Author: Hovhannisian John

MINISTER OF FINANCE TO MAKE PREVISIONS ON RUSSIAN LOAN TO ARMENIA

Panorama.am
17:54 02/04/2009

The world financial-economic crisis different methods to overcome
the impact of the crisis in Armenia, the loan provided by Russian
Federation and other issues have been presented by the Minister of
Finance of Armenia Tigran Davtyan in a press conference today. The
Minister of Finance told that loan would be provided by Russia but
the Minister hesitated to say anything about the date of implementing
the agreement. He said that much depends on the in-house activities
in Russia. "Currently Duma is discussing the changes in the budget,
after it is adopted the Council of the Federation should sign
it and the President of the state to sign," said the Minister of
Finance. According to the Minister if the plan follows its way in
June Armenia will receive the loan.

NKR PRESIDENT VISITED THE CONSTRUCTION SITE OF THE CONCILIAR CHURCH OF THE INTERCESSION IN CAPITAL STEPANAKERT

2009/04/02|18:50

On April 2 President of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Bako Sahakyan
visited the construction site of the conciliar Church of the
Intercession in capital Stepanakert and got acquainted with work
carried out there.

The Head of the State underlined the importance of the cathedral’s
construction and the role it were to play in spiritual life of the
republic as well as in the architectural color of the capital.

Primate of Artsakh Dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop
Pargev Martirosyan and other officials accompanied the President during
the visit, infwomen Central Information Departmen of the Office of
the NKR President.

IRAN TO MAXIMALLY ASSIST ARMENIA WITH CONSTRUCTION OF THE IRAN-ARMENIA RAILWAY

armradio.am
03.04.2009 16:44

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan today received the delegation headed
by the Minister of Roads and Communication of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, Hamid Bahbahan.

Greeting the guests, the Prime Minister noted that Armenia attaches
importance to the further development of friendly relations with
Iran, which have deep historic roots. According to him, the global
financial crisis is another opportunity to deepen and reinforce the
bilateral ties.

In this context, emphasizing the importance of the Armenian President’s
forthcoming official visit to Iran, the Prime Minister expressed
confidence that it will serve as a new impetus for the further
development of relations and will contribute to the more effective
implementation of programs in different spheres.

Minister Hamid Bahbahan also underlined that Armenia is an important
friendly state to Iran, the cooperation with which is one of the
priorities of his country’s foreign economic policy. Among the programs
in the field of transport the Minister pointed to the project of
construction of the Iran-Armenia railway. He noted that within the
framework of the visit he had a meeting with the Armenian Ministers
of Energy and Transport, as a result of which a corresponding working
group has already been set up.

According to Hamid Bahbahan, the works will be carrie d out in three
stages: the study of the technical-economic bases of the project,
confirmation of financial sources, determination of the most optimal
directions and the construction itself. He underlined that Iran is
going to maximally assist Armenia in all three stages of project
implementation. "The southern road of Armenia is more than reliable
today, and we will aspire to do our best to make the communication
between our countries maximally easier," the Minister stated.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan also underlined that Armenia is
interested in the construction of the railway, the absence of which
does not allow utilizing the existing potential in full. According to
the Prime Minister, with the exploitation of the Iran-Armenia railway
the situation with the commodity turnover will immediately change,
many enterprises will start working. There are projects in the fields
of energy, agriculture and others, which will promote the development
of economic cooperation between the two countries.

HAYASTAN FUND WILL PROVIDE SCHOOL FURNITURE TO 10 000 STUDENTS IN ARMENIA AND ARTSAKH

armradio.am
02.04.2009 16:48

The Hayastan All Armenian Fund is pleased launches a large-scale
furnishing project in Armenia and Artsakh, which will provide 10
000 school students and their teachers in Armenia and Artsakh (5000
students in each) with school furniture including school desks,
dry erase boards, hangers, bookshelves. The initiative, worth 330
thousand euros, is sponsored by the Hayastan Fund French Affiliate.

The lion’s share of the donation, namely 227 thousand euros, was
donated by Ms. Curbevua in France (Paris region). The other 103
thousand euros will be raised through the efforts of the French local
affiliate. It is worth mentioning that the rest of the money (around
274 thousand euros) left in Ms. Curbevua’s will helped to construct
Artsakh’s Kochughut School back in 2007, and some 175 thousand euros
were invested in road construction in Artsakh.

The Fund envisages allocating all the furniture before the beginning
of the school academic year in September. Thanks to the project,
dozens of workers in Gyumri will have jobs; all items of furniture
will be manufactured in Armenia rather than be imported. This is a
rather significant input into the economy of Gyumri, which has not
fully recovered from the 1988 earthquake and is still going through
challenging times, with the situation deteriorating d ue to the
overall economic crises.

At the end of the project 7000 students will still be in need of
school furniture in Karabakh where old and wobbly school desks are
unfortunately still in place. The French affiliate and the Nagorno
Karabakh Government have agreed to combine their efforts to provide
an efficient solution to the furnishing problem in Karabakh.

"We call for your generosity. Your names will be posted on plaques
put up on the classroom doors. Let’s jointly create decent educational
conditions for our children in Armenia and Artsakh", this is how the
French affiliate addresses its benefactors in its press release.

A MAJOR THINK TANK CALLS ON PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO USE THE WORD GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.04.2009 17:11 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A major think tank calls on President Obama not
to recognize the killings of Armenians as ‘genocide.’ ‘If Obama uses
the word Genocide, the Turkish response will be harsh and trigger a
bitter breach in relations,’ the CSIS says.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a major
and bipartisan think tank in the United States capital, Monday called
on President Barack Obama not to recognize World War I-era killings
of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as Genocide.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser for former President
Jimmy Carter, and Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser for former
Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush, jointly introduced the
CSIS report at a meeting.

"If President Obama takes no action to prevent congressional enactment
of the (Armenian) resolution (pending in the House of Representatives),
endorses the measure, or uses the word Genocide himself, the Turkish
response will be harsh and trigger a bitter breach in relations,"
the CSIS said.

It said the United States, "rather than seek to legislate history,"
should encourage and support rapprochement that Turkey and Armenia
are trying to accomplish.

INFLATION IN EFFECT

A1+
08:12 pm | March 31, 2009

Society

The increased prices for gas, water and electricity will be in effect
starting April 1. The Public Services Regulatory Commission confirmed
on February 27 the appeals filed by "ArmRusGazard", "ArmWaterSewer"
and "Electronic Networks of Armenia".

Based on that, citizens consuming 10,000 cubic meters of gas will pay
96,000 drams a month for 1,000 cubic meters instead of the previous
84,000 drams. For those who use 10,000 and more cubic meters of gas,
they will pay 215 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters.

Regular energy consumers will pay 30 drams for 1 kilowatt/hour during
the day and 20 drams for 1 kilowatt/hour at night. In fact, night
prices are in effect from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The citizens of 37 cities and 200 villages who are customers of
"ArmWaterSewer" will pay 168.98 drams for 1 cubic meter of drinking
water instead of the previous 115.65 drams. As for water disposal,
they will pay 28.35 drams for 1 cubic meter instead of the previous
24.35 drams. The price increase makes up 40%.

Water prices will not go up in Yerevan for now and the appeal for
raising prices has not been discussed during the session held by the
Public Services Regulatory Commission.

Based on the appeal, "YerevanWater" offers 189.91 drams for 1 cubic
meter of water instead of the existing 172.8 drams when not all
districts of the city receive 24-hour water.

NA WILL NOT CONVENE SPECIAL SESSION

A1+
08:00 pm | March 30, 2009

Politics

Today Armenian parliamentarians discussed the nullification of a NA
decision to suspend the inviolability of MPs charged with the "case
of seven."

Recently, detained MPs Hakob Hakobyan, Myasnik Malkhasyan, Sasun
Mikayelyan sent a letter to the National Assembly.

Today’s meeting was attended by lawyers who noted that in case the
parliament convenes a special session and decides to revoke the
aforesaid decision, it will have contravene the Constitution.

"I think we could cancel the decision as the parliament had agreed
to the arrest of our colleagues and decided to suspend their
inviolability. Similarly, it could cancel the decision," Leader of
the Heritage parliamentary faction Armen Martirosyan said to A1+.

Anyway, the parliamentarians decided not to intervene in the case
hearing and wait for the court decision.

Note that the Prosecutor is to bring new indictment on April 1.

Armenian MPs Hakob Hakobyan, Myasnik Malkhasyan, Sasun Mikayelyan,
as well as Alexander Arzumanyan, Grigor Voskerchyan, Suren Sirunyan
and Shant Harutyunyan are charged with calls for public disorders,
power usurpation and attempts of a coup.

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
March 29 2009

Turkey-Armenia border may open in April: EU high-ranking official
29.03.09 16:19

An anonymous high-ranking EU official said he hopes the Turkey-Armenia
border will open in April following U.S. President Barack Obama’s
visit to Turkey, the Sabah newspaper reported.

Turkey and Armenia are attempting to normalize their relations, which
were severed in 1993.

Diplomatic ties were severed due to Armenia’s anti-Turkey campaign and
occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul accepted the proposal of Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan to visit Yerevan to watch a football match
between the two countries on Sept. 6, 2008. After the visit, efforts
to normalize relations have been underway.

Tradespeople protest against tough conditions

A1+
02:56 pm | March 27, 2009 | society

Most booths of the Surmalu trade center were closed today
morning. Tradespeople say they cannot pay leasing charges as the
global economic crisis has hampered their trade.

"The crisis has affected all of us. We can no longer pay the fixed
money. Let them reduce the money at least by 50 000 as we cannot work
in these tough conditions," said trader Astghik Hovakimyan.

Tradespeople say they pay 175000 drams a month though they had signed
an agreement of 100 000 drams. Whenever they try to protest, the
administration says: "If you have nothing to gain from your job, you
may quit it."

The protesters say they have to pay the money in advance. Some have
been forced to pawn their belongings – jewellery, cars and even flats-
to get the required money.

Besides, the administration makes them pay for electricity, parking
and even for the toilet.

The Director of the trade centre, Erwand Sukiasyan, spoke to
journalists inside the building. He says he fully realises the reasons
for the employees’ complaint. At the same time, he notes that trade
has gone down by 80 %. "The sides should draw a mutually beneficial
conclusion within a short period of time," concluded Erwand
Sukiasyan. Today Erwand Sukiasyan also received a few traders who
later said they will continue to work till April 10, before the issue
finds a final solution.

Note that there are about 400 small and middle-sized booths in the
trade centre.

SIPAN SCHOOL RECEIVES AWARD FROM MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION

n-school-receives-award-from-minister-of-science-a nd-education
March 27, 2009

PARAMUS, N.J.-On March 15, at the annual fundraising event of Sipan
Armenian School, Louisa Janbazian, president of the School Board,
announced that the school received an Honorary Award from Spitak
Seyranyan, the Minister of Science and Education of the Republic
of Armenia, "for its legacy of educating and nurturing the young
Armenian generation with the Armenian spirit," and in honor of its
30th anniversary.

The school, Janbazian said, earned this award because of the hard
work and dedication of the teachers and principal, Arpi Kevorkian,
who teach the students to learn and love the Armenian language and
our rich cultural heritage. Janbazian also thanked the Board members,
guests and donors for their continued support, and praised the founding
members-from the Armenian Evangelical College Students Association of
Beirut, Lebanon-some of whom are still on the School Board. Thirty
years ago, as new immigrants from Lebanon in New Jersey, this group
had the vision to create an environment, outside of the home, where
Armenian children could come together to learn their language and
history.

Finally, Janbazian thanked James and Maral Sahagian, who graciously
hosted the fundraising event at their home in Airmont, N.Y., where
the guests spent a lovely afternoon and enjoyed a delicious Lenten
luncheon. The proceeds from the event, as well as the generous
donations from friends and supporters, will help the school continue
with its mission.

The Sipan Armenian School, which meets on Friday evenings at the
Armenian Presbyterian Church of Paramus, has pre-nursery to seventh
grades. For more information call Principal Kevorkian at (201) 497-5096
or visit the school on Friday evenings between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. at
140 Forest Ave. in Paramus.