Author: Kalantarian Kevo

DISCUSSIONS OF PRESSURE OF MOSCOW ON YEREVAN

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 11 2013

11 September 2013 – 3:41pm

By Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

Armenia continues discussions about the choice between the Customs
Union (CU) and EU association agreements within the Eastern Partnership
program. A sudden reaction within political and expert communities was
provoked by a recent speech of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, first President
of Armenia, leader of the Armenian National Congress (UNC), at the
party’s conference. Political consultant Arman Gevorkyan has commented
on the approaches of the first president to foreign policy.

– Levon Ter-Petrosyan urged his supporters to avoid anti-Russian
outcries due to the developments after the decision of Yerevan to
join the Customs Union. He expressed concerns that state propaganda
may put a label of Russophobia on the ANC the way some tried to make
it look as an enemy of the West. Was it the only reason Ter-Petrosyan
made the speech on September 8?

– No, because he was obviously speaking as the head of the party. It
was a message to his supporters to show moderation. A political line
will be developed at the ANC depending on the impact of his speech.

But his speech carries a message addressed to foreign players as well.

In particular, when he said that the party should realize that “the
ANC was not a marginal, irresponsible element, but instead was a
strong institutional political alternative to the government, capable
of realizing state responsibility, acting as though it had power.”

First of all, the ANC leader was demonstrating seriousness of the
party’s policy as a power capable of keeping a balanced line between
foreign players, a power that does not dash from one extremity to
another. Secondly, incumbent authorities of Armenia are not a reliable
partner due to their eclectic foreign policy.

– What is your evaluation of Ter-Petrosyan’s approaches to foreign
policy?

– He reasons from the fact that there is a complex of agreements
between Armenia and Russia that Armenia must fulfill. Ter-Petrosyan
who signed the Armenian-Russian Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and
Mutual Aid in 1997 and the agreement on the status of the Russian
military base in Armenia has chosen Russia as a strategic partner
and the Armenian society approved the choice. Moreover, during
the parliamentary votes for the agreement on the base, it was the
Republican Party of Armenia, which was part of the ruling coalition in
1998, that voted against it. The complementary policy was founded by
the first president. Complimentarianism presupposes that, if Armenia
has a chief partner, it should consider movements towards the West or,
let us say, towards China, with the chief partner.

What happened in terms of the CU? Serzh Sargsyan started the process
with the EU without consulting the main political partner. Russia
was initially ignored by Armenia. Although the so-called “westerners”
are crying out that Russia pressurized Armenia in its choice between
the EU and the CU. Yet, they forget about the mistakes made by the
official Yerevan.

– How fair are the results of social polls about joining the CU
carried out in Armenia?

– For over 10 years, all social polls done in Armenia were incorrect.

Why? Because the organizers paid for the polls and bought the results.

But the Armenian public is not informed about the processes. The public
neither knows what the CU is, nor what is the association agreement
of the EU or the free trade zone agreement. Many Armenian citizens
look upon these issues from a mundane angle, as an opportunity to
visit both Russia and Europe freely. Besides, the expert and the
political communities are not informed: not one of the documents has
been published in Armenia. Ukraine, for instance, has published all
the documents and everyone had a chance to read them.

Due to unawareness, the Armenian public cannot give an answer to the
choice between the CU and European integration. That it why all these
social polls are incorrect, not to mention the zero level of trust
to organizations that organize them.

– What effect will Ter-Petrosyan’s speech make?

– There has already been a negative reaction to mass media, experts
and political analysts related to the government. The wise part of
the public, having analyzed arguments of the ANC leader, will think
about state propaganda that will criticize Russia and, first of all,
the Kremlin for pressing on the Armenian government to persuade it
to join the CU. It is done to hide own political flaws. In a similar
manner, the European political group chose the same line, accusing
Russia of pressure on its neighbours. Thus, Europeans do not want to
recognize own mistakes the same way.

– At a recent meeting with Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for
Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian confirmed readiness of Armenia to develop
close cooperation with the EU as actively as possible and will not
oppose membership of Armenia in the CU…

– The government of Armenia has not fulfilled its promises to
Europeans and searches for compromises now. In reality, no one has
ever interfered in political and economic reforms of Armenia. But
foreign players prefer to keep Armenia in the hands of weak and corrupt
authorities. The problem of fighting corruption and organizing real,
not declarative, reforms is a matter of Armenian authorities and it
does not depend on the attitude or words of Brussels, Moscow or the
IMF. If the authorities find political will for the reform, it will
realize it without anyone’s directions. As an example, I can remind
about the reform for land privatization in 1991, organized without
Moscow, Brussels, WB or IMF. But it is a different story when the
land privatization initiative was followed by a deep agrarian reform
that has never been realized yet.

ARMENIAN ECONOMIST WELCOMES ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION

15:29 11.09.13

A group of economists formed by the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) has for the past few months conducted research
to determine the prospects of Armenia’s integration with Europe.

Head of the group, Doctor of Mathematical Economics, Professor Ashot
Tavadyan told journalists on Wednesday that on October 18, 2011, in
Saint Petersburg, Russia, the Armenian and Russian premiers signed
a free trade area agreement. The Armenian parliament ratified the
agreement on September 11, 2012.

“The decision on accession to the Customs Union is a logical follow-up
to the initial agreement. This is an economic security agreement, which
is a general security component and deals with energy and transport
security issues. This is an agreement on unprecedented investments and
employment rise. Due to the three points, the agreement on accession
to the Customs Union is essentially different from the Association
Agreement,” Tavadyan said.

If Armenia joins the Customs Union, $470m investments in railway
construction will be made, which means one more road for Armenia.

“The European Union is not going to do it. One more important factor
is $100m investments by the Eurasian Bank. This will ensure economic
growth in our country. As regards the energy bloc, accession to the
Customs Union will allow us to operate our nuclear power plant and
even to construct a new one,” he said.

Tavadyan stressed that the EU does not allow free movement of people
which rules out free transportation of products and capital.

Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union reduces the brain drain risk,
Tavadyan said.

ARMENIAN DM MEETS NEWLY APPOINTED US CO-CHAIR OF THE OSCE MINSK GROUP

17:02 11.09.2013

Armenian Foreign Minister Seyran Ohanyan received the newly appointed
US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick. US Ambassador to
Armenia John Heffern was present at the meeting.

The parties discussed issues related to the negotiation process and
the situation along the line of contact.

The interlocutors stressed the importance of maintenance of the
ceasefire regime, mitigation of the tension at the line of contact,
implementation of confidence-building measures.

ARMENIA’S ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION WILL STRENGTHEN ARMENIA’S DEFENSE AGAINST AZERBAIJAN, CORY WELT THINKS

by David Stepanyan

Wednesday, September 11, 16:59

Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union will apparently strengthen
Armenia’s defense in case the conflict with Azerbaijan flares up,
Cory Welt, Associate Director and Associate Research Professor of
International Affairs at the Institute for European, Russian and
Eurasian Studies (IERES) at the Elliott School, said when replying
to ArmInfo’s question. He thinks that Moscow will exert even more
pressure on Baku to support Armenia more actively.

The expert thinks that Armenia’s membership of the Customs Union
will probably make Azerbaijan be more careful in the matter of use of
force. In the meantime, Armenia’s membership will not make Russia look
for a political solution to the Karabakh problem more actively. The
status quo does not so much meet the interests of Russia, but does
not damage these interests either. So, the Kremlin has no reason to
take the risk and change something.

Professor Welt has the impression that Russia exerts pressure on the
countries that are considered to be its closest partners but betray
Russia by establishing relations with the West. He pointed at the
example of Georgia, on which Russia exerts no visible pressure. He
thinks that Moscow mostly pressures the countries that expect some
benefits from the relations with Russia. The Kremlin wants to make
sure that these countries realize that these benefits depend on their
foreign policy.

Cory Welt is sure that in the course of time Russia would seek to
make Azerbaijan join the Customs Union. The expert also thinks that
Russia would try to do that by means of the carrot diplomacy rather
than the stick policy.

UNE ONG FAIT DES REVELATIONS SUR LES DEPUTES MILLIONNAIRES

ARMENIE

Une ONG en Armenie a etudie les deputes millionnaires et de leur
revenu.

Le rapport, que l’ONG Mandat a devoile, a revele que 20 des 131 membres
du Parlement sont millionnaires en dollars avec Samvel Alexanyan de
la faction republicaine etant en seconde place après Gagik Tsarukyan,
le chef du parti Armenie prospère (PAP).

Les resultats sont bases sur les declarations de revenus que les
membres du parlement ont soumis a la Commission electorale centrale
avant les elections legislatives de l’annee dernière. La liste revèle
que les deputes du PAP (36 personnes) ont declare un revenu total de
98,1 millions de dollars en 2012.

Le parti republicain est en seconde position. Les membres de la
faction semblent posseder un total de 35,7 millions de dollars.

Le troisième est la Federation Revolutionnaire Armenienne
Dashanksutyun. La petite faction, composee seulement de cinq
representants, a declare un total de 537677 $ l’an dernier.

Le parti du pays des lois arrive en 4 ème position avec un revenu
total de ses six legislateurs valent a 234565 $ en 2012. Les sept
membres de l’opposition du Congrès national armenien ont declare un
total de 169 275 $ de revenu durant la meme periode.

Le dernier est le partie Heritage. Ses cinq membres possèdent un
total de revenus equivalant a 118800 $.

Vingt legislateurs semblent donc etre des millionnaires en dollars
americains.

Vingt-et-un deputes n’ont pas declare de revenu.

mercredi 11 septembre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION THREATENS ARMENIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY – SAMVEL FARMANYAN

20:12 11.09.13

Samvel Farmanyan, a Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) parliamentary
group member, is concerned over the demographic situation in Armenia.

Speaking in Parliament he inquired about progress in the implementation
of the government program of demographic policy.

The present demographic situation poses even more serious threat
to Armenia’s national security than the unsettled Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

“I would like to ask the government about the current demographic
trends in the country, Armenia’s population and geographical
distribution of the population among the regions. The national
demographic policy program is incorporated in the new government
program, which means the government attaches paramount importance to
this matter. I want to know what has been done under the program,”
Farmanyan said.

In response, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Artyom Asatryan
said that Armenia’s premier ordered an interagency workgroup to be
formed to implement the program. The minister invited all the MPs
concerned over the problem to get involved in the program.

This October, Armenia’s capital is to host an event with the
participation of leading experts.

“We have analyzed our situation and we will certainly present a report
on our work. We will discuss the necessary measures to ensure the
figures envisaged by the government strategy. We will take steps to
improve the demographic situation for the coming three or four years,”
Minister Asatryan said.

CAUCASIAN RED DEER TO REINHABIT ARMENIA SOON

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

[eng137890039330.JPG] The World Wide Fund for Nature under the
auspices of RA Ministry of Nature Protection and with the support of
WWF Germany, Orange Armenia, Transboundary Joint Secretariat (TJS)
and Prometey Bank launches a project on reintroducing the Caucasian
Red Deer in Armenia with the main goal to set up a breeding group of
the species in Dilijan National Park.

The project activities include preparation of a breeding center in
Dilijan National Park, purchase and transportation of 4 male and
11 female deer to Armenia, training of the breeding center staff,
keeping and breeding of animals with further release and monitoring
in the nature.

“This is an unprecedented project for Armenia, as no project aiming
to re-establish a species that has disappeared from Armenia has been
implemented in our country so far. Upon successful completion of
the project the Caucasian Red Deer will inhabit Armenia,” said WWF
Armenia Director Karen Manvelyan.

The project is financed by WWF Germany (25 600 000 AMD) and Orange
Armenia (10 000 000 AMD).

Orange Armenia has invested this amount in the scope of its long-term
strategic partnership with WWF Armenia launched since last year.

Orange Armenia supports the environmental activities of WWF Armenia
by allocating 1% of the selling price of every handset and smartphone
with eco-labelling to WWF Armenia. Eco-rating shows the environmental
impact of each handset in terms of the technologies and materials
used during its manufacturing process.

“Our partnership with WWF Armenia has launched since last year. In the
scope of this partnership Orange Armenia has introduced the eco-rating
system for its handsets and smartphones, which allows our customers
while choosing a handset or smartphone to take into consideration its
eco-friendly factor. Special thanks to our customers who directly
participate in this environmental initiative, as 1% of the selling
price of the handsets and smartphones they buy is allocated to WWF
Armenia. In the meantime, we call on everybody to be environmentally
more responsible. Learning about the eco-rating of the model while
choosing a handset is a small step each of us can take to care for
the environment,” said Orange Armenia CEO Francis Gelibter.

Another partner of the project is Prometey Bank, which in the scope
of its corporate social responsibility gives special importance to
protection of the wildlife and especially the threatened species
and disseminates the message regarding donation for the project,
by including it in the bank’s annual report and corporate calendar.

“Our bank gives great importance to the protection of wild life and
specifically of endangered species. The design of the bank’s annual
report of 2012 and corporate calendar of 2014 is dedicated to the
protection of endangered animals, particularly pointing out the
importance of the Red Deer rehabitation project. With the aim to
support the project our bank has opened a dedicated bank account,
to which each person can donate any amount of money to have their
contribution in Caucasian Red Deer rehabitation program. The annual
reports and the calendars will be disseminated among our employees,
customers, shareholders, local and foreign partners and other
private and public institutions,” noted Prometey Bank president
Emil Soghomonyan.

The Caucasian Red Deer is one of the most endangered wildlife
species in the South Caucasus. This species once largely spread in
the forests of Northern, Eastern and Southern Armenia has disappeared
a few decades ago due to poaching and degradation of natural habitat
and is currently considered as a species which accidently enters the
territory of Armenia from neighbouring countries.

Currently the Caucasian Red Deer is included in the Red Book of
Armenia as “Critically Endangered” according to the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria. Major threats are
poaching and habitat destruction.

15:53 11/09/2013 [footer_logo.png]  Story from Lragir.am News:

ARMENIA WILL BENEFIT ECONOMICALLY FROM JOINING CUSTOMS UNION: EXPERTS SAY

YEREVAN, September 11. / ARKA /. Armenia will benefit economically from
joining the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, concluded
a team of Armenian experts who studied this issue for several months.

Presenting the findings of their study to a news conference today, a
team member, Aram Safarian, who is head of an NGO called Integration
and Development, said the study was initiated by the Eurasian
Development Bank ‘to clarify the prospects and possibilities of
the Eurasian integration.’ Ashot Tavadyan, the leader of the team,
said President Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to join the Customs Union
was not a surprise to experts.

“Back in 2011, heads of CIS countries signed in Russian St. Petersburg
the agreement on free trade zone, which Armenian parliament ratified
unanimously in 2012 September. President Sargsyan’s announcement was
a logical continuation of this process,” Tavadyan said.

According to him, the accession agreement includes issues of economic
security and cover key areas such as energy and transport and provides
for unprecedented investments in the Armenian economy which will
boost its employment.

“The transport component (of the agreement) implies a $470
million investment in upgrading Armenia’s railways. This is a
direct investment. For us it is very important to have additional
communication facilities. The EU would not do it, given its strained
relations with Iran,” said Tavadyan.

According to him, the Eurasian Development Bank has already pledged
to invest about $100 million in Armenia, which will increase the
economic expansion rate by 0.4 %.

The second most important component, he said, is energy; namely,
continued operation of the Armenian nuclear power plant and
construction of a new facility to replace it, as well as ‘automatic’
reduction in gas prices by 30 % (from $270 to about 1$80 per one
thousand cubic meters) after Armenia’s formal accession to the Customs
Union. He said the price cut is expected to increase the GDP by about
1 %. In addition, the membership will also secure Armenia lower prices
of oil products.

“The third component is production: more precisely, resumption
of Nairit chemical plant and construction of an oil pipeline,”
Tavadyan said.

There is also the fourth component that will contribute a 0.25 percent
increase to economic growth- it is migration.

“Russia will ease procedures for Armenian labor migrants, eliminate
administrative obstacles which will result in increased money
remittances to Armenia,” he said.

He argued that Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union will translate
in a short-term perspective into a 4 percent GDP growth.

Speaking about absence of common borders with a Customs Union member
country, Tavadyan noted this will be offset by cheaper energy products.

“From the economic point of view, we are winning. Life will improve
and become safer with increasing GDP,” said Tavadyan.

He then added that the membership will not affect Armenia’s exports
to EU because they are mainly raw materials.

Speaking of the prospects of European economic integration, Tavadyan
said that it promises Armenia 2.3 % rise in GDP in the long term,
without considering the risks.

These risks are problems with Turkey, excessive dependence on raw
materials and corruption. “But corruption is the problem that we must
ourselves address it.” The most serious risk in his opinion, given
Armenia’s European integration, would be Russia-imposed restrictions
that would zero out all growth forecasts,’ he said. -0- – See more at:

ILHAM ALIYEV RESPONDED TO THE OBAMA’S REQUEST FOR SUPPORT

Azerbaijan Business Center
Sept 10 2013

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan,
responded to the request for support made by Barack Obama, the USA
President.

Yesterday President Aliyev received James Warlick, the newly-appointed
Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group.

At the meeting they exchanged their views on current situation
and prospects for negotiations on settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Yesterday President Obama requested President Aliyev to support
Warlick’s efforts to facilitate the process of peaceful settlement
of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Last week Obama said that American people elected him to stop the
wars. Up to the moment he managed to stop only the wars started by
America itself. And it’s a good question if Obama is able cope with
solving Karabakh conflict lasting from 1988.

RESULT: DENMARK EARN VITAL WIN OVER ARMENIA

Sports Mole
Sept 10 2013

© AFP
By Jack Prescott, London Correspondent

Denmark have given their World Cup qualification hopes a boost with
a 1-0 win in Armenia.

The result has seen Morten Olsen’s side climb up to second place in
Group B with two games left to play.

The decisive goal came in the 73rd minute when Daniel Agger fired in
from the penalty spot after Varazdat Haroyan had been sent off for
his second bookable offence.

Denmark return to action on October 11 when they play Italy at home,
while Armenia entertain Bulgaria.