Author: Tigranian Ani

Armenian finance minister: 1.5% real GDP decline likely in 2009

YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. Armenian Finance Minister Tigran Davtyan
thinks 1.5% real GDP decline is likely in 2009.

Speaking at a briefing on Thursday, he pointed out forecasts of the
World Bank, the IMF and Armenian experts saying they are close to each
other.

In particular, IMF predicts 1 to 1.5% GDP decline. There are also
close-to-zero forecasts.

Davtyan said that the ministry keeps watch at developments and conducts
a detailed monitoring in online regime ` receives daily information
about tax collection.

According to the ministry’s figures, GDP reduced about 1% in January
2009, compared with the same month of the previous year. February’s
figures will be available by March 20.

`My personal opinion is that the IMF forecast- 1.5% GDP decline – is
closer to the reality’, he said. Armenia recorded 0.7% decline in
January 2009, compared with January 2008.

This decline amounted to AMD 1320 billion (in market prices). GDP
index-deflator was recorded at 99.7% in January 2009, compared with the
same month a year earlier.

In the 2009 state budget, 9.2% GDP growth and 4% (±1.5%) inflation are
planned. M.V.-0—

Armenian premier: Necessary investments will be made depending on
development of GDP situation in Armenia

2009-03-13 19:09:00

ArmInfo. There are several scenarios on the GDP growth in 2009,
according to which the relevant measures are being implemented,
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan told journalists when replying
to ArmInfo correspondent’s question about the process of fulfillment of
the anti-crisis programme of the Armenian government.

He also added there are scenarios which envisage zero GDP, 1,5%
falling, 4,5%- falling and 4,5%- growth of economy. Depending on
development of any scenario the needed investments will be made.
So, if the rates of falling are serious, naturally the volume of
expenses will be bigger. As of today, the World Bank said about its
decision to finance the programme. It will allocate $525 mln. IMF,
Asian Development Bank and EBRD will also finance the programme.
‘Naturally, we shall have serious volumes of private investments which
will ease overcoming of the negative consequences of the world
financial and economic crisis’, – the premier said.

AZG DAILY #45, 14-03-2009

International Update: 2009-03-14 00:54:51 (GMT +04:00)

ARMENIA-TURKEY NGOS FORUM TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

By Nairi Muradian, translated by L.H.

30 representatives of Armenian and Turkish NGOs will participate in
the opening ceremony of Armenia-Turkey NGO Forum to be held in Yerevan
on March 14.

The Forum aims at establishment of relations between the
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of Armenia and Turkey, as well
as development of the opportunities of the two countries’ NGOs to
contribute to the strategies for settlement of general issues in the
region.

Gender, youth, democracy and supremacy of law, and environmental
issues will be the main subjects for discussions.

Film about Artsakh wins Golden Mike Award

2009-03-13 11:26:00

ArmInfo. Radio & Television News Association of Southern California
has awarded the documentary film "Nagorno Karabakh, Artsakh: The
Struggle For Freedom" with Golden Mike Award.

Nagorny Karabakh Republic Foreign Ministry press-service told ArmInfo
the award was handed over to Peter Musurkyan, the co-author and
co-producer of the film, at the official award ceremony at the
Universal Hilton Hotel. Vardan Barseghyan, the NKR Deputy Foreign
Minister, the former Personal Representative of NKR to the USA, is
another co-author and co-producer of the film. Narine Aghabalyan, a
broadcast- journalist from Karabakh, director of ‘Tsir Katin’ Studio,
provided the main video material for the film. In September 2008 the
film was demonstrated at the Capitol Hill as part of the event:
‘NKR-Artsakh: 20 years of Liberty, Democracy, and Progress’ with
participation of US congressmen, diplomats, human rights defenders,
experts and public representatives. The Association
founded Golden Mike Award 59 years ago. It is one of the most
prestigious awards in the sphere of broadcast and radio journalism.
Among the other awarded journalists for 2009 is also CNN host Larry
King.

Golden Mike Award videos are available at:
;fe ature=channel_page

The Film Nagorno Karabakh, Artsakh: The Struggle For Freedom" is
available at:

Alexander Lukashenko arrives in Armenia

2009-03-11 19:14:00

ArmInfo. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has arrived in
Armenia. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan met Lukachenko at the
airport. The presidents spoke tete- a-tete. During the visit Lukashenko
is planning to meet with government officials and businessmen of
Armenia. The key topics are trade-economic cooperation in the face of
the global financial-economic crisis and integration of the post-Soviet
republics.

The press service of the Byelorussian president reports that Lukashenko
will focus on inter- regional relations, cooperation in the energy
sector, participation of Belarus in a number of national economic
programs in Armenia, establishment of industrial cooperation and
development of tourism and cultural ties between the two nations.

UNFPA and UNDPI Armenia organize a special event devoted to the
International Women’s Day

armradio.am
10.03.2009 15:05

Today UNFPA and UNDPI Armenia held a special event devoted to the
International Women’s Day as part of the UN Secretary-General’s `UNiTe
to End Violence against Women’ global campaign. In recognition of the
urgent need to bring women and men together in this endeavor, the theme
of this year’s International Women’s Day is Women and Men United to End
Violence against Women and Girls.

The event was opened with greetings on behalf of UNDPI and UNFPA during
which the messages of Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, and
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director on the occasion of March
8, the International Women’s Day were presented.

In his message the UN Secretary-General stressed the importance of
joining efforts worldwide and taking a firm stand to eliminate violence
against women, "We must work together to state loud and clear that
violence against women will not be tolerated" he pointed out in his
speech. In her turn, Ms. Thoraya Obaid urged men and boys to use their
influence for positive change as well as called on authorities to
promote public dialogue and open debate and to support government
efforts in all countries to enact and enforce laws to bring justice to
offenders, and to provide health services and social support to
survivors.

Following the opening of the event, the guest speakers took the floor
to share with the audience the joint 3rd and 4th Periodic Report of
Republic of Armenia to the CEDAW Committee on the status of the CEDAW
convention implementation. Guest speakers featured Ms. Lala Ghazaryan,
representative of the RoA Ministry of Labour and Social Issues, the
leading state body working in the field of family, women and children
issues; Mr. Ashot Yesayan, representative of the Prosecutor’s Office,
and Ms. Jemma Hasratyan, the President of `Armenian Association of
Women with University Education’ DPI-Associated NGO and partnering with
UNFPA `Combating Gender Based Violence in the South Caucasus’ project.

The event rounded up with screening of two documentary movies covering
issues of violence against women in Turkey (`Killing in the name of
Honour’) and in Austria (`Showing the Red Card’). The mentioned movies
were selected from `Women on the Front Line’ movie series prepared by
Dev TV non-profit association of media professionals in collaboration
with UN agencies including UNFPA and UNIFEM, donor countries,
non-governmental organizations and other partners that provided the
information and support for the investigative reports of the mentioned
documentaries.

ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472 USA
Tel: (617) 926-TREE
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
March 9, 2009

‘Evil Quartet’ Film Highlights Threats to Biodiversity in Armenia

YEREVAN–Vem Media Arts of Yerevan has completed the tenth in a series of
eleven films about environmental issues in the Republic of Armenia. The new
film, "Evil Quartet," is about the threats to biodiversity. The 22-minute
documentary was produced by Manuk Hergnyan, written by Inga Zarafyan, and
directed by Hayk Kbeyan.

The film provides a scientific overview of an ecosystem and highlights
several endangered species in Armenia, the impacts of human development on
wildlife, and the role of hunting and poaching.

Zarafyan highlights the major threats to biodiversity identified by
bio-geographer Jared Diamond of UCLA: aggression of species and overgrazing,
hunting and poaching, chains of extinction, and loss of habitat, noting that
"the music of this quartet is getting louder and louder in Armenia."

The film includes testimony from experts at the Botany Institute, Zoology
Institute, Center for Prevention of Infectious Diseases, World Wildlife
Fund, and Saint Louis Zoo, who address the risk of losing numerous endemic
species of rare flora and fauna found only in Armenia, with many listed in
the Red Book of endangered species.

Since the Bezoar goat and Moufflon (wild sheep) are declining in numbers,
for example, the Near Eastern Leopard is close to extinction.

The film notes that the natural corridors of the leopard stretch over dozens
of kilometers in southern Armenia and parts of Nakhichevan and Nagorno
Karabagh, and that they are highly valued by hunters. WWF wildlife expert
Alexander Malkhasyan indicates that leopards are killed at a rate of one
every two years, and that "if the situation does not change, we will lose
the leopard forever."

He points out that WWF photographed one of the rare leopards in Armenia for
the first time in 2005, and for the second time in 2007. "The situation of
leopards in Armenia is not good, with only 5-7 leopards remaining," warns
Malkhasyan.

"We have to realize the truth that while preserving the biodiversity of
species we preserve ourselves as Homo sapiens," concludes the narrator of
the documentary.

The film "Evil Quartet" was sponsored by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership
Fund, World Wildlife Fund Armenia, Armenian Forests NGO, and Armenia Tree
Project, and it is available for viewing on Google Video. To acquire a copy
of the film in DVD format with English subtitles, contact Armenia Tree
Project via email at [email protected].

PHOTO CAPTION: World Wildlife Fund Armenia took this rare photograph of an
endangered Near Eastern Leopard in Southern Armenia in 2005.

Press and Information Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Armenia
Tel. + 37410 544041. ext. 202
Fax. + 37410 565601
e-mail: [email protected]
web:

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian meets Alfredo Mantica,
Secretary of State of the Foreign Ministry of Italy

The ways of Armenian-Italian cooperation were discussed

On March 6, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian received the
delegation headed by Alfredo Mantica, State Secretary of Italian
Foreign Ministry.

In his welcoming remarks Edward Nalbandian praised the current level
of Armenian-Italian relationship and mentioned that those relations
have good perspectives and a serious potential for development. In
that context Minister Nalbandian attached importance to the high level
visits as a way to promote bilateral political dialogue.

Alfredo Mantica stressed that Italy is interested in development of
friendly relations with Armenia and the main goal of his visit is the
realization of that aim.

Minister Nalbandian and State Secretary Mantica had a detailed
discussion on the ways of enlargement of cooperation between the two
countries in political, economic and cultural areas.

The two discussed the EU "Eastern Partnership" proposal and mentioned
that the cooperation in that format will give opportunities for
enhancement of partnership with the European institutions and the EU
member-states.

In the course of the meeting the two touched upon Artsakh (Nagorno
Karabakh) peace process, exchanged views on possibilities of
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and establishment of
stability and security in the region.

Edward Nalbandian asked to deliver his regards and best wishes to his
Italian counterpart Franco Frattini.

Russian foreign ministry: Succession of the Karabakh peace process
maintained

2009-03-06 16:30:00

ArmInfo. One managed to maintain the succession of the Karabakh peace
process despite the peculiarities of the domestic political situation
in the year of presidential election both in Armenia and Azerbaijan,
the report on the foreign political and diplomatic activity of Russia
in 2008 prepared by the Russian foreign ministry says.

"For the first time within the electoral period the international
mediators – OSCE Minsk Group Co-hairs on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement (Russia, the USA, France) received an opportunity to
continue consultations with the parties in the region and outside its
borders. During the meetings held, the international mediators strove
to ensure continuation of direct contacts of the parties to agree the
basic principles of the settlement. High-level Armenian-Azeri meetings
took place twice (on June 6 in St.Petersbourg and November 2 in
Moscow). D.Medvedev had several meetings with I.Aliyev and S.Sargsyan
and discussed with them the Nagorno-Karabakh problem",- the report
says. It adds that the meetings contributed to ensuring Russia’s
leading role in the Nagorno- Karabakh process. The result of the
meeting of Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan in Moscow held on the
invitation and with participation of Russian President Medvedev was
adoption of the trilateral Declaration aimed at peaceful settlement of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the political way. The report says that
this is the first document concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
which was signed by Azeri and Armenian presidents.

PM APPEALS FOR PUBLIC SOLIDARITY, COOPERATION

Interfax
March 5 2009
Russia

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan has urged Armenian authorities to form
am atmosphere of public solidarity and cooperation.I am perfectly
aware of the fact that the government and other power branches are
responsible for forming an atmosphere of cooperation and solidarity
for the simple reason that they have relevant mechanisms, Sargsyan
said at the meeting of the national government on Thursday.

Sargsyan commemorated Armenian late prime minister Vazgen Sargsyan
who was killed in 1999. Thursday is the day of the late premier’s
50th birth anniversary.

The terrorist act at the Armenian parliament on October 27, 1999,
killed the prime minister, Speaker Karen Demirchian, two deputy-
speakers, one minister and three deputies.

It is time to see whether Armenian society has truly learned its
lessons from the Sargsyan murder and understood that intolerance and
evil prepare the ground for new assassinations, he said.

Critique and freedom of speech are certainly necessary so that the
government could understand its mistakes. But this critique exceeds
every limit sometimes and the media posts lies and evaluations that
have nothing to do with the reality. We must still do a lot under
these circumstances, Tigran Sargsyan said.

I had been a member of the radical opposition for five years. I
know that I am guilty of many things and I ask our opponents for
forgiveness of our mistakes, my personal mistakes. We must unite and
develop cooperation. This is the only way to succeed, Sargsyan said.