Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

WORLD BANK AWARDS TWO PROJECTS IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net –
April 8, 2010 – 16:46 AMT 11:46 GMT

The Lifeline Roads Improvement project (LRIP) in Armenia and Armenia
Rural Enterprise and Small Scale Commercial Agriculture Development
Project were named among the 12 winners in the World Bank’s third
annual "Improving the Lives of People in Europe and Central Asia"
2010 competition, the press service of the World Bank Yerevan Office
reported .

According to the report, so far out of projected 250 km LRN 150 km
have been rehabilitated under the Lifeline Roads Improvement project.

It created 12,000 person-months of employment. Travel time was
reduced by 40 percent. More importantly, the project enabled rural
populations to travel to urban centers where markets and social
services are available.

Armenia Rural Enterprise and Small Scale Commercial Agriculture
Development Project assisted 132 small and medium agribusinesses to
access long-term agricultural credit and generated a total of US$ 10.3
million investments in rural areas. As a result, 450 new permanent
jobs were created in rural areas, new modern greenhouses and poultry
operations were established.

"Although many countries in the Europe and Central Asia region enjoyed
very strong growth and higher living standards throughout the past
decade, the global financial and economic crisis has hit this region
the hardest," said Philippe Le Houe’rou, World Bank Vice President
for Europe and Central Asia.

According to him, the winners of the competition show how innovative
projects can improve the daily lives of people in the region despite
the harmful effects of the recent financial turmoil on country
economies. "The winners demonstrate real results, including job growth,
establishment of small businesses and improved enterprise access to
financing, improved health care and health protection and rehabilitated
water and irrigation systems, etc," said the WB representative.

NETANYAHU WON’T ATTEND NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT BECAUSE OF TURKEY

Aysor
April 9 2010
Armenia

Israeli officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled
a planned visit to Washington to attend a nuclear security summit
hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama, Radio Liberty informs.

Netanyahu made the decision after learning that Egypt and Turkey may
have been planning to use his appearance at the conference to call
on Israel to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to open
its nuclear facilities to international inspection, the source says.

47 world leaders Armenia in that number gather in Washington next week
for an unprecedented meeting on nuclear security, with U.S. President
Barack Obama.

COMMISSION TO BE SET UP FOR ACCEPTANCE OF CONSTRUCTION WORK OF YEREVAN POWER UNIT WITH COMBINED GAS AND STEAM CYCLE

NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 8, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. A commission will be set up for
acceptance of the construction work of the Yerevan power unit with
the combined gas and steam cycle. Deputy Minister of Energy and
Natural Resources Levon Shahverdian said at the April 8 sitting of
the government that by the government decision, commissions shall
accept construction work of especially dangerous and technically
complex facilities. It is planned to finish the construction of the
Yerevan power unit with the combined gas and steam cycle in April.

The construction of the power unit has been done under the credit
agreement signed between the Armenian government and the Japan Bank
for International Cooperation (JBIC) on 29 March 2005.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA ACCEPTS TURKISH PRIME MINISTER’S PROPOSAL

ArmInfo
2010-04-08 11:23:00

ArmInfo. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan accepted the proposal
by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hold a bilateral
meeting in Washington within the frames of the upcoming summit on
global nuclear security issues, spokesman of the Armenian president
Armen Arzumanyan said.

SPECIAL ENVOY FOR TURKEY’S PM ERDOGAN ARRIVES IN ARMENIA

Aysor
April 7 2010
Armenia

Turkey’s Special Envoy for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is
on a visit to Armenia, announced Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian at today’s joint press conference with Secretary-General
of the International Organization of la Francophonie (IOF) Abdou Diouf.

"Firutdin Siniroglu, a Special Envoy for Prime Minister of Turkey,
will meet today with Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan," said Edward
Nalbandian. He said that the visit was initiated by the Turkish side.

Referring to the possible meeting between Armenian President and
Turkish Prime Minister in Washington, Nalbandian said that the
agreement hadn’t been reached yet; however, on his visit to US,
Armenian President Sargsyan will meet with Barack Obama.

"A political dialogue of a high level has been established between
Armenia and the United States recently," said Nalbandian. "The two
nations’ leaders are keeping contacts; we believe, the upcoming visit
will contribute to bilateral relations between the two countries."

It’s worth mentioning, that President Serzh Sargsyan will pay a visit
to Washington on April 11.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN: DECISIVE POINT IN SETTLEMENT OF THE CONFLICT IS A STATUS OF NAGORNO KARABAKH

APA
April 7 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. "The decisive point in the settlement of the conflict
is the status of Nagorno Karabakh," Armenian foreign minister
Edward Nalbandian said at the press conference, APA reports quoting
Novosti-Armenia.

"It is difficult to speak about the solution of other problems
unless the main issue – the status of Nagorno Karabakh is solved. The
main issue in the process of the settlement is the recognition and
realization of Nagorno Karabakh’s right to self-determination. OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs continue offering working variants on the
settlement of the conflict and it will continue until the positions
come closer," he said.

ALL INTERESTED FAMILIES CAN PARTICIPATE IN STATE PROGRAM "AVAILABLE APARTMENTS TO YOUNG FAMILIES"

/ARKA/
April 6, 2010
YEREVAN

All interested families can participate in the state program "Available
apartments to young families", said Mher Yedigaryan, Director of UCO
"Apartments for youth".

"I would like to announce will full responsibility that the rumors
about predetermination of the program are groundless. All the families
who want to obtain an apartment or a house and satisfy the defined
requirements can participate in the state program "Available apartments
to young families", said Yedigaryan in the interview to "ARKA".

"Lists of future creditors" is the result of last year studies of
the Ministry of Youth and Sport. The aim of the enquiry was to study
the demand of improvement of living conditions of young families,
as well as development of state support model.

For receiving credit, it is necessary to apply to the banks and
credit organizations which cooperate with UCO "Apartments for youth"
where they can obtain full information about the procedure of standard
mortgage loans.

"The program covers not only Yerevan but also the regions. Regions
have some privileges as real estate prices are cheaper in the regions
than in Yerevan", said Yedigaryan.

On January 29 the Government of Armenia approved the program
"Available apartments to young families" in the amount of 3 billion
drams. According to the requirements of the program, young family
is the family where the total age of the couples is not more than
60 years, one of the couples is not more than 35 years and the age
of single parent does not exceed 30 years. Maximum size of credit is
16 million drams. UCO "Apartments for youth" was registered and got
license on February 16, 2010 by the decision of the Armenian Central
Bank.

Armenian, Russian, Georgian, Azerbaijani and Turkish Journalists Meet in Turkey

17:43 – 03.04.10

A meeting to be held on April 3-4 in the Turkish town of Izmir will
bring together journalists from Armenia, Russia, Georgia, Turkey and
Azerbaijan with the aim of discussing issues related to the settlement
of conflicts in the Caucasus.

Among other issues the participants will discuss the role that mass
media play in the coverage of conflicts, as well as the possible ways
of settling current conflicts.

The program is implemented with the assistance of Open Society
Institute, Alliance of Publishers of Turkey and the Izmir University
of Economics.

Tert.am

0.8% INFLATION RECORDED IN ARMENIA IN MARCH, COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY

ARKA
Apr 2, 2010

YEREVAN, April 2. /ARKA/. Armenia recorded 0.8% inflation in March,
compared with February, National Statistical Service reports.

Prices for foods, cigarettes and spirits rose 0.9%, those for
non-foods climbed 0.8% and for services 0.8% in March, compared with
the previous month.

Index of consumer prices was 102.9% in March 2010, compared with
December 2009.

Index of food, tobacco and spirit prices was 104.3% and non-foods
101.1% and services 101.3%. Consumer price index in March 2010 compared
with March 2009 was recorded at 108.8%

Food, tobacco and spirit prices rose 6.3% in March 2010, compared
with the same month a year earlier, non-food prices leapt 14.3%
and services 10.6%.

According to the statistical report, index of consumer prices was
129.4% in March 2010, compared with 2005.

Foods, spirits and cigarettes became more expensive than in 2005 by
28%, non-foods by 22% and services by 36%.

The national statistical service says that in March compared with
February consumer prices rose 0.3% to 4.1%. The highest price hike
was reported in Talin.

In Yerevan, prices went 0.7% up. In the 2010 state budget, inflation
is planned at 4% (±1.5%).

GOALS OF PRESIDENTIAL AIDE’S TURKEY VISIT

Turan News Agency
April 1 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku, 1 April: A delegation led by the head of the Azerbaijani
Presidential Administration, Ramiz Mehdiyev, arrived in Turkey on
31 March on an official visit. Official sources report that on the
same day, Mehdiyev met the secretary-general of the Turkish National
Security Council, Serdar Kilic. He later also met the chairman of
the Turkish Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Murat Mercan.

Mehdiyev also visited Ankara’s Gazi University, where he spoke on
Azerbaijani-Turkish relations. His visit is continuing. According to
unofficial sources, Mehdiyev is to meet Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip]
Erdogan today.

Baku sources have not reported on the goal of Mehdiyev’s visit, but
with a great deal of probability one can suppose that Baku is making
efforts to find common ground with Ankara ahead of Erdogan’s visit
to the USA. Baku’s relations with both Ankara and Washington have
turned sour recently. However, [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev is
pressed to urgently mend relations with Turkey in order not to be left
completely alone in the Karabakh settlement issue. The development
of the geopolitical situation in recent months has seriously shaken
and weakened Baku’s position. This happened after the signing of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols on the normalization of bilateral relations
[in October 2009].

The West actively supported the process and despite Baku’s expectations
and demands, refused to link the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border with the Karabakh settlement.

Ankara took a similar position, which led to the straining and
deterioration of bilateral ties. The blocking of the Nabucco [gas
export] project by Turkey was the next negative step. Simultaneously,
Ankara suggested buying Azerbaijani gas at a low price for its
further delivery to Europe. Against this background, relations
between Baku and Washington continued to deteriorate, as Washington
does not conceal its discontent with the violation of human rights
and freedoms in Azerbaijan and demands that Baku take specific steps
to improve the situation.

In the current situation, Ilham Aliyev has no other choice but to
make friends with Ankara and to try and coordinate its actions with
it in order to counter "common enemies".

The question is what the cost of this will be.