Author: Tavakalian Edgar

MANVEL BADEYAN: ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT PROCESS CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS "POSITIONAL WAR"

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
21.12.2009 16:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia-Turkey rapprochement protocols contain
provisions, disadvantageous to Armenia. Some of them were imposed
on both countries, member of Republican Party of Armenia, deputy
chairman of parliamentary commission for European integration, Manvel
Badeyan said.

"Time is not on our side, so the earlier we form a rapprochement model,
the more we’ll gain from it," the parliamentarian said.

He added that Armenia has the potential to counter possible pressures.

According to Mr. Badeyan, although the protocols do not stipulate
for Karabakh conflict settlement, the issue will be raised during
reconciliation talks.

ARMENIAN GYMNASTS WON 3 MEDALS

news.am, Armenia
Dec 21 2009

December 15-19, Armenian gymnasts Vahan Stepanyan, Arthur Davtyan,
David Avetisyan and Vahan Vardanyan (head coach-Arthur Iskandaryan)
participated in Mikhail Voronin Cup 2009 ART International Tournament,
Sportinfo.am e-source reports.

Vardan Vardanyan is 4th and Arthur Davtyan 11th in the tournament.

Vardanyan won gold in pommel-horse exercise and took silver in artistic
floor. Arthur Davtyan became silver medalist in tumbling.

Armenia ranks fourth in the standings by team classification.

17TH CENTURY ARMENIAN CHURCH UNCOVERED IN BULGARIA

Tert.am
11:45 ~U 21.12.09

A 17th century Armenian church was uncovered during archeological
excavations in the Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo. Presently,
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Culture is taking steps to recognize the
Armenian church as a valuable state historic cultural monument,
reports the Russian-language news site Caucasian Knot.

Specialists had begun excavation work in April 2009. Historians found
a document from 1588 which stated that in the beginning, there was
a Catholic church in that area, whereas afterwards that land was
purchased by Armenians living in Bulgaria, who, in the 17th century
and on the ruins of the older church, built the Armenian St.

Astvadzadzin (meaning, the Blessed Virgin or Our Lady) church.

Excavations revealed stones with Armenian letters and ornaments,
which bear witness to the fact that an Armenian church was located
on that land in the 17-20th centuries.

Interfax, Russia
Dec 17 2009

Russia, Armenia sign military-technical cooperation agreement

MOSCOW Dec 17

Russia and Armenia have agreed to cooperate in military exports to
third countries.

"The agreement was signed in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan,
where the fourth meeting of the Russian-Armenian Intergovernmental
Commission for Military-Technical Cooperation took place," says a
report of the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service received
by Interfax-AVN on Thursday.

The meeting focused on bilateral military-technical cooperation, the
report said.

ARMENIAN BROADCASTER LOOKING FOR NATIONAL FINAL ENTRIES

esctoday.com
Dec 18 2009

The Armeian broadcaster is looking for songs to compete in the Armenian
national final for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. Ten songs will be
selected to compete for the ticket to Oslo in the telvised selection.

Songs can submitted until 1st February 2010. By 10th Feburary, ten
acts will be chosen to compete in the national final. The ten entries
will be broadcast on television between 10th and 15th February and
a jury and televoting will select the winner, both counting for 50%.

Earlier there have been rumours that Mihran & Emmy had already been
selected as Armenian entrants based on a video that appeared on
youtube. Those rumours therefore turn out to be untrue; however it
is still possible that they will take part in the national selection.

Armenia has been competing in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2006.

In 2009, they were represented by Inga & Anush with the song Nor par
(Jan jan), which finished tenth in the final making it the country’s
lowest placing entry to date.

DELAY OF TAX SERVICES ‘OVERBLEW’ THE NUMBER OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESS BY MORE THAN 90% IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo.
2009-12-17 14:36:00

ArmInfo. The procedures foreseen during dissolution of a company
may practically last for several months for the Armenian economic
entities, the investigation of the business-atmosphere of Armenia for
development of the woman’s business says. The Union of Industrialists
and Entrepreneurs od Armenia also took part in this investigation.

Sometimes the companies which applied for self-dissolution wait for
holding of the relevant audit for several months. The authors of
the investigation say that the situation contains corruption risks
as the acting legislation does not fix the terms over which audit
should be hold at such companies. As a result, at present there are
125 264 registered companies in Armenia, and only 1,6% or 2 thsd
of them are effectively working. The total of 50% out of the total
number of companies do not function or function a little.

In general, as the investigation says, the acting system does not
promote legal work of business, as the layer of the medium-sized
companies still remains not so big. ‘Generally, the economy consists
of the big companies as well as micro and macro enterprises. As a
result, the comparative volume of export of SMB remains small’, –
the investigation says. Inaccessibility of the credit funds also
hinders growth of companies. The interest rates still remain big
for the small and medium-sized business (15 – 24%), which do not
allow them to compete with big business. The small and Medium-sized
business is chiefly formed at the expense of private savings, which
at the certain stage are not enough for the growth of the company.The
businessmen-beginners do not have enough business skills. Shortage of
information in the region is still relevant today, which is deepened
because of bad infrastructures as well.

ARMENIA’S EUROPEAN MOVEMENT INITIATES EU VISA REGIME FACILITATION ACTION

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.12.2009 17:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s European movement has launched EU visa
regime facilitation action.

In this connection, Armenia’s European movement issued a statement
which can be supported by the citizens of Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan. Belarus and EU states.

"We, the citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus,
Moldova and EU ask the Member states of the European Union and the
European Union to offer all six EaP countries roadmaps towards visa
free regimes and waive visa fees as soon as possible. As a first step
simplify/streamline visa procedures and provide multiple-entry long
term visas," the statement says.

As it was noted in the statement, Eastern Partnership states realize
the reasons based on which Europe justifies visa provision-related
difficulties. "Much has to be done to alter this situation. Yet,
increase in communication between EU and Eastern Partnership states
may have a positive effect on strengthening of their ties," the
statement concludes.

STAMPS OF "FLORA AND FAUNA OF ARMENIA" SERIES UNVEILED IN ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.12.2009 20:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Stamps devoted to 125th anniversary of outstanding
Armenian artists – George Yakulov and Sedrak Arakelyan, as well as of
"Flora and Fauna of Armenia" series were unveiled at the National
Art Gallery of Armenia on Dec. 16, press office of HayPost reported.

The official ceremony was attended by RA Minister of Transport
and Communications Gurgen Sargsyan, Deputy Culture Minister Arman
Khachatryan, Acting Chief Director of "HayPost Arman Khachatryan,
Chairman of the Philately Federation Hovik Musayelyan.

The nominal value of stamps of George Yakulov and Sedrak Arakelyan
is AMD 200, stamps depicting the flora and fauna – AMD 120-160 with
a total circulation of 4000 copies.

AZERBAIJANI MPS PROTEST AGAINST U.S. CONGRESS ASSISTANCE TO NAGORNO KARABAKH.

ArmInfo
2009-12-16 08:51:00

ArmInfo. Azerbaijani MPs have expressed protest against U.S. Congress
assistance to Nagorno Karabakh.

"Special discussions on U.S. Congress assistance to Armenian community
of Nagorno Karabakh should be held at the Parliament and we must
address to the Congress," Trend News quotes MP Musa Guliyev as
saying today.

According to Guliyev, "rendering assistance to Armenian separatists
counteracts all norms of international law." "This step of U.S.,
who recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, implies moral
and material support. This step decreases a confidence and trust to
U.S. in Azerbaijan," the MP added.

Guliyev said that, U.S. might provide assistance to Nagorno Karabakh’s
Armenian community through Azerbaijani Government. "If the Congress
allocated funds to Azerbaijan in this purpose we would assist both
Azerbaijani and Armenian communities," Guliyev underscored.

MP stressed the importance of adopting a special decision to send to
the Congress in this respect.

"Providing assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh is a step which damages
the U.S. directly," Permanent Committee on State Building and Law
Chairman Ali Huseynov said.

Huseynov said National Leader Heydar Aliyev expressed an attitude to
such kind of steps by times.

"The U.S. is hurting its image of a fair country," Huseynov added.

"The Parliament should adopt an appropriate decision to protest to
U.S. Government urgently."

To remind, a few days ago US Congress adopted a decision stipulating
$8mln assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2010.

HEAVY SNOWFALLS BLOC MEGHRI PASS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.12.2009 18:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As of 17:00 p.m., Kajaran-Meghri section of Meghri
Pass (south of Armenia) was blocked as a result of heavy snowfalls,
Armenia’s Ministry of Transportation and Communication says in
a release.

Besides, snowstorms and zero visibility have made Goris-Sisian section
difficult to traverse. In that connection, the Ministry warns citizens
against using the road unless extremely necessary.