Author: Kanayan Tamar

“WE ARE STRUGGLING AGAINST THE PRODUCTION OF SUBSTANDARD GOODS”

Friday, 28 March 2014 09:48

Interview with Director of the NKR “Center of Standardization,
Metrology, and Certification” Sergey Harutyunyan

– Mr. Harutyunyan, what are the functions of the structure led by
you? As we know, the Center has a products examination laboratory. How
does the Service promote the production of qualitative products in
Artsakh? Can you please give some details of this?

The Center provides the business entities of the Republic and food
producers with certificates of conformity. Or, a food producing subject
must receive a certificate approved by the regulations in order
to start the production process. The very name of the organization
points to the departments operating there. Each department, as you
can guess by the name, has its specific functions and tasks. In the
sphere of certification, before giving a certificate to an entity,
a preparatory work is conducted: we conclude a treaty with it, inspect
the manufacturing facility, and conduct the examination of the sample
product. In other words, mandatory certification of the products and
services conformity, according to the list of products subject to
compulsory certification in the NKR and the technical regulations. Our
service does have a laboratory for products examination: any product
produced in Artsakh undergoes relevant expertise – depending on its
type, bacteriological, physical- chemical, and toxicological. The
latter is implemented to discover nikotoksins, heavy metals, and
toxic elements. After all this, a conclusion is given, which specifies
the physical and chemical characteristics of the type of product. If
everything is correct, then the business entity is given a certificate,
and it can present its products at the market. The standardization
department establishes and maintains a state fund of standardization
regulations, provides the expertise and registration of the technical
conditions and their changes, and helps the business entities in the
preparation of documents required for the accreditation of expert
laboratories. In addition, the department provides the expertise
of state works of state bodies, names, technical specifications,
the correctness of filling in the codes and units.

– I should note that we cannot have national standards, so we
apply the standards of the RA. The metrology department inspects
measuring tools, metrology certification, takes measurements,
is involved in arbitrations and site inspections. Simply speaking,
an entity that uses or sells measuring means, in accordance with the
periodicity fixed by the Government, must submit the measuring means
for certification. The list of measuring means is very large, but we
try to cover more areas within our technical equipment. Unfortunately,
not all the entities display conscientiousness here. Some of them,
unaware of the law, refuse to do it, and we have often to send them
subpoenas. In addition, we conduct an explanatory work and cooperate
with the appropriate agency in order to bring these entities into the
legal field. In this sense, each department carries out its activities
in accordance with the acting law.

– What is the material-technical basis of the Center? Are there
any works on its renewal and equipment or are you satisfied with what
you have?

– The work on the laboratories’ re-equipment and acquisition of new
equipment is underway. To be frank, if we have corresponding funds,
we could enrich the material and technical basis, purchase expensive
up-to-date equipment allowing to determine the necessary parameters
much faster, in a few minutes. But, what we have is also enough for
the necessary examinations, diagnosis and testing. We have both new
equipment and that of the Soviet era.

– Currently, the outlets mainly use electronic scales. Are in this
case any violations and underweight excluded, given the fact that
the Centre checks also these measurement tools?

– Scales are tested, using weights. Within our mandate, we fulfill
our duties, checking them twice a year. The measuring means used in
Armenia are the standard for us, or our measurement tools are tested
and certified in Armenia. As for the violations, so the consumer
himself should act as a controller.- Mr. Harutyunyan, in fact,
only the quality of local products is checked in your lab. It turns
out that the imported products are delivered to the market and sold
without checking. And the people are not actually insured against
the use of substandard products…

– We have no authority and right to enter any outlet and take any
product for review. For this, an authorized service is needed. I
think the State Food Security Service, which has been recently
established within the NKR Ministry of Agriculture, could act as
such.We welcome its creation. By the way, we have already met with
its senior officials and discussed numerous issues. A cooperation
agreement has been achieved, which is natural: we should jointly
ensure the safety of products from harmful additives and chemicals.

The laboratory of the newly established structure is not equipped yet,
as it requires great funding. It also lacks corresponding specialists.

We have proposed the service leadership to use temporarily our
laboratory. In developed countries, Japanese laboratory equipment
production is used – it is more reliable in terms of accuracy and time
(short time of diagnosis), but it is very expensive. Life is going on,
times are changing, new requirements and approaches are appearing.

While a few years ago our center functioned incompletely, it faces
currently serious problems. Every year, our experts are retrained at
the RA National Institute of Standardization and receive corresponding
certificates.

– By the way, how is the cooperation with similar structures
in Armenia?

It is quite good and we have fine relations. In any issue, whether
it’s a technical or professional, the structures of Armenia are always
ready to help us. All the regulations, which we are guided with, are
presented to us by the RA National Institute of Standardization. In
turn, the National Institute of Metrology verifies our measurement
tools and gives the corresponding brand … Our cooperation is
expanding, and the mutual visits have become frequent. Taking the
chance,- I urge everybody to use the local products – whether
it’s dairy or meat products, poultry…. I can assure everyone that
the certified products have no additives and they meet the required
standards. It is known that currently some diseases are caused by
substandard products containing various additives. People get fat
from them, and many countries are concerned about this problem. So,
one of the most important tasks today is to provide the population
with qualitative products. According to its abilities, our structure
is struggling against substandard products. Many programs are planned,
but we’d not like to speak about them yet. We’ll talk about them when
their implementation starts.

Laura GRIGORIAN

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CONSIDERATION OF FUNDED PENSION SCHEME STARTED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Constitutional Court started
considering the issue on the newly introduced funded pension system
Friday.

Parliament deputy from Dashnaktsutiun Artsvik Minasyan spoke on behalf
of claimants.

The new pension system requires that all Armenian citizens born after
1973 pay social security taxes equivalent to 5 percent of their
monthly wages. As much is to be allocated by the government. That
money has to be deposited with private pension funds licensed by the
government late last December.

On January 24 Armenia’s Constitutional Court suspended last month
Article 76 of the new pension law, which provides for penalties for
failed or delayed pension tax payments, and the third paragraph of
Article 86, which obligates employed citizens to choose a pension fund,
among other parts of the law. The Court will conclude the inquiry on
March 28, 2014.

The constitutionality of the law was challenged by three opposition
parties in the National Assembly — the Armenian National Congress,
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Heritage Party —
along with the usually pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party.

According to a poll by Gallup International Association, over 88% of
some 1,066 respondents in Yerevan have not supported the new funded
pension scheme. -0–

– See more at:

ARFD AND HERITAGE PARTY: ARMENIA’S POSITION ON THE CRIMEA IN UN WAS RIGHT

by Ashot Safaryan

Friday, March 28, 14:12

In UN Armenia voted in line with its own national interests, the
head of the Heritage parliamentary faction, Ruben Hakopyan, said at
today’s briefing in the parliament and added this is his personal
point of view.

Yesterday Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Russia, Syria and some other
countries voted against the resolution of the UN General Assembly on
the Crimea, which says that the referendum in the Crimea is illegal.

He said that the USA and Europe like to speak about human values, but
when we touch on Armenia and Karabakh, these advocates of democracy
keep mum. “They use dual standards. Why should only we be guided by
human values? However, I do not compare Karabakh with the Crimea, that
is to say, the right for self-determination fulfilled by the people
of Karabakh. The same happened in the Crimea. We have forgotten that
within the GAUM Ukraine has always expressed an anti-Armenian and
anti-Karabakh position”, – Hakopyan said. He also added that Armenia
voted under Russia’s pressure.

The head of the ARFD parliamentary faction, Armen Rustamyan, said that
finally a referendum was held in the Crimea and its result is beyond
doubt, as 75% of the population of the Crimea are Russians. “The issues
should be watched just in this context. The world community should
understand that they must not take decisions against the will of the
people. Those 100 countries which voted for the territorial integrity
of Ukraine will later change their point of view, just the same way as
during the Russian-Georgian war. Armenia’s decision was right. Those
100 countries recognized Kosovo earlier. Why? Why should not the
Crimea have a right to decide its own destiny?”, – Rustamyan asked.

Azerbaijan Business Center
March 29 2014

Azerbaijan and Armenian FMs to meet in Moscow

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia
agreed to meet in Moscow in early April.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs informs that the two countries’ FMs
Elmar Mammadyarov and Edvard Nalbandyan will hold a a meeting in the
Russian capital in order to prepare holding of negotiations of their
countries’ presidents in the near future on the settlement of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the
Russian Federation, Jacques Faure of France, and James Warlick of the
United States of America) met separately with President Serzh Sargsian
of Armenia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in The Hague on
March 23-24. The Personal Representative of the Chairman in Office,
Andrzej Kasprzyk, also attended the meetings.

The Co-Chairs informed the Presidents of the work done with the
Foreign Ministers on the issues raised during the summit meeting in
November. They emphasized the need to avoid violence on the border
and the Line of Contact, and encouraged the sides to refrain from
inflammatory rhetoric that could increase tensions in the region.

Bustle.com
March 29 2014

Zadie Smith, Salman Rushdie & Others Implore Turkey To Allow ‘Freedom Of Words’

By Andrea Garcia-Vargas

This week, Turkey banned YouTube after an apparent intelligence leak
days before the country’s March 30 elections. Turkey also banned
Twitter earlier this month, although Turkish Twitter users easily got
around that and a Turkish court overturned the ban, Now, popular
authors are speaking out against these social-media bans and signing a
letter by PEN International and English PEN, imploring Turkey to
retract the bans in the name of free speech.

PEN International and English PEN are both highly renowned
organizations that promote the protection of freedom of speech and
free expression for writers around the world. The list of authors who
have signed the letter by the two organization includes Zadie Smith,
Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, and Margaret Atwood.

An excerpt of the letter:

We, the signatories named below, are writers from around the world who
love, live and breathe words. We are united in our belief that freedom
of expression is a universal and fundamental human right. We hereby
express our grave concern with regard to ‘the freedom of words’ in
Turkey today.

The letter goes on to discuss how Turkey ranks 154th out of the
world’s 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, and points to
the specific laws in Turkey that serve to squash journalists and
writers, before moving on to condemn the social media ban.

At the end, the letter demands that Turkey “recognize their
obligations under international treaties and to lift the block on
Twitter and YouTube with immediate effect.”

And then this tremendous closing line:

We urge them to remember that this beautiful country will be stronger
and happier when, and if, it appreciates pluralism, diversity and the
freedom of speech.

You can read the letter here on the website.

Orhan Pamuk, a Nobel Prize laureate from Turkey who has been
persecuted in the country for controversial statements about the
Armenian genocide, has also spoken out, telling The Guardian that the
situation “is going from bad to worse and even towards terrible.”

Interfax, Russia
March 27, 2014

Armenian parliament speaker urges int’l community to ensure security
of Armenians in Syria’s Kesab

YEREVAN. March 27

The attack of opposition groups in the Syrian region of Kesab, mostly
populated by Armenians, was carried out from Turkey, Armenian
parliament speaker Ovik Abraamian said.

“The attack on Kesab was carried out from a NATO member – Turkey. I
think that the international community should raise its voice to
defend the rights of ethnic minorities and ensure the physical
security of Armenians in Kesab,” Abraamian said at a meeting with NATO
Parliamentary Assembly political committee head Jose Lelo on Thursday.

The events in Kesab have also been discussed during a meeting between
NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian.

Nalbandian drew the attention of the NATO the delegation to “the
serious humanitarian situation,” which emerged following the attack on
Armenian villages of Kesab, the Armenian Foreign Ministry press office
told Interfax.

The international community “should not remain indifferent to issues
of serious human rights violations,” Nalbandian said.

The issue of the Karabakh settlement was discussed during meetings in
Yerevan as well and Yerevan is committed to peaceful resolutions for
the problem, Abraamian said.

“War has never led to anything good anywhere. Despite our stance,
Azerbaijan is constantly making hawkish statements at a very high
level, which have recently become especially frequent,” Abraamian
said.

It is necessary to implement measures to enhance an atmosphere of
trust between the parties at the contact line of opposing sides,
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian said at the meeting with NATO
delegation.

The NATO delegation has met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsian as well.

On March 25 the Armenian parliament delegation went to Syria in order
to study the situation on site regarding Armenians-populated Kesab.

A group of six deputies will be in Latakia, where most Kesab Armenians
have been evacuated, Abraamian said.

“Upon their return the deputies will present the situation there to
the Armenian parliament,” Abraamian said.

The situation in Kesab, which is located on the border with Turkey, is
alarming, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

“We are concerned about the situation there. The Armenian population
of Kesab has been evacuated to Latakia. The Foreign Ministry is
watching the situation develop and is trying to find possible ways for
assistance,” Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balaian told
Interfax.

ez mk

TURKEY’S DAVUTOGLU SAYS LEAK IS ‘DECLARATION OF WAR’: TURKIYE

March 27, 2014 “Information Clearing House
–
“Zero Hedge – As we noted here, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan had
blocked Twitter access to his nation ahead of what was rumored to be
a “spectacular” leak before this weekend’s elections.

Then this morning, amid a mad scramble, he reportedly (despite the
nation’s court ruling the bans illegal) blocked YouTube access.
However, by the magic of the interwebs, we have the ‘leaked’ clip and
it is clear why he wanted it blocked/banned. As the rough translation
explains, it purports to be a conversation between key Turkish
military and political leaders discussing what appears to be a false
flag attack to launch war with Syria.
.

Among the most damning sections:

Ahmet Davutolu: “Prime Minister said that in current conjuncture, this
attack (on Suleiman Shah Tomb) must be seen as an opportunity for us.”

Hakan Fidan: “I’ll send 4 men from Syria, if that’s what it takes. I’ll
make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey; we can also
prepare an attack on Suleiman Shah Tomb if necessary.”

Feridun Sinirliolu: “Our national security has become a common, cheap
domestic policy outfit.”

Ya?ar Güler: “It’s a direct cause of war. I mean, what’re going to do is a
direct cause of war.”

Feridun Sinirolu: There are some serious shifts in global and regional
geopolitics. It now can spread to other places. You said it yourself
today, and others agreed… We’re headed to a different game now. We should
be able to see those. That ISIL and all that jazz, all those organizations
are extremely open to manipulation. Having a region made up of
organizations of similar nature will constitute a vital security risk for
us. And when we first went into Northern Iraq, there was always the risk
of PKK blowing up the place. If we thoroughly consider the risks and
substantiate… As the general just said…

Yaar Güler: Sir, when you were inside a moment ago, we were discussing just
that. Openly. I mean, armed forces are a “tool” necessary for you in every
turn.

Ahmet Davutolu: Of course. I always tell the Prime Minister, in your
absence, the same thing in academic jargon, you can’t stay in those lands
without hard power. Without hard power, there can be no soft power.

A full translation can be found here

And just in case you had faith that this was all made up and Erdogan is
right to ban it… he just admitted it was true!

#Turkey ‘s PM Erdogan
live in Diyarbakir calls leaking of meeintg at Foreign Mins. “immoral.”

— Emre Peker (@wsjemre) March 27, 2014

To summarize: a recording confirming a NATO-member country planned a
false-flag war with Syria (where have we seen that before?) and all the
Prime Minister has to say is the leak was “immoral.”

Erdogan is not amused:

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described the leaking on YouTube on
Thursday of a recording of top security officials discussing possible
military operations in Syria as “villainous” and the government blocked
access to the video-sharing site.

“They even leaked a national security meeting. This is villainous, this is
dishonesty…Who are you serving by doing audio surveillance of such an
important meeting?” Erdogan declared before supporters at a rally ahead of
March 30 local polls that will be a key test of his support amid a
corruption scandal.

Zhoghovurd: Armavia employees continue demanding unpaid salaries

11:40 29/03/2014 >> DAILY PRESS

Former employees of Armavia airline continue demanding that the
management pay their salaries. They have already given up hope that
they will receive their salaries, Zhoghovurd writes. The newspaper’s
correspondent discussed the issue with the company’s financial
manager.

“Of course they will receive their salaries. But I must say that it is
a matter of time. The point is that there are some difficulties. It is
impossible to make the payments immediately,” he told the newspaper.

Source: Panorama.am

Scandalous Revelation: Samvel Alexanyan Imports Raw Material of Sugar, Not Sugar

Lragir.am
Business – Saturday, 29 March 2014, 11:28

The Armenian Time newspaper reported that the chairman of the State
Commission for Protection of Economic Commission Artak Shaboyan
revealed something unexpected in an interview with their reporter. He
informed that raw material of sugar, not sugar is imported to Armenia.

At least, according to Mr. Shaboyan and the documents they have
received and studied, the sugar consumed in Armenia is produced in
Armenia, in Akhuryan Sugar Factory owned by Samvel Alexanyan which is
the only factory in Armenia.

In fact, this is a sensational statement because sugar imported to
Armenia is subject to customs clearance, whereas raw materials are
not. Hence, sugar imported to Armenia is recorded as raw material and
is not cleared, in the result of which the state budget loses immense
revenues.

“In reality, sugar is imported to Armenia. According to some other
official information, about 80,000 tons a year. And instead of finding
out the truth the SCPEC is busy rolling public awareness videos on
TV,” the newspaper writes.

– See more at:

Expert: Armenia’s official policy is based on fear

by Emmanuil Lazarian

ARMINFO
Friday, March 28, 21:16

The policy of the Armenian authorities is based on fear, well-known
political scientist, Head of the Center for National and International
Studies Manvel Sargsyan said in an interview to ArmInfo, when asked to
comment on Armenia’s pro-Russian position on Crimea and its decision
to vote against the UN GA’s relevant resolution.

According to Sargsyan, Armenia is facing an unprecedented and very
dangerous situation, which comes from the serious changes that are
taking place in the international balance of forces. “We may lose a
lot if we fail to fit into the new logic of international relations,”
Sargsyan said. The expert believes that Armenia is implementing a very
short-sighted policy by binding itself tightly to Russia and leaving
itself no room for maneuver. “History has lots of examples that you
must not ‘hang’ on an agonizing country,” Sargsyan said.

He explained that today Ukraine is going through a hard process of
building a political nation on the basis on a national idea but
without a national program. “This idea has huge energy manifested in
resolute unwillingness to obey to Russia. And the roots of this
powerful process are in Russia, where people’s mentality is also
transforming. Today most of the Russian intellectuals believe that the
Russians are even more unfree than the Byelorussians or the
Ukrainians. Such civilizational shifts are taking place in many
Russian regions, and if galvanized by the Maidan, they may become a
kind of Perestroika- 2, the rebuilding of Russia from an empire into a
national state,” Sargsyan said.

He believes that Putin’s Bonapartism is based on oligarchy and
corruption and is aimed to prevent undesirable processes. No
coincidence that the Russian intelligentsia is voicing the need for
decolonizing Russia and eliminating its imperial spirit. “The parade
of sovereignties in Europe – something they in the Kremlin are
referring to as an excuse for the annexation of Crimea – may some day
reach Russia,” Sargsyan said.

He shares the opinion of the experts saying that the events in Ukraine
may enhance the sovereignty of Russia’s allies. The voting in the UN
GA has proved this. Kazakhstan and some other Central Asian nations
abstained from supporting Russia as they are well aware that they may
face huge geopolitical risks if they keep allowing their strategic
ally to use them. According to Sargsyan, the crisis in Ukraine has
revealed strong discrepancy between the self-determination and
territorial integrity principles. “Now this conflict has come up to
the level of great powers. This makes the OSCE’s future quite vague as
the very principles that organization is based on are being disputed
by its key members,” Sargsyan said.