Author: Jidarian Alex

PanARMENIAN.Net

HSBC Bank Armenia to improve technical customer support in 2009
07.03.2009 19:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `This year HSBC Bank Armenia intends to invest $2m
in telephone and Internet banking, said Tim Slyther, Executive
Director General of HSBC Bank Armenia at the press-conference,
Saturday. Considering the clients’ interests in using various means of
bank service, the management has made a decision to meet their
request. The experience proved that with time the number of clients
who directly turn to the Bank departments will decrease,’ he said

`The development in technologies will lead to new demands of the
clients to use new and more advanced methods of Bank Service, Slyther
explained. So the telephone banking has already been implemented, and
by the end of 2009 our clients will be able to make use of the
internet banking. HSBC Bank Armenia plans to spend $2 m. to finance
these two projects. As to the security and privacy of this
information, Slyther assured us in the following,’It is easier to
forge a signature than a coded number fixed in one’s memory.’

Culture Minister’s decision welcomed
09.03.2009 15:48

Marianna Gyurjyan
`Radiolur’

Composer Armen Martirosyan and singer Zaruhi Babayan welcomed Culture
Minister Hasmik Poghosyan’s decision, according to which all concerts
should be live. They agreed that it is a step that will revive the
declining culture.

`We obviously deceive our viewers. This practice has been applied to
avoid extra expenses and efforts and get an easy result,’ Armen
Martirosyan noted.

`One never speaks about who organizes those concerts and under what
conditions. Due to that deceit everyone stands on the same level. I’m
glad for the order of the Minister of Culture, but I would be happier
if a school was opened to prepare good specialists,’ Zaruhi Babayan
said.

Armenian ex-foreign minister thinks the authorities should make bold
steps to overcome economic crisis

2009-03-09 16:16:00

ArmInfo. Armenian ex-foreign minister, Vardan Oskanyan, thinks the
authorities should make bold steps to overcome the economic crisis.

‘Naturally, Armenian and other states’ economy, including Georgia,
which is not connected with Russian economy at all, is in the hard
situation at present. There are numerous reasons for that. I think that
the main challenge for us is stop falling of the economic growth. For
this reason I think that today Armenian authorities have to make quite
bold steps’, – Oskanyan said in an on-line interview with ‘Region’
Centre. He also added that first, though with delay, the first such
step has been already made – devaluation of the national currency.
Secondly, Oskanyan thinks the authorities have to revise the budget and
the fiscal policy in such a way which, on one hand, will reduce the tax
obligations of the small and medium-sized business and, on the other
hand, the funds received from abroad will be used so purposefully to
stimulate economy. ‘And finally, monopoly should be abolished and
competitiveness created’, – Oskanyan concluded.

SALE OF SHARES OF ARTSAKH HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION BEGAN

Lragir.am
12:38:22 – 05/03/2009

Presentation of public distribution of the ArtsakhHEPS Company took
place yesterday in Stepanakert. This is the first time in NKR tried
to involve the public in major investment program. As a whole,
the ArtsakHEPS Company made a sale of shares worth more than 3,
5 billion drams. This sum will be directed to the constructions of
new small hydroelectric power stations in Nagorno-Karabakh. The price
of one share is 1050 dram, the department of public affairs of NKR
government reports.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT VOWS SUPPORT TO SOCIALLY VULNERABLE GROUPS

ARKA
March 5, 2009

YEREVAN, March 5. /ARKA/. The Armenian government stands ready to
support the socially vulnerable amid the global recession, RA Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan said.

According to the premier, changes in tariffs on electricity, gas and
water suggest 2,000 drams (around $5.4) extra monthly expenses for
an average Armenian family.

"Drawing up the 2009 budget, we stated that a 14% rise in monthly
pensions is due to the growth of tariffs in April," Sargsyan said,
adding the rise in pensions aims at softening the negative impact of
the price rise.

The premier stressed that the government had agreed with its strategic
partners on raising tariffs in Q2. "Thus, the price rise will have a
little impact on families, as electricity and gas consumption will
decrease considerably in April, compared to January and February,"
he said.

According to the premier, socially vulnerable families are in hardships
due to a 20% slowdown in remittances to Armenia. "This downfall first
of all hits the socially vulnerable," the premier said.

"It means that the government must continue its target policy,
assisting 118,000 socially vulnerable families. If their number
increases, the government will earmark budget funds to pay social
benefits to those families," he concluded.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF ARMENIAN CENTRAL BANK: ARMENIA MAY PRESERVE THE LOWEST INFLATION LEVEL IN THE REGION

ArmInfo
2009-03-04 17:06:00

ArmInfo. Armenia may preserve the lowest inflation level in the
region, Deputy chairman of Armenian Central Bank, Vache Gabrielyan,
told journalists, Wednesday.

He also added taking into account the currency rate changing prices
of the goods imported to Armenia will also change, but it will
depend on several factors, such us tendencies of the world prices
for a certain good, the competition level at the local market as
well as their possible affecting the market. "Taking into account
the expectations because of correction of the currency policy as
well as raising in price of energy products Central Bank predicts 8%
inflation", – Gabrielyan said and added that Armenia has quite low
inflation corridor.

Speaking about the inflation pressure he said that Central Bank is
going to neutralize it by means of instruments of the monetary policy
including interest rates and regulation of the money supply. "We
hope that because of effectiveness of the policy conducted by us
in the conditions of dollarization we shall be able to reach the
desired result. Anyway, according to the results of 2008 Armenia had
the lowest inflation level in the region. At present if compared
with other countries, inflation in Armenia is still on quite low
level. And we shall be able to remain the country with the lowest
inflation level in the region", – Gabrielyan said.

According to the data of Armenian National Statistics Service, in
2008 if compared with 2007 the lowest level of consumer prices index
was fixed in Armenia among the CIS countries – 117%.

To recall, 5,2% inflation was fixed in January-December 2008 at the
consumer market of Armenia. In February 2009 1,8% deflation was fixed
in Armenia.

NO INCIDENTS HAPPEN DURING OPPOSITION ACTIONS IN YEREVAN

Itar-Tass
March 2 2009
Russia

YEREVAN, March 1 (Itar-Tass) — No incidents happened in the Sunday
march and rally of the Armenian radical opposition in Yerevan. The
actions, which drew 8,000 and 5,000 people correspondingly, were
initially banned by the city administration.

The participants laid flowers to the monument to first Soviet Armenian
premier Alexander Myasnikian, next to which protesters clashed with
the police on March 1-2, 2008.

Opposition leader and first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrossian
focused his speech on the world financial and economic crisis.

"Armenian authorities have not informed the public of the essence and
the scale of the economic crisis. Obviously, they want to calm down
people and to avoid panic," he said. "At first they were doing that
with false promises of the construction of a new nuclear power plant,
a railroad between Armenia and Iran and the creation of an all-Armenian
bank. Now they are telling people about the upcoming loans from Russia,
China and the World Bank."

The government will soon have to stop supporting the national currency,
which will go down abruptly and have harmful consequences for thousands
of plants and the entire Armenian economy, Ter-Petrossian said.

As for the tragic events of last March, he claimed that the authorities
had done nothing to find the real culprits in the death of ten people.

In the opinion of the opposition, "any change of administration must
be constitutional, i.e. new authorities must be elected as the only
guarantee of a law-governed and democratic state," he said.

The next rally of the opposition is due on May 1, but it may be held
even earlier, Ter-Petrossian noted.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Government to lend helping hand to gastarbeiters returning to Armenia
27.02.2009 21:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Head of Migration Agency at the RA Ministry of
Territorial Administration Gagik Yeganyan specified 3 main
implications of the world financial crisis on migration.

`The first is transfer reduction. In 2008, the transfer volume totaled
$2,1 billion, with $1.635 billion for emigrants. In 2007, the transfer
rate increased by 35% and in 2008 a drop of 24% was registered,
coinciding with the outset of world financial crisis,’ he told a news
conference today.

The second is the general workers outflow decrease, conditioned by
lack of work abroad, according to him.

`For the most part, emigrants from Armenia work at construction
sites. And construction is usually a seasonal work. Yet in winter it
will become clear that seasonal aspect is no longer a determining
factor. So, starting from April a major inflow is expected,’ Yeghanyan
said.

`The third implication is the increase number of people retuning to
Armenia. According to OSCE data, the annual number of those leaving
abroad for job is 60 to 70 thousand people. They’re usually leaving in
spring and returning by the end of the year. We believe many won’t
leave this year because of staff reductions,’ he said, adding that the
Migration Agency announced creation of new job opportunities for
gastarbeiters retuning to Armenia.

Lider TV, Azerbaijan
Feb 28 2009

Azerbaijan detains three Armenians near Karabakh

Azerbaijani forces have captured three Armenian servicemen while
repelling an attack near Nagornyy Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s private TV
channel Lider reported on 28 February.

The servicemen were seized near the village of Kuropatkino, southwest
of the breakaway territory, together with their weapons, Lider said
without giving further details.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani TV channel ANS said three Armenians in
"military uniforms" were captured in the same area in the morning of
28 February. But it did not mention any fighting between the sides.

Qatar News Agency, Qatar
February 26, 2009 Thursday 11:25 AM EST

Syrian President meets Armenian Foreign Minister

Damascus, February 26 (QNA) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met
here this morning with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
currently visiting Damascus.

During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations and ways of
enhancing them.

Nalbandian briefed President al-Assad on the Armenian-Turkish dialogue
aiming at normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia, Syrian
Arab News Agency (SANA) said.

Meanwhile, the Syrian President briefed the Armenian Minister on the
impacts of the Israeli aggression against Gaza and the suffering of
the Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli siege, as well as
the ongoing Arab efforts to achieve the inter-Palestinian
reconciliation. (QNA)