Author: Nahapetian Boris

Panorama.am
13:12 07/02/2009

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF ARMENIA AND TURKEY TO MEET

The Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan met with the Foreign
Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan in Munich, said Tigran Balayan, the
head of public relations department of the Foreign Ministry to
Panorama.am.

According to him the Ministers discussed a range of questions to
improve Armenian-Turkish relationship. Note that the Foreign Ministers
arrived in Munich to take part in Munich 45th Security Conference.

Remind: Since the beginning of the year the Foreign Ministers of
Armenia and Turkey have had two meetings.

Source: Panorama.am

EXTRAORDINARY CONSULTATION

A1+
[06:23 pm] 05 February, 2009

Serzh Sargsyan convened a consultation today in relation to the
assassination of RA Deputy Chief of the RA Police Gevorg Mheryan.

Touching upon the assassination, Sargsyan said that he was constantly
in touch with participants of the consultation and is informed about
the investigation. Sargsyan demanded a further detailed report on
revelation of the crime at present, the circumstances and versions. He
noted that the "tragedy caused pain, disappointment and was an insult
to thousands of people." The bullet of the assassins was aimed not only
at one person, one official, but against the police. During the months
before his death Mheryan was taking actions to fight against corruption
and we must be fully aware of that. We must realize that and give an
adequate response. We must take action taking this into consideration."

Chief police Alik Sargsyan, Head of the National Security Service
Gorik Hakobyan, Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan and head of the
investigative group created for the incident Hektor Sardaryan informed
the President about the details of the incident and the main courses
for investigation. The President assigned them to give periodical
reports on the results and take all measures to reveal the crime.

ACCORDING TO ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER, DEVELOPMENT RATES IN MARZES SHOULD EXCEED THOSE IN YEREVAN

NOYAN TAPAN

Feb 4, 2009
YEREVAN

Raising the level of administrative control of local government bodies
continues to be an urgent problem of the activities of the RA Ministry
of Territorial Administration, the deputy minister Vache Terterian
stated when presenting the annual report to the prime minister Tigran
Sargsyan on February 4. According to him, with this aim in 2008 the
ministry developed an order, but in the legal sense the order will
be put in use this year.

V. Terterian said that steps should be taken to improve the
implementation of local budgets and strengthen the control of
collection of own revenues by communities. In his words, the collection
of own revenues of communities grew in 2008 on 2007, in particular,
collection of land tax grew by 400 mln drams (about 131.4 mln USD),
of property tax – by 600 mln drams. The deputy minister said that
the administrative boundaries of about 100 communities were changed
last year so there is a necessity to clarify their tax bases, after
which a growth of tax collection is expected.

In 2008 the ministry worked out a protocol decision on approval of the
concept of development and implementation of programs on development of
Armenian marzes. V. Terterian noted that the document will contribute
to proportionate territorial development, which was proclaimed a
priority in the program of the Armenian government. The draft law
on local self-government in the city of Yerevan was developed and
adopted by the National Assembly.

With the aim of improving the financial equalization system, the
ministry worked out a new draft law on financial equalization. Besides,
the concept of local taxes in the RA and the conceptual approaches
on formation of intercommunity unions and enlargement of communities
were developed. The drafts on approval of the 2009-2011 development
programs of Gegharkunik and Tavush marzes (provinces) were submitted
to the government for approval.

Speaking about the territorial development problems in Armenia
and the work to be done in the next 3-4 years under the program of
medium-term expenditures, T. Sargsyan attached importance to the
problem of allocating more funds to marzes (provinces). "We will
start the process of developing the 2010 state budget of Armenia,
and it is necessary to view these proportions now in order to carry
out such redistributions that the development rates of marzes will
exceed those in the city of Yerevan," the prime minister said.

ARMENIA’S AGRICULTURAL SECTOR SHOWS 3.2% GROWTH LAST YEAR

ARKA
Feb 3, 2009

YEREVAN, February 3. /ARKA/. Last year the Armenian agricultural
sector showed 3.2% growth, RA Minister of Agriculture Aramais Grigoryan
reported at the RA Government’s sitting.

He pointed out 1.5% growth in crop production and 6.4% growth in
cattle-breeding.

Last year the RA Ministry of Agriculture accomplished all the tasks
incorporated in the Ra Government’s program, the Minister said.

Grigoryan pointed out that the Ministry advanced legislative
initiatives approved by the Government.

Among the shortcomings the Minister included the delay in the
adoption of legal norms on food safety, as well as the program of
auction sale of agricultural equipment, which was not completed. He
pointed out that one more auction is shortly to be held for a number
of communities in the Aragatsotn region.

"We have to accomplish our priority tasks in the agricultural sector.

Live-st5ock business development projects have been submitted to
the Government. We are also negotiating with the private sector and,
after getting the results, we plan to make proposals for the sector’s
development," Grigoryan said.

RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan pointed out that the inspections
conducted at the Ministry of Agriculture by the Supervisory Chamber
showed the need for measures to prevent negative phenomena this year.

"We need to clearly determine the mini stry’s functions this year,
including the positions, for the ministry to have a clear idea of
its own functions and establish more efficient cooperation with the
private sector," the Premier said.

KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT NKR PARTICIPATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.02.2009 14:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The position of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic is
unchangeable. The conflict can’t be resolved without participation
of NKR as a full-fledged party, NKR President said.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs understand that Stepanakert should be
a participant in all stages of the process: from exchange of views
up to development and implementation of agreements, Mr. Bako Sahakyan
said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"As to the level of representation, it should be adequate to that of
other sides, specifically Azerbaijan. If talks are held at the level
of heads of state, so NKR should also be represented by President,"
he said.

"Our position is that we can’t return to the past. Artsakh will never
be a part of Azerbaijan. NKR security should never be an article of
commerce either. As to other issues, we are ready to discuss them
with Azerbaijan."

TREASURER OF DCA STEALS COMPANY’S MONEY

ArmInfo
2009-02-02 17:56:00

ArmInfo. Treasurer of Diamond Company of Armenia Narine Vardanyan
has stolen $61,000 belonging to the company and has fled to Voronezh,
says the owner of the company, member of the parliamentary group of
Republican Party of Armenia Gagik Abrahamyan.

"We have appealed to the prosecutor’s office. They have instituted
criminal proceedings. She is somewhere in Voronezh. I am sure that
they will find her," says Abrahamyan.

Panorama.am
16:14 31/01/2009

AHMADINEJAD THANKS ERDOGAN FOR DAVOS OUTBURST

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday congratulated
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on taking a stand over
Israel on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Remind that, on 29 January at Davos Forum there was a debate between
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Israeli President Peres. After
Peres’s 23-minute speech on Gaza situation, Erdogan accused Israel of
massacre of Gaza civilians.

«The act of the Turkish prime minister reflects expectations of
all Turkish people, the nations of the region and the entire world. We
appreciate it. He behaved exactly how he should have behaved in that
situation», Ahmadinejad told journalists.

The president of Iran again accused the Israeli government of
committing war crimes in Gaza and declared that no aim could justify
the killing of Palestinian civilians.

Source: Panorama.am

Foreign Policy
Jan 31 2009

The latest from Davos
Fri, 01/30/2009 – 5:02pm

By Ian Bremmer

OK, maybe it’s a bit gloomier at Davos than I suggested in my first
installment. But that could be because I attended the "36 hours in
September" dinner and listened to the blow by blow on how it all went
wrong for the global markets. All the economists (Stephen Roach,
Nouriel Roubini, Robert Shiller), unshackled from the yoke of Wall
Street ebullience, truly embraced their inner dismal scientist. There
was plenty of blame to go around — bankers, hedge funds, ratings
agencies, regulatory agencies — thankfully leavened at the end by
Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman, who essentially said that
we’re not actually that bad as people.

Also making news were the Chinese and Russian premiers, the afternoon
keynotes. That made for a very different feel for the post-mortem on
the day’s sessions. Of the two, Wen Jiabao acquitted himself more
effectively; looking like a statesman, promising no recession for
China (even if it’s an irrelevant formulation, the audience
appreciated it), and keeping the finger-pointing to a comparative
minimum. Putin got the quote of the day, though, offering that we
should beware state intervention in the world’s economies. Former
president Clinton, not quite able to resist being goaded, said "I hope
that works out for him."

The other side of that coin is the comparative absence of the Obama
administration — not even Larry Summers, who is a fixture here, but
apparently has an economy to fix. The economic officials keeping to
Washington have generally been seen here as responsible, but with the
importance of the meeting and the number of senior state officials
here, you have to wonder why they decided to pull National Security
Advisor Jim Jones at the last minute.

I’d have had more to say by this point, but I’ve been busy prepping to
chair a session on the "new great game" with the heads of state of
Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It’s interesting in the context of
World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab’s opening missive that the
present crisis requires a holistic, global response. Because if
there’s any place you’re not going to see unified global leadership,
it’s the Eurasia heartland. The panel runs an hour, Turkey and Armenia
don’t have diplomatic relations, Armenia and Azerbaijan are in the
middle of tense negotiations over the contested territory of Nagorno
Karabakh, and we’ve got three languages being translated
simultaneously. It’s…challenging. Presuming it goes well, I’ll write
about it after.

Interestingly, while I was typing, an old friend and journalist from
Turkey stopped by (easiest to blog at the little kiosks they set up
all over the place) and said that the Turkish and Armenian foreign
ministers met three times on Wednesday and that the news looks
promising. It’s not a complete surprise, as the Turks used to use
Davos all the time to advance the relationship with Greece. Maybe
here’s the Armenia breakthrough (especially since the Turks want to be
seen as proactive before April 24th, the genocide commemoration, so
that Obama doesn’t take them on). I’m asking her to backchannel and
see what she can get.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenia to participate in Eurovision 2009 first semi-final
30.01.2009 21:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On January 30, 2009, the draw held in Mariott Aurora
Moscow decided which countries will appear in either the first or
second semi-final of Eurovision Song Contest 2009.

Going on last years’ system of events, all countries were separated
into six individual pots based on voting patterns in previous
contests. The draw has been created to ensure countries who are most
likely to give each other points in the competition will not
participate in the same semi-final. Out of these six pots it was known
which countries would participate in the first semi-final and the
second semi-final respectively. It was also determined that Germany,
Spain, and the United Kingdom would vote in the first semi-final,
while France and Russia would vote in the second semi-final. The draw
for the running order of the semi-finals, finals, and the order of
voting, will occur in March 2009.

The list of the first semi-final performers included Armenia, Bosnia &
Herzegovina, Sweden, Israel, Belgium, Andorra, the Czech Republic,
Montenegro, Island, Georgia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Switzerland,
Macedonia, Finland, Belarus, Turkey, Romania and Malta.

Slovenia, Denmark, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, Latvia, Hungary, Serbia,
Norway, Ukraine, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, Croatia, Estonia, Moldova,
Cyprus, Ireland, Slovakia and Albania will appear in the send
semi-final.

According to preliminary data, Armenia will be represented by Inga and
Anoush Arshakyan sisters.

STARTING FROM JANUARY 30 MEMBERS OF ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO PRESENT REPORTS ON 2008 ACTIVITIES TO PRIME MINISTER

Noyan Tapan

Jan 30, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. Starting from January 30, the members
of the RA government will present reports on the 2008 activities of
the minisitries to the prime minister Tigran Sargsyan. At the previous
sitting of the government, the prime minister said the work which
was either not done or done inefficiently will be in the center of
attention. He told the ministers to pay attention to the shortcomings
revealed by the Control Chamber in order to avoid them in the future.

"The levels of natural losses in the given sector, the write-off
of bills receivable, the losses from the previous years and
the overestimation of fixed assets have a negative impact on
tax revenues. So it is necessary that the respective units of the
ministries establish control and in case of any problem apply urgently
to the RA State Revenues Committee," T. Sargsyan said.