Author: Kalantarian Kevo

CITYMOBIL INTENDS TO ENTER ENGLISH-SPEAKING AND ARAB COUNTRIES, EUROPE, AMERICA

YEREVAN, December 9. /ARKA/. Citymobil is planning to enter the
markets of English-speaking, Arab and European countries, as well
as the American market, Citymobil co-founder Aram Arakelyan told
reporters on Monday.

Transfer of part of office structures to Armenia has opened up the
doors to other markets as well as it provided advantages in terms of
new staff, corporate development, market expansion and competition,
Arakelyan said.

It is mainly analytical and programming part that is done in Armenia,
he said. More and more company resources are being transferred to
Yerevan, he added.

“We are interested in the Armenian market as a pilot project that
gives us an idea about services and helps us take more purposeful
steps”, Arakelyan said.

In particular, the company intends to use human resources in Armenia
to enter the international markets, including English-speaking and
Arab countries, Europe and America, he said.

Arakelyan does not rule out Citymobil may come to the Armenian online
services market as well.

Citymobil is an automated online taxi reservation system founded
in Russia in 2009 by Russian businessmen of Armenian origin. The
company transferred part of its offices to Armenia in 2014 to take the
advantage of the up-to-standard research potential, skilled technical
specialists with knowledge of Russian and the required legal framework
in intellectual property and other strengths available in Armenia. The
company has currently part of its technical business functions in
Armenia, including system coding and testing, marketing, ads, quality
assurance and call centers. It provides services to the Russian market,
but the processing and management is done from Yerevan. -0–

COURT SUSTAINS HETQ’S FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CASE AGAINST ENVIRONMENTAL MINISTRY

17:47, December 8, 2014

Armenia’s Administrative Court today sustained a freedom of information
case presented by Hetq (Investigative Journalists) obligating the
Ministry of Nature Protection to provide copies of export, sale or
transport permits of rare animals as regulated by the CITES for the
period 2010-2013.

Hetq sought the copies for an investigative series it was working on
entitled “Dangerous Monkey Business: Armenia’s Links to the Illegal
Trafficking of Endangered Species.”

The ministry initially refused Hetq’s request, arguing that such
documents contained ‘secretive material’. It merely provided a list
of animals imported to and exported from Armenia.

After this initial refusal by the ministry to provide the copies of
the permits, Hetq suggested that any ‘secretive details’ be blacked
out. The ministry again refused and sent the same list.

The Administrative Court also sustained the IJ’s demand to be
compensated for the 49,000 AMD it had incurred in legal fees.

PASSENGER TRAFFIC AT ARMENIA’S ZVARTNOTS AND SHIRAK AIRPORTS EXCEEDS 1.9 MILLION IN JANUARY-NOVEMBER

YEREVAN, December 9. /ARKA/. The two Armenian international airports,
Zvartnots and Shirak, provided services to a total of 1 million
931,554 passengers in January-November this year, 332,376 passengers
more than in the same period of 2013, the press office of Armenia’s
chief aviation department reports.

It is a 20.8% year-on-year increase. In the period, departures rose to
976,708, as compared to 803,523 in January-November 2013. Arrivals were
954,846 (795,652 in 2013). This means, departures outnumbered arrivals
by 21,862 in the eleven months (39,910 in January-November 2013).

The share of departures in overall traffic was 50.6%, which is well
comparable to the respective level of 2013 (50.2%).

Freight traffic through civil airports rose by 3% to 9,478 ton,
and number of operations (takeoffs and landings) hiked by 17.3%
to 9,739 in the period. -0–

REMANIEMENT : NOMINATIONS A DES POSTES AU GOUVERNEMENT APRES DES CHANGEMENTS STRUCTURELS

ARMENIE

Le president armenien Serge Sarkissian a signe un decret pour nommer
Armen Yeritsyan ministre de l’Administration territoriale et des
situations d’urgence.

Armen Yeritsyan a conduit le ministère des Situations d’urgence avant
sa fusion avec le ministère de l’Administration territoriale dans
le cadre des changements structurels au sein du Cabinet armenien
approuves le mois dernier.

Ces changements font suite a la demission d’Armen Gevorgyan, qui a
servi comme ministre de l’Administration territoriale et vice-Premier
ministre.

Le President Sarkissian a egalement nomme l’ancien ministre des
Finances Vache Gabrielyan vice-premier ministre et ce dernier
sera egalement a la tete du ministère de l’integration economique
internationale et des reformes. Ce ministère a ete cree dans le cadre
des reajustements structurels et est charge de coordonner les reformes
economiques et les relations decoulant de la prochaine adhesion de
l’Armenie dans l’Union economique eurasienne dirigee par la Russie.

mardi 9 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

UN OPERATEUR ETRANGER ENLÈVE LES ORDURES A EREVAN

ARMENIE

Une societe libanaise qui a remporte un appel d’offres annonce par
la municipalite d’Erevan a commence ses prestations dans la capitale
armenienne.

Le Maire Taron Margaryan a inspecte l’equipement qui sert a
l’enlèvement des ordures de la SARL SANITEK Place Shahumyan.

Deux societes avaient ete choisies pour fournir des services a
Erevan en 2012 lors d’un appel d’offres dans lequel les entreprises
specialisees dans l’enlèvement des ordures et le nettoyage sanitaire
des huit pays ont participe.

La societe libanaise sera responsable de la fourniture des services
dans les districts administratifs de l’Ouest (Achapnyak, Davtashen,
Kentron, Malatia-Sebastia, Shengavit) d’Erevan, tandis qu’un consortium
de societes armeno-suedoises, EcoGroup et LL Milioconsult, fournira
les services de la secteur oriental (les districts administratifs
d’Arabkir, Avan, Erebuni, Kanaker-Zeytoun, Nor-Nork et Nubarashen).

mardi 9 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

LE GOUVERNEMENT ARMENIEN EXCLUT TOUTE RECESSION

ARMENIE

Le gouvernement armenien a maintenu ses previsions de croissance
economique pour l’annee prochaine malgre la deterioration significative
des perspectives economiques en Russie reconnu par les autorites
de Moscou.

Le ministre de l’Economie Karen Chshmaritian a declare que le
gouvernement continue d’anticiper que l’economie armenienne devrait
croître de 4,1 pour cent en 2015, malgre une recession attendue
en Russie.

Le ministère russe de l’Economie a declare mardi que l’economie
nationale devrait se contracter de 0,8 pour cent en 2015. Le ministère
avait prevu initialement un taux de croissance economique de 1,2
pour cent.

Interroge par des journalistes si cela signifie que l’Armenie risquait
de glisser dans la recession compte tenu de sa dependance economique a
la Russie, Karen Chshmaritian a dit : >. Il a fait
valoir que la Russie represente moins d’un quart du commerce exterieur
armenien. Karen Chshmaritian a donne des assurances similaires le mois
dernier. Mais il a admis en meme temps que le gouvernement armenien a
fait des plans d’urgence pour d’eventuels retombees liees aux problèmes
economiques de la Russie.

La monnaie armenienne, le dram, a depuis perdu plus de 6 pour cent de
sa valeur par rapport au dollar au milieu d’une baisse des transferts
des travailleurs migrants armeniens en Russie. Le rouble russe s’est
deprecie durant plus de la moitie de cette annee.

La Banque Centrale d’Armenie (CBA) a reaffirme jeudi qu’elle avait
suffisamment de reserves en devises fortes pour prevenir des > du taux de change du dram. S’exprimant
lors d’une reunion du cabinet a Erevan, le gouverneur adjoint de la
banque, Nerses Yeritsian, a egalement declare que le taux peut subir
des > mineurs en raison de >. La
situation economique qui se deteriore en Russie a deja conduit le Fonds
monetaire international a abaisser sa prevision de croissance 2014
pour l’economie armenienne a 2,6 pour cent. Cet ete, le gouvernement
armenien a declare que le produit interieur brut augmentera de 4 pour
cent cette annee.

mardi 9 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ALEXEI PUSHKOV: “MOSCOW WILL DO ITS BEST FOR A POLITICAL RESOLUTION OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT”

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Dec 8 2014

8 December 2014 – 1:51pm

By Vestnik Kavkaza

2014 has been a difficult year for development of relations between
Russia and not only the Western countries, but also the South Caucasus
states. However, in the context of the complicated international
situation, the context with its neighbors became especially acute for
Moscow. The head of Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Alexei Pushkov, comments on the prospects of relations between Russia
and the Transcaucasian countries for Vestnik Kavkaza.

– What do you think about the prospects of development of relations
with the South Caucasus states?

– Relations with Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia are different.

Armenia is our ally. It is part of the CSTO. It has been decided that
Armenia will join the Customs Union and, if I understand it correctly,
there is talk about Yerevan joining the Eurasian Economic Union, which
will become effective on January 1, 2015. Azerbaijan is our strategic
partner, a friendly country, which, if I understand it correctly,
currently does not want to join any integration associations or bind
itself by any additional obligations. There are very good bilateral
relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, as far as I know, in the
spheres of politics and economics. Will Azerbaijan join the integration
mechanisms in which Russia is involved? I think this is a question
which is being reviewed by the leadership of this country. In any
case, it seems to me that Baku considers further developing relations
with Russia, whatever form these relations might take, and it is
especially important for us. We do not want to push anyone anywhere,
but it’s important to preserve a good foundation and positive attitude
in Russian-Azerbaijani relations.

– What is Moscow’s role in resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

– In my opinion, Nagorno-Karabakh is one of the most difficult
conflicts existing in the former Soviet Union. Russia, as you
know, takes an active part in resolving [the conflict] and holding
negotiations between the leaders of the two states, uses its authority
to keep this frozen conflict from turning into an active one. In my
opinion, this is the essence of Russia’s role today and it is extremely
important. There is a big difference between a frozen conflict when
there are political solutions to it and between an active conflict
which is marked by a possibility of armed clashes and a worsening of
the situation. So I think that Russia will continue to pursue efforts
to create as many conditions as possible for a political discussion
of this issue, and not for a military resolution of the conflict.

– Could we speak about improvement of relations between Moscow
and Tbilisi?

– The situation in relation to Georgia is much more complicated,
because Georgia has chosen the path of gradual rapprochement with
NATO. At the moment, the Georgian leadership says that there will
be NATO training centers built in Georgia. It is the only thing that
prevents the Georgian population from being fully “happy.”

Georgia has consistently emphasized its Euro-Atlantic orientation. It
has been done in a milder form than during Saakashvili’s term, but,
nevertheless, we have to admit that they are talking about the same
foreign policy doctrine.

In my opinion, Georgia is bringing unnecessary tension into relations
with Moscow, which are improving, when it makes political demarches
about the security arrangements that Russia signed with Abkhazia.

These agreements are simply confirming the status quo. Nothing new is
happening. There are no fundamentally new developments. Everyone knows
that Russia is Abkhazia’s guarantor of security. Everyone knows that
certain military-technical measures are being taken in this regard. I
do not think that the Georgian side is unaware of that.

Together with Abkhazia we are creating an international legal
foundation for them. That is, we are legalizing what exists de facto.

If Georgia wants to bring uncertainty into relations with Russia,
it wants to jeopardize those certainly beneficial aspects that have
been achieved in the framework of improving relations. In particular,
as you know, economic relations have improved, Georgia received the
opportunity to export its products to the Russian market, etc. This
is the choice of the Georgian leadership, but I have serious doubts
about whether it is beneficial for Georgia.

If Georgia takes a more balanced position, and realizes that certain
events have occurred, and that they will not be reversed and that
Russia has the right to defend its security when it is being constantly
challenged, including by Georgian NATO partners, a balanced position
would be more beneficial for Georgia and, of course, it would be more
acceptable to Russia. As a result, positive trends that have appeared
in our relations in the last few years would be maintained.

AZERBAIJAN KILLS ARMENIAN NATIONAL IN KARABAKH

Press TV, Iran
Dec 8 2014

Azerbaijani troops have killed an Armenian national in their new
clashes with separatist forces from Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Garik Ispirian, 19, was killed in a fresh wave of violence that
erupted on Monday in the area bordering the Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

In late 1991, the Armenian representatives in the local government of
the Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed the region a republic, independent
from Azerbaijan. That was followed by a series of brutal wars that
left at least 30,000 people dead.

Concerns have been raised about the re-escalation of violence this
year as Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed forces have intensified their
exchange of fire across the area.

Backed by Western governments, Baku has vowed to take back the disputed
territory while Yerevan says it will respond to any offensive in a
crushing manner.

CENTRAL DEPOSITORY OF ARMENIA BECOMES FULL MEMBER OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL NUMBERING AGENCIES

17:04 08/12/2014 ” ECONOMY

During the General Meeting of Members of the Association of National
Numbering Agencies (ANNA) held on November 19-21, 2014 in Indonesia,
Central Depository of Armenia OJSC (CDA) was granted a full member
status of the organization, the press service of NASDAQ OMX Armenia
reported.

As a full member of ANNA CDA will continue to assign ISIN
(International Securities Identification Numbers) and CFI
(Classification of Financial Instruments) codes making Armenian
securities easily identifiable for international institutions and
foreign investors. The status of a full member of ANNA will enable the
CDA to vote and speak at Ordinary or Extraordinary General Meetings,
inspect the annual accounts as well as participate in working groups.

To recall, CDA has been a Partner of ANNA since June 2014 and has
assigned more than 1400 identification numbers so far.

Source: Panorama.am

ANOTHER ACT OF SABOTAGE THWARTED: AZERBAIJAN HAS 5-7 VICTIMS

18:43 | December 8,2014 | Politics

The Defense Army of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has prevented t an
infiltration attempt by Azerbaijan near the Line of Contact between
Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces, Armenpress.am reports citing
its source.

The Armenian side thwarted the act of sabotage, making the opponent
suffer 5­-7 losses.

The Armenian side has no victims, but a soldier was injured during
the operations.