Author: nina hovnanian

COURT ORDERS TSARUKYAN TO PAY 14.8 MILLION AMD TO GERMAN INVESTOR
Kristine Aghalaryan

18:17, March 27, 2013

A Yerevan court order Gagik Tsarukyan’s “Yerevan Ararat
Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory” (YABWV) to pay Stefan Laxhuber, the CEO of
the German investment firm “Ostinvestor”, 14.8 million AMD ($36,662)
in compensation in a case that dates back to 2009.

Laxhuber, the CEO of the German investment firm “Ostinvestor”, has
sued Tsarukyan for swindling his company out of shares it purchased
in the “Yerevan Ararat Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory” (YABWV).

Hetq covered the legal case in a July 20, 2009 article entitled “German
Firm Loses Shares in Armenian Company Owned by Gagik Tsarukyan”.

In May, 2006, the German company “Ostinvestor” purchased 1,520 shares
of the “Yerevan Ararat Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory” (YABWV). This
amounts to 3.2% of Ararat’s outstanding shares.

At a special October 12, 2008, stockholders’ meeting it was decided
to consolidate the shares of YABWV by issuing one new share for each
2363.5 held at a valuation of 18,908,000 Armenian drams* (approximately
45.212 Euros.)

Before the consolidation of YABWV shares, there were 124 stockholders.

Some 82% were held by Gagik Tsarukyan, 10% by “MultiGroup” and about 7%
by remaining stockholders. “Ostinvestor” held 3.2%.

Given that “Ostinvestor” only held 1,520 shares and one new share
was to be the equivalent of 2,363.5 shares, the German firm wasn’t
able to secure even one share of the new stock issue.

As a result of the share consolidation, “Ostinvestor” and the other
minor shareholders wound up with fractional shares. This means that
these shares were to be sold back to the major holders.

During the special YABWV meeting, a formula for the resale of these
fractional shares was worked out. The firm of “En-Audit” pegged the
market value of one full share at approximately 69 Euros.

“Ostinvestor”, however, had spent 184 Euros per share and thus wound
up paying 279.680 Euros for its original 1,520 shares.

Taking into account that “Ostinvestor” owned 1,520 shares before the
consolidation, the amount accruing from the fractional shares buyback
equals 27.467 Euros.

The German company refused to sell its shares at 69 Euros per.

“This is just about 20 % of the price of the last trades and our
purchase price. Furthermore, the company has done significantly well
since then. And less than 2% of the real market value. With this step
MultiGroup intentionally tries to deprive minor shareholders of their
owner rights, obviously breaking the Constitution and Legislation of
Republic of Armenia,” argued the “Ostinvestor” CEO.

In yesterday’s decision, the court refused the plaintiff’s demand
that the original 1,520 shares be restored to Ostinvestor

The German firm’s lawyer, Davit Danielyan, argued that the court had
no right to set a fixed cash amount as compensation and that defining
such a price is a matter for the compulsory stage of the case.

“All we asked is for the court to oblige Yerevan Brandy to pay
compensation of equal value. We made no financial demand,” said
Danielyan.

The court also obligated Ostinvestor to pay some 2.8 million AMD in
court fees and professional services.

Danielyan says they will file a suit with the Court of Appeals.

WHO IS LYING, TIGRAN MUKUCHYAN OR THE PRESS AND INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS, MINASYAN ASKS

March 18, 2013

Aravot.am reports that on March 18, the Central Electoral Committee
Chairman, Tigran Mukuchyan presented the May 6, 2012 parliamentary
elections report to the Parliament. ARF-D MP, Artsvik Minasyan said
that “It is not a secret that during the parliamentary elections state
officials were actively preoccupied with campaign work. Many public
statements have been made about it by observers and by local media
as well. However there is no reference about this issue in your report.

Do you not feel the necessity of elaborating those statements or are
you satisfied with just the appeals and protests you received?”.

Minasyan was referring to the violation of the 22nd article of the
Election Law.

The ARF-D MP also asked whether Mukuchyan is prepared to suggest
changes in the Law since it was shown during the recent presidential
election that the state resources were widely used in favor of the
ruling political power.

Mukuchyan replied that he was not able to make any presentation on
that matter because he had to give detailed explanations at the
Constitutional Court. According to him there was no violation of
Article 22.

Minasyan responded that no violation of Article 22 would mean that all
relevant reports, articles of the Press and international observers’
announcements do not comply with reality. The CEC chairman said that
it should be taken under consideration the extent of the affect any
violation has on the election results.

LEVON ARONIAN’S NEXT OPPONENT IS PETER SVIDLER

09:36, 28 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 28, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s strongest chess player
Levon Aronian will compete with Peter Svidler in the 11th round of
the Candidates Tournament, which is being held in London.

As reports “Armenpress”, after celebrating victory over Vassily
Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Levon Aronian particularly stated: “I know that
he plays open chess, and I decided to keep myself fresh.”

Magnus Carlsen of Norway solely tops the ranking list of the tournament
after the 10th round. Carlsen has scored 7 points. Levon Aronian
occupies the second position with 6,5 points. Russia’s Vladimir
Kramnik is the third with 6 points. Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler, and
Alexander Grischuk have 4,5 points each. Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine
and Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov scored only 3,5 points and occupy
the final positions.

The FIDE Candidates Tournament launches in London. The world’s eight
strongest chess players will compete with each other from March 15
to April 1. This is the final contest to determine the challenger for
the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates Tournament
will earn the right to a match for the World Championship against
the incumbent World Champion Viswanathan Anand.

Levon Aronian – Levon was born on 6 October, 1982. On the May
2012 FIDE list he had an Elo rating of 2908, making him number
three in the world. Aronian won the Chess World Cup 2005. He led
the Armenian national team to the Gold medals in the 2006 (Turin),
2008 (Dresden) and 2012 (Istanbul) Chess Olympics and at the World
Team Chess Championship in Ningbo 2011. He won the FIDE Grand Prix
2008-2010, qualifying him for the Candidates tournament for the World
Chess Championship 2012. He was also World Chess960 Champion in 2006
and 2007, World Rapid Chess Champion in 2009, and World Blitz Chess
Champion in 2010. Aronian was declared the best sportsman of Armenia
in 2005 and was awarded the title of “Honoured Master of Sport of
the Republic of Armenia” in 2009.

Peter Svidler – Peter Svidler was born on June 17, 1976. Peter is a
Russian chess Grandmaster. Svidler is 6-time Russian Champion (1994,
1995, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2011). In 2001, he reached the semifinals of
the World Championship. Svidler won the Chess World Cup 2011, defeating
Grischuk in the finals 2½-1½. Svidler is a big fan of cricket.

ARTYOM POGHOSYAN APPOINTED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ECONOMY AND FINANCE AT SUKHOI CIVIL AIRCRAFTS

ARMINFO
Thursday, March 28, 12:03

Artyom Poghosyan, the son of Mikhail Pogosyan, United Aircraft
Corporation (UAC), has been appointed senior vice president for economy
and finance at Sukhoi Civil Aircrafts producing Sukhoi Superjet 100
and belonging to the UAC.

Poghosyan was appointed to the new position on March 18 and already
participates in negotiations with partners, Vedomosti newspaper
reported on March 28. Before appointment, Poghosyan was Director for
Operative Analysis and Economic Control at SCA.

Sukhoi – is Russia’s major aircraft holding company, employing more
than 26,000 people. 100% of stock of the Sukhoi Aviation Holding
Company (JSC) belongs to the United Aircraft Corporation (JSC). The
Company supports a complete cycle of work in aircraft engineering:
from front end engineering to comprehensive aftersales support. In
2011 the company’s net profits totaled 3.86 billion RUR (124.3 million
USD). In the first half of 2012 the company’s loss grew 6fold to
100.3 million USD versus the same period of 2011.

IT’S TIME FOR THEM TO THINK OF WHAT WE DO – ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER

TERT.AM
19:36 ~U 26.03.13

In his speech at the Tuesday civil forum in Yerevan’s Liberty Square,
the opposition Heritage party’s leader called for the authorities’
efforts to think about their current moves.

“It’s now time for them to think of what we are doing, instead of
us thinking of what they do,” he said, addressing the crowd. “Our
consistent constitutional program is in effect, and the struggle is
going on, pushing us forward slowly and cautiously, like a snowball.”

The former candidate, who claims victory in last month’s presidential
election, said the opposition’s current struggle is for protecting
rights and the motherland. “So, let no one doubt that we will lead
our plain struggle to an end, giving power to all sources,” he said.

Hovhannisian added that they are going to watch tonight’s Armenia-Czech
Republic match in the square, celebrating, what he expects the Armenian
national team’s victory. “Victory in our country will apply to all
spheres, so the Armenian team will win,” he said.

At the end, the politician repeated an earlier promise for protecting
every citizen of Armenia.

EUROPEAN UNION ALLOCATES ~@1 MILLION TO ARMENIA FOR DEALING WITH RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION PROBLEMS

YEREVAN, March 26. /ARKA/. The European Union has allocated ~@1 million
to Armenia for implementation of the Support for Return Migration
and Reintegration program, which was presented today in Yerevan.

Head of EU Delegation in Armenia Traian Hristea, speaking at the
presentation, said that this is part of the European Union’s efforts to
strengthen Armenia’s ability to regulate migration flows, to develop
its institutions for controlling legal migration and reintegration
under the Armenia-EU joint declaration on mobile partnership.

Armenian Deputy Labor and Social Affairs Minister Araik Petrosyan,
spoke about four objectives of the project.

The first of them is prevention of emigration. In his opinion, social
and psychological persuasion can force those people who want to leave
the country for working abroad change their minds.

He said that these people should also be offered jobs and stable
earnings here in Armenia.

The deputy minister is convinced that this will bar potential labor
migrants fr om leaving their homeland.

The second objective of the project is to inform all those people
who are steadfast in their determination to travel outside for to
earn money about labor migrants’ rights and laws in those countries
where they will work.

The third objective targets those Armenian citizens in other countries
who want to return home and implies solution of some problems, such
as accommodation, availability of education for children and removal
of language barrier. Besides, returnees should be provided with jobs
and stable earnings.

The fourth objective is to develop Armenia’s institutions by opening
resource centers wh ere people will get detailed information before
departure and upon return.

Such centers are planned to be opened in four provinces – Ararat,
Armavir, Vayots Dzor and Syunik.

Similar centers already function in Yerevan and Ashtarak.

The program is being implemented by People in Need organization that
implements humanitarian relief and long term development projects,
educational programs, and human rights programs in the Czech Republic
and other countries.

Araik Petrosyan stressed that the migration problem is first of all
Armenia’s problem, which should be solved by Armenia itself.

“If the European Union wants to support us, we’ll welcome additional
programs, but it is wrong to think that this program is able to solve
migration problem in our country,” he said.

The financing of business programs provided under such projects
resulted in establishment of 27 enterprises with 120 new jobs. -0-

CENTRAL BANK OF ARMENIA KEEPS ITS KEY REFINANCING RATE AT 8%

YEREVAN, March 26. / ARKA /. The Central Bank of Armenia decided on
Tuesday to keep its key refinancing rate at 8%. It said also a 0.4
percent deflation was reported in February. As a result the 12-month
inflation was 3.1%.

According to the Central Bank, the uncertainty about political
solutions to the debt problems of the developed countries persisted
along with slowing global economic growth trend. The Central Bank
also mentioned moderate growth trend at major international markets
of basic commodities and inflation trends at major global food markets.

These developments in mind the Central Bank said in the forecast
horizon the world economy is expected to demonstrate slow growth rate.

Therefore, no external sector-prompted inflation is expected.

The Central Bank said also in view of the latest economic developments
in Armenia, real economic growth has exceeded expectations, driven
mainly by growth in manufacturing and services, exceeding forecasts,
which were accompanied by higher than expected growth in private
spending.

During this period the fiscal policy was more restrained, compared
to the baseline scenario, laid down in the monetary policy program
designed for the first quarter of 2013, which, in general, leveled
the inflationary impact of the private demand on domestic prices.

Under these conditions, as expected, the impact of inflation on the
domestic economy in the forecast horizon will be inflationary weak.

“In view of the expected low impact of the inflation environment
on future behavior of the 12-month rate of inflation, the Central
Bank considers it expedient to continue implementation of its
planned neutral monetary policy, and leaves the key refinancing rate
unchanged. The Central Bank believes that until the second half of
the year the 12-month inflation will move closer to the projected 4%
and will remain in the forecast horizon within this corridor.” -0-

ARMENIAN WEIGHTLIFTING CHAMP WINS BEST FEMALE ATHLETE TITLE

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013

Olympic medalist Hripsime Khurshudyan

BY LILLY TOROSYAN
>From The Armenian Weekly

YEREVAN-Just months after winning the “Best Athlete of the Kotayk
Province” title in Armenia, Olympic medalist Hripsime Khurshudyan
has added another accolade to her name. On Fri., March 8, Khurshudyan
won the award for the 2013 “Best Female Athlete” in Armenia.

The 25-year-old weightlifting champion is best known for her
breakthrough performance at the London Olympics this past summer,
where she won the bronze medal in the women’s +75 kg. class.

Her latest award was unexpected for the athlete. “I could not believe
when I heard my name announced for the title of the Best Female Athlete
of 2013,” Khurshudyan told the Armenian Weekly in an interview. “It was
really unexpected. I could not find the words to describe the moment.”

Khurshudyan was so honored by the award that she did not know how
to release her emotions. “I decided to post it on my Facebook page,
something I didn’t even do when I won the bronze at the Olympics!” she
said.

Her current goal is to win the Olympic gold, but she will be taking
it easy for the next few months-at least until her baby is born
in October. “I will then return to work towards the 2014 World
Championships, and afterwards I will go for the gold at the Olympics
in 2016,” she said.

AGENDA РISTANBUL : LES ARM̩NIENS ISLAMIS̩S DU G̩NOCIDE DE 1915

Publié le : 29-04-2013

Agenda Collectif VAN – – La Fondation Hrant Dink
a mis en ligne le 24 janvier 2013, un appel a contribution, ouvert
jusqu’au 20 mars 2013, et destiné aux chercheurs qui souhaiteraient
intervenir lors de la conférence qui se tiendra a Istanbul (Turquie)
du 11 au 13 octobre 2013 sur le thème des Arméniens islamisés : “Le
tournant du 20e siècle a été une période de transformation sociale
et politique importante dans la géographie ottomane, et a inclus
des expériences individuelles, ou de masse, de conversion religieuse.

Durant cette période, un grand nombre d’Arméniens a été islamisé,
spécialement au cours des années 1915-1916. Un nombre inconnu de
jeunes Arméniens a survécu aux massacres et aux marches de la mort
de 1915, en tant que filles et fils adoptifs de familles musulmanes.

D’autres, moins nombreux, sont devenus des épouses et des maris.

Jusqu’a récemment, les histoires de ces survivants ont été réduites
au silence ou ignorées dans toutes les historiographies. Il y a
maintenant un nombre croissant d’études sur les Arméniens islamisés,
sous forme de fictions, de notices biographiques, de témoignages
et de recherches historiques. Cette conférence vise a aborder les
expériences des Arméniens islamisés et les conséquences sociales
de leurs expériences, le long silence sur les Arméniens islamisés,
ainsi que les formes récentes de libération de la parole.” Le
comité d’organisation inclut des personnalités telles que AyÅ~_e Gul
Altınay et Fethiye Cetin qui ont publié ensemble en avril 2011 “Les
Petits-Enfants” chez Actes Sud, passionnant recueil de témoignages
de ces Arméniens islamisés. Ils ont été recueillis suite a la
publication, en Turquie, de “Le livre de ma grand-mère”de Fethiye
Cetin, consacré a ses origines arméniennes. Saluons celles et ceux
qui sont a l’initiative de cette conférence. Le Collectif VAN vous
présente la traduction de cette annonce en anglais publiée sur le
site de la Fondation Hrant Dink.

La Fondation Hrant Dink

24.01.2013

Conférence sur les Arméniens islamisés

11-13 Octobre 2013 – Istanbul

Le tournant du 20e siècle a été une période de transformation
sociale et politique importante dans la géographie ottomane, et a
inclus des expériences individuelles, ou de masse, de conversion
religieuse.

Durant cette période, un grand nombre d’Arméniens a été islamisé,
spécialement au cours des années 1915-1916. Un nombre inconnu de
jeunes Arméniens a survécu aux massacres et aux marches de la mort
de 1915, en tant que filles et fils adoptifs de familles musulmanes.

D’autres, moins nombreux, sont devenus des épouses et des
maris. Dans des cas exceptionnels, des familles ou des villages
entiers ont survécu “en devenant” musulmans. Alors que certains de
ces survivants (particulièrement les jeunes hommes) ont retrouvé
des années plus tard leurs familles ou des proches, ou qu’ils ont
été emmenés dans des orphelinats par les missionnaires et les
travailleurs humanitaires, de nombreux autres ont vécu le reste de
leur vie comme des ”musulmans”, en prenant des noms turcs, kurdes, ou
arabes. Jusqu’a récemment, les histoires de ces survivants ont été
réduites au silence ou ignorées dans toutes les historiographies. Il
y a maintenant un nombre croissant d’études sur les Arméniens
islamisés, sous forme de fictions, de notices biographiques, de
témoignages et de recherches historiques. Cette conférence vise a
aborder les expériences des Arméniens islamisés et les conséquences
sociales de leurs expériences, le long silence sur les Arméniens
islamisés, ainsi que les formes récentes de libération de la parole.

Qu’est-ce que les Arméniens islamisés ont vécu? Comment ont-ils fait
face a la gravité de leurs expériences? Avec qui et comment ont-ils
pu partager ces expériences? Comment se reflètent leurs expériences
sur la vie de leurs enfants et petits-enfants? Comment ont-ils impacté
les différentes localités où ils ont vécu? Comment leurs histoires
sont-elles rappelées et récitées dans ces différentes localités?

Comment les ”petits-enfants” de ces survivants donnent-ils un sens
a l’histoire de leurs grands-parents arméniens islamisés? Comment
peuvent-ils exprimer leurs identités et leur sentiment d’appartenance?

Comment sont-ils affectés par les divers développements politiques
et les tensions autour de cette question? Comment ce processus se
reflète-t-il sur les différentes localités?

Comment peut-on tenir compte des décennies de silence sur les
Arméniens islamisés dans toutes les historiographies? Pourquoi
nous a-t-il fallu si longtemps pour être au courant des histoires
des Arméniens islamisés, et pourquoi notre connaissance de
leur situation est-elle si limitée? Qu’est-ce que cette forme de
survie et son silence engendrent-t-ils ? Comment sont-ils liés aux
notions dominantes de femmes, d’hommes et de procréation? Pourquoi
y a-t-il aujourd’hui de plus en plus d’intérêt sur cette catégorie
particulière de survivants ?

Comment les histoires des Arméniens islamisés contribuent-elles
ou compliquent-elles la recherche existante sur les génocides en
général et le génocide arménien en particulier? Qu’est-ce que cela
implique dans la connaissance du génocide concernant la catégorie
des ”survivants” ? Que pouvons-nous apprendre de l’étude des
formes similaires de survie dans les autres cas de génocide et de
violence politique (comme la Shoah, le cas des enfants autochtones
en Australie, ou les ”enfants perdus” du Chili)? Que pouvons-nous
apprendre en explorant les liens et les différences entre les
expériences d’islamisation forcée dans les siècles précédents
et celles de la première partie du 20ème siècle?

En répondant entre autres a ces questions, cette conférence
vise a contribuer a la fois aux débats historiques sur 1915
et ses conséquences, ainsi qu’aux questions contemporaines sur
l’identification ethnique/nationale, le sexe, la responsabilité
et la justice. La conférence vise également a discuter du rôle
de la recherche et de l’érudition dans les processus difficiles
visant a faire face a des formes passées et présentes de violence,
de discrimination et d’injustice.

Processus de demande:

La conférence est ouverte a tous les chercheurs de toutes les
disciplines et milieux.

Les langues de travail de la conférence seront l’anglais, le turc
et arménien. Les demandes doivent être faites en anglais ou en turc.

Merci de soumettre un sujet (500 mots maximum) décrivant la pertinence
et l’originalité de votre contribution, accompagné d’un résumé
de 200 mots.

Il y a des fonds limités pour les participants qui n’ont pas d’autres
sources de financement pour participer a la conférence.

Lorsque vous soumettez votre sujet, merci d’indiquer votre besoin
d’aide financière. Il n’y a aucun frais d’inscription. Déjeuner,
thé et café fournis pour tous les conférenciers.

La date limite d’inscription est le 20 mars 2013. Pour soumettre
votre article et pour plus d’informations: [email protected]

Comité d’organisation:

AyÅ~_e Gul Altınay Sibel Asna Fethiye Cetin Delal Dink AyÅ~_e
Kadıoglu Karin KarakaÅ~_lı Emine Kolivar Hosrof Köletavitoglu

Comité scientifique:

Ahmet İnsel (Galatasaray University) Andrea Petö (Central
European University) Ayfer Bartu Candan (Bogazici University)
AyÅ~_e Gul Altınay (Sabancı University) Boghos Levon Zekiyan
(Venice Ca’ Foscari University) Hulya Adak (Sabancı University)
Jackie Mansourian Murat Yuksel (Koc University) Raymond Kevorkian
(University Paris 8) Ronald Grigor Suny (University of Michigan)
Selim Deringil (Bogazici University) Vahe Tachjian (Houshamadyan)
Zeynep Turkyılmaz (Dartmouth College)

Traduction Collectif VAN – 8 mars 2013 – 06:30 –

————————

Lire aussi:

Agenda – Parution du livre “La Turquie et le fantôme arménien”

Agenda – Parution du livre “Les restes de l’épée”

Agenda – Les Petits-enfants de A. Gul Altinay et de F. Cetin

Le livre de ma grand-mère

Retour a la rubrique

Source/Lien : La Fondation Hrant Dink

SPRING CAME SOONER THAN CARREFOUR
Naira Hayrumyan

15:53 27/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

Carrefour did not open in Armenia. There is information that the
political decision is there and the supermarket will open by the end
of the year.

Vice-Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan has recently been to the UAE and
met with the head of Majid Al Futtaim Company, which runs Carrefour in
the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa, including Armenia. The
supermarkets will apparently open. The government needs to adopt a
political decision to limit the immense surplus profits of importers
and boost price competitiveness in the Armenian market.

In Armenia the issue of Carrefour is discussed mainly in the light
of ending Samvel Aleksanyan’s monopoly of imports of food stuffs
and competitiveness. However, even Carrefour does not solve the main
problem of price forming in Armenia.

The Fair Russia Party has introduced a bill before the Russian Duma
that could set restrictions on markup on key food stuffs. According
to this bill, the markup cannot exceed 15%. “It is not right when
milk is purchased from farmers at 12-15 rubles per liter while the
price in shops goes up to 75 rubbles, mark-up is 400%”, said one of
the members of parliament.

In the EU member states and in the U.S., according to him, the price
on this sector is under the strict control of the state. In Austria,
Denmark, Norway, Canada, Kazakhstan, China and in many other countries
there are special laws regulating maximum prices on some products,
he said. In the Soviet Union, the maximum mark-up was 12%, 8% on the
main food stuffs.

Now look at the markup on products in Armenia is. First, nobody
can count because documented prices will certainly differ from true
prices. Second, importers are free to set any markup, the government
does not restrict them, neither sets special taxes on profit.

That is why in Armenia food prices are like in Europe, though salaries
and pensions here are much lower. Carrefour’s entry into the Armenian
market won’t change the situation if the state does not exercise strict
control on production. Whether it is Carrefour or Alex Group, importers
should know that mark-up cannot be higher than 12-15% or say 20%.