Author: Navasardian Karapet

Artur Baghdasarian to pay official visit to RF Kaliningrad region and
Belarus on March 16-18

YEREVAN, MARCH 13, NOYAN TAPAN. A delegation led by National Security
Council Secretary Artur Baghdasarian will pay an official visit to the
RF Kaliningrad region and then to Belarus on March 16-18. Meetings with
Kaliningrad Governor Georgy Boss, with government members are planned
during the visit. Possibilities of cooperation with the Kaliningrad
region will be discussed.

In Minsk A. Baghdasarian will meet with President of Belarus Alexander
Lukashenko and State Secretary of the Security Council Yuri Zhadobin. A
wide range of issues regarding Armenian-Belarusian military-political
cooperation will be discusssed, a cooperation agreement between
Armenian and Belarusian Security Councils will be signed during the
visit.

According to the RA National Security Council Press Office, A.
Baghdasarian will also meet with representatives of the Belarusian
Armenian community.

The delegation will return to Yerevan on March 18.

RIA Novosti, Russia
March 13, 2009 Friday 12:38 PM GMT+3

Obama look-alike in Azerbaijan becomes local celebrity

MOSCOW March 13

A man in Azerbaijan bearing a striking resemblance to U.S. President
Barack Obama has become a celebrity in the ex-Soviet Caucasus state, a
popular Russian daily said on Friday.

Asif Mustafayev, 31, an artist with tanned skin and curly hair, is
called "our Obama" by his fellow villagers, who often drop to his
place with their guests from the capital, Baku, to show off the local
look-alike of the world’s No.1 leader, Vremya Novostei said.

Mustafayev earns his living by painting advertising hoardings,
decorating schools and sprucing up the tourist centers that abound in
the picturesque mountainous area, but has now often to leave his
workshop to pose for a picture with fellow villagers and visitors, the
paper said.

He does not seem to mind his neighbors’ frequent intrusions and
invitations like "Hey, Obama, let’s have tea and a heart-to-heart
chat." Asif enjoys his new popularity and has even changed his
artist’s smock for a decent suit, the paper said.

He has grown more interested in politics since his resemblance with
Obama was noticed by village elders, who keep up to date with world
news, the paper reported.

In an interview with an Azerbaijani television channel, Asif said he
dreamt of meeting with Obama one day to tell him about Azerbaijan and
his view of its dispute with Armenia over Nagorny Karabakh.

Asif’s village is in the Gabala region, which hosts a Russian
anti-missile radar monitoring the Middle East. The radar could become
a point of contention between Moscow and Washington as Russia’s lease
agreement expires in 2012.

MP: Armenian importers apply double-standard policy

YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. Armenian importers apply a double-standard
policy, Chairman of Armenian Parliament Commission for Financial,
Credit and Budgetary Issues, MP from the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia Gagik Minasyan said.

`When our national currency devaluated, importers raised the prices for
main foodstuffs groundlessly saying that they need money for purchase
of new goods. Yet, in the revaluation period, they were not reducing
the prices to sell the old goods purchased at a higher price. This is a
double-standard policy,’ Minasyan said adding that the State Commission
for Protection of Economic Competition must closely watch these
processes.

`If importers are not reducing the prices while Dram is strengthening,
they should not raise prices during devaluation of Dram. In this
respect, a serious work should be done by the Commission,’ he said.

Minasyan also appreciated prompt measures taken by the Commission to
settle the situation so far.

On March 3, the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) returned to a free float
for the rate. The CBA experts expect the average weighted exchange rate
to range between 360 Drams and 380Drams for $1 in 2009.

Fearing that prices could rise, people rushed to supermarkets to buy
first priority goods, including butter, sugar and flour, thus
artificially raising the demand for these goods.

Some economic entities took the advantage of the situation and raised
the prices for some first priority goods.

Armenia’s State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition
carried out a monitoring and instituted administrative proceedings on
cases of unjustified price rise on four following markets ` vegetable
oil and butter, housing appliances and medicines.

Currently the situation is somehow stabilized and initial prices are
re-established on the markets of sugar and flour. N.V. `0–

PanARMENIAN.Net

RA President: Yerevan-Tbilisi ties strengthened during past years
12.03.2009 17:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan met with the
Ambassador of Armenia to Georgia Revaz Gachechiladze March 12 ending
his diplomatic mission in the Republic. The head of the Armenian State
conveyed his gratitude for the cooperation and spoke highly of his
four years’ productive work.

As the RA President said, the political dialogue between Yerevan and
Tbilisi has livened up for the last few years, the economic
cooperation has widened, and the cultural cooperation between the two
countries has increased.

The Georgian diplomat noted in his turn that during the time he held
the post he became closer to the Armenian people, dealt with the
representatives from various fields, and was leaving Armenia with
unforgettable impressions, as the press-service of the Armenian State
reports.

PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT MARIOS GAROYIAN TO ATTEND 24th MARCH ANCY
FUND-RAISER

11 March, 2009 – Gibrahayer – Nicosia

Armenian National Committee of Cyprus Press Release – The office of the
President of the Cyprus Parliament has informed the Armenian National
Committee of Cyprus (ANCY), that Marios Garoyian will attend the
fund-raising event on the 24 March, 2009 at the Pavilion in Nicosia.
During the evening a brief presentation will take place on the
activities of Armenian National Committees in Cyprus and abroad. Marios
Garoyian will then address the event. The main highlight of the event
will be the live performance of the most popular singer in Armenian
reality Tata Simonian with his five-man band. Tata will arrive in
Cyprus from Lebanon, where he will perform for yet another fund-raising
event organised by "Vana Tsain" Armenian radio station. ANCY has
circulated lotteries as part of its drive to raise funds. The gifts
include a return ticket to Yerevan. A number of media outlets such as
Plus TV, Russian radio, Zenith radio will start to advertise the event
in the coming days. Organisers of the event in Cyprus expect a turnout
of 500.

Armen Ashotian: U.S. State Department’s reports are a method of
exerting pressure upon this or that country

6

YEREVAN, MARCH 10, NOYAN TAPAN. U.S. State Department’s reports on
human rights are a method of exerting pressure upon this or that
country. Armen Ashotian, the Chairman of the RA National Assembly
Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sports
Affairs, a member of the RPA faction, expressed such an opinion at the
March 10 press conference. According to him, the U.S. that just lately
tries to get rid of human rights gross violations has no moral and
legal right to give an estimation to processes going on in another
state.

The RPA deputy expressed the hope that U.S. State Department’s next
reports will be more unbiassed.

REPAIRED SUPERMARKET STAR TO BE OPENED IN YEREVAN ON MARCH 7

ArmInfo
2009-03-06 16:25:00

ArmInfo. Ceremonial opening of the repaired supermarket of the largest
retailer in Armenia STAR Company is expected on March 7 in Tigran Mets
Street 37 in Yerevan. STAR press- service told ArmInfo that alongside
with the network leadership, representatives of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), HSBC Bank Armenia, ministries
of economy and agriculture.

Yerean Municipality and the Anti-Monopoly Commission of Armenia will
attend the ceremony. STAR Company reported that the given supermarket,
which is one of the first supermarkets in the STAR network founded in
2005, will open to clients quite new and improved. In particular, it
is a self-service supermarket equipped with up-to-date refrigerators,
ensuring the growth of incomes and time-saving for consumers.

In addition, the logistics of the repaired supermarket has been fully
changed; air-conditioning and cash register system has been renewed.

STAR network operating since 1998 comprises 12 supermarkets (11 in
Yerevan and 1 in Hrazdan). On March 16 the company will open the 13th
in the succession store in Kochar Street. One of the shareholders of
STAR network of supermarkets is EBRD with 28.3% stake.

The leadership of the largest network of supermarkets in Armenia STAR
Company supports the return to thefloating currency rate in Armenia,
STAR press-service told ArmInfo.

‘Of course, we have faced specific problems due to the measures taken
by the government and we will have to overcome their aftermaths
for some period of time’, says Gurgen Narimanyan, STAR Financial
Director. ‘Nevertheless, I am sure it was a necessary and timely step
for Armenia and it will undoubtedly bring results for the real sector
in the mid-term outlook. There is favorable investment outlook. However
the country should be consistent also in softening the tax burden,
ensuring equal competition and supporting the financial sector’,
he said.

ARMENIA: RISE IN PRICES FOR BUTTER, MEDICINE AND DOMESTIC APPLIANCES UNJUSTIFIED

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.03.2009 15:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The RA State Commission on the the Protection of
Economic Competition of has registered an ungrounded price increase
on butter, vegetable oil, medicaments, and household appliances
in markets, Ashot Shakhnazaryan, head of RA State Commission on
the Protection of Economic Competition said during the briefing in
Yerevan. Administrative investigations will be conducted against a
number of entrepreneurs who have increased the prices. We have received
a lot of complaints from the citizens regarding the price increase
for these very goods. For instance, we learnt that the medicament
importers, by mutual consent, decided to raise the prices by 25% at
once. The State Commission on the Protection of Economic Competition
will proceed with the monitoring for another two weeks and the list
of negligent entrepreneurs will be handed over to the Committee on
State revenue .This body will take care of the law breakers within
its power, Ashot Shakhnazaryan emphasized.

As the head of the Commission assured there are no grounds
for panic. We observe how the dollar rate is gradually falling:
350-360drams per $1.Tomorrow already the consumers will notice the fall
in the prices on petrol and diesel fuel, remarked Shakhnazaryan. At
the same time he emphasized that Armenia is a country of free economic
competition, and the price increase on staple food products may be
related to the price changes in international markets.

MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI’S CHAOTIC POLITICS LEADS TO TENSION IN GEORGIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.03.2009 20:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The internal political situation in Georgia is not
problem-free and it is reflected on Javakhk. Mikhail Saakashvili’s
chaotic politics leads to tension not only regarding the region
settled by Armenians, but also all over Georgia, said Alexander
Iskandaryan, political scientist, director of Caucasus Institute at
the press-conference in Tbilisi. Maybe in this way Saakashvili will
manage to stay in power or quite possibly it is the ordinary condition
of Georgian politics. Georgian opposition has no rivals compatible
with Saskashvili, to put it roughly they do not have Georgian Levon
Ter-Petrosyan. Moreover, there is an obvious lack of correspondence of
queries made by national minorities on the concept of unitary state,
which the Georgian president supports so eagerly, Iskandaryan said.

In his opinion, Armenia at present is very much dependent on Georgia
since 80% of goods is transported through its territory. But Georgia ,
too needs Armenia. So, neither party is interested in tense relations,
the Armenian political scientist emphasized.

ARMENIAN DRAM MIGHT START FLOATING

The Messenger
March 5 2009
Georgia

Armenia is experiencing a deficit of USD as a result of currency
interventions by the Armenian central bank, states economic analyst
Andronik Tevanian. The USD rate is kept stable in Armenia, 305 dram
to 1 USD, but to achieve this the central bank makes daily insertions
of USD onto the currency markets. For instance, on February 27 USD
22 million were sold, but consequently there is a deficit of foreign
currency in the country. It is practically impossible to buy USD in
banks and exchange offices.

Andronik Tevanian thinks that the central bank will be unable to
continue with this policy of active intervention as the country’s
reserves have decreased by up to USD 1 billion, leaving a risky
margin. Therefore the central bank has to be more conscious about
continuing in this direction.

If the dram is allowed to float it will be devalued and create a shock
for the population, however there is no alternative, thinks Tevanian.