Author: Kanayan Tamar

TREATY OF ARMENIA’S ACCESSION TO THE EEU RATIFIED BY RUSSIA’S FEDERATION COUNCIL

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Dec 17 2014

17 December 2014 – 4:11pm

Armenia joins the Treaty on the EEU, as well as other international
documents concluded in the framework of the Customs Union and stated
in the contract. It is envisaged that the tariff commitments of
the country, as a member of the WTO, will be revised and the Common
Customs Tariff (CCT) of the EEU will be adjusted, RIA Novosti reports.

The Treaty provides for transitional periods from one year to eight
years to align various tariffs from UCT Armenian import duties. From
12 to 60 months – for the application of technical regulations of
the Customs Union, 3 years – for the protection and enforcement of
intellectual property.

EU CAN’T TEACH DEMOCRACY LESSON TO TURKEY: ERDOGAN

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:52PM GMT

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Defending Kobani: Turkey’s hesitation

Turkey’s president has hit back at the European Union’s condemnation
of the Turkish police raids on opposition media, stating that the
bloc has no right to give Ankara a “democracy lesson.”

“They say they will give a democracy lesson to Turkey. Take the trouble
to come here, so that Turkey can give you a lesson in democracy,”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech in the city of Konya on Tuesday.

He further criticized Brussels for its dealings with Egypt and Syria,
adding that Turkey would never be the EU’s “doorman.”

“They’ve been dragging feet over the last decade…. Sorry, but we
are not the EU’s doorman,” the Turkish president said in reference
to accession negotiations between Ankara and the EU, adding, “Let me
repeat it, those who try to advise Turkey by shaking their finger,
just like a governess, must understand that they are no longer facing
the old Turkey.”

Erdogan also slammed Europe for “rising racism, Islamophobia and
discrimination.”

EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has called on Turkey to
be consistent with its commitments to the new executive administration
in Brussels, saying that she was totally “surprised” at the recent
arrests of high-profile Turkish media activists.

Turkish security forces stormed the offices of Samanyolu TV network
and Zaman daily newspaper in the city of Istanbul on Sunday. Both
the television network and the newspaper are said to be close to the
self-exiled US-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen.

Erdogan has accused Gulen and his supporters of being behind last
year’s online leaks and wiretaps that disclosed major corruption in
Erdogan’s inner circle. Gulen has repeatedly denied any involvement.

MP/HMV/SS

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO ATTEND EPP CONGRESS IN BRUSSELS

YEREVAN, December 17. / ARKA /. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
will fly to Belgium on December 18 to take part in a congress of the
European People’s Party (EPP), Sargsyan’s press office reported today.

It said in Brussels Serzh Sargsyan will have a meeting with EPP’s
chairman Joseph Daul. -0-

CHRISTMAS TREE LIT IN STEPANAKERT

December 16, 2014 20:46

Today Stepanakert Municipality initiated the lighting ceremony of
republic 16.5 m high main Christmas tree in Renaissance Square.

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 16, ARTSAKHPRESS: ôhe capital’s cultural centers
took part in the concert performed for kids. Cartoon heroes as well as
Santa Claus and Snow Maiden entertained and congratulated children. As
the First Deputy Mayor S. Tamrazyan said during the interview with
“Artsakhpress”, holiday events to be held by the Municipality are
started, but he preferred not to talk about upcoming celebrations,
noting that lots of New Year surprises are being prepared for people.

ONE DOLLAR TRADEING AT AMD 560 IN ARMENIA

18:04 | December 17,2014 | Economy

Deals amounting to $100,000 at an average price of AMD 560/USD 1 were
concluded at NASDAQ OMX Armenia on December 17. The closing price
was AMD 560/USD 1, reports the press service of the stock exchange.

HYDRO-PLANTS VS TOURISM: BATTLE LINES DRAWN IN ARMENIA’S SYUNIK PROVINCE

Kristine Aghalaryan

13:32, December 17, 2014

Ruben Vardanyan, a wealthy businessman based in Russia who supports
various tourism development projects in Armenia, is so concerned
that the construction of two mini hydro-plants may adversely affect
tourism in the country’s southern Syunik region that he has met with
Armenia’s prime minister in an attempt to halt their construction.

This news was conveyed by a Hetq source close to the issue.

The two hydro-plants are being built in the Syunik communities of
Tatev and Tandzatap by a company called Tatevi Anapat LLC which is 50%
owned by Sourik Khachatryan, the governor of Syunik Province.

The affected areas fall within a region that the IDeA (Initiatives for
Development in Armenia), co-founded by Vardanyan, has been actively
promoting as a prime tourist zone in Armenia.

In 2010, IDeA launched the construction of the Wings of Tatev aerial
cable car that leads to the historic Tatev Monastery. The cable car
project is just one part of the Tatev Revival program, envisioning
the reconstruction of the Tatev Monastery Complex and the development
of local communities (job creation, fostering entrepreneurship in
communities and local standards of living).

Hetq got in touch with IDeA to find out if the above meeting actually
took place between Vardanyan and Armenia’s prime minister.

In response, the IDeA’s public affairs division said that discussions
have been held with various government officials regarding the
hydro-plants and that the issue has also been broached locally,
within the scope of plans to create a national park in the region.

“We hope that all these discussions will lead to resolutions that will
allow for the full implementation of regional development projects,”
concluded the IDeA’s reply.

Pipes for the hydro-plants, now under construction, are already been
laid in the two abovementioned communities.

It would thus seem that these discussions have run their course and
that the plants will be constructed, even if Tatev Revival Program
suffers as a result.

NUKE STATION DIRECTOR DISMISSAL REASONABLE – ARMENIAN MINISTRY OF ENERGY

YEREVAN, December 17. /ARKA/. Armenian ministry of energy believes
that dismissal of the director of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant
was natural under the existing circumstances, the deputy minister of
energy Areg Galstyan told reporters on Thursday.

According to earlier mass media reports, the director of the Armenian
NPP Gagik Markosyan was relieved of the post following his own
request and the chief engineer of the nuke station Movses Vardanyan
was appointed as acting director.

Mass media report that the deputy directors of the plant were relieved
of their posts as well and one of them was arrested as part of a
criminal misappropriation case.

“Director of the Armenian NPP has resigned, and I believe, he has
made the right choice under the current circumstances when a criminal
procedure is initiated against the commercial director on abuse in
procurement”, Galstyan said.

The deputy minister refrained from mentioning any details and said
an investigation is under way.

The new director appointment and confirmation procedure is quite
complicated and long and no candidates for the post have been defined
yet, Galstyan said.

The National Security Service press secretary Artsvin Baghramyan
confirmed the former deputy director on commerce Rubik Movsesyan was
arrested, and the inquiry is under way.

The Armenian Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, the only nuke station in
the region, is located some 30 kilometers south of Yerevan. It was
built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake
in 1988 that killed some 25,000 people.

One of the plant’s two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was
reactivated in 1995. According to the expert estimates, the plant
can operate till 2016, but the European Union insists it should be
closed down now. -0–

GREENBACK’S KING AGAIN: ARMENIAN BANKS LIMIT HARD CURRENCY SALES AS DRAM PLUNGES AGAIN

Economy | 17.12.14 | 13:00

Most commercial banks and exchange offices in Yerevan did not sell
hard currency to citizens on Tuesday evening after a day of what could
be described as ‘panic foreign exchange buying’. Some businesses,
meanwhile, responded to the turbulence on the financial markets by
stopping their trading in anticipation of stability.

Some stores and supermarkets in Armenia set limits on purchases of
certain basic foodstuffs, others were changing price tags several
times during the day revising the prices upwards.

According to the CB rates released for Tuesday, the dram fell by an
average of 18.56 points to stand at 490.34AMD/1USD, while the fall
of the Armenian currency against the Euro and the British pound made
28.25 and 29.77 points, respectively (614.20/1 EUR and 770.32/1 GBP).

The selling price of the US dollar at some exchange offices in Yerevan
on late Tuesday reached 575 AMD, but currency traders said they did
not have any dollars to sell. Meanwhile, some banks purchased dollars
from the population for up to 535 AMD/$1.

During the day commercial banks sold limited amounts of hard currency
only to their customers. Queues were observed at bank offices during
the day, with some people angered by the situation when they literally
saw the dram exchange rate falling on the display as they stood in
the queue waiting for their turn to buy some foreign currency.

The current depreciation of the dram started in late November. Before
that, for a durable period of time the Armenian national currency
traded at around 410-415 AMD against the dollar.

On December 8, the CB declared a “new approach” to stabilizing the
national currency as it began selling fixed amounts of dollars to
Armenian commercial banks on a daily basis. The financial regulator
said the move was aimed at dealing with “speculative” currency trading
and would result in the stabilization of the currency market by the end
of the year. For four days the CB sold $6 million on a daily basis,
but on Monday and Tuesday it reduced the amount of its daily sales
to $4 million.

Armenian authorities as well as economists explain the depreciation
of the national currency by developments in international markets,
including the appreciation of the U.S. dollar against other currencies,
the economic and financial situation in Russia caused by Western
sanctions and falling oil prices. Another major factor cited by
economists these days is panic among businesses and the population
anticipating a serious shortage of hard currency in the near future.

Neither the CB nor the government made any statements directly
concerning the situation on the currency market as of early Wednesday.

WAKE UP THE SOULS: SERJ TANKIAN EXPLAINS THE MESSAGE BEHIND THE TOUR

11:57, 17 Dec 2014

System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian has explained the message
behind the ‘Wake Up the Souls’ tour.

“We are doing a tour called ‘Wake Up the Souls’ to further spread
awareness having to do with the Armenian genocide, first genocide of
the 20th century and put pressure on the Turkish Parliament to kind
of come to grips with its own history and deal with the massacres of
the first world war,” Tankian told theBillboard.

“We’ve done the soul shows before, and this is kind of a growth of
that. It will be the first time that we played in Armenia in Republic
Square, giant free show, we’re gonna televise that around the world,
or stream it, whatever you want to call it. So it’s gonna be really
unique and beautiful, and so we’re looking forward to it.”

The band just announced an April 6 date in Los Angeles at the Forum.

That will be part of a very brief run. “We’re only doing eight
dates, and they’re all World War I countries in some ways, which
is interesting.”

To Tankian, the actual concerts are a very small part of delivering
their message. “The show itself is only one part of the message,
because the streaming worldwide of a show in Armenia having to do
with the genocide, the press around it, the press conferences we’re
going to do in each major capital around it, that’s going to reach
probably more people than actual ticket-holders at the show,” he
said. “That said, we’ve talked about this many times: Music’s power
of transcendence having to do with reaching people’s consciousness
is unique. It’s an incredible thing, and you know I’ve always paid
attention to it and respected it.”

As he’s gotten older, Tankian has found role models he admires for the
way they mix music and social consciousness. “I didn’t have musical
heroes growing up; now I do. I look back at someone like John Lennon,
his simple words, ‘War is over’ for example, the idea of visualization
combined with music, combined with that type of audience is genius.

And all he was doing is following his vision and being true to himself,
which hopefully all artists are,” he says. “Bob Marley was genius
too, making people dance to socially conscious music is like doing
two things simultaneously because the motion of dance is a positive
spiritual existence. And getting the messages through at the same
time is incredible.”

ARMENIE
QUATRE-VINGT-SEPT POUR CENT DES ARMENIENS CONSIDÈRENT LA RUSSIE COMME UN PAYS AMI

Environ 87 pour cent des Armeniens considèrent la Russie comme un
pays ami, selon un recent sondage d’opinion publique mene par la
Banque eurasienne de developpement (EDB).

Les resultats de l’enquete ont ete annonces par Igor Zadorin, le
chef de l’agence > lors d’une videoconference
reunissant des experts de l’Armenie, de la Bielorussie, du Kazakhstan,
du Kirghizistan et de la Russie.

L’enquete appelee > a implique plus
de 13 000 sondes dans 11 pays de la CEI et la Georgie.

Elle a ete realisee en fonction du sexe, de l’âge et de la geographie
de residence des sondes.

Selon l’enquete, 88 pour cent des sondes en Armenie ont nomme les
anciennes republiques sovietiques comme les pays amis, 16 pour cent
ont nomme des pays membres de l’Union europeenne et 7 pour cent
d’autres pays.

La Russie a ete nomme en tant que pays ami par la majorite des
sondess dans sept pays l’Armenie, le Belarus et les republiques
d’Asie centrale.

la Russie n’a pas ete consideree comme une nation amie par la
majorite des sondes dans trois anciennes republiques sovietiques –
l’Azerbaïdjan, la Georgie et l’Ukraine.

mercredi 17 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com