Author: Kanayan Tamar

HSBC NAMED BEST BANK IN ARMENIA BY EUROMONEY

YEREVAN, July 15./ARKA/. HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc has been named Best
Bank in Armenia at this year’s EUROMONEY Awards for Excellence,
the bank’s press office reported on Monday.

HSBC Group also received four global awards as well as twenty regional
and country awards in different categories. The award ceremony took
place in London on Thursday, 11 July.

EUROMONEY said, “HSBC trounced its larger rivals in Armenia, giving
the sector’s best pre-tax and return on equity result. The corporate
franchise remained the primary driver of expansion, but HSBC also
gained ground in the valuable premium retail sector.”

These awards recognize institutions that demonstrate leadership in
their markets, bringing to their customers the highest levels of
services, innovation and expertise.

HSBC Group’s awards include Best Global Emerging Market Investment
Bank, Best Global Emerging Market Debt House, Best Global Risk Adviser
and Best Global Transaction Banking House.

Thies Clemenz, HSBC Bank Armenia Chief Executive Officer, said:
“It is a great privilege to receive this award for the second time,
which is testimony to another successful year of HSBC in Armenia. We
are committed to supporting the growth of Armenia’s economy and
banking sector by playing a leading role in this industry.”

HSBC Bank Armenia cjsc was the first international bank to open in
Armenia in 1996. The bank is a joint venture between the HSBC Group,
which has 70 percent ownership, and members of overseas Armenian
businesses. The bank offers a wide range of products and services
to individual as well as corporate customers, including personal
financial services, commercial banking and treasury and capital
markets services. Thanks to the HSBC network in over 80 countries
and territories, the bank is uniquely positioned to provide truly
international services to its customers.

The Yerevan office opened with 18 staff and under 100 clients. HSBC
Bank Armenia cjsc today has more than 35 thousand individual and
almost five thousand corporate customers and employs 376 employees at
ten branches and offices in Yerevan. The bank has one of the largest
networks of 55 ATMs located throughout Yerevan. HSBC in Armenia has
grown assets from five million US dollars when it started to operate
in 1996 to just 524 million US dollars today. —0—-

– See more at:

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNIZED-POPE EXPECTED TO VISIT TURKEY

13:31, 15 July, 2013

YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS: Pope Francis, the religious leader of
the Catholic world, who recognized the Armenian Genocide, is expected
to visit Turkey next year. As reported by Armenpress, quoting the
Today’s Zaman, which got the news from sources close to the Vatican,
preparations are under way for the Istanbul visit of the new pope,
which is expected to take place in November in 2014.

Istanbul-based Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended
the installation Mass of Pope Francis in Vatican City in March, in a
first-of-its-kind move since the 1054 break that led to the creation
of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity,
along with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag.

Following the Mass, Bartholomew revealed that the new pope had told
him he wanted to pay a visit to Turkey. The pope’s expected visit –
also considered a reciprocation for that of Bartholomew – bears great
importance for the Catholic and Orthodox churches, as the meeting in
Istanbul between the pope and the Greek Orthodox ecumenical patriarch,
one of the leading figures of the Orthodox world (also known as Eastern
Christianity) is seen as a way of increasing dialogue between Eastern
and Western Christianity.

The timing of the pope’s visit is also telling. November 30 is
the anniversary of the foundation of the Church of Byzantium and
of its official recognition by Rome in the year 330. The Orthodox,
who celebrate this as the feast day of St. Andrew, with reference
to the apostle who founded the Church of Byzantium in Istanbul,
celebrate with a liturgy at the Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Pope Benedict XVI, the predecessor of the present pope, paid a visit
to Turkey upon the invitation of then-Turkish President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer in 2006 and had attended a liturgy on November 30 celebrating
the feast of St. Andrew together with Patriarch Bartholomew.

Although the date for the visit of the pope is not yet set, sources say
there is a strong possibility that he will be in Istanbul on November
30. It’s not clear yet whether the pope, who is expected to stay at
the Vatican’s representation in Istanbul, will also visit Ankara.

The newly elected Pope Francis, who recognized the Armenian Genocide
in 2005 in Buenos Aires on the occasion of the erecting a cross stone
dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide on the
90th anniversary of the Genocide, said that he desired to be buried
under that monument. The statements made on the Armenian Genocide
raised discontent and anxiety in Turkey.

ELITE WHEAT SEEDS TO BE PRODUCED IN ARMENIA TO REDUCE IMPORT

10:03, 15 July, 2013

YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESSO~I The super elite seeds imported to
the Republic of Armenia will serve a base to produce elite seeds in
the country and stop their import from other countries. Armenpress was
reported about it by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic
of Armenia Samvel Galstyan. 20 tons of the super elite seeds imported
to Armenia in 2012 have fully justified the expectations and it is
expected to get 7-8 tons of harvest instead of the intended 5 tons.

As stated by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic
of Armenia Samvel Galstyan, the seed growing development program
approved by the Government of the Republic of Armenia provided with
the opportunity to implement a certain variety update. “In 2012 640
tons of elite seeds were imported to the Republic of Armenia”, –
said Samvel Galstyan, adding that notwithstanding that fact, another
440 tons of first reproduction of wheat seeds will be imported from
the Russian Federation.

In the low lands of the Republic the harvest of the wheat has already
been launched. In 2011 168 thousand tons of wheat was produced
in Armenia. In 2012 the indicator made 243 thousand tons. It is
expected that the volumes of the production of the wheat and other
grain crops in Armenia will exceed the level of the previous year by
45-46,000 tons.

“I THINK ARTSAKH PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT OF FREEDOM AND SELF-DETERMINATION.”

Sunday, 14 July 2013 23:04

It is the second year Grizhina Djeranaka-Geberd has participated in
the “Tnjre” international festival of junior musicians within the
framework of which she is conducting master classes for the musicians
of Artsakh. She is a violinist who has participated in a lot of
international festivals and received dozens of prizes and diplomas.

Below is our interview with Grizhina Djeranaka-Geberd.

– It is already the second year you have conducted master classes
in Artsakh. What is the differentiating feature of the musicians
of Artsakh?

– I think musicians don’t differ anywhere. Musicians love music and
thus spread peace. There are a lot of talented people here and the
only difference is the difficulty of acquiring musical instruments
and in general there are some other problems with music but we help
them to lighten this burden.

– Do you think the war and the Karabakh conflict in general interfered
in the development of the musicians in Artsakh?

– I am sure it did, but I think music is the best way to achieve
peace. Music has no boundaries and it relieves them of their pain. The
war and the conflict are a great trouble as people’s top priority is
their safety. If they are not safe people think that music is of minor
importance while if they practised music more they would fight less.

– What had you known about Artsakh before arriving here and what
impressions do you have now?

– Before my visit to Artsakh I had heard a lot about the war but I knew
nothing about the people living here. I have heard a lot about the
conflict on the news but I know that not all is reliable information
yet I was always “for you” as I think Artsakh people have the right
of freedom and self-determination.

– All those who visit Artsakh are under the threat of being declared
persona non-grata by Azerbaijan. What do you think about this?

– I am doing what I can and what I want. I am teaching music, this
is my life. I don’t think I should be afraid of it.

– Each time you share you knowledge and experience with our musicians
and what do you take from here?

– People’s cordiality and their spiritual beauty. I would like to
convey this to the people of Finland so that they would treat one
another so warmly. My husband also likes to come here though he does
not mix with the people as he has highly typical Finnish character.

You know the Finns used to live in separate in winter and didn’t
see anybody the whole winter and if they needed something, salt
for example, in order to approach another family they had to use
percussion instruments so that the neighbours could understand that
it was neither a wolf nor a bear and did not get afraid. During these
recent years as I have visited Artsakh and mixed with the local people
I have changed my way of communication and passed it to the Finns.

GOVERNMENT’S GETTING READY FOR … 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE

Sunday notes

If one listened to this government, one would think that their only
concern is the recognition of the genocide. And one sometimes wants
to tell them “good for you that you do not forget about the genocide
amid kickbacks, offshore and retribution with citizens”. Good for
you or what the hell … anyway.

One output of such “care” should be movies which would tell the truth
to the world on the 100th anniversary of the genocide following
the example of Jews. In the 2000s over 50 films were made on the
Holocaust. The Pianist by Roman Polanski, Jakob the Liar by Peter
Kassovitz , The Reader by Stephen Daldry are very touching works
indeed, and Schindler’s List by Stephen Spielberg and Life is Beautiful
by Roberto Benini received Oscars and global fame.

In 2011 a state commission has been set up to coordinate the events
to mark the 100th anniversary. The commission includes the presidents
of two Armenian states, two catholicoses, two heads of other Armenian
churches, Arthur Baghdasaryan of the National Security Council, Gagik
Tsarukyan, Raffi Hovannisian, Hranush Hakobyan, Hasmik Poghosyan,
other ministers, two representatives of the ARF, perhaps for the
special role it has, one leader of the other traditional parties each
and no representative of culture. I thought a little and did not find
anything strange about it. There will be events.

I was abroad for the greater part of 2011 where I heard that this
great commission will set up a cinema commission which will include
talented specialists who will write and produce films on the Genocide.

It is not just events, films will be made… I also learned a few
days ago that entries on genocide had been considered for the Golden
Apricot Festival.

Let’s first speak about the Golden Apricot because it was its week.

Everything had been well planned. The opening and closing ceremonies
were in the Opera to make sure that the high-ranking officials,
sitting deeply in the red velvet armchairs do not care that the
picture is bad quality, “messages” are read, awards are handed over,
speeches are made which our officials like so much. (It is true
that Aznavour did not get on the stage, either he was tired or he
did not want to take part in this Brezhnevish theater but he will
go away while officials will stay). Every day is a party where the
cinema and pro-cinema people get in touch with the guests. And it
is a real holiday for lovers of real cinema and lovers: entry with
invitations which are easy or hard to get, free or cheap tickets,
meetings with contemporary producers and classics Ulrich Seidl,
Istvan Szabo, Jos Stelling, Margarethe von Trotta.

Now let me come back to the genocide. What has happened? Golden Apricot
received 4-5 applications from Armenian participants of Filmmakers
without Borders packaged in line with international standards and
proposed that the Ministry of Culture attend to them because the
project is small. After a long row of misunderstandings several dozens
of others were brought from Cinema Center and presented to Krzysztof
Zanussi, Atom Egoyan, Arsineh Khanjyan to judge. The ministry did
not explain what will follow evaluation, most entries submitted by
Cinema Center were immature, the participants were unaware of pitching
techniques. Eventually, the guests gave up and stopped the EVENT.

I was amazed, however, not by this hasty and cover-up competition but
Turkey’s Vice-Prime Minister Bulent Arinc’s statement last year to
shoot a film on 1915 telling the truth while the Armenian ministry
of culture was busy with applications in summer 2013.

I will explain for non-specialists. Two years left to go before 2015
is not sufficient to make a serious film. Six months to one year is
a modest period for writing a historical film. Plus casting, venue,
decorations, costumes … minus bureaucracy for funding and difficulty
to get co-financing.

In order not to limit myself to criticism I will also make constructive
proposals. First, the abovementioned real or commission-to-be could
have chosen two classic pieces of literature and call for a competition
of best scripts. I would suggest two books, Cursed Years by Yervand
Otyan and I Ask You Ladies and Gentlemen by Leon Zaven Surmelian
which was a bestseller in the United States.

Second, a grant should be envisaged for Armenian and foreign authors
to make sure that one or two good scenarios are made. Then something
similar should be done with companies and directors. A separate
competition should be held for new authors.

Meanwhile, nothing has been done, and nobody knows what the
continuation will be. Will the Italian strike of the government end?

Will a film be made some time between kickbacks, offshore, retribution
against citizens? Will the output be something as miserable as the
film about Garegin Nezhdeh which hides shyly that the hero of the film
saved Syunik from the Russian Red Army? And if it is finally shot,
will audience be ensured by way of distributing tickets at schools
on a voluntary-mandatory basis? And will there be a miracle and they
will not steal the money envisaged for promoting the international
recognition of the Genocide and we sitting in the hall will not
feel ashamed?

Vahram Martirosyan 12:43 15/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

EVERYTHING POSSIBLE WILL BE DONE TO RAISE FIGHTING CAPABILITY OF ARMED FORCES – BAKO SAHAKYAN

10:11 15/07/2013 ” ANALYSIS

On July 15, Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan was present at
the planned all-army command staff muster and delivered there a speech.

In his speech, the Commander-in-Chief of the Artsakh Armed Forces
called the army building one of the key directions of the state’s
activity, underlining that it was impossible to imagine the independent
Armenian statehood and its secure future without strong and battle
worthy armed forces. Bako Sahakyan noted that with that very deep
consciousness everything possible was done and would be done to raise
the fighting capability of the armed forces, modernize its technical
equipment, maintain the unshakable spirit of the army and ameliorate
social and living conditions of the Fatherland’s defenders.

The President issued instructions to the highest command staff of
the armed forces for proper organization of the muster, reported the
Central Information Department at the Artsakh President’s Office.

Source: Panorama.am

MP SHIRAK TOROSYAN AGAIN PERSONA NON GRATA?

10:44 15/07/2013 POLITICS

The village of Karzakh, Akhalkalaki district, hosted on Sunday an
event celebrating the jubilee of Ashough Jivani. A large number of
guests from Tbilisi and Armenia attended the event.

Citing a source, apsny.ge reports that Armenian MP Shirak Torosyan,
who is known for his sharp criticism of the Georgian authorities,
was going to attend the event. However, he was not allowed to cross
the border into Georgia, the source said.

Source: Panorama.am

BORUSSIA DEFENDER MARCEL SCHMELZER LAUDS NEW ARRIVALS

10:03 15.07.2013
Borussia, Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Borussia Dortmund defender Marcel Schmelzer believes the club’s new
signings will prove valuable come the new season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Sokratis
Papastathopoulos and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the close-season
as they look to challenge Bayern Munich for the title.

The arrivals come after Mario Goetze left for the Allianz Arena and
Felipe Santana joined Schalke, with the German defender saying all
three additions have integrated well in pre-season.

“I think that during the training we saw that the new guys have great
qualities, if you look at Micky (Mkhitaryan) during training, he has
some incredible movements, also Sokratis in the back is acting as if
he’d been here for a few years already, and also Oba (Aubameyang]
has great qualities,” said Schmelzer, who has been at the club for
the duration of his senior career, soccerway.com reports.

“The new purchases are spot on, and like I’ve said, we are trying
to integrate them into the team as well as we can, of course there
are difficulties with the languages, but we have an interpreter and
will manage somehow, and then at the beginning of the season the
three will have adapted to our philosophy so that we can start the
season successfully.”

As well as bringing playing qualities to the side, Schmelzer
also believes that Mkhitaryan, of Armenia, Greece international
Papastathopoulos and Gabonese Aubameyang have made strides in learning
German and being vocal among team-mates.

“I think Micky is the one that is a bit more direct, he comes up to us,
he is starting to say his first German words, even a few sentences,
and I think it won’t take long for him to speak his sixth language,”
Schmelzer continued.

“It is easier to communicate with Sokratis, through his time at Bremen
he learnt a bit of German and he also speaks English. Oba is a bit,
well I guess shy is the wrong word, more reserved and he is having
a look at the whole thing first. But if all three of them open up,
Micky already has, then I think they are great guys that will fit
into our team.”

Former Saint-Etienne striker Aubameyang spoke in the week about
his delight at signing for Dortmund, describing them as “one of the
greatest clubs in Europe”.

Explorations in Tigranakert have been resumed

Friday, 12 July 2013 17:51

The archeological explorations of the ancient town of Tigranakert have
been resumed. As leader of the expedition Hamlet Petrosyan assures the
activities will be carried out in three exploration sites: in the
Reinforced, Central and Ancient districts.

As we suppose the building of the remarkable post office built in the
19th century will be cleaned. We think that there was one more
district between the Reinforced and the Ancient districts which we
must try to find. Some examinations and investigations will be
conducted to find out the exact location of the stone monuments of the
first millennium. The explorations have started quite recently but we
have already found a very interesting thing: a stamp with a record
which is the second in number, in the previous years we found some
seals which proves that the town was of great administrative
importance. The territory of the town is much greater than we think.
And every year we encounter new and pleasant surprises here. During
the explorations we also want to clean the northern part of the early
medieval Christian temple of Gyavur-Kala. We are also working at the
new exhibition programme of the archeological museum of Tigranakert
which is going to include not only Tigranakert but also the
surroundings, Hamlet Petrosyan informed.

, Turkey
July 13 2013

Azerbaijani-Armenian front-line remains tense

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions which it occupied in 1992.

World Bulletin/News Desk

Armenian Armed Forces fired at Azerbaijani Armed Forces from their
positions near the villages of Shikhlar, Javakhirli of the Agdam
region, Tapgaragoyunlu of the Goranboy region and from positions at
the heights of the Fizuli region, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry
reported on Saturday.

Attacks were suppressed by return fire.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since
1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding
districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. – are
currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.