Author: Torosian Aram

OSCE ‘INEFFICIENT’ – LAVROV

RT
December 5, 2008, 15:28

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe needs reform. The statement came
on the second day of the OSCE’s summit in Helsinki.

"The OSCE does not fulfil its main task, which is providing security,"
Lavrov said.

At the same time, he noted that Russia is against the OSCE scaling
back its activities.

Lavrov also demanded an investigation following media allegations
that monitors from the OSCE knew in advance about Georgia’s plans to
attack South Ossetia in August.

The Russian Foreign Minister urged his fellow ministers from the 52
countries in attendance to help prevent a humanitarian catastrophe
from unfolding in South Ossetia. He pointed out that Georgia has cut
off gas supplies to the newly independent state ahead of the winter.

Meanwhile, in an address to the OSCE Foreign Ministers Council, UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations and the OSCE
could reconsider their role in the Caucasus following the August
crisis in the region.

Earlier, Lavrov outlined Moscow’s proposal to draw up a new security
treaty for Europe, saying that the Georgian action showed that present
arrangements are failing.

On Friday he discussed this topic with OSCE Secretary General Marc
Perrin de Brichambaut. According to a press release published on the
R ussian Foreign Ministry’s web site "the parties have expressed
common views concerning the priority of providing security in the
Euro-Atlantic space and OSCE involvement in the implementation of
President Medvedev’s initiative concerning a new security treaty
in Europe".

The United States has stated it is premature to call a summit on
Russia’s initiative concerning a new security treaty.

The Helsinki meeting involved the foreign ministers of Armenia,
Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

On Thursday, the OSCE discussed other trouble hot-spots in the former
Soviet Union and, in particular, urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to
resolve their dispute in the Nagorno-Karabakh region peacefully.

DOES NOT TAKE MOSCOW DECLARATION SERIOUSLY

Lragir.am
18:01:00 – 04/12/2008

The former NKR defense minister Samvel Babayan who founded the Dashink
party but soon dissolved it and joined the Ramkavar Party of Armenia,
was hosted at the Hayatsk press club on December 4. He said he does
not take the declaration on Karabakh signed in Moscow seriously. Samvel
Babayan thinks Moscow needed that declaration to display its influence
in the region but according to Samvel Babayan that document will not
have serious consequences for the settlement of the conflict.

By the way, Babayan thinks that at least in the upcoming five years
the sides will be far from the settlement. As to the question of
reporters what he would do if there were an agreement on settlement,
Samvel Babayan said in case of a dangerous option he will do everything
to mobilize the "forces depending on him" to fight against that option.

By the way, the ex-foreign minister of NKR and the ex-presidential
candidate of Armenia Arman Melikyan does not expect crucial and
dangerous developments relating to the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict. He stated that in case of dangerous developments there is
sufficient human potential in both Armenia and Karabakh to oppose to
that dangerous development. As to the declaration of Moscow, Arman
Melikyan said Armenia actually made a mistake by signing it without
Karabakh, and Azerbaijan benefited, since it turns=2 0out that the
conflict is with Karabakh.

Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan who was also hosted at the Hayatsk press club
said everyone is bluffing in the process of settlement, and there is
no reason for worry.

In addition, Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan made an interesting statement. He
said the Armenian troops were not needed in Kelbajar since the Karabakh
army led by Samvel Babayan could have taken Kelbajar. According
to Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan, that mistake now enables Azerbaijan to
manipulate the issue and present as if Armenia had attacked Azerbaijan.

RA PRESIDENT RECEIVES VIK DARCHINIAN

Noyan Tapan

Dec 4, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 4, RA President
Serzh Sargsyan received absolute world boxing champion in the super
lightweight category Vik Darchinian. Congratulating him on winning that
exclusive title, he said that "every victory in the sphere of sport,
culture, and other spheres brings great fame to our state and people,
fill every Armenian with the feeling of pride."

According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan by the RA President’s
Press Office, V. Darchinian, who arrived in Armenia to take part
in the events dedicated to the 20th anniversary of 1988 earthquake,
presented his plans for the future to the RA President.

ALL MAJOR ON-BUDGET EXPENDITURES TO BE UNDER CONTROL OF PREMIER IN ARMENIA

ARKA
Dec 4, 2008

YEREVAN, December 4. /ARKA/. All major on-budget expenditures are
to be under control of the premier for better confidence in their
efficiency, Armenian Premier Tigran Sargsyan said.

The Premier does not rule out that the government will turn down the
expenditures not supporting the GDP growth and will re-direct them
within the same ministries, the Premier said in opening the government
sitting Thursday.

According to Sargsyan, the programs planned for 2009 need to be
reconsidered. "We have all the required instruments for this; we
also have the accumulation in the Central Bank that can be spent more
freely in 2009 as the inflationary pressures have steeply reduced on
global markets, and the Central Bank of Armenia decided to bring the
refinancing rate 0.5% down," Sargsyan said.

The Premier pointed out that the country goes in the expansion policy
stage where inflationary pressures do not restrain the government
from expenditures. In this stage, the priority is to use all the
instruments that facilitate economic growth, Sargsyan said.

Quite bold results are planned under the 2009 budget and 9% economic
growth is quite a high indicator to be achieved in the conditions of
the global financial and economic crisis, the Premier said.

"This will require us to make extra efforts and actions, hence we
will steeply incr ease the on-budget expenditures, first of all in
infrastructures field, in capital construction and reconstruction
works in the earthquake zone," the Premier said.

The Premier stressed that in negotiations with international donor
organizations and partner-countries over additional funds will be
aimed at promotion of economic growth.

Under Armenian state budget for 2009, the revenues are 905.4bln AMD,
expenditures 945.4bln AMD, deficit 40bln AMD. The budgeted real GDP
growth is 9.2%, the inflation rate being 4±1.5%.

The budgeted AMD/USD exchange rate is 303.69 AMD/$1.

–Boundary_(ID_nSmu+qKSw2pRLAWXIAj3UA)–

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: GAS SUPPLY LEVEL IN ARMENIA IS AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD

ArmInfo
2008-12-02 16:23:00

ArmInfo. Gas supply level in Armenia is among the best in the world,
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said at the 10th meeting of the
Presidential Atomic Energy Council Tuesday.

He said that Iran-Armenian gas pipeline project was implemented
to diversify the supply of energy resources to the country. The
pipeline was connected to the system of internal gas supply of
Armenia Monday. The existing capacity of the underground gas-holder
in the town of Abovyan is currently being modernized and increased,
the president said.

At present there are 574269 gas consumers in Armenia, which is more
than in Soviet period.

10TH SITTING OF THE COUNCIL ON THE NUCLEAR ENERGY SECURITY OF ARMENIA HELD IN YEREVAN
Alisa Gevorgyan

"Radiolur"
02.12.2008 16:52

The 10th sitting of the Armenian Presidential Council on the Nuclear
Energy Security was held at the Government House of Receptions.

Issues related to the energy system of Armenia, and particularly
issues of nuclear energy were discussed at the meeting.

The President of Armenia made opening remarks and spoke briefly about
the development and prospects of the energy system of Armenia. "Today
the Nuclear Energy Security Council plays an essential role in
ensuring the energy security of the republic. We are pleased with
the fact that due to the diligent work of the experts of the Council
the level of security of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (NSSP)
corresponds to international standards," President Serzh Sargsyan
said in his opening speech.

The Chairman of the RA Presidential Council on the Nuclear Energy
Safety Adolf Birkhofer congratulated the leadership of Armenia with
the progress registered in the development of the energy system of
Armenia. "You can be proud of the work done over the past years in
the direction of secure exploitation of the power plant. Due to the
efforts and knowledge of your government, you executed management,
as a result of which the ANPP has been fully renovated, has a high
level of security and has been best preserved as compared20to other
similar plants in the world," he said.

The Director General of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, Gagik
Markosyan, presented the report on the activities conducted last
year. According to him, the ANPP was reconstructed twice in 2007
and 2008. Eight security measures were taken over the past two
years. Last year more than $10 million was invested to ensure the
proper security level.

ONE OF REASONS FOR ECONOMIC CRISIS THREATENING ARMENIA IS THE POLICY CONDUCTED BY AUTHORITIES, ANDRANIK TEVANIAN SAYS

Noyan Tapan

Dec 2, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2, NOYAN TAPAN. "The global economic crisis will
affect Armenia’s economic system without fail," the chairman of
the National Assembly Standing Committee of Economic Issues Vardan
Aivazian said during the December 2 debate, noting that with the aim
of preventing the consequences of this crisis, the Armenian government
has prepared a series of measures, in particular, a new investment
program, creation of an all-Armenian bank, construction of a new
nuclear power plant. In the opinion of V. Aivazian, the government
took a bolder step by deciding to participate in these programs.

The head of Political Economy research center, economist Andranik
Tevanian in his turn said that the reasons for the crisis threatening
the Armenian economy should be sought not only in the international
financial fluctuations but also in the economic policy being conducted
by the country’s authorities. "I’d like to know how the creation
of an all-Armenian bank and other programs will help our economy,"
the economist noted. He also asked his opponent what resources will
be used for implementation of all these programs. V. Aivazian said
these resources will be provided from the reserve fund of the Central
Bank of Armenia.

According to A. Tevanian, today the state is engaged in "collecting
money and distributing money", which is done by increasing the tax
burden, which in its turn directed mainly at small and medium business,
whereas the big businessmen to have united with authorities do not
pay taxes. In response, V. Aivazian reminded that 92% of the state
budget is ensured by 300 big organizations of the country.

214 CORRUPTION CRIMES DETECTED IN JAN-NOV 2008

ARKA
Dec 1, 2008

YEREVAN, December 1. /ARKA/. Two hundred and fourteen corruption
crimes had been detected in Armenia by November 26, 2008, – a 2.7-fold
increase as compared with the corresponding period last year (79).

Speaking at a conference on the prevention, detection and investigation
of corruption crimes, Vice-Chief of the RA Police, Chief of the
Head Investigation Department, Gagik Hambartsumyan reported that 115
(55.6%) of the crimes were detected by the police, with 37 of them
by the Head Department for Organized Crime Control.

Hambartsumyan reported that 40 cases of bribery were detected this
January-November against three cases in the corresponding period
last year.

Eight of the 40 cases involved commercial bribery.

Nineteen cases of misappropriation and embezzlement, 15 cases of
abuse of office, and 45 other corruption crimes were registered this
January-November.

Despite considerable progress, the battle against corruption is far
from being satisfactory, Hambartsumyan said.

"It is no secret that they are latent crimes, and the battle
against them requirement of involvement of health forces both of
the law-enforcement and government agencies and of the public,"
he said.

Panorama.am

20:51 27/11/2008

FINANCIAL CRISIS IMPACT ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FIELD OF ARMENIA

`In the aftermath of world financial crisis companies specialized on
information technologies in Armenia will be divided into 3 groups `
those which will not close down, but they will not also develop
anymore, those which will develop and those which will have negative
impact because of the crisis,’ says Karen Vardanyan the director of
the union of information technologies enterprises of
Armenia. Mr. Vardanyan did not mention or remind any company from the
field.

Regarding `LYCOS’ company, Mr. Vardanyan said that they have problems
with the portal which is in Denmark and with its subdivisions, and
Armenian company is an engineering part of it. Remind that according
to rumors, `LYCOS’ internet technologies processing company is to be
closed. The company representatives neither rejected not confirmed the
news.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIA NOT TO USE PRESSURE

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
26 Nov 08
Armenia

In a press conference held in Istanbul, Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan announced that President Serge Sargsyan is to visit
Turkey in October 2009 for watching the football game of the national
representative teams.

The Foreign Minister reiterated the Armenian party’s demand of
normalizing the relations and opening the borders between the
two countries and said that "Turkey and Armenia should undertake
preparatory steps for the opening of the border."

In response to the question whether Yerevan will appeal to the Diaspora
to put an end to the process of the recognition of the Genocide,
E. Nalbandyan said, "Armenia will not use any pressure against the
Diaspora Armenians for changing their approach with regard to the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide."