Author: nina hovnanian

ARMENIA ACCUSES RUSSIAN-OWNED POWER COMPANY OF TAX EVASION
by James Goundry

Global Insight
October 24, 2011

On 19 October, the Investigative Department of Armenia’s State Revenue
Committee (SRC) conducted searches of various offices belonging to
Electrical Networks of Armenia (ENA), the monopoly operator of the
power transmission and distribution network. The ARKA news agency
reported that the office searches and document seizures were part
of a criminal case launched by the SRC against ENA following a tax
inspection in which ENA was found to have failed to pay 1.9 million
drams (USD50.3 million) in income, profit and value-added tax (VAT), as
well as compulsory social insurance payments. ENA, which supplies power
to about 950,000 customers, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Russia’s
majority state-owned Inter-RAO UES. Separately, the Russian firm
reported on 20 October that its net profits in the first half of 2011
rose 858% year-on-year (y/y), to 49.8 billion roubles (USD1.6 billion),
with revenue growth of 23% y/y and overall electricity generation
up 9% y/y to 62.205 billion kWh. Inter-RAO UES attributed its sharp
increase in net profits to its consolidation of assets via several
acquisitions as well as the issuance of additional company shares.

Significance:Inter-RAO UES has refuted the charges against ENA,
further warning that the office searches could destabilise Armenia’s
electricity delivery infrastructure and threaten power supplies to
end-users. Indeed, power outages were reported on 21 October in
Yerevan, the capital. Although it is unclear if this is directly
attributable to the raids against ENA, the company announced on
20 October that the searches had resulted in a “partial loss of
manageability” of its operations. It is unclear whether the SRC will
take ENA to court over the issue, however, threats to electricity
supply may influence the government’s decision. Armenia’s electricity
sector is also beset by labour problems at the Metsamor nuclear power
plant (NPP), where more than 150 workers of the facility’s 1,700
employees walked off the job after their demands for pay increases
were not met on 21 October. The Metsamor NPP produces around 40%
of Armenia’s total power supplies.

MEDVEDEV: MOSCOW, YEREVAN WILL CONTINUE DISCUSSING PROSPECTS OF ARMENIAN NUCLEAR ENERGY SECTOR

Interfax
Oct 24 2011
Russia

President Dmitry Medvedev said investment cooperation between Russia
and Armenia in the energy sector, including nuclear and thermal energy,
has good prospects.

“Russian companies ship natural gas to Armenia on a regular basis and
they are active in the electricity sector. The first energy generating
unit of the Razdan thermal power plant is to be commissioned soon.

This project is expected to bring our energy cooperation to a higher
level,” Medvedev said in response to a question from Interfax at a
news conference after talks with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

“But we must not confine ourselves to energy alone, he said, noting
that Russian investment in Armenia amounts to almost $3 billion. This
figure will hopefully grow, he said.

Russia is aware of the importance its Armenian friends attach to
infrastructure projects, especially the ones related to railway
services, he said. “We discussed new ideas on how the serious situation
in Armenia [in terms of handling transport flows] could be settled,”
he said.

“I hope Russia, Armenia and third countries will jointly improve this
situation,” he added.

On prospects of nuclear energy in Armenia, he said that “this sector
is in need of large-scale investment, since it is not a cheap project,
given the high standards applied in it.”

“We continue discussing this project and I hope we will devise optimal
ways of cooperating in the nuclear sector,” Medvedev said.

Investing in communications and information technology holds much
promise, too, he said. Armenia started actively introducing broadband
Internet services even earlier than Russia, he added.

Sargsyan in turn said that Russian investors feel comfortable in
Armenia and that their rights and interests have never been breached.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS RELEASED STATEMENT

Panorama
Oct 25 2011
Armenia

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Bernard Fassier
of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of
the Russian Federation) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) traveled October
21-24 to Yerevan, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Baku. The Co-Chairs met with
Presidents Sargsian and Aliyev, and with the de facto authorities in
Nagorno-Karabakh, OSCE website said.

The Co-Chairs stressed to the sides the need to improve significantly
the atmosphere of negotiations, increase trust, and strengthen
implementation of the ceasefire to allow further progress toward
reaching a peaceful settlement. The Co-Chairs offered several proposals
for measures to enhance confidence in different fields. The sides
agreed in principle on the draft mechanism to investigate incidents
along the front lines that the Co-Chairs proposed in April, and which
Presidents Aliyev, Sargsian, and Medvedev agreed to pursue in their
March joint statement in Sochi.

The Co-Chairs also met separately with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and with Sheykhulislam
Allahshukur Pashazade, Grand Mufti and Chairman of the Caucasus Muslim
Board, to discuss the necessity of preparing the populations for a
just, lasting, and peaceful settlement.

On October 22, the Co-Chairs crossed the Line of Contact by foot for
the fourth time in the past fourteen months. This crossing highlighted
again that the Line is not a permanent barrier between neighboring
peoples, and demonstrated that military coordination is possible when
all the sides are willing.

The Co-Chairs will return to the region in late November to continue
their work with the sides to develop the measures described above and
to determine next steps to pave the way for future meetings between
the sides.

ARMENIAN CHURCH WANTS TAX PRIVILEGES FOR HOMES, FOOTBALL FIELDS, AND PLOTS OF LAND – NEWSPAPER

news.am
Oct 25 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – The bill on providing land and property tax privileges to
the Armenian Apostolic Church has caused heated discussions at the
parliament, and Hayatsk daily reflected on them.

“The Holy See [of St. Etchmiadzin] had already sent the list of
monuments and objects subject to [tax] privileges. In it 459 monuments
were mentioned that were to be transferred to the Church. Also,
a list of 286 structures were presented.

PAP (Prosperous Armenia Party) MP Naira Zohrabyan was astonished by
the type of structures that are included in the list received from
the Holy See. The list specifically presents the following objects:
lands, plots of land, homes, restaurants, fields, pastures, tillage,
movie theaters, workshops, football fields with surrounding structures,
artificial lakes, cellars underneath the lakes, etc. ‘How will tax
privileges to a football field help those problems which the Holy
See will resolve?’ Zohrabyan asked” Hayatsk writes.

PROPERTY OF ARMENIAN CHURCH FREE FROM TAXATION

Vestnik Kavkaza
Oct 25 2011

Armenia has passed a law on property in the first reading, with
amendments freeing the Armenian Apostolic Church from taxation,
News Armenia reports.

A clear list of property and land to be free from taxes has not been
presented yet.

Some MPs say that the law violates equality of religions and may
cause protests from other confessions.

Terteryan noted that the commission for territorial management and
local autonomy has similar questions.

Concerning equality of religions, Terteryan says that the law provides
economic benefits, demonstrating a special attitude of the state
towards the church.

TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF THE TRAGIC EVENTS OF OCTOBER 27, 1999

armradio.am
27.10.2011 11:21

Today marks the 12th anniversary of the tragic events in the Armenian
Parliament on October 27, 1999.

Before the start of the regular four-day sitting, the Chairman and
Deputies of the National Assembly paid tribute to the memory of the
victims at the memorial in the National Assembly park.

CLOVIS WOMEN TO CO-CHAIR ARMENIAN FOOD BAZAAR

Clovis Independent (Fresno), CA
Oct 26 2011

Two Clovis-area women will co-chair the autumn food bazaar at
California’s oldest Armenian Church.

Clovis resident Maria Kalayjian and onetime Clovis Unified parent
Houri Melkonian will oversee the Merchants’ Lunch and Country Store
of the First Armenian Presbyterian Church of Fresno.

The gathering will take place at the Church campus, 430 South First
Street at Huntington Boulevard, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday,
November 17, 2011. The gathering will recall the 390th Anniversary of
the autumn feast of the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Native
Americans of Massachusetts in 1621.

The annual harvest season celebration is open to the public. Lunch
is $12 per person and will include seasoned lulu kebab, rice pilaf,
cheese boureg, garden salad, pickled tourshee, fresh peda bread,
paklava de’Anatolia, and beverage. Meals will be available on a
dine-in, take out, and drive-through basis.

The Country Store will be open throughout the luncheon hours for
holiday shopping. The Store will offer such ethnic delicacies as
choreg, souboureg, paklava, yalanchi, bottled grape leaves, gutah,
tourshee, rojik, and basdegh. The abundant produce of the San Joaquin
Valley and an array of homemade breads and pastries will round out
the comestibles in the Store pantry.

The Store will also sell copies of “A Hundred Years and Still Cooking,”
the new and revised printing of the Fidelis Women’s Society Centennial
recipe collection. The 500+ page cookbook includes instructions for
preparing 636 different ethnic dishes and sells for $35. First reviewed
in the January 14, 1998 edition of The Los Angeles Times, the volume
is a unique compendium of heritage recipes, Scriptural wisdom, Old
World culinary precepts, and Central California ethnic history. The
collection includes recipes by the pioneering Armenian women who first
settled in the heartland of the Golden State more than 120 years ago.

Merchants’ Lunch meals and Country Store items may be reserved in
advance for drive-through pickup by calling (559) 351-3651 or (559)
237-6638 or faxing (559) 834-1147 or (559) 237-9526. Advance orders
should be placed on or before November 16. The drive-through lane will
be located on the Raisina Street side of the church campus, one block
west of First Street between Huntington Boulevard and Balch Avenue.

Reverend Mgrdich Melkonian is Senior Pastor of the Church, Reverend
Mike Mekredijian is Associate Pastor, Philip Garo, Jr., M.Div., is
the Director of Youth and Children’s Ministries, and Maria Kalayjian
and Houri Melkonian are Co-Chairs of the 2011 Merchants’ Lunch.

FAPC is a member congregation of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church
and the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America. The 2011 theme
of the congregation is “A New Community.”

More information about the Merchants’ Lunch is available by calling
(559) 237-6638 or e-mailing [email protected]

ARMENIAN CHURCH CHAPEL BURNED WITH ICONS IN ARMENIA

news.am, Armenia
Oct 26 2011

TALIN. – Roof of the Red Gospel chapel adjunct to St Holy Mother
Church in Armenian Talin city burned at 11.46 a.m. on Tuesday.

Wooden roof of the chapel with fifteen icons burned, Armenian Ministry
of Emergency Situations informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

TURKEY AGREES TO EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FROM ARMENIA, BUT FORMAL REQUEST NOT YET RECEIVED

news.am, Armenia
Oct 26 2011

YEREVAN. – Turkey requested for earthquake relief missions from around
thirty countries, which earlier had offered Turkey assistance. These
countries also include Armenia, Russia, US, China, Japan, neighboring
countries as well as EU. Turkey will also receive aid from Israel.

Turkish MFA stated that Turkey is prepared to receive international
assistance from those countries that had expressed readiness to
provide earthquake relief to the country.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, immediately upon hearing
the news of the earthquake, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who was
on a state visit to the Russian Federation at the time, had sent an
urgent message of condolence to his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul,
and had offered Armenia’s assistance.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, had said Turkey was capable
of surmounting the tremor’s effects on its own, but at the same time
he had thanked all those countries, including Armenia and Israel,
which had offered to provide assistance.

But Yerevan has not yet received a formal request from the Turkish
side, Ministry of Emergency Situations Press Service informed Armenian
News-NEWS.am, noting that, upon receiving the request, Turkey must
specify the kind of assistance it needs.

MOLDOVAN ENVOY REGRETS ARMS SALE TO ARMENIA

news.az, Azerbaijan
Oct 26 2011

Moldovan ambassador to Azerbaijan Igor Bodew has commented on the
sales of arms to Armenia by the country.

The ambassador stressed said that a special commission has been
created and the investigation is underway.

‘Those responsible for arms sale have been called to the Security
Committee of Moldova and commission for security issues of the
parliament and brought to responsibility.

Though no sanctions have been applied in Moldova related to arms sales
to any country, it was politically incorrect to sell arms to Armenia.

We will try not to tolerate such cases anymore’, the ambassador said.