Author: Kanayan Tamar

ARMENIAN AND TURKISH NGOS WORK ON PROPOSALS TO SIMPLIFY TURKISH IMPORTS TO ARMENIA

YEREVAN, November 20. / ARKA /. Armenian and Turkish non-governmental
organizations are working on a package of proposals for the government
of Turkey to facilitate imports from Turkey to the Armenian market,
Arsen Ghazaryan, chairman of an Armenian business organization
said today.

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Ghazaryan, the chairman of the Union of
Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia, said some Armenian companies
have trusted partners in Turkey, including what he named as ‘semi-
government’ organizations.

“Today, we are working with them to develop a set of proposals, hoping
that even with closed borders, the Turkish government will agree to
import its goods to Armenia under Armenia’s code which is 77AM.

Ghazaryan said the changes, if enacted into a law, would greatly
simplify the process of imports, as they will allow direct import of
goods from Turkey to the Armenian market without having to go through
neighbouring Georgia.

Currently Turkish goods enter Armenia via third countries, and Armenian
entrepreneurs have to re-register documents for importing them to
Armenia. Armenian imports from Turkey include industrial raw materials,
machinery, building materials and other goods. He said the likelihood
that the Turkish government will adopt the proposals is 50-50.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, its trade
turnover with Turkey in January-September 2012 decreased by 15.5%
from the same period 2011 to $142.4 million dollars. Turkey accounted
for 3.5% of Armenia’s overall trade in the reporting period of time.

Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic relations. The border between
the two countries was closed in 1993 at Ankara’s initiative. Relations
between Armenia and Turkey remain tense because of Ankara’s biased
stance on Karabakh problem and its painful reaction to Armenia’s
efforts to obtain worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide. -0-

ARSEN GHAZARYAN: TURKISH GOVERNMENT IN FACT REFUSES TO LEGALIZE TRADE TURNOVER OF $240 MILLION

Panorama.am
20/11/2012

If Turkish authorities do not legalize the trade turnover between
Armenia and Turkey, Armenian businessmen will have to look for other
markets, Arsen Ghazaryan, chairman of the Union of Manufacturers
and Businessmen (Employers) of Armenia, told reporters in Yerevan,
adding that with no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey,
trade turnover between the two countries amounts to $240 million.

“Industrial raw materials, building materials, machine equipment,
machine equipment components are imported from Turkey. Goods are
imported from Turkey by cars and trucks. Besides, there is suitcase
trade with Turkey (clothes, building materials, etc.),” Mr Ghazaryan
said, adding that, unfortunately, the turnover is in fact one-sided.

According to him, Armenian businessmen try to import some kinds of
goods to Turkey with Georgian and Iranian documents, but these are
rare cases.

“Turkish government in fact refuses to legalize trade turnover. How
long can we be in unequal conditions?” he concluded.

KARABAKH PRESENTED AS SOVEREIGN STATE AT DUTCH TV CHANNEL

News.Az
Tue 20 November 2012 11:37 GMT | 11:37 Local Time

One of TV channels of the Netherlands has presented the occupied
Azerbaijani lands as a sovereign state.

This was reported by the Benelux Azerbaijanis Congress (BAC), based
in Amsterdam.

On 11 November, at travel program 3 op Reis of program BNN of state
TV channel Nederland-3, Dutch journalist Patrick Ladiers informed
viewers about new travel routes to self-proclaimed “Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic”, and even presented it as a “state” with flag and territory,
Gun.Az reports.

He recommended those willing to travel to Nagorno-Karabakh to apply
to the Armenian Embassy in the Netherlands for visa.

In connection with the program prepared by the journalists fooled by
unreal and false claims of Armenians, BAC made an official address
to BNN.

The address signed by BAC Chairman Sahil Gasimov says that program 3 op
Reis was politicized, and the act of the journalist who presented the
false information without verifying it, which has caused discontent
of the Azerbaijan and Turkish community living in Benelux space,
and they strictly condemn this act.

CUSTOMS CONSPIRACY? STUDENT FIGHTS FOR “PURCHASE PRICE” METHOD FOR IMPORTED MERCEDES
Ararat Davtyan

13:10, November 20, 2012

Six months ago, 25 year-old Sergey Grigoryan, a student at Yerevan
State University’s Law Faculty, purchased a 2004 Mercedes Benz CLK
320 from the Trust Company for $10,000.

The car was shipped from Japan and finally made its way to the Georgian
port of Batumi.

Sergey picked up the car and drove it to Armenia. That’s when his
troubles began with Armenian customs officials.

“At customs, Armenian officials valued the car at $17,500 and told me
I’d have to pay 34% of the value. I showed them the price actually
paid and asked if they could use that as the basis. They told me to
go to the head of the State Revenue Committee and plead my case,”
Sergey recounts.

A few years ago, changes were made to custom regulations regarding
the importation of automobiles. Cars less than five years old would
get slapped with a 32% fee. Those importing five to ten year old cars
would have to pay 34%; 11-to 15 year old cars, 42%, and cars 15 years
and older, 52%.

The official explanation given at the time was that the government
wanted to encourage the importation of new cars. Just the opposite
happened, however, but that’s a separate topic altogether.

According to Armenian customs law, if an importer can certify the
purchase price with appropriate documentation, then that amount is
to be used as the basis for customs duties. Otherwise, it’s up to the
customs agency to appraise the value of the item in Armenia according
to some internal system.

State Revenue Committee (SRC) President Gagik Khachatryan rejected
Sergey’s request to employ the actual purchase price. Artour Afrikyan,
Khachatryan’s first deputy, replied that what was missing from the
documentation were the expenses to unload the car at the Georgian port
of Poti and to get it to the Armenian customs office at the border.

“Had the officials taken a cursory glance at the documents he provided,
they would have seen that the car was unloaded at Batumi and not
Poti. They just went through the motions of examining my case,”
argues Sergey.

If an imported car doesn’t get through customs in ten days, penalties
are applied. To avoid this, Sergey handed the car over to the SRC. The
student has been paying 1,300 AMD every day since July to have the
car parked in the SRC lot.

Sergey again wrote to Gagik Khachatryan and again attached all
pertinent documents. This time, Afrikyan changed his story and stated
that the cargo expenses to get the car from Yokahama to the port of
Nagoya were missing. They weren’t.

“I wrote Gagik Khachatryan a third time, pointing out the $300 receipt
for shipping the car from Yokahama to Nagoya,” Sergey said.

In reply, Afrikyan wrote that the basis for the SRC’s rejection had
already been sent in its previous two letters. The SRC stated that
the case was closed.

>>From January 2010 to August 2012, only one-half of 1% of all the
cars imported into Armenia have passed customs on the “purchase price”
basis. We can only surmise that the lucky ones include top government
officials and others with some pull.

During the above period, 55,747 passenger cars were imported to
Armenia by individuals. Only 314 paid customs duties based on the
purchase price.

The others had to pay on the basis of inflated appraisals made by
customs officials.

But Sergey hasn’t given up. He has gone to court, demanding that the
SRC levy duties on the purchase price of the Mercedes and compensate
him for damages.

SCANDALOUS ARMENIAN ACTRESS’ EX-BOYFRIEND IS SENTENCED TO 3.5 YEARS

news.am
November 20, 2012 | 14:34

YEREVAN. – An Armenian capital city Yerevan court on Tuesday sentenced
actress Anzhela Sargsyan’s ex-boyfriend Karen Arayan to three years
and six months in prison and, also, fined him three-hundredfold of
the monthly salary.

It is not yet clear whether or not this ruling will be appealed.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, Armenian actress Anzhela
Sargsyan’s ex-boyfriend Karen Arayan was detained on October 5,
2011 and charged with illegal collection, storage, usage, or
dissemination of information on personal or family life, and with
illegal distribution of pornographic material, or objects with respect
to Sargsyan.

Anzhela Sargsyan became popular in Armenia after her role in the local
soap opera “Where is My Man?”-the Armenian version of “Sex and the
City.” The aforesaid development, however, had brought forth a huge
social reaction and, once Sargsyan’s nude photos were posted on the
Internet, her co-actresses refused to act with her.

“IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THIS CASE HAS POLITICAL OVERTONES,” ABOUT THE A. VEZIRYAN CASE

NOVEMBER 19, 2012 16:30

“It is obvious that this case has political overtones, nothing else,”
Nina Karapetyants, the counselor of the Helsinki Association, said
during a conversation with with regard to the case of
Arman Veziryan, an observer of the association.

Ms. Karapetyants went into detail then, “I wouldn’t have said there
were political overtones, if our motion that the case was related
to the election hadn’t been there. And after that motion, charges
were made to silence Arman. After the National Assembly election,
the Arman Veziryan case is the only case that has remained. Thus,
all complaints and reports to the police and the public prosecutor’s
office have been suspended on certain grounds.”

N. Karapetyants also told about a series of violations committed
during the investigation of the case. She stated: “An investigation was
launched when we filed a motion to make charges against our opposing
party according to Article 149, which provides for punishment for
actions that aim at preventing monitoring mission during the election
campaign. The law stipulates that it can be any action. Or that they
prevented and impeded handing out leaflets, it is obvious that they
impeded the election campaign. Or that they were convincing Arman for
a long time to take his motion back, and not only Arman, but also the
counselor, the head of our organization. And after refusing, Arman
became a defendant. It is the basis, on which charges were brought
against Arman for his action. The case is an absurd, to begin with,
since there is a defendant, but it is not clear who is the aggrieved
party, and there is no complaint.”

Given the above-mentioned, the counselor states that Attorney General
Aghvan Vardanyan’s “words are not valid anymore” and explains: “I
have put forward extracts from the reports of the Deputy Attorney
General’s and the Attorney General’s reports, in which the Attorney
General’s speech clearly mentions that if there is no aggrieved party
and complaint in the case, they cannot make charges against a person.”

For the moment, the Arman Veziryan case is in court, the time for
defendants to testify has come. N. Karapetyants informed us that
“the presumption of innocence is violated at every turn” in this
case and added: “We don’t pin hopes on internal justice that a fair
decision will be made. We will file a petition in the European Court
and will win the case there. Now we are compelled to file a petition
in the court, since the European Court requires that.”

Tatev HARUTYUNYAN

EXPERT: ARMENIAN GOODS TRANSIT THROUGH ABKHAZIA MAY BE BLOCKED

November 20, 2012 – 12:28 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Normalization of Russian-Georgian relations through
solution of a number of issues to boost the process has long been
a subject of discussions among politicians and experts, a Caucasus
expert said.

As Alexander Krylov told PanARMENIAN.Net debates around the issue
intensified after Georgian opposition’s parliamentary win. “Drastic
steps to normalize ties need to be taken in near future to avoid
missing opportunities. The process will be harder to launch as the
effect from the opposition victory wears off,” the expert said.

“Opening of Abkhazian railway section would prove reconciliation
process has started, with Russian market allowing access to Georgian
products. Restoration of diplomatic ties could easily follow
normalization of economic relations,” the expert said.

“However, with Abkhazia and South Ossetia issues, the situation
won’t be so easy to handle. Even technically, Georgia and Russia
won’t be able to open the railway section without a prior agreement
of Abkhazian authorities. And the latters won’t permit it without
significant concessions from Tbilisi, which it is highly unlikely to
make,” the expert said.

“Also, Georgia’s partnership with Azerbaijan and Turkey exacerbates the
problem. Aware of Tbilisi’s dependence, its neighbors will do their
best to disallow transportation of Armenian goods through Abkhazia,
by keeping the railway section blocked,” the expert said.

“Superpowers outside the region are not interested in strengthening
of Russia’s influence in South Caucasus. Even Armenian Diaspora’s
potential won’t be strong enough to promote the unblocking of Abkhazia
section in the U.S. and EU. Thus, finding economically advantageous
transportation routes remains among key issues in Armenia,” the
expert stressed.

0

SALT THERAPY PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLE IN ARMENIA – EXPERT

news.am
November 19, 2012 | 17:38

YEREVAN. – High probability for pulmonary disease mainly occurs after
40 years, expert at the Armenia’s Ministry of Healthcare Andranik
Voskanyan said at a press conference on Monday.

According to him, salt therapy (speleotherapy) plays a very important
role in Armenia. Its main feature is the recreational character,
which is restoration with the help of underground rest.

“This method is helpful not only for people, who are sick, but also
for next generations, as majority of pregnant women may get rid of
the disease prior to giving birth to their children,” he claimed.

GREATER NUMBER OF WOMEN IN ARMENIA RESORT TO SPERM DONORS

news.am
November 20, 2012 | 12:19

YEREVAN. – The women in Armenia have started resorting to sperm donors
for pregnancy, Armenian Association for Reproductive Health Director,
gynecologist Eduard Hambardzumyan informed during a press conference
on Tuesday.

“Fortunately, the Armenian women have started resorting to this
method. Why fortunately? Because in this case the matter refers
to those couples whose men do not have sperm cells, or, it refers
to single mothers who, understanding-by the age of forty-that they
will not form a family, decide to have a child and go on with their
lives,” Hambardzumyan said, and added that the women who resort to
this method in Armenia do not who the sperm donor is, but the given
medical facility knows and everything is checked out.

In response to the query as to from which country the given sperms are
imported to Armenia, the aforementioned association’s deputy director,
gynecologist Karine Pokhunts stated that the sperms are solely local
and Armenia does not need to import any sperms. “Why should we import
when we have a healthy and a very good youth,” she added.

PAP TO SUPPORT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE IN SHIRAK BY-ELECTION COMPETING AGAINST OPPOSITION MEMBER

POLITICS | 20.11.12 | 11:36

The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) regional chapter in Shirak, which
is led by Gyumri Mayor Samvel Balasanyan, has decided to support
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) candidate Arman Sahakyan in an
upcoming by-election to the National Assembly, reported the local
daily, Haykakan Zhamanak, quoting a PAP spokesperson.

The by-election was scheduled after Balasanyan gave up his seat in
parliament won from that constituency in the May 6 election to run
for the mayoral post in Armenia’s second largest city last summer.

Remarkably, Balasanyan’s mayoral bid was supported by the RPA that
did not extend its support to RPA member and incumbent mayor Vardan
Ghukasyan. Eventually, the controversial former mayor of Gyumri
decided not to contest the September 9 vote in the city and later
also stepped down almost a month before he was due in October.

PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan visited Gyumri last week to hold a meeting
with the local party chapter. The position of the PAP in the local
by-election to the National Assembly must also have become a matter
of discussions then.

Sahakyan’s main rival in the December 2 vote will be Murad Grigoryan,
a coordinator of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC)
in Gyumri. PAP and ANC are currently in “political consultations”
over a possible common platform in contesting next year’s presidential
vote in which the RPA will nominate its leader and current President
Serzh Sargsyan for reelection.