Author: Kajoyan Gevork

UK Government News
September 27, 2012 Thursday 12:13 PM EST

DOING GREAT BUSINESS IN UK AND ARMENIA

LONDON, Sept. 27 — Foreign and Comonwealth Office issued the following blog:

Phew – here at the Embassy we are just recovering from our first
Ministerial visit in six years.

Mr. Lidington, the Foreign Office’s Minister for Europe, was a great
visitor – engaged, full of energy, and really keen to make a
difference in UK-Armenian relations. And we are really delighted that
we were able to use the Minister’s visit to highlight a couple of key
priorities for the Embassy over the next year.

First, promoting Armenia’s closer links to the EU, including through a
Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA). This would mean
aligning EU and Armenian legislation and practice on a whole host of
areas, like food standards and customs, potentially opening up the EU
market to a lot more Armenian goods, but also making it easier and
cheaper to import European goods to Armenia.

Negotiating this won’t be easy – increasing competition for domestic
businesses means some tough political decisions. But we are a great
champion of the EU’s work with neighbours. It’s the right choice, with
huge benefits for both sides.

The second Embassy priority this year is to put lots more energy into
commercial links. Promoting British business is at the forefront of
our Prime Minister’s mind, and the Olympics has been a great showcase
for London and for British brands.

In fact, we have used the Olympics for a PR campaign (visit:
) to promote what we think
is ‘GREAT’ about Great Britain: e.g. entrepreneurship, technology and
innovation, creativity, green industry, sport, heritage, music,
countryside… and of course shopping.

Check out our new graffiti on the Embassy wall. We want to work harder
at encouraging everyone to take a fresh look at Britain, and come to
Britain to work, invest, study, and have fun.

But how well are we doing in Armenia?

Well, we now have an Armenian British Business Chamber, which has
grown from zero to forty companies in two years. There are already a
number of well-established, successful British companies in Armenia
covering sectors like finance (HSBC), pharmaceuticals (Pharmatek),
chemicals and construction materials (Britannia Chemicals).

The presence of British brands on Yerevan’s high street has grown and
grown (check out Mothercare, Next, Debenhams, BHS, Tateossian and
Burberry). Look out for a few more favourite British brands, famous
for quality and value for money, which will be opening over the next
few weeks…

But we think we can do better, and we are now planning a business
mission for later in the year to introduce some companies in a few
sectors to the Armenian market. Areas of interest include:

* Mining – Where British companies and consultancies lead the market
in many areas, including environmental assessments.

* IT – The UK specialises in some of the cutting edge R&D in this area
and we are keen to see whether the impressive skills base in Armenia
is something which could be of interest to British companies.

* Engineering and design consultancy – UK companies have a world-wide
reputation for project managing complex construction projects, as some
of the fantastic venues at the Olympics have shown. UK companies are
already involved in the build for the Sochi Olympics, and we want to
encourage them to bid for other key infrastructure projects in the
South Caucasus.

* Education – We have some of the world’s best universities,
vocational colleges and business education courses, and we want to
attract students to the UK (including through scholarships like
Chevening), but also export our education overseas. And we speak
English pretty well too…

* Finance – The City of London is the world’s premier international
centre and has the expertise to offer services in e.g. pension asset
management, public/ private partnership financing etc.

If you have an idea for an area to develop business links, we would
love to hear from you.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 28 2012

Armenian president discusses EU relations with European commissioner

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has met European Commissioner for
Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule, News
Armenia reports.

Sargsyan expressed satisfaction with Armenian-EU relations. Fule
agreed that regular visits would improve bilateral relations.

The sides expressed satisfaction with the association deal of Armenia
and the EU.

Fule met Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and granted Armenia
43.1 million for realization of the association agreement.

Armenia started negotiations to sign the document on July 19, 2010. It
will replace the agreement on partnership and cooperation.

Xinhua General News Service, China
September 27, 2012 Thursday 9:55 AM EST

Armenian 2013 state budget significantly higher

YEREVAN Sept. 27

The Armenian government approved a significantly increased 2013 draft
budget of 1.06 trillion AMD (2.62 billion U.S. dollars) Thursday,
local media Armenpress reported.

“Expenses will be around 1.18 trillion AMD (2.92 billion dollars), and
the deficit will be 124 billion AMD (307 million dollars),” Armenian
Minister of Finance Vache Gabrielyan said.

He said inflation would be between 2.5 percent and 5.5 percent, the
deficit 2.6 percent, and economic growth 6 percent.

The 2013 budget is about 16 percent up on the 2012 budget, which was
set at 911.6 billion AMD (2.26 billion dollars).

The government will submit the draft budget to the National Assembly
for discussion 30 days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
September 27, 2012 Thursday 11:00 PM GMT+4

EU Commissioner Fule holds talks with Armenian PM Sargsyan

YEREVAN September 27

EU Commissioner Stefan Fulemet with Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan to discuss a substantial agenda focusing on how to accelerate
reform and modernisation in Armenia for the benefit of the citizens
and the country and on how the EU can support those changes.

“We are building on solid foundations: there have already been some
very positive changes in Armenia. We recognised this by allocating an
additional ^15 million to Armenia under the ‘more for more’ principle
of the reviewed European Neighbourhood Policy,” Fule said.

The sides signed some time ago two agreements launching 43 million
euros of support to help Armenia’s institutions prepare for political
association and economic integration with the EU. “And we have
discussed ways of bringing Armenia’s international partners together,
to focus external assistance on the most urgent national reforms,”
Fule said.

He noted progress on visa facilitation and readmission or in other
areas such as negotiations on an Association Agreement, including a
Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. “This Agreement is of utmost
importance in moving our relationship to a higher level. It goes far
beyond normal free trade agreement. Through the Association Agreement
the EU will open up portions of its acquis related to the internal
market. But beyond this it encompasses changes that affect citizens in
their daily lives, in areas like consumer protection, air quality, or
road safety,” the commssioner said.

He stressed that this agreement is “about sharing values. It is about
freedom which unlocks the full potential of women and men. Offering
them protective umbrella of high democratic standards and real
guarantees for their rights”.

Fule and Sargsyan also discussed the matrix of priority reform
actions, as a useful tool to summarise the most urgent reforms and how
to turn it into an effective instrument of support for Armenia’s
reform process, the role of the Group of Experts in this and also
about increasing role of the civil society monitoring this process.

He believes that one of the most important priority reforms is in the
area of democracy. “With representatives of government and opposition,
I will be discussing a number of specific recommendations from the
OSCE/ODIHR which we would like to see implemented before the
Presidential elections next year. Successful elections really matter –
without them the continuous reform which we want to see would be
interrupted and the country’s unity of purpose could be undermined,”
Fule said.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
September 27, 2012 Thursday 11:35 PM GMT+4

EU, Armenia sign new financial agreements for reforms

YEREVAN September 27

EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy,
Stefan Fule, and Prime Minister of Armenia, Tigran Sargsyan, signed
two new financing agreements between the European Union and Armenia in
Yerevan on Thursday, September 27.

Totalling 43 million euros, the two agreements focus on institution
building and will support the negotiations and implementation of the
future EU-Armenia bilateral agreements: the Association Agreement and
Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area and Visa
Facilitation/Readmission Agreement.

“I believe we are preparing the ground for an Armenia which is a state
with more citizen-friendly institutions, an attractive investment
destination and better conditions for those businesses which want to
take advantage of new market opportunities,” Fule said after the
signing ceremony.

EU bilateral assistance to Armenia under the European Neighbourhood
Partnership Instrument is 157 million euros for 2011-2013, double the
amount for the previous period. On top of that, an additional 15
million euros have recently been allocated under the More for More
principle. “The more reforms Armenia carries out the more the EU will
be able to support it. Already today, EU support for Armenia has
reached unprecedented levels” Fule stated referring to the financial
allocation so far.

Through the financing agreements signed in Yerevan on Thursday, we
will support Armenia’s Sustainable Development Programme, focusing on
several sector specific strategies such as Customs Administration,
Quality infrastructure, Food Safety and e-governance. The expected
results should have a direct bearing on the key milestones set for the
bilateral co-operation under the Eastern Partnership:

– Introduction of biometric passports will help Armenia to meet a key
condition of visa liberalisation;

– improved data protection will open the way to deepened co-operation
in justice, freedom and security;

– improvements in the legal framework for public procurement will help
Armenia along the road to new opportunities for tendering for public
contracts on European Union markets.

During the period 2011 – 2013, the EU’s priority areas of cooperation
with Armenia focus on improving democratic structures and good
governance and facilitating trade, investment and socio-economic
reform.

The basis for the Financing Agreements signed today is the ENPI Annual
Action Programme 2011, worth 43.1 million euros and composed of two
actions:

“Framework Programme in support of the EU-Armenia agreement” worth
19.1 million euros and “Support to the Government of Armenia for the
implementation of the ENP Action Plan and the preparation for the
future Association Agreement” worth 24 million euros, the European
Commission said.

Tigran Sargsyan had a meeting with Dmitry Medvedev

20:12, 28 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan had a bilateral meeting with Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev in
Yalta. Armenpress was informed from the Russian governmental press
service. The Interlocutors have discussed a wide range of issues of
bilateral interest. No more details reported. The CIS Council of Heads
of Government meeting took place in Yalta on September 28 during which
more than a dozen issues were discussed. Prime Minister Sargsyan
attended a business conference referred to as `Investment
opportunities and economic cooperation within the CIS,’ held on the
sidelines of `Yalta business meetings.’

Note that the government delegation is composed of Chief of Government
Staff David Sargsyan, Minister of Finance Vache Gabrielyan, First
Deputy Minister of Economy Karine Minasyan, Deputy Foreign Minister
Shavarsh Kocharian and other officials.

ANC will vote against stripping Oskanian of immunity – bloc rep.

September 28, 2012 – 19:48 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian National Congress (ANC) opposition bloc MPs
will vote against stripping former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian of
his congressional immunity, ANC member said.

As Sos Gimishyan noted, he voted against depriving ex-interior
minister Vano Siradeghyan of his immunity despite serious conflict
with him.

Asked if the statement that Oskanian’s case is politically motivated,
the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP Lernik Aleksanyan said
the proper answer will be given only following the investigation.

Armenia’s Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan addressed the National
Assembly with a proposal to strip ex-minister Vartan Oskanian of his
congressional immunity over the money-laundering charges against
Civilitas Foundation.

Frenchman cycles 5000 km to raise money for Armenian school

02:02 pm | Today | Social

The French Embassy in Armenia will host on October 1 Marc Brunet who
is coming to Armenia to raise money for a local school renovation
demolished after Spitak quake in 1988.

Marc Brunet will arrive in Armenia on bicycle covering 5000 km from
French southern city of Valence. During his long journey which started
on July 21, Brunet has passed through ten countries.

On Sept. 28, Brunet will visit Ijevan, Valence’s sister city in
Armenia. He will be in Yerevan on October 1.

The money raised with the help of the Frenchman will be spent on the
renovation of a school in Shirakamut village.

Atmosphere of fear reigns in Javakhk – Armenian movement member

news.am
September 28, 2012 | 17:26

YEREVAN. – As a result of the past-twenty-year-elections in Georgia,
the country’s Armenian MPs and officials have been designated,
Sardarapat Movement member Alek Yenigomshyan stated during a press
conference on Friday.

He said those who did not defend Georgian Armenians’ interests were
appointed to posts and they silently encouraged the Georgian
authorities.

`Georgian Armenians are being subjected to national discrimination and
all manifestations of freedom of thought are markedly suppressed. And
Armenia’s authorities are inactive, and all responsibility for the
developments unrolling in Javakhk falls squarely on them,’ he noted.

Reflecting on Armenian Deputy FM’s statement that relations with
Georgia are normalizing, Yenigomshyan noted that this statement solely
deserves mockery, since Javakhk is losing its Armenian population.

`An atmosphere of fear reigns in Javakhk; this is carried under the
condition of designated Armenian officials and [official] Yerevan’s
apathy,’ he remarked.

In response to the query on the expectations from Georgia’s
parliamentary elections to be held on October 1, he stated that the
voting must be held democratically.

`It will be possible to protect the interests of our compatriots
solely under democratic conditions, whereas Georgia’s current
authorities are still very far from that,’ Alek Yenigomshyan
concluded.

To note, Javakhk – Georgian name: Javakheti – is a
predominantly-Armenian-populated part of Georgia’s southeastern
Samtskhe-Javakheti Province.

Allow Riots Happen in Armenia

Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 16:55:54 – 28/09/2012

The European perspective of Armenia has been smoothly delayed for a
year. The Association Agreement was first said to be signed by the end
of 2012. Now they mention 2013 with possible extension.

Domestic policy and geopolitics interfere in the relations between
Armenia and Europe. On the one hand, the Armenian leadership is
interested in cooperation with Europe, especially that it gets a lot
of money for that. Besides, the Armenian government is apparently
using the kind relations with Europe for a light blackmail of Moscow
and reduction of dependence on Russia.

Europe treats the relations with Armenia not in the narrow scope of
domestic issues but in a geopolitical scope. Europe wants to
strengthen its foothold in Armenia firmly and irreversibly and have
Armenia face Europe, with its back to Russia. However, either this
wish is not strong enough or Europe is not ready to pay a high price
for Armenia’s change of geopolitical orientation. Anyway, Brussels
does not pull the string tight.

The EU commissioners appear in Armenia whenever real threat of
ratification of basic documents with Russia occurs. Prime Minister
Sargsyan takes part in the CIS council of prime ministers where he may
be swayed to sign something, and immediately the EU commissioner for
enlargement Stefan Fule arrives in Armenia and signs an agreement on a
43 million euro grant.

The IMF promises another 52 million euros by the end of this year,
thereby hinting that it will not allow Yerevan turn to Russia for
assistance. In addition, neither the EU nor the IMF have announced
large-scale programs in Armenia which first would solve the issue of
Armenia’s orientation once and for ever, and second, change the
business climate in Armenia.

In the end, it is obvious that the current Armenian authorities are
not able to implement deep reforms. All the money paid for reforms is
spent by the government to pay social benefits and prevent riots. If
Europe wants to change Armenia, it should either stop providing
assistance and let people riot and remove the government or launch
large-scale programs to shape a business and political climate in
Armenia.

However, politics is not a single decision but a process which must
mature enough for every next step. Apparently, Armenia is not mature
yet.

In fact, similar processes are going on in other post-Soviet states
with which Europe is cooperating idly. Europe is waiting for decisive
action by the leadership of these countries, while the leadership of
these countries hopes for more deciding actions by Europe.

The results are still zero.