Author: Jidarian Alex

WRITTEN PROPOSALS OF OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS INTRODUCED TO PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA

Today
1830.html
Dec 13 2007
Azerbaijan

Written proposals, presented to the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and
Armenia by the OSCE Minsk Group in Madrid on November 29, have been
introduced to the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as reported
by the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mamedyarov.

He said Azerbaijan supports the continuation of talks in 2008 in the
format of the Prague process. The Foreign Minister noted that the
co-chairs will visit the region once more in mid January.

Yet, he considers that the proposals of the mediators do not lay
basis for the next meeting of the presidents.

Mamedyarov also announced that Azerbaijan does not see any problem
with the attachment of the status of autonomy to Nagorno Garabagh:
"We have mentioned more than once that if the Armenian community
is ready to accept the high form of autonomy, existing in Tatarstan
and Bashkiria in Russia or European countries, there will not be any
problem with Azerbaijan".

The Minister touched upon the issue of coordination of the
negotiated document: "The conflict must be settled step by step. We
must coordinate the issue of withdrawal of troops, engagement of
peacekeeping forces, establishment of communications, mine clearing
of territories, return of displaced persons and conduction of donors’
conference".

AUDIENCE WANTS TO SEE BLOOD
Naira Khachatryan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Dec 12 2007

Leader of "National Consent" Aram Harutyunyan, who has over again
been nominated for presidency, was the guest of "Urbat" club yesterday.

It turned out that A. Harutyunyan was deeply concerned about the
atmosphere in the political domain. The tendencies for struggle are
manifested even now two months before the presidential elections.

"The marathon has turned into a game without rules, because
unfortunately not all of the nominated candidates are concerned about
the protection of the statehood and the most important thing is that
they are ready to do anything to gain power."

A. Harutyunyan underscored that he perceives pre-election campaign
only on the level of program debates: "In our view the rivalry must
be between ideologies and programs, something that you can’t see at
present. Mutual abuses and qualifications are more frequent. This
can’t contribute to normal and democratic elections. Because when
the game has no rules the audience usually wants to see blood and of
course many people are ready to pay for it."

Leader of "National Consent" explained the fact of his nomination
with his desire to avert the undesirable process of the pre-election
campaign and his intention to start a civilized campaign. "Our
participation is also aimed at alleviating the confrontation. We
consider it important to show to the world that we are a civilized
nation that we can be proud of not only our past but also present
and why not future."

A party that is guided by similar high ideologies can’t endorse other
political powers: "The visiting-card of our opposition is to abuse
others. Today they accuse one another of being sold or performing
orders. They even accused Vazgen Manukyan of not backing the first
President."

The speaker believes his participation and the party’s ideology, which
is clearly expressed in the name of the party, will give a positive
trend to the pre-election campaign. "In our view it is the combination
of different programs that can lead to the country’s development. We
also believe liberal and traditional values must be synthesized."

But the leader has serious disagreements with Levon Ter-Petrosyan
regarding Karabakh issue. " I have an issue of debate with him,
beginning from 1991 and 1996 elections. This debate didn’t come to
an end with 1998 elections. Vazgen Sargsyan is next to me during
the debate, because he is also against Ter-Petrosyan’s approaches
regarding Karabakh issue. Though Aram Sargsyan is next to him, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan used to have disagreements with Vazgen Sargsyan as well.

The speaker highly appreciated the legislative and constitutional
amendments performed in the country, but meanwhile he underscored
that there are approaches unacceptable for him. He promised to detail
this topic during the pre-election campaign. "National Consent" hopes
that one of the extra-parliamentary powers will endorse them. But
the candidate didn’t give the name of this power. " We have program
generalities with this power. But I don’t want to give the name of
this party. They themselves will announce about it."

The leader of "National Consent" runs for the elections with hope and
belief, with expectations that with every new election the political
domain purifies and it is the obligation of every political figure
to show active participation in this process. "As you can see many
people who used to abuse have appeared in different places. Some
people have left politics, some have gained new jobs, but we still
continue our work."

By the way the speaker didn’t hide that it was very hard for him to
find the electoral pledge. " It was really very difficult that’s why
we reached CEC only at 5.50 p.m."

COOPERATION WITH NATO IMPORTANT FOR ARMENIA’S SECURITY

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.12.2007 18:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Currently in Brussels, Armenian Prime Minister
Serzh Sargsyan met with NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer,
the RA government’s press office reported.

"Undoubtedly, the Armenia-NATO relations have fixed considerable
progress and I would like to thank you for you assistance and
diligence," Mr De Hoop Scheffer said opening the meeting.

In response, PM Sargsyan said: "The high rate of cooperation
development will be maintained with special attention to the IPAP and
Armenia’s engagement in NATO peacekeeping missions. We have always
stated that Armenia eyes cooperation with NATO as a constituent of
our security system."

The parties referred to the Nagorno Karabakh peaceful process and
forthcoming presidential election in Armenia.

In this view, Mr De Hoop Scheffer voiced hope that the IPAP will be
again in focus of bilateral relations after the election.

Mediamax Agency, Armenia
Dec 8 2007

`VTB Armenia (Armenia)’ and EBRD plan to sign an agreement on a
micro-crediting program

Yerevan, December 8 /Mediamax/. `VTB Bank (Armenia)’ and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plan to sign an
agreement on a micro-crediting program.

Mediamax reports that the General Director of `VTB Bank (Armenia)’
Valeri Ovsyannikov stated today that in the first quarter of 2008,
the bank plans to launch a few new products in the sphere of
micro-crediting.

There is an agreement with EBRD as well on provision of additional
funding for the development of mortgage services in Armenia.

According to Valeri Ovsyannikov, there are plans on using the
opportunities of the European network of subsidiary banks of VTB for
the realization of export-import funding programs.

In particular, in the nearest future a credit line for ACP Company
will start functioning – pre-export funding at the sum of $15mln,
using the opportunities of `VTB Bank’ in Paris.

According to Ovsyannikov, today the credit portfolio of `VTB Bank
(Armenia)’ makes about $110mln, the assets make about $190mln.

JUDGMENT TO BE ISSUED TODAY

A1+
[07:02 pm] 04 December, 2007

The First Instance Court of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities
will make a final decision whether the Chairman of the "New Times"
party Aram Karapetyan will participate in the upcoming presidential
elections or not. Without the certificate on the 5 years of permanent
residence in the RA the Chairman of the "New Times" party may not
nominate his candidature in the upcoming elections.

During the Court hearing Aram Karapetyan mentioned that though he had
been working in Armenia in the latest period, he had been collaborating
with various organizations on social basis without any profit.

Aram Karapetyan expressed hope that the Court hearing would not have
a political character and the Court would take into account the legal
documents and anticipated a fair judgment.

The Judge wanted to issue the judgment tomorrow, but taking into
account the demand of the participants he will issue the judgment
today, in an hour.

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Dec 5 2007

YOU SHOULDN’T GO BEYOND CERTAIN LIMITS

Interview with RPA Deputy Chairman, MP Razmik Zohrabyan

` Mr. Zohrabyan during the hour of MP announcements you came out
with an appeal to demonstrate sensibility. What was the motive?’
` The nomination stage hasn’t come to an end yet, the official
campaign hasn’t yet started, but some political powers and pretenders
to presidency have already expressed ideas that cause deep concern.
For example head of the ex-administration commemorated his return to
the political arena with appeals to dissolve and dismantle the bases
of the state and labeling the government as `chieftains’.
This is the dirtiest and the most extremist method of coming to
power. If you disagree with the ideas and approaches of any
candidate, of course you are free to criticize them. But it is not
decent to fall to the level of personal abuses, something that the
press belonging to Armenian Pan National movement usually does. If
the goal of a person is to lead the country, then it is illogical,
before coming to power, to create threats that damage the security of
the people and the country.
The political powers and candidates that have chosen similar
strategy and tactics, in my view, make a great service to our enemy.
It is not accidental that Turkish and Azerbaijani press is very
enthusiastic about Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s nomination. They evidently
remember the reason of the ex-President’s resignation – his
preferable option of the regulation of Artsakh issue. Here we really
face a danger – to cross the impressible Rubicon and create danger
for our national security.’
‘ Serge Sargsyan’s pre-election headquarter has already convened
its first session. What strategy and tactics have you adopted?’
`We have adopted a strategy of holding democratic, free elections,
in conformity with all the requirements of the law. It is also our
political obligation towards our people and the whole civilized
world. The international observers evaluate every other election in
our country as another step towards democracy. I strongly believe
that the forthcoming elections will be the continuation of this
progress.
Minister of Territorial Administration, deputy Prime Minister
Hovik Abrahamyan will head the Presidential candidate Serge
Sargsyan’s pre-election headquarter belonging to the Republican
Party. RPA Deputy Chairman Galust Sahakyan and leader of RPA
parliamentary faction Karen Karapetyan will be the deputy chiefs. Our
central headquarter has been working for the last one week,
organizing the works of the party structures. All the organizing
structures of the Republican Party, during the whole process of the
campaign will act as the pre-election headquarters of our candidate.’
‘ Are there any presidential candidates, or powers supporting them
whose pre-election activity is not aimed at holding legitimate
elections but rather creating a tensed political atmosphere?’
`There are powers that have started a presidential campaign, which
will never obtain the people’s supreme vote. This means they have no
chance to come to power through elections. These people are well
conscious about this fact. This is the reason why they operate
elaborated election technologies to create an impression that the
government is tyrannical. The only goal is, of course to discredit
the government in power. This will only lead to the unfair solution
of the number one issue – the regulation of Artsakh conflict.
It is not a secret that there are certain political powers in our
political domain, which see the future of NKR as part of Azerbaijan.
They even try to convince Armenian people that only in that case can
Armenia have economic progress. Perhaps it is the existence of these
powers that has strengthened Azerbaijan’s bellicose disposition.
Luckily the supporters of the extremist pro-opposition powers are
very limited. Many pro-opposition powers refuse the before mentioned
attitude of Armenian Pan National Movement. `Orinats Yerkir’,
`National Democratic Union’, `National Union’ strictly criticize the
government in power but meanwhile they deny the policy of dissolving
the state structures and comparing the government with chieftains.

HARUTYUN GEVORGYAN

Kommersant, Russia
Dec 6 2007

Predecessor vs Successor Post-Soviet Dilemma

The start of the election campaign in Armenia was not promising any
serious competition. But Mr. Ter-Petrosyan, who has been keeping low
profile for a while, has joined the presidential race and brought in
some spark.

Blistering speeches of the ex-president, who paid a dear price for
his intentions for a compromise on the Nagorno Karabakh issue, have
lit the fire. He even tried to use to his advantage the tragedy in
the Armenian Parliament on October 27, 1999 that claimed lives of
several prominent politicians. It would have been too reckless to
name the incumbent leadership responsible as it would be fraught with
defamation. But Mr. Ter-Petrosyan said that the current `criminal
system of power’ is rooted in October 27, 1999, and he went on to
blast authorities for failing to solve the crime. The implication is
clear. The presidential contender hinted that he would have found the
people before the terrorist attack if he were in power. This has so
far been his main election promise.

In any case, tension is mounting in Armenia, and some analysts cite
quite dramatic scenarios. But several questions crop up. First, can
Serzh Sarkisyan be considered clearly pro-Russian and Mr.
Ter-Petrosyan pro-Western? On the one hand, Mr. Sarkisyan is a
successor of the Armenian course towards a strategic alliance with
Russia while several people close to Mr. Ter-Petrosyan have spoken
for Armenia joining the NATO or even deploying U.S. missile defense
facilities, which can be interpreted as clearly anti-Russian
rhetoric. On the other hand, it was the originally West-friendly Mr.
Ter-Petrosyan who signed a treaty with Russia. Meanwhile, the ruling
Republican party has recently started to pay a lot of attention to
relations with the West and NATO. In other words, any Armenian leader
would like to improve relations with the West and no leader would
choose to spoil relations with Russia.

The second question is what chances the contenders have. Naturally,
Robert Kocharyan’s successor has an edge but Armenia has a large
number of voters who are ready to oppose authorities. But will the
former president succeed in uniting all opposition forces around him?
Many experts believe that his figure would put off most voters who
blame the ex-president for the dreadful social and economic crisis in
the 1990s and unpopular plans to solve the Nagorno Karabakh issue by
a compromise with Azerbaijan. But some think that Mr. Ter-Petrosyan
may score high since people are tired of incumbent authorities who
are often regarded as corrupt, authoritarian, favoring nepotism and
having little connection with people’s needs. In any case, Armenia’s
next president is going to have to do a lot to win people’s trust.

Vitaly Naumkin, president of the Center for Strategic and Political Research

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Dec 4 2007

ARMENIA ACQUIRES A NEW PRESIDENTIAL AIRPLANE

Armenia has recently acquired an `Airbus’ A-319 air-plane. The
plane was produced in 1988 and is planned to be operated for official
goals, replacing its predecessor, i.e. `Tu-134′, produced in 1977.
The plane will mainly used by the President of the Republic and, upon
necessity – the delegations headed by high ranking individuals for
their trips abroad.
`Airbus’ A-319 was acquired in one of the eastern aviation
markets. The transaction cost was 45 million US Dollars, of which 15
million US Dollars have already been paid by the Armenian
charity-makers whose names are not published at their own request.
For the payment of the remaining sum, a loan has been lent for the
term of 10 years. The choice of this particular air-plane was
conditioned by the following factors:
a) having been produced around 10 years ago, the plane is in
technically fresh conditions and has been used 3707 flight/hour
b) the interior of the plane corresponds to the official class and
requires no additional expenses.
The acquisition of a new representative airplane had become a
vital necessity. First, `Tu-134′ airplanes do not conform to the
up-to-date aviation standards, e.g. they exceed the permissible noise
level, which prevents them from landing on European airports.
Besides, they are money-consuming in terms of the services and the
fuel used, as well as ecologically harmful. The plane `Tu-134′ is
depreciated to an extent that makes its further use inexpedient.
Let us also note that it’s a long time since `Tu-134′ airplanes
have not been used in our region for official visits.

ARMENIA RANKS 83rd AMONG 177 COUNTRIES OF WORLD BY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX OF 0.775

Noyan Tapan
Nov 28, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. In 2007 the Human Development
Index (HDI) for Armenia is 0.775 which gives Armenia a rank of 83rd
out of 177 countries of the world. Consuelo Vidal, the UN Permanent
Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia, said
this at the November 28 press conference, mentioning that the Human
Development Report is published every year since 1990.

The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic
dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life (as measured
by life expectancy at birth), knowledge (as measured by the adult
literacy rate) and a decent standard of living (as measured by the
log of GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) in USD).

It should be mentioned that according to that list, Iceland ranks the
1st, the Human Development Index for which is 0.968, and Sierra Leone
ranks the last 177th place with the index of 0.336. According to HDI,
from the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe and of the CIS
region the Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan are closer to Armenia
having the indices of 76, 96 and 98 respectively. Iran and Turkey
with their indices took the 94th and 84th places respectively.

AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN ARMENIA IS $236

ARMENPRESS
Nov 28 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS: A study on labor migration from
Armenia in 2005-2007, conducted with the assistance of the OSCE
Yerevan Office, has found that the average monthly income of an
average Armenian household is 71,000 Drams ($236).

The average income of 20 percent of families is between 50,000-100,000
Drams, 15 percent of households can boast of over 100,000 Drams
incomes. The rest have less than 50,000 Drams.

According to the study, the most economically active were Yerevan
and the provinces of Shirak, Armavir, Tavush and Lori.

Syunik, Gegharkunik and Kotayk were least active in this sense. The
highest employment rate is now in Ararat, Kotayk, Armavir and
Aragatsotn marzes.

According to the study, some 300,000 people of able age are
jobless. Half are males; 36 percent of them are below 26. Women make
38 percent of economically active population. In 2005 their share
was 36 percent.