Author: Kanayan Tamar

6 ARMENIA CITIZENS KILLED IN RUSSIA ACCIDENT ARE IDENTIFIED

00:00, 01.01.1970

The new data said six citizens of Armenia were killed in a car accident
in Uralsk Oblast of Russia on Thursday.

The citizens of Armenia have been identified as Ani (born in 1991),
Arsen (1957), Hamayak (1989), Azat (1988) Tovmasyans and Azokik
Avanesyan (born in 1959).

The injured – Hasmik (born in 1996), Arsen (2011), Armen (2012)
Tovmasyans and Hasmik Avanesyan (1994) – have taken to Nikolayev
hospital where Hasmik Avanesyan died.

Three cars collided in Nikolayev region of Uralsk Oblast at around
6:30p.m..

MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS WIFE ASKS FOR LIGHTER SENTENCE BECAUSE CLAIMS WIFE CHEATED ON HIM

07.17.2014 17:14 epress.am

Volodya Muradyan, the husband of 35-year-old Diana Nahapetyan, accused
of fatally stabbing his wife 21 times, in court today filed a motion to
amend the charges. Muradyan is charged with RA Criminal Code Article
104 Section 1 Paragraph 5: “murder with particular cruelty”.

If convicted, he faces 12-20 years or life in prison. He petitioned
for a milder sentence — 6-12 years’ imprisonment. The Court of
First Instance of Ararat and Vayots Dzor Districts, however, refused
the motion.

Recall, the charge against Muradyan was changed once already —
to a graver charge.

Trying to prove that he is worthy of a lighter sentence, the defendant
in court today said that his wife was cheating on him and disgracing
him. As told to Epress.am by Women’s Resource Center of Armenia
Executive Director Lara Aharonian, who was present in court, the
prosecutor responded to this statement by saying, “If your wife was
cheating on you, you [should’ve] divorced her, not killed her.” The
accused countered that his wife’s lovers were police officers,
assistants to former Prosecutor General of Armenia Aghvan Hovsepyan,
who would kill him if he divorced his wife.

Thus, today’s court hearing ended, with the next session scheduled
for July 31.

Recall, during the course of the investigation, the court found that
Muradyan was not under “cumulative effect,” that is, an unstable
mental state resulting from a series of incidents, and though he was
in a “highly emotional state,” his consciousness was not completely
clouded over when he committed the crime. That is, he was sane and
of sound mind when the crime was committed.

LEVON HAYRAPETYAN’S HEALTH WORSENS

19:31 * 17.07.14

The health of Armenian businessman and public figure Levon Hayrapetyan
has worsened.

He needs insulin.

According to a Facebook message his friend Matsak Poladyan has talked
to Hayrapetyan’s lawyer on Thurday. He is going to appeal the Basman
court’s decision to get the restraint changed.

“Levon Hayrapetyan’s lawyer has said his health has worsened. He
has pancreatic diabetes. He needs insulin and is psychologically
depressed. He recently suffered a cerebral stroke and may not endure
the current conditions.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

ALAVERDYAN: ARMENIA SHOULD APPLY TO ECHR OVER SMBAT TSAKANYAN CASE

Wednesday,
July
16

Armenia should apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over
the case of 17-year-old Smbat Tsakanyan killed in Karvachar region
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the first Armenian Ombudsperson,
chairwoman of Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO Larisa Alaverdyan told
the correspondent of Aysor.am.

Besides, legal proceedings should start in the case under the laws
of Armenia and Artsakh, after which a suit may be filed to ECHR, Ms.

Alaverdyan said.

“Legal procedures should be initiated and then Armenia may apply
to the ECHR. It is hard to predict who will be held accountable and
if Azerbaijan’s representatives will appear in court so it will be
necessary to apply to European Court of Human Rights. The Armenian
side has that right because there were killed and wounded persons,” L.

Alaverdyan noted.

In her words, Armenia should do its best to file a lawsuit to ECHR –
Armenia has no other option to bring those guilty to account.

“Otherwise Azerbaijan will go unpunished,” Larisa Alaverdyan said.

TODAY, 21:10

Aysor.am

RUSSIA AGREES TO REVISE EACH ARMENIAN CITIZEN’S CASE – GAGIK YEGANYAN

19:19 * 16.07.14

The 2,200 Armenian citizens that were not allowed to enter Russia
have applied to the Migration Service of Armenia.

Head of the Service Gagik Yeganyan told Tert.am that each application
is thoroughly considered and sent to the Russian side through
diplomatic channels.

“It is people who broke the Russian laws. As a result, they were
prohibited from entering Russia. However, the Russian side showed its
willingness to revise each individual case. It is up to the Russian
side to give a positive or negative answer,” Yeganyan said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

YEREVAN 187TH IN THE LIST OF MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES

July 16, 2014

Yerevan is ranked 187th among 211 cities in 2014 Mercer Cost of
Living survey.

[]

The survey covers 211 cities across five continents and measures the
comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing,
transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.

The capital of Armenia went up by eight points as compared with
last year.

The most expensive city for expats is Luanda, the capital of Angola,
followed by N’Djamena (Chad) and Hing Kong. Top ten includes Singapore,
Zurich, Geneva, Tokyo, Bern and Shanghai.

As to the neighboring states, Baku is ranked 46th, Tbilisi is 194th
and Tehran is 77th.

The cheapest city for expats is Karachi, Pakistan.

ARMENIAN PM OFFERS CONDOLENCES TO RUSSIAN COUNTERPART

15:54 16.07.2014

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan sent a cable of condolences to his
Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on yesterday’s tragic event in
the Moscow subway, which reads as follows:

“Dear Dmitry Anatolevich,

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Armenia and on my own
behalf, I express deepest condolences on the tragedy that occurred
in the Moscow subway on July 15, 2014.

Sharing in your sorrow, we would appreciate conveying words of support
and sympathy to the victims’ families and relatives, as well as
wishing speedy recovery to all those who suffered from the accident.”

AMB. TIGRAN SARGSYSAN MEETS WITH LEADERS OF AMERICAN ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS

14:19 16.07.2014

Armenian Ambassador to the United States Tigran Sargsyan held meetings
with the leaders of the leading Washington-based Armenian organizations
– the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the Armenian
Assembly of America (AAA).

During the meeting with representatives of ANCA, the interlocutors
referred to the agenda of Armenian-American relations, the further
reinforcement of Armenia-US ties, the process of international
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, the resolution
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and a wide range of issues concerning
the American Armenian community.

During the meetings the parties expressed willingness to continue
the future cooperation.

500 TREES CUT ILLEGALLY IN ARMENIA IN JAN-JUNE 2014

YEREVAN, July 16. /ARKA/. Some 500 trees were illegally cut in Armenia
in the first half of this year, Ruben Petrosyan, chief forest warden
of Hayantar governmental noncommercial organization, said Wednesday
at a news conference.

“To reduce the illegal cutting 8 cubic meters of wood shredding are
provided for free to every family living five kilometers far from
forests,” he said. “Some 60,000 cubic meters were provided to them
in 2013.”

Petrosyan said that 25,000 cubic meters are planned to be cut in 2014.

Starting from 2013, the whole wood is being marked to see its origin
and to prevent abuse.

The authorities embarked on institutional and legislative changes this
year to tighten grip on the cutting and ensure a reasonable usage of
these natural resources, he said.

According to Hayantar governmental noncommercial organization, 928
trees were cut illegally in 2013 and 1,320 in 2012.

Lori and Tavush, Armenia’s provinces rich in forests, accounted for
the largest number of illegally cut trees.

The size of a fine for cutting one tree ranges from AMD 20,000 to
$1,500 and depends on a type and diameter of the cut tree.

The country has 332,333 hectares of forests now. –0—- – See more at:

SKEPTICISM IN RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS AND PROJECTS COSTING BILLIONS

13:29 * 16.07.14

Investments projects for renewable energy resources are treated with
a kind of skepticism in Armenia as opposed to the billions of Dollars
worth foreign grants proposing maximum a pilot project.

Tert.am arrived at such a conclusion after talking to several
economists and experts and studying the situation in the sector.

Solar and renewable energy sources are expected to little by little
pave their way to the Armenian reality, yet there is no confidence
at all that private investors will have enough interest in funding
projects of the kind, says Khosrov Harutyunyan, a lawmaker from the
ruling Republican parliamentary faction.

The possible use alternative energy became a hot topic in Armenia after
the recent surge in the electric power prices. A quesetion of inerest
was why the authorities do not consider such a possibility given that
Armenia is an energy-dependent country, with the estimated price for
nuclear power being 100 times higher compared to solar energy.

Harutyunyan said he knows several hotels and restaurants that partially
rely on solar power, but he stressed the importance of making the
systems more powerful.

Asked to comment on Iran’s interest in using a corresponding device
invented by Vahan Hamazaspyan, an Armenian scholar, the Republican MP
said he has no confidence about the seriousness of the country’s plans.

“I am not sure they attract Iran, given especially that it is an
energy carrier,” he told Tert.am.

And despite the general lack of confidence, Armenia’s Ministry of
Energy and Natural Resources has elaborated a concept of renewable
energy sources and made the document available on its official website.

In particular, the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
in 2003 developed a map of Armenia’s wind energy resources. The total
estimated capacity of cost-effective wind-power stations was found to
be 450 Mwt, with the annual electricity production being 1.26 billion
kilowatts per hour.

A network wind power station in the Pushkin mountain pass – the first
ever in Armenia and the Caucasus region – was handed over to operation
in 2005. Its total power is estimated to be 2.6 megawatts. There are
now plans for launching a wind power station (20 Mwt) in the same area.

In the frameworks of the EU-funded TACIS project, Support to Armenia’s
Energy Policy, a monitoring activities was conducted in the Semyonovka
mountain pass of Sevan and a justification was later submitted for
funding construction of a 35Mwt wind power station.

It is further mentioned that Armenia produces solar heat collectors
with standard sizes of 1.38 – 4.12 m2 and that the American University
of Armenia uses solar-powered cooling and air-conditioning systems.

Asked by Tert.am about the significance of the studies in question,
a spokesperson for the Energy Ministry, Lusine Harutyunyan, said they
are just pilot projects.

According to Armen Avagyan, a member of the Public Chamber
Sub-Committee on Economic Development and Investment Polices,
the government-proposed projects are not based on properly made
calculations. “The Government projects are not properly calculated;
I say it, because I have personally been involved in different
development projects. They do not comply with international standards,
so the investors who come and see the projects are not properly
prepared, no longer delve deeper into it,” he told our correspondent.