Author: Tambiyan Samvel

MEKHAK APRESYAN: ARMENIA HAS THE CAPACITY TO BECOME A TOURISM CENTER
Marianna Gyurjyan

"Radiolur"
09.11.2009 16:38

"I hope the winter will be snowy and many tourists will visit Armenia,"
Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Tourism and Regional Development
Development Department at the Ministry of Economy, told a press
conference today.

There has been no decline in the field of tourism as a result of the
global crisis. On the contrary, there has been some improvement,
Mekhak Apresyan said, adding that 5.8% growth was registered in
January-September 2009.

Among people who prefer spending their vacations in Armenia are
holidaymakers from Russia, Georgia, countries of the Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS), Iran, European Union member states,
the U.S., as well as Latin American and Scandinavian countries.

Armenia can become a tourism center, Mekhak Apresyan said, specifying
the main resources that could foster the development of tourism. "We
were the first country to adopt Christianity. We have Noah’s legend.

These can become our brands," he said.

Armenia will benefit from the opening of the Turkey border, Mekhak
Apresyan is confident.

SERZH SARGSYAN MET OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS

news.am
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

November 6, 2009 RA President Serzh Sargsyan received OSCE Co-Chairs
Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard Fassier (France), Robert Bradtke
(U.S.) and Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office Andrzej
Kasprzyk, RA presidential press service informed NEWS.am.

The officials discussed a wide range of issues on the current stage of
Karabakh conflict resolution. The mediators presented Serzh Sargsyan
the talks’ results in Baku.

Earlier, OSCE MG Co-Chairs met with RA Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan.

As NEWS.am reported previously, Nov. 5, the mediators were on a visit
in Azerbaijan, where met President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Affairs
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

ARMENTEL OPENS 10 NEW BEELINE SALES AND SERVICE OFFICES

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2009 17:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ArmenTel has a opened 10 new BeeLine sales and
service offices, with 5 being in Yerevan (Avan Str. Khudyakov 165/15;
Kentron, Str. Kopryun a 7 "B"; Malatia-Sebastia, Str. Raffi, N33/5;
Kanaker-Zeytun, Str. Servak, N 51; and Nubarashen, Str. Nubarashen 6,
N 22/1) and 5 – in regions (Armavir, Abovyan, Byureghavan, Hrazdan,
as well as Bagratashen village), company’s public relations service
reported to PanARMENIAN.Net.

"ArmenTel is an integrated telecommunication operator actively involved
in all segments of telecommunication market. That means clients come
to us with various questions requiring individual approach. And the
latter starts with convenient and ramified sales and service network,"
said ArmenTel General Director Igor Klymko.

Company currently has 72 offices, with 21 being in Yerevan.

589,419 USERS WERE CONNECTED TO GAS CONSUMPTION SYSTEM OF ARMENIA AS OF NOVEMBER 1

Noyan Tapan
Nov 5, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. 589,419 users were connected to
Armenia’s gas consumption system as of November 1, 2009. The number
of users grew by 15,464 in the first ten months of 2009, including
by 2,411 in October.

The press service of ArmRusgazprom company reported that 212,748
alarm safety devices were installed at apartments of gas users as of
November 1, including 14,277 devices installed in October.

To recap, the deadline for installation of alarm safety devices
was extended for two years. Based on that, ArmRusgazprom plans to
complete the program of safety device installation in January 1,
2012. The program started in December 2008.

GEORGIAN FM LAYS DOWN RUSSIAN CITIZENSHIP

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2009 14:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said he
renounces his Russian citizenship, Interfax reported.

"I have already sent a request to Russian President and attached my
Russian passport," he said on November 4. "I just want to ease the
procedure for the Russian side, since the RF Constitution doesn’t
envisage deprivation of citizenship."

Earlier, Russian Dima member Semen Baghdasarov urged relevant
government agencies to deprive Vashadze of Russian passport. The
deputy was indignant with the fact that "Saakashvili’s team-mate
travels across our country with a Russian passport."

The Duma rejected the proposal as inexpedient and provocative.

NEW YORK TIMES LEAD ART CRITIC TO ATTEND OPENING OF KAFESJIAN ART CENTRE

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2009 20:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Lead art critic of New York Times Michael Kimmelman
will visit Armenian capital to participate in the opening of Kafesjyan
art centre on November 8.

Kimmelman will deliver a lecture on his Pulitzer Prize nominated book
The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa

"Good art is generous," Kimmelman said, encouraging people "to look
more closely at what’s around them".

The book includes discussions on artists as wide-ranging as Bonnard,
Vermeer, de Kooning, and Duchamp, but it also includes a chapter
about Dr. Hugh Hicks, who runs a private museum from his basement
showcasing his collection of over 75,000 light bulbs.

Born and raised in Greenwich Village, New York, Kimmelman attended
Yale College and did his graduate work in Art History at Harvard
University. He is currently based in Berlin, writing the Abroad column
for the Times on culture and society across Europe.

DISCUSSIONS ON THE STATE BUDGET CONTINUE
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
03.11.2009 15:51

Discussions of the draft budget for Fiscal Year 2010 continue at
the Standing Committees of the National Assembly. The budgetary
allocations to the fields of education, science, culture, sport,
Diaspora, and youth affairs were presented during today’s sitting.

Expenditures have been cut in many fields as compared to this year.

However, it will not affect the salaries of the employees.

The field of science is among the few, where there have been no cuts.

Education and science will be considered a priority in 2010.

RUSSIA MAY UTILIZE AGGRAVATION IN TURKISH-AZERBAIJANI RELATIONS TO FURTHER ADVANCE ITS POLITICAL AGENDA IN SOUTH CAUCASUS

ArmInfo
2009-11-03 13:18:00

ArmInfo. Russia may utilize aggravation in Turkish-Azerbaijani
relations to further advance its political agenda in South Caucasus.

As American The Jamestown Foundation reports, Russia may utilize this
excellent opportunity to further advance its political agenda in the
region: the isolation of Georgia by cutting it off from new transit
routes; shelving the E.U. and U.S.-backed Nabucco gas pipeline project
by destroying the Azerbaijani-Turkish strategic partnership and thus
forcing Azerbaijan to sell its gas to Russia; drawing Turkey into
its own orbit of influence undermining the E.U.-U.S.-Turkey axis of
influence in the region. Before Washington realizes, it will be too
late to protect the South Caucasus as a sovereign and independent
region. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union,
the U.S. appears to underestimate what is unfolding in the region. A
lack of clear vision on the part of the U.S. administration clearly
plays into Russian hands. It is perhaps no coincidence that the
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov so actively pushed his Armenian
counterpart to sign the protocol with Turkey.

According to The Jamestown Foundation, it is clear that the
recent developments in the South Caucasus and the Turkish-Armenian
rapprochement have seriously damaged the Turkish-Azerbaijani strategic
partnership. This partnership has been the backbone of East-West
energy and its future transportation corridors, security, political
and geostrategic balance in the region as well as the overall Turkish
(or Western) entrance into the Caspian region. Without this strategic
partnership, the Turkish, E.U. and U.S. axis of influence in the South
Caucasus and further into the Central Asian region is at risk. This
geopolitical miscalculation on the part of Turkish, E.U. and U.S.

officials, all of whom have actively pushed for a one-sided
normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations without the consideration
of Azerbaijan’s interests and the resolution of the Karabakh conflict
will see a boomerang effect.

4.66 BILLION DRAMS TO BE ALLOCATED TO AGRICULTURE UNDER 2010 DRAFT STATE BUDGET OF ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Nov 3, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. Under the 2010 draft state budget of
Armenia, it is envisaged allocating 4.66 billion drams (excluding the
financing received under the target credit programs and the expenses
to maintain the sector’s state machinery) to the agricultural sector –
against 6.96 billion drams actually allocated in 2009, First Deputy
Minister of Finance Pavel Safarian said during the joint sitting of
the NA Standing Committees on November 3.

The indicated sum will be provided to the following expenditure
programs: plant protection – 150m drams, laboratory diagnosis of
livestock diseases and expert examination of materials and raw
materials of animal origin – 185m drams, rural advisory services
– 183.2m drams, state assistance to agricultural land users –
1.1bn drams, maintenance and improvement of agricultural lands and
rehabilitation of engineering structures – 547.1m drams, and grants
to farmers – 345m drams.

Besides, in 2010 it is planned to implement the target credit
projects on the fight against avian influenza, the development of
rural enterprises and small-scale commercial agriculture, and "Market
Opportunity to Farmers" Project with the assistance of the World Bank,
the OPEC’s Fund and the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD).

A number of projects with grants provided by WB, IFAD, and Denmark
will also be carried out in the indicated fields.

The 2010 allocations for forestry will be spent mainly on forest
preservation (735m drams) and state monitoring of forests (54m drams).

The 2010 draft state budget was calculated based on the settlement
exchange rate of 376 drams per dollar.

Hay Dat pickets Turkish Embassy in Tel-Aviv

2009-10-31 15:00:00

ArmInfo. The ARFD Hay Dat office in Jerusalem organized a protest on
the occasion of Turkey’s 86th anniversary took place near Turkish
embassy in Tel-Aviv, Israel, on October 28, Yerkramas daily reported.

The reception for Israeli high-ranking political and military
officials as well as various countries’ diplomats and diplomatic
missions was organized while the rally outside was held. The
protesters were carrying banners accusing Turkey of crime against
Armenians. The protest action was covered by Israeli press.

Genocide of Armenians has been recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France,
Lithuania, the Lower Chamber of Italian Parliament, the majority of
American States, the Greek, Cyprian, Argentinean, Belgian Parliaments,
the Parliament of Wales, the National Council of Switzerland, the
House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament and Polish Seim. Turkey
denies the genocide of 1,5 million Armenians in 1915-1923.