Author: Kanayan Tamar

Mkhitaryan’s fans to stage protest near FFA premises

June 22, 2013 – 14:08 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Fans of the Armenian national football team and
Shakhtar Donetsk where Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a midfielder will gather
in front of the Football Federation of Armenia Monday, June 24, to
express displeasure over the situation with Mkhitaryan’s transfer to
Liverpool FC.

The organizers also issued an open letter which says that `Mkhitaryan
fell a victim to FFA President Ruben Hayrapetyan’s oligarchic system’,
which now hampers the player’s transfer to the English club.

`Mkhitaryan can’t fight against Hayrapetyan alone, as the latter
always boasts about his personal contribution to the guy’s successful
career, fans say.
They also plan to demand Hayrapetyan’s resignation.

Related links:

Avanta named Best Medical Center of the Year (video)

June 22, 2013 – 11:05 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The traditional ceremony Star of Hope to award best
doctors and clinics of Armenia took place Thursday, June 20, in Aram
Khachaturian concert hall on the initiative of National Confidence
Council.

Avanta network was named Best Medical Center of the Year for
achievements in dentistry, implantology and aesthetics. The founder
and CEO of Avanta, head of the Association of Implantologists of
Armenia, Karen Grigoryan was recognized as Best Implantologist of the
Year.

The organizers of the event announced that various researches and
surveys also revealed Avanta network of medical centers as the best in
Armenia.

A special award Star of Hope was given to Arman Kharazyan, Avanta
employee, who was named the Best Employee in the Field of Medical PR
Marketing in Armenia.

Program to Clean-Up Yerevan Targets Hrazdan Gorge

12:50, June 22, 2013

26 garbage and water street cleaner trucks converged on Yerevan’s
Hrazdan Gorge recently in the first stage of the `A Cleaner Yerevan’
program launched by Mayor Taron Margaryan.

The gorge, a popular spot with its meandering river and green space
for Yerevan residents seeking to beat the summer heat, has a tendency
to get dirtier quicker than the city’s other recreational parks.

Next Saturday, the clean-up program will target another popular site,
Haghtanak Park, with its kiddie rides and the towering Mother Armenia
statue.

The problem is in confidence

June 22 2013

Even the most modest and wretched man can not live in Armenia with AMD 45
thousand. It can not live alone, moreover to take care of its children. It
is excluded. I do not know what international standards were used to
calculate the threshold, they say that, as if, there are countries in the
world where people live on two dollars a week. I do not know, I do not want
to argue, perhaps, the prices in those countries are lower, or people
stomachs are built differently. But, in Armenia, I am sure there is no one.

But, as the Minister of Justice said recently, the cheapest thing is the
populism. Let’s look at the issue from the other side. Increasing the
minimum wage by AMD 10 thousand can lead to some positive outcome. The
problem is that in many private companies people mainly receive `white’ and
`black’ wages. Now let’s assume that the employee’s real salary is AMD 100
thousand: before he was receiving AMD 35 thousand `white’ and AMD 65
thousand `black.’ Now the employer will not raise his salary, but he will
get AMD 45 thousand `white’ and AMD 55 thousand `black.’ The employee will
not gain anything. But the government can gain because the shadow, at least
in theory, will be reduced, and the tax paid from AMD 45 thousand will be
more than from AMD 35 thousand.

I am saying iffy about all these things because I’m not absolutely sure
that the money going to the budget promote the prosperity and strengthening
of my country, that the additional tax, which I, as an employer, am going
to pay to the budget, will help our pensioners, our poor and our army. The
Prime Minister gets offended when we, citizens, express such doubts, but
why we do not express our opinion if there is, let’s say, no construction
in Armenia that is ordered by a governmental body where the so-called
`kickback’ is not functioning in this or that way. Is there a naive in our
country who believes that it is not so?

The problem, therefore, is not so much the minimum wage as the deficit in
trust. Of course, people do not trust in public institutions, including the
media, and, of course, they have grounds for it. But the priority is the
mistrust in the state, which, let’s confess, was also present during the
Soviet era, which is doubled and tripled during the period of independence.
And the media are not to blame who `mistakenly run after sensational news’,
but the political system being rotten cap-a-pie.

How to restore the trust? It’s very simple, by arresting and judging 10-20
high rank bureaucrats. But how to do it, if, as people say, one’s tale is
under the other’s.

Once there is a confidence in the government and particularly in the
mechanisms of state budget expenditures, the minimum wage should be
increased up to AMD 100 thousand. The government and, consequently, the
citizens would only benefit.

Aram ABRAHAMYAN
Read more at:

Bagrat Yengibaryan: A large number of Armenian women work in IT sector

13:23 22/06/2013 » SOCIETY

A large number of Armenian women work in the Information Technologies
(IT) sector, Bagrat Yengibaryan, Director of Enterprise Incubator
Foundation, has told Panorama.am.

According to him, in developed countries, women’s involvement in IT
sector does not exceed 10 percent, while in Armenia it exceeds 40
percent.

Mr Yengibaryan noted that interest in IT sector has been growing in
recent years, with a large number of girls choosing programmer’s
profession, and it is not by accident that in some IT companies, 60
percent of employees are women. It is a high figure. Recently
established Armenian IT companies are also run by women, he said.

The official did not deny that the IT sector is also attractive to
women due to high salaries, adding that it also shows that women are
competitive, that they are not inferior to men and are able to easily
compete with them.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIE
Les insultes verbales deviennent la norme à l’Assemblée nationale

Un autre manquement à l’éthique est intervenu au Parlement d’Arménie ,
lorsque au cours d’une violente dispute un législateur et un
journaliste ont échangé des obscénités et cela est devenu le `hit`
parmi les sujets les plus discutés dans les médias locaux.

La dispute a été déclenchée par une suggestion du secrétaire du
Congrès National Arménien Aram Manoukian faite au cours de la
discussion animée sur le rapport de la Chambre de contrôle pour 2012
indiquant qu’une commission devrait être créée pour étudier tous les
cas et identifier ceux qui devraient être renvoyés devant le bureau du
procureur général.

Aram Manoukian a également suggéré que le député du parti républicain
Vardan Ayvazyan soit membre de la commission : « un parlementaire
propre et impeccable, adepte du multipartisme, seigneur des mines ».
(Ayvazyan était ministre de la protection de l’environnement entre
2001 et 2007, était / est fortement impliqué dans l’industrie minière,
et son mandat se distingue de la plupart des scandales dans ce
secteur).

Après la session du parlement dans le couloir de l’Assemblée
nationale, Vardan Ayvazyan a commencé une dispute avec Aram Manoukian,
en disant qu’il « avait un diplôme mais a dû travailler comme un
manoeuvre » alors que Manoukian a commencé immédiatement « à
travailler comme un ministre ». Aram Manoukian a répondu que sa seule
demande était de respecter la loi et de ne pas voler. Au moment où
Ayvazyan s’écria « Montrez-moi ce que j’ai volé, le pouvez-vous ?! »
une journaliste de « Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun » (quatrième pouvoir)
Gohar Veziryan a fait une remarque sur ce que le journal en ligne Hetq
avait écrit à ce sujet.

« Qu’est-ce que Hetq a écrit ? Ils ont pris de l’argent et écrit …
Qu’est-ce que Hetq a écrit, ha ? Qu’est-ce que Hetq a écrit ? ! Quoi
qu’il ait écrit je vous le donne », a déclaré Ayvazyan, hurlant à la
journaliste, qui a répliqué en arrière :« Vous n’avez pas besoin de me
le donner, donner le à votre président ». Le conflit s’est aggravé
après cela, le législateur a dit au journaliste qu’elle ne faisait que
« gémir » et la journaliste a répondu : « vous êtes le seul gémissant
avec votre entière lignée familiale ».

Gohar Veziryan, qui s’était présenté à l’élection parlementaire de
2012 et avait perdu, a écrit dans sa page Facebook après cet incident
: « Je suis terriblement reconnaissant à mes collègues de montrer de
la solidarité. Que j’ai brisé ou non l’éthique du journaliste n’est
pas important du tout en ce moment. Je ne permettrai jamais à
quiconque de blesser ma dignité. Je regrette juste le choix du mot, il
aurait sans doute été plus approprié de l’appeler « Hanbal » [un mot
qui signifie diminuer `serviteur ou un travailleur manuel très
faiblement rémunéré].

Dans son interview à tert.am elle a dit qu’elle ne savait pas encore
si elle allait se tourner vers le Comité d’éthique ou pas : « D’une
part, je pense que toute les personnes qui se sont tournés jusqu’ici
n’ont rien gagné, donc je pense toujours et je ne sais pas encore ».

Il y a quelques mois le député du parti au pouvoir Mher Sedrakyan a
présenté des excuses à un journaliste pour lui avoir lancé des
obscénités et le menacer de violence, mais ses excuses, demandées par
le comité d’éthique, n’a pas eu d’effets sur les autres et n’a pas
réussi à empêcher que de tels incidents ne se reproduisent. En fait,
l’échange d’insultes est plutôt devenue une « tradition » dans
l’organe législatif arménien.

En ce qui concerne la publication d’Hetq liée aux activités
controversées d’Ayvazyan durant son mandat en tant que ministre : le
périodique a publié une série d’articles d’investigation sur la base
du fait que le 6 Novembre 2008, la Cour fédérale de New York a rendu
un verdict par lequel le député du parti républicain Vardan Ayvazyan
doit payer 37,5 millions de dollars à Global Gold Mining LLC. En 2006,
la société a déposé une poursuite contre le ministre de
l’environnement Ayvazyan l’accusant de corruption et avoir exigé
plusieurs millions de dollars.

Par Gayane Lazarian

ArmeniaNow

samedi 22 juin 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

UNION EUROPÉENNE
La Turquie menace l’Allemagne de représailles

ANKARA, 21 juin 2013 (AFP) – Le ministre turc des Affaires
européennes, Egemen Bagis, a mis en garde vendredi la chancelière
allemande Angela Merkel contre toute velléité de bloquer l’ouverture
d’un nouveau chapitre des négociations d’adhésion d’Ankara à l’Union
européenne (UE). `J’espère qu’elle va corriger l’erreur qu’elle a
commise lundi (…) ou cela donnera lieu à des réactions`, a déclaré
M. Bagis devant la presse, faisant allusion aux déclarations de Mme
Merkel déplorant la répression `beaucoup trop dure`, selon elle, des
manifestations antigouvernementales en Turquie.

`La Turquie n’est pas n’importe quel pays`, a encore dit M. Bagis,
cité par les médias turcs, déplorant une `manoeuvre électoraliste
facile` de la part de Mme Merkel à l’approche des élections
législatives en Allemagne.

M. Bagis avait déjà mis en garde l’Allemagne jeudi en des termes
particulièrement fermes. `Si Mme Merkel se cherche de la matière
destinée à la politique intérieure pour ses élections, cette matière
ne doit pas être la Turquie`, avait-il déclaré faisant allusion aux
élections prévues le 22 septembre en Allemagne.

A Odessa (Russie), où il se trouve en visite de travail, le ministre
turc des Affaires étrangères, Ahmet Davutoglu, a fait part de son
`malaise`. `Nous avons eu connaissance d’un blocage d’inspiration
politique sous le prétexte d’arguments techniques`, a indiqué M.
Davutoglu à la presse turque qui l’accompagnait.

Le chef de la diplomatie turque a lui aussi brandi la menace d’une
détérioration des relations euro-turques si Berlin persistait dans son
refus.

`Nous (…) prendrons les mesures nécessaires contre les pays qui
feront en sorte d’interrompre les relations entre la Turquie et
l’Union` européenne, a-t-il dit.

La chancelière a toujours affiché son scepticisme quant à
l’aboutissement des négociations d’adhésion de la Turquie à l’UE,
entamées en 2005 et qui n’avancent que très lentement depuis, mais
elle s’était montrée favorable en début d’année à l’ouverture d’un
nouveau chapitre de négociations.

Toutefois selon des diplomates européens, l’Allemagne et les Pays-Bas
s’opposent désormais à l’ouverture de ce chapitre, dans la foulée de
leurs critiques déplorant la brutalité de la répression des
manifestations antigouvernementales qui ont agité la Turquie pendant
près de trois semaines.

Si un accord unanime des 27 n’est pas trouvé lundi à Bruxelles, la
conférence intergouvernementale qui devait donner mercredi prochain
son feu vert à l’ouverture de ce nouveau chapitre pourrait être
reportée, selon les diplomates européens.

Berlin a convoqué vendredi l’ambassadeur de Turquie en Allemagne pour
protester contre les propos jeudi de M. Bagis, et Ankara devait faire
de même, par mesure de réciprocité.

samedi 22 juin 2013,
Ara ©armenews.com

OFFICIAL SAYS GOVERNMENT CANNOT HELP ARMAVIA EMPLOYEES

15:03 21/06/2013 ” SOCIETY

As we reported earlier today, employees of Armavia Air Company
gathered today in another protest near the building of Armenian
government demanding their due salaries and expecting support from
Armenian government.

Our correspondent reports from the scene that Alexander Ghazaryan,
head of the department for complaint letters to the government
and citizen reception, talked to Armavia employees, saying that
the government cannot help them. The official explained that the
government also suffered from Armavia’s activities and Armavia also
owes the government. The government has no leverage to influence
Armavia because it is a private company, Ghazaryan said, adding that
Armavia employees should solve the issue through court.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMY RAMPAGE KILLER FOUND HANGED IN PRISON

News | 21.06.13 | 08:59

Photolure

A former soldier who was convicted and sentenced to life for killing
four and wounding three fellow servicemen in a shooting spree in 2010
was found hanged in Nubarashen prison on June 19.

A Justice Ministry information service said on Thursday that Manvel
Hazroyan, 22, committed suicide by hanging himself on a rope that he
managed to make from a bed cover.

It said on June 11 Hazroyan was put in a punishment cell for disobeying
lawful orders of prison wards. No other details of the incident
were reported.

U.S. AMBASSADOR’S HINT TO ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT

The U.S. Ambassador made an interesting statement during the opening
of Digitech Business Forum held the sixth year running. Mr. Heffern
said that he attends the forum for the second time running. Ambassador
Heffern said that the United States has a big role in the IT sector
development in Armenia because the Armenian companies cooperate
closely with Armenian partners. At the same time, he commented on
the government policy on this sector.

He advised the government to keep a distance from the IT sector
as they want to cooperate with their colleagues without having the
government on their way.

Apparently, the U.S. ambassador does not expect that this government
will ever do anything good for the development of the Armenian
economy. And this government is expected not to hinder.

Perhaps, the ambassador is tired of inquiring about Carrefour. The
government never answers his questions. There are assurances made by
the government but there is no Carrefour, there is no competition.

Instead, the monopolist Samvel Alexanyan continues to conquer more
and more retail territories.

Hence, there is nothing left to do but to call the government to keep
off the IT sector instead of inquiring about Carrefour. Keeping off
has a very specific meaning. The IT sector is the only sector where
the oligarchs have not reached. Perhaps this is the reason why the
sector gets significant Western investments, so-called intellectual
investments. The absence of the oligarchy in the IT sphere helps ensure
steady growth, demand for high-quality specialists. The sector is far
from the desirable strategic level but the tendency is positive, and
most probably any intervention of the government stands for oligarchic
intervention to the U.S. ambassador because the precedents show that
whatever the government does, the oligarchy benefits. So, logically,
the ambassador wants the government to keep off the IT sector which
is enough to maintain the steady growth of the sector.

Apparently, the U.S. ambassador hints that if the government does its
job and refrains from intervention, he will do the rest. Recently he
has been actively working for attracting investments to Armenia in
order to create a favorable climate for the key wealth of Armenia,
the intellectual potential.

Last December the ambassador accompanied Prime Minister Sargsyan to
the United States. At that time, several agreements were said to have
been reached but there are no news. Perhaps the condition is not to
let the government hinder.

The IT sector is becoming a priority in the context of developments
in the energy sector. After another punitive application of the
Russian gas Armenia started thinking about alternative energy,
energy saving etc. It is directly linked to the IT sector because it
requires innovation.

This is a political issue as well. Growth of innovative economy will
lead to significant changes in the structure of the economy, weakening
the share and political influence of the oligarchic capital. At the
same time, alternative sources of energy will boost Armenia’s immune
system against the Russian gas disease and open up more opportunities
for Armenia for an independent policy.

And it takes very little from the Armenian government – just keep off.

Although, one of the key features of the Armenian government is to
limit all the tendencies which will jeopardize the status quo of
the oligarchy.

James Hakobyan 14:36 21/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News: