Author: Vardapetian Ophelia

NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL LEGAL ENTITIES GROWS BY 4.6%, THAT OF PRIVATE BUSINESSMEN – BY 11.98% IN ARMENIA IN ONE YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Dec 11, 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the State Register
of Legal Entities and Private Businessmen of the RA Ministry of
Justice, in January-October 2007, 3,247 commercial legal entities and
10,145 private businessmen were registered, with their total number
making 56,060 and 48,501 as of November 1, 2007. According to the RA
National Statistical Service, 53,616 legal entities and 55,104 private
businessmen were registered as of November 1, 2006. The number of legal
entities grew by 4.6%, that of private businessmen declined by 11.98%
in one year.

1,022 legal entities and 1,453 private businessmen were liquidated
in January-October 2007.

3,247 legal entities, which were regsitered in the indicated period of
2007, made investments of over 6 bln 974.7 mln drams (over 20 mln USD).

Investments of 1 bln 879.3 mln drams were made in 327 enterprises
founded with foreign investments, including investments of 1 bln 27.7
mln drams in the enterprises founded by 208 foreign legal entities and
citizens and investments of 851.6 mln drams – in 119 joint ventures.

NUMBER OF VISITS TO YEREVAN POLYCLINICS GROWS BY 7.2% IN JANUARY-NOVEMBER

Noyan Tapan
Dec 10 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-November 2007, the
number of population’s visits to Yerevan polyclinics made 1m 785
thousand, which exceeds the index of the same period of the previous
year by 7.2%. Armen Soghoyan, the Head of the Healthcare and Social
Security Department of Yerevan Mayor’s Office, said at the December
10 press conference.

According to him, in the 11 months of this year, as compared with the
same period of 2006, the number of visits to district therapeutists
increased by 10%, to narrow specialists by 2.3%. The number of
laboratory instrumental examinations increased by 11.2% in the same
period. A. Soghoyan said that 117 314 citizens were given free of
charge medicines in January-November.

25 040 patients received medical service in the above mentioned months
in clinics within the jurisdiction of the Mayor’s Office. 14 704 out
of it was done within the framework of state order, which is more by
10%, as compared with the same period of the previous year. According
to A. Soghoyan, ambulance service calls decreased by 1.5%: 141 calls
were registered in January-November 2006, while this number amounted
to 139 329 in the same period of this year.

A. Soghoyan said that 78% Yerevan population has already chosen the
doctor of primary healthcare. And 344 family doctors and 205 nurses
have already passed retraining in Yerevan, within the framework of
the World Bank credit program.

Determination of Kosovo status will become a precedent for the
unrecognized republics in CIS, RF Foreign Minister says

2007-12-08 13:11:00

ArmInfo. Any decision on Kosovo status will become a precedent for the
unrecognized republics in the post-Soviet area, Foreign Minister of the
Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov said, Friday. ‘Certainly, the way
Kosovo crisis will be managed will have a precedent. It will happen not
because we say so or because our western partners deny it. Neither they
nor we must decide it’, S. Lavrov said at a press conference in
Brussels after Russian-NATO Council when asked if Kosovo settlement
will influence the conflicts in Georgia.

He said many countries, including in the Balkans, follow the
developments in Kosovo. Those who think of taking undue freedom with
the international law, UN Statute, and Helsinki final act "must think
well before starting this very slippery slop that may be pregnant with
unpredictable consequences and will not add stability in Europe", the
minister said. He believes that the key obstacle to the settlement was
Pristina’s stand. ‘We are sure that the troika of negotiators for
Kosovo problem settlement has managed to carry out rather a useful
work. Direct negotiations were started. Belgrad made a number of
consistent, constructive and flexible proposals. There is a real
opportunity for an agreement on all the issues raised by Belgrad. Lack
of any response action by Pristina prevents resolution’, Lavrov said.
He reiterated his call on all those who say in public that Kosovo
independence has no alternative "not to block negotiations and allow
the parties to find mutually admissible stands." Since 1999 Kosovo
region has been formally remaining part of Serbia’s territory and under
management of the UN. Belgrad-Pristina negotiations for the final
status of the region continuing in Vienna with mediation of the special
envoy of UN Secretary General Marti Ahtisaari within the year 2006
brought no result. The problem was entrusted to the troika of
mediators. Aleksander Botsan-Kharchenko represents Russia in the troika
of international mediators Frank Wisner of the US and Wolfgang
Ischinger of the European Union. Kosovo
insists on independence, Serbia is ready to provide the region with an
autonomy status only. The report on Kosovo the "troika" will
extraordinarily submit to the UN Security Council says that Belgrad and
Pristina failed to agree on the future status of the region. After the
report is made, Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence, experts
suppose.

Panorama.am

21:23 05/12/2007

NK ANTAGONISM WILL NOT HAVE MILITARY SOLUTION

`I am quite sure that Karabakh antagonism can not have military
solution,’ said Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Affairs Minister of RF,
after having negotiations with Vardan Oskanyan, the Foreign Affairs
Minister of RA.

The Minister of Russian Foreign Affairs reminded that all those
efforts made by the international society in the head of OSCE Minsk
Group exclude any military solution policy by the both countries.

S. Lavrov said that in a meeting carried out by OSCE in Madrid the
presidents of the committee appealed to the Armenian and Azeri
Governments to escape any activities and announcements, which could
bring to the military solution of the antagonism.

Source: Panorama.am

"HOPE AND HELP" AND "DEMOCRACY TODAY" NGOs SHOW ASSISTANCE TO 87 VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING

Noyan Tapan
Dec 6, 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 6, the launching of a
statistic booklet "Assistance to victims of trafficking in Armenia:
October 2003 – March 2007" was held in the UN Armenian Office. The
data of the "Hope and Help" and "Democracy Today" NGOs, which are
engaged in the issues of victims of trafficking in Armenia and in
providing assistance to them, are presented in it. The United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) provided assistance to the above mentioned
organizations in publishing this booklet.

According to Yenok Shatvorian, the Chairman of the "Hope and Help"
NGO, in the above mentioned period of time medical, psychological and
legal assistance was shown to 87 victims of trafficking, the majority
of which is Armenians. 85% of people suffered from trafficking in
United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Russia. 80% of them underwent sexual
exploitation, 20% labor exploitation. It was also mentioned that the
majority of the victims is aged 18-24 and 25% from 25 to 30.

ABOUT 9 THOUSAND PEOPLE IN ARMENIA USE DRUGS BY INTRAVENOUS INJECTIONS

Noyan Tapan
Dec 04 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. About 9 thousand people in Armenia
use narcotic drugs by intravenous injections, Grigor Malintsian, the
Armenian head of the UNDP-implemented South Caucasus Anti Drug (SCAD)
program, stated at the December 3 press conference, adding that the
total number of drug users makes 80-85 thousand in Armenia. According
to him, drug users are mainly those aged 21-45, while 25-32-year-olds
are considered as risk groups.

G. Malintsian said that there is little information about under-age
drug-addicts. In 2006, only 2 under-age drug-addicts were registered,
and no under-age drug-addict was registered in the first 10 months
of 2007.

Whereas, in his words, 20-year-olds are registered as drug-addicts
with quite considerable experience. He added that studies will be
also conducted in the army.

The speaker stated that the number of drug-addicts receiving
treatment by the "state order" system is growing in Armenia year by
year. In 2001, only 7 people using drugs by intravenous injections
received treatment, while in 2006 – 108 people. In 2005, the number
of drug-addicts under control at the Narcological Clinic of Armenia
made 283, in 2006 – 384, and in the 10 months of 2007, their number
made 610.

The first deputy prosecutor general of the RA Mnatsakan Sargsian
announced that 35 kg of various drugs were seized by law enforcement
bodies in Armenia

ARMENIAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS TRANSPARENT AND OPEN

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.12.2007 14:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s foreign policy bases on coincident
points with interests of our partners," RA Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian said.

"Our relations with Iran are at a high level because we are
neighbors. We have deep historical ties and common economic interests
which are vital for Armenia’s security. During the recent years
we implemented a number of economic projects, specifically the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. Neither of the sides is worried about the
level of the Armenian-Iranian relations, since they are transparent,
open and develop in the framework of international commitments. True,
the situation with Iran’s nuclear program is tensed but it’s not a
cause to introduce changes into our foreign policy," the Armenian
Minister said in an interview with Kommersant daily.

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 5 2007

EXCHANGE RATE OF DOLLAR WORRIES GOVERNMENT

The revaluation of the dram, more exactly the depreciation of the
dollar causes worry, said Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan in a briefing
on December 5. Lragir.am inquired from the head of government whether
it worries the government that the continuing revaluation of the dram
and especially the fluctuations reported a few days ago may jolt the
financial market, which for its part may threaten national security.

`Our economy is small and open, and therefore vulnerable.
Figuratively, the storm in the ocean is more dangerous for small
ships and boats. For big ships, the storm is not so dangerous. The
storm on the international market is highly dangerous for us. Here is
one circumstance. The second circumstance is that a peculiarity adds
to all these problems. Our citizens get immense sums from their
relatives who live in the United States or Russia. They get
remittances in dollars. On the one hand, the state of these people is
becoming worse because prices do not go down, and now, for instance,
the dram value of one hundred dollars is less, and it is the second
additional circumstance determining the revaluation of the dram
because a greater dollar sum comes. It is clear that the government
worries about it, it is clear that we are making serious moves,
especially that the depreciation of the dollar does not foster
export. We need to boost our GDP,’ Serge Sargsyan says.

However, he says the moves they take cannot produce results in one,
two or three months. `These moves will have a long-terms effect. What
worries most is the fluctuation by 20 drams. We are attending to this
problem, and this does not depend on the process underway on the
international market, we need to find out the main reason. Was it an
attempt to jolt our economy? Was it a speculation to make money or
was it another process? For instance, interference of other
countries, and so on,’ Serge Sargsyan says.

AGENTS BEYOND LAW

A1+
[01:24 pm] 27 November, 2007

Lilit Galstyan, press secretary of the RA Ministry of Education and
Science informed "A1+" that there was no institution in Armenian that
prepared advertising specialists. Despite this, many individuals are
actively engaged in advertising activities. Samvel Sahakyan, head of
"Proxy" PR agency says: "Specialists are prepared alongside with the
development of advertising market in Armenia. These specialists are
mainly educated coming out of their private experience. They understand
that the customers need good advertisement".

The faculty of psychology of the Yerevan State University informed, the
faculty intends to prepare advertising specialists. But it may be done
only in some years since the University does not have corresponding
specialists and material means yet. The RA Law "On Advertisement"
adopted in 1996 does not include any provision reflecting on the
activities of advertising agents.

Despite the fact that no advertising specialists are prepared in
Armenia, advertising market is developing in our country: "The
situation around advertisement makes me happy. Since the agencies
understand that advertisement should vary, it should be influential to
encourage companies order advertisements. Following the advertisements
on TV, we see that mainly qualified advertisements are broadcasted,
though many advertisements of low quality also preserve, but I hope
that the situation will improve soon", says Samvel Sahakyan.

ELECTRICITY BILLS WILL NOT CHANGE

KarabakhOpen
27-11-2007 10:53:45

In 2008 the electricity bills will not change, stated Prime Minister
Ara Harutiunyan.

The prime minister focused on major breaches, embezzlement and
dissipation in the energy sector. He said all the infrastructures of
this sector are being checked, and definite moves will be made after
the results become known.