Author: Nalbandian Eduard

CAR ACCIDENT REGISTERED IN SPITAK-YEREVAN HIGHWAY: NO VICTIMS

Panorama.am
12:54 05/08/2009

Car accident on Spitak-Yerevan road, Lori region has been registered
on Tuesday at 23:44, police reports. Yet in unreleased circumstances,
"KRAZ" 13Õ~UÕ~U137 (registration number) vehicle ran out of the main
road and turned over.

The police officers helped S. Aghajanyan to get out of the vehicle
before the rescue service arrived and was taken to hospital, Emergency
Ministry reports. It is said that currently the injured driver is
cured and left home.

BRAZILIAN ORGANIZATIONS LIKELY TO INVEST IN CONSTRUCTION OF NORTH-SOUTH HIGHWAY

Noyan Tapan
Aug 5, 2009

YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Receiving Brazilian Ambassador
to Armenia Mrs. Marcela Nikodemos on August 5, RA Minister of
Transport and Communication Gurgen Sargsyan presented in detail
the programs being implemented in the sector. He particularly spoke
about the projects on construction of the North-South Highway and
the North-South Railway. The minister said that in connection with
the highway construction, a meeting of donor organizations will be
held in Yerevan in October.

According to Spokeswoman for the RA Minister of Transport and
Communication Susanna Tonoyan, M. Nikodemos stated that Brazil has
much experience in road construction. The ambassador did not rule out
that some Brazilian organizations will also invest in construction
of the North-South Highway.

Plenty of high-profile Canadian content at this year’s TIFF

THE CANADIAN PRESS

Toronto Star
August 04, 2009

Films from Canadian heavyweights Atom Egoyan, Don McKellar, Sandra Oh
and Christopher Plummer are among the homegrown offerings coming to
the Toronto International Film Festival this September.

Festival organizers announced the Canadian slate of movies at a news
conference today in downtown Toronto.

Galas include Egoyan’s Chloe, a sexual thriller starring Julianne
Moore and Liam Neeson.

McKellar stars in Dilip Mehta’s Cooking With Stella as a chef in New
Delhi, while Oh appears alongside Woody Harrelson in the superhero
flick, Defendor.

Also coming to TIFF is the North American premiere of the Terry
Gilliam-directed The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, featuring the
late Heath Ledger in his last role. Plummer also appears.

The festival will be closed by Jean-Marc Vallee’s Young Victoria, a
dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria’s rule
and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.

TIFF runs Sept. 10 to 19.

ARDSHININVESTBANK BIGGEST PROFIT-GAINER IN ARMENIA

/ARKA/
July 31
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, July 31. /ARKA/. Ardshininvestbank was the largest
profit-gainer in Armenia in the first half of 2009 for receiving AMD
1879.4 million over the mentioned period.

The bank ranked second for its total capital AMD 26.98 billion (10.5%
of the total capital of the country’s banking system) and third for
its assets and total liabilities.

Ardshininvestbank was placed 13th in the list of 300 largest taxpayers
of Armenia for paying AMD 1.6 billion taxes to the state budget over
the six months of this year.

Nerses Karamanukyan, chairman of the bank’s board, said that banks
and economic entities with high sense of commitment support the state
by paying their duties to the state budget in time.

"Ardshininvestbank’s motto – we strong together – shows our high
sense of commitment toward clients, partners and the state", he said.

The bank has 49 branches in Armenia, six in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
and one office in Paris.

Ardshininvest bank has got a long-term rating Ba1 on deposits in
national currency, long-term rating Ba3 and short-term rating Not Prime
on deposits in foreign currencies as well as financial sustainability
rating "D-" (D minus).

Ardshininvestbank has also got the ISO 9001:2000 international quality
management certificate.

RA DEFENSE MINISTRY STRENGTHENS TIES BETWEEN ARMY AND SOCIETY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
31.07.2009 18:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Public Relations office of the RA defense ministry
projects to organize and conduct a campaign aimed at strengthening
ties between the army and society. In the framework of the program
cooperation with people engaged in creative work highlighting the
life of army, military service and homeland defense to be established.

LEVON ARONIAN TAKES THE SECOND PLACE IN THE CHESS-960 WORLD CUP

ARMENPRESS
JULY 31, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 31, ARMENPRESS: The Chess-960 world cup ended in
Mainz. During the final the Armenian grand master Levon Aronian
competed with Hikarou Nakamura representing the United States. In
all three matches of the final Levon Aronian was defeated and took
the second place.

In the struggle for the third place Sergey Movsisian representing
Slovakia beat 2:1 the best Moldavian chess player Victor Bologan.

Tomorrow the final round of rapid chess world cup kicks off in which
Levon Aronian will also take part.

RA GOVERNMENT CONDUCTS CORRECT POLICY TO COVER 2009-2010 BUDGET DEFICIT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
29.07.2009 15:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Money resources, mobilized by RA Government to
overcome financial crisis consequences, are enough to cover 2009 state
budget deficit, WB Armenia country Manager Aristomene Varoudakis
told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "They will also allow financing of
2010 state budget deficit," he added.

According to him, to make further forecasts next year’s economic
growth should be taken into account.

According to RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s earlier statement,
currently Armenia has the following financing agreements: with IMF
for $620 million crediting (3-4 years), WB – $540 million (4 years),
Russia – $500 million and Asian Development Bank – around $500 million.

As of March 31, 2009, Armenia’s national debt comprises AMD 754 billion
against AMD 563,5 billion (March 31, 2008 estimates). RA’s external
debt comprises $1778,8 million (AMD 657,9 billion), increasing by 15,3%
or $237,1 million, compared with last year’s data.

TURKEY REITERATES DETERMINATION TO NORMALIZE TIES WITH ARMENIA

Xinhua

July 30 2009
China

ANKARA, July 29 (Xinhua) — Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
said Wednesday the Turkish government is still resolute to normalize
relations with neighboring Armenia, the semi-official Anatolia news
agency reported.

The top Turkish diplomat told a press conference after his meeting
with visiting Bosnian Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj that the Turkish
government is hopeful about the normalization of ties with Armenia.

"We believe that the most extensive normalization would be seen in
our region in the coming period," Davutoglu said.

"But at the same time, it is important for us to see the same
determination from the international community and especially from
Armenia on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he added.

On July 24 last year, the then Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
expressed Ankara’s willingness to normalize relations with Yerevan.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul travelled to Armenia in September
2008 to watch 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between the two
countries upon an invitation by Armenian President Serzh Sarkisyan.

Turkey and Armenia are to play another qualifier in the largest Turkish
city of Istanbul in September 2009, but Sarkisyan said Tuesday he
would only accept an invitation to the return match if Turkey takes
"real steps" to open their border.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic or economic ties since Armenia
declared its independence in 1991 and Turkey closed its border with
Armenia in 1993 to support Azerbaijan during its conflict with Armenia
over the Upper Karabakh region.

Armenia claims that more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed in
a systematic genocide in the hands of the Ottomans during World War
I before modern Turkey was born in 1923.

But Turkey insists that the Armenians were victims of widespread
chaos and governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old empire collapsed
before 1923.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS DISCUSS ARMENIA-NATO COOPERATION

ArmInfo
2009-07-27 14:18:00

ArmInfo. Members of the Armenian Parliament Styopa Safaryan (Heritage
opposition party) and Karen Avagyan (Republican Party of Armenia)
informed media of their stands and approaches to Armenia-NATO
cooperation at Mirror Club on Monday.

Thus, the parliamentarian from the PPA said Armenia-NATO relations
develop as part of the partnership program and their goal is to
bring the defense and security spheres in Armenia in compliance with
international standards.

For his part, Styopa Safaryan said that NATO is a very good field
for formation of international opinion like Azerbaijan does with
regard to Karabakh conflict. The oppositionist parliamentarian said
the attitude of the Armenian authorities to NATO is a political
expedience, whereas the stand of Heritage Party on NATO is based
on certain principles. In response, K. Avagyan said: "Unlike PACE
it is impossible to collect signatures at NATO." Earlier during the
PACE Summer Session parliamentarian Zaruhi Postanjyan, representing
Heritage party, asked the Azerbaijani and Turkish delegates to sign the
document on amendments to the draft resolution of PACE on Armenia. Her
proposals were related to the release of the arrestees on March 1-2
case, on restoration of the Fact Collection Group and involvement of
international experts into it, as well as a proposal on a visit of
PACE co- rapporteurs to Armenia before the PACE Winter Session.

RA PUBLIC COUNCIL DELEGATION VISITS NKR

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
24.07.2009 12:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Bako Sahakyan, President of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic, met Thursday with a delegation of the Public Council of
Armenia led by Vazgen Manukyan.

A wide range of issues related to domestic and foreign policy issues
were discussed at the meeting. Special attention was paid to processes
taking place in the two Armenian republics, to the importance of
studying public opinion and trends as well as to enlarging cooperation
in these fields.

Mr. Sahakyan stressed the importance of the Public Council for the
state and the society, noting promising expectations about cooperation
prospects with this structure, reported the Central Information
Department of the Office of the NKR President.