These issues angered Turkey, which decided to deny German lawmakers permission to visit their soldiers at the Incirlik air force base,” Yerevan-based turkologist Mushegh Khudaverdyan told the reporters at a news conference on August 5.

According to the expert, the Turkey-EU crisis further deepened, which in its turn hampered the German-Turkish relations, leading to increasing arrests and persecutions against the German media representatives in Turkey.

“Their relations are under severe strain currently, which has grown to a point when the German and Turkish authorities trade insults when making calls,” Mr. Khudaverdyan said.

He noted that the row led Germany to impose both political and military sanctions on Turkey. “Germany banned arms sales to Turkey and blocked the further development of the economic and military projects. The country warned its citizens about travel to Turkey,” the expert added.

According to Mushegh Khudaverdyan, the Netherlands and Austria add fuel to the flames, repeatedly encouraging Germany to continue sanctions targeting Turkey.

In conclusion, the speaker added that Armenia pursues no interests or intentions regarding Turkey-Germany crisis.

Cultural: Armenia’s Hafez Association holds meeting for Persian language learners

Garo Vardanian
Tehran Times

Aug 2 2017
  1. Culture
August 2, 2017

TEHRAN – The Hafez Association in the Armenian capital of Yerevan organized a meeting of its learners of the Persian language on Tuesday.

A group of Iranian MPs and diplomats, and some Armenian cultural officials also attended the meeting, the Iranian reported on Wednesday.

“One of Iran’s main concern is to stimulate the development of the Persian language in Armenia,” Iranian Ambassador Seyyed Kazem Sajjadi said at the meeting.

He said that the Iranian Embassy has received numerous requests from Armenian officials to organize Persian language courses in Armenia.

“The embassy has helped establish some educational centers for the Persian language, but due to the lack of funds, the embassy could not meet all the requests,” he added.

George Ebrahimi, the director of the Hafez Association, thanked Sajjadi for organizing a tour of Iranian cities for the students of the center.

The association is a non-governmental organization that was established in 2015 to promote the Persian language in Armenian schools and academic centers.

The director of the Education and Research Committee of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad-Mehdi Zahedi, said that development of the Persian language in Armenia can help the cultural relations between the two countries expand.

He also added that the students can play a key role in the expansion of ties in cultural areas as well as in political and economic fields.

Photo: Iranian MPs, diplomats and some Armenian students of the Persian language pose at the Embassy of Iran in Yerevan, Armenia on August 1, 2017. 

MMS

600 new jobs already created in Armenia’s smallest province this year

Garo Vardanian
News.am, Armenia

600 new jobs already created in Armenia’s smallest province this year
15:40, 29.07.2017

YEREVAN. – Around 42 thousand tourist visited Armenia’s Vayots Dzor province last year and 20.4 thousand in the first half of this year, Armenian PM Karen Karapetyan said during a meeting in the resort town of Jermuk.

According to the program of development of the regional cities of Armenia, it is planned to invest $ 10 million into the development of Jermuk. Forty million drams will be allocated for the prokect development.

The process of enlargement of municipalities continues in the region. Three municipalities were created out of 18 last year, and it is planned to enlarge another 24 municipalities by the end of this year.

In the first half of 2017, two investment programs launched in the region were estimated at 1 billion 230 million drams and $ 117 million, while 600 new jobs were created.

Music: Iveta Mukuchyan and Aram Mp3 celebrate Lovely Armenia in new project

Garo Vardanian
EuroVisionary

Yelyzaveta Glybchenko / 29th July 2017 at 16:02 / Et cetera / Armenia

Iveta Mukuchyan and Aram Mp3 are now working on a series of songs about their native land – “Hayastan Jan” – or lovely Armenia. Both of them are former Eurovision representatives. Iveta took part last year, and Aram back in 2014.

Two of Armenia’s Eurovision contestants Iveta Mukuchyan and Aram Mp3 who shook Europe with their songs LoveWave and Not Alone respectively, have now joined forces in a music project that aims at coming back to the origins of the Armenian culture.

The project is called Dashterov – it is a 40 minute long music project, featuring revamped traditional Armenian songs from Al Eghnim to Nazan Im Yary. Iveta and Aram Mp3 are mixing traditional with modern and hopefully creating something truly special.

First came Al Eghnim, followed by the second Qamin Zana  and the third is Ghapama. The project is full of club bangers with it’s unique fusion of folk music and techno/house beats.

At the first song Al Eghnim, Iveta and Aram Mp3 use a snippet from Daft Punk’s famous ’00s anthem Around the World as well as Earth, Wind & Fire’s ’80s disco classic Let’s Groove.  Dashterov takes the Armenian cultural themes to a new level of modernity and internationality, which sounds like something Eurovision fans will enjoy.

The new project is not the only work that Iveta Mukuchyan has dedicated to Armenia.  Hayastan Jan (Lovely Armenia), composed and performed by Iveta, is a song that tells a story of coming back to the origins of the singer.

She should be able to relate to that as she lived away from her native land in Hamburg, Germany, and travelled all over the world as a Eurovision contestant. She returned  to Armenia and rediscovered her native land.

The video for Hayastan Jan is even composed around Iveta’s Eurovision experience.

The mountains’ wind is kissing the poppy field, My heart is calling you, oh my lovely Armenia!

Gonna say ‘bye’ to far-far-away shores, Gonna say ‘hello’ to my native land, my lovely Armenia!

Oh, my mountains’ world, you’re the best for me, For me, you’re the fairest and the most native.

There’s a part of me in your mountains, There’s a part of me in your apricots,

There’s a part of me in your name, Oh, my lovely Armenia!

(Go to the full lyrics and translation of Hayastan Jan)

For the upcoming songs of Dashterov as well as other Armenian cultural music projects, keep an eye on the Facebook pages of Iveta Mukuchyan and Aram Mp3.

Watch video at 

Subsidies and grants in some segments of Armenia’s economy to be exempted from VAT

Garo Vardanian
ARKA, Armenia

YEREVAN, July 28. /ARKA/. Subsidies and grants in a number of segments of Armenia’s economy will be exempted from value added tax (VAT), Vardan Aramyan, Armenian finance minister, said Thursday at a regular cabinet meeting. 

The cabinet ministers decided at the meeting to establish a commission, which will qualify subsidies and grant programs as preferential for VAT exemption. 

“We receive from donor companies various grants and programs, under which credit lines are provided also to IT startups,” the minister said. “This leads to the necessity of VAT payment, but, in accordance with the law, these companies are exempted from VAT.” 

In his opinion, this makes confusion in tax payment, and it seems not clear whether a company must pay it or not and whether it is eligible to enjoy VAT preferences or not. 

Aramyan said that those programs in information technology, tourism, agriculture, science, education, energy and nature protection areas which can contribute to development of Armenia’s economy and create new jobs can be qualified as preferential. –0—- 

Kirk Kerkorian’s investment firm sells property and assets

Garo Vardanian
News.am, Armenia

Kirk Kerkorian’s investment firm sells property and assets
10:11, 21.07.2017

Late American-Armenian millionaire Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp investment firm has been slowly walking away from Las Vegas, as directed by his will.

In addition to recently selling down its stake in MGM Resorts, the company Kerkorian founded, Tracinda recently unloaded a condo unit at the luxurious

Mandarin Oriental. Purchased in 2010 for $3.6 million, the selling price was just $2 million, casino.org reported.

Tracinda Corp is named after Kerkorian’s two daughters, Tracy and Linda. The directive to dissolve Tracinda’s holdings in MGM and sell off other assets stems from Kerkorian’s decision to leave most of his estimated $4 billion fortune to charitable endeavors. 

The well-known Armenian-American businessman and philanthropist Kirk Kerkorian died at the age of 98 in 2015.

ANKARA:Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan seek stronger ties through cooperation

Garo Vardanian
Daily Sabah, Turkey

ANADOLU AGENCY
ANKARA

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan exchanged views on strengthening mutual cooperation at the fourth trilateral meeting in the Azeri capital Baku yesterday.

“This trilateral meeting will strengthen the ties between the three countries,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said after meeting with his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and Turkmenistan’s Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov.

Çavuşoğlu said that the ministers exchanged views on bilateral and regional cooperation and added that the trilateral talks will continue in the upcoming years.

He said that there were projects to boost economic ties between the three countries and all parties were “resolute” about enhancing cooperation in the energy sector.

“Test drives of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway begins today [Wednesday],” he said, adding that the project was completed and train service will “hopefully” start in autumn.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is a regional rail project linking Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. It is expected to increase the flow of containers and other types of cargo from Asia to Europe.

In other developments, Çavuşoğlu reiterated Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan and called on Armenia to act responsibly under international law.

“The Upper Karabakh dispute needs to be resolved as soon as possible within the framework of international law and with respect for Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are at loggerheads over the occupied Karabakh region, which broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with Armenian military support. No peace process has so far been initiated to bring an end to the standoff.

Earlier yesterday Çavuşoğlu was received by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and the pair discussed bilateral relations and regional developments.