Panorama.am
16:40 12/07/2008
CAMPING TO TEGHUT
Today a two-day long camping to Teghut is organized, announced the
movement of Teghut Security. Approximately 20 participants are
included in the campaign and they are going to stay in the tents for a
night. The participants will meet with the local people to discuss the
sequences of the molybdenum mining exploitation.
Source: Panorama.am
HEAD OF ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY’S MEDIA RELATIONS DIVISION BLAMES HIS AZERBAIJANI COUNTERPART FOR DIPLOMATIC IGNORANCE
ArmInfo
2008-07-11 13:20:00
Head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s Media Relations Division
Tigran Balayan blamed his Azerbaijani counterpart Hazar Ibrahim
for diplomatic ignorance and tactlessness in connection with the
latter’s recent comments on the Karabakh peace process. To note,
Ibrahim said that "the cynicism or "misunderstanding" of Armenian
Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan" is "amazing" when Nalbandyan
pointed out the necessity to settle the Karabakh conflict on the
basis of the principle of right to self-determination.
The RA FM’s press-service told ArmInfo that Balayan expressed no
surprise at his Azeri counterpart’s statement. "This is not the first
time that he shows his diplomatic ignorance in both international law
and Karabakh peace process. Furthermore, the Azeri foreign ministry’s
press-secretary affords commenting upon the statements of not only
ministers but also presidents", Balayan said.
Bank Anelik to double credit portfolio by the end of 2008
2008-07-10 13:33:00
ArmInfo. Bank Anelik plans to double the credit portfolio till the end
of the year to bring it to 23-24 billion drams, Bargat Chzmachyan,
Chairmam of Bank Anelik CJSC Board, told ArmInfo.
He said the bank completed the first half of 2008 with 20 billion drams
credit portfolio, including 50% credits issued under international
programs. B. Chzmachyan said the share of mortgage lending in the
credit portfolio is now 4.5%.
Ranking of Armenian Commercial Banks by the Agency of Rating Marketing
Information (ArmInfo) says Bak Anelik is among top ten leaders in
Armenia by provision of crediting. In 2006 Moody’s assigned the bank
Ba3 long-term and short-term foreign currency deposit ratings and a D-
bank financial strength rating.
Bank Anelik participates in the programs of World Bank, EBRD, German
KfW, IFAD., Commerzbank and others.
ARMENPRESS
COUNCIL OF EUROPE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER TO BE IN YEREVAN JULY 13-15
YEREVAN, JULY 10, ARMENPRESS: Council of Europe Human Rights
Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg will be in Yerevan July 13-15.
Public relations officer of the commissioner Stefan Montenari told
Armenpress that main aim of the visit is to assess the steps carried
out in Armenia after March 1 events.
S. Montenari said that the visit will take place within the
framework of the dialogue with the Armenian authorities. During the
visit Hammarberg will meet with the leadership of the country.
This time the visit of the commissioner will not be regional, he
will just arrive in Armenia.
"IF I WERE COUNTRY’S FACTUAL HEAD, LEVON TER-PETROSIAN WOULD BE ALREADY
IMPRISONED FOR HIS CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AND TURKISH PRESIDENT WOULD NOT BE
INVITED TO YEREVAN TO WATCH FOOTBALL," ROBERT KOCHARIAN SAYS
Y EREVAN, JULY 10, NOYAN TAPAN. "The complex of a defeated person speaks
in him. As he has been defeated twice and has never had dignity to be
defeated manfully. Besides, it is always convenient to make a resigned
President a target for extremism. I did not acted this way in 1998
considering such a conduct inappropriate. It is a conduct of a small
person, who has become wicked. Sometimes I feel pity for him." Previous
RA President Robert Kocharian gave such a commentary to the accusations
addressed to him by first RA President Levon Ter-Petrosian during the
People’s Movement rallies.
Speaking about the presidential elections held in February, R.
Kocharian said in his interview to Mediamax: "He thinks he was defeated
by me, though it is not so. Being a President at that time, I only
carried out my duty by protecting the Constitution and restoring law
and order in the country. L. Ter-Petrosian just fails to come out of
the extreme opposition field. His masters and those paying money to him
will not permit him to do that… Maybe he also thinks that these
actions can please the authorities and on his way he will gain pardon
for the crime committed on March 1 at the same time also receiving a
possibility to mount the high horse during the rallies without
obstacles. It is a possible tactical calculation. In the strategic
respect I do not exclude that in the person of me he continues seeing
his main political rival in the future political fights. I think he
will be once more mistaken both in tactics and in strategy."
R. Kocharian said that a book on the years of his tenure will be
published soon, where there are answers to all questions regarding
efficiency of his work. "Any country and any President can be proud of
such development rates. It would be amusing to publish a similar book
based on the factual material of L. Ter-Petrosian’s tenure years. Let
people compare them. As he and ANM have left nothing light in people’s
memory, have built nothing to show. They are numbered among the types
who remain in history as efficient destroyers. Sometimes L.
Ter-Petrosian loses sense of measure so much that I start doubting his
complicity. It is possible that he mentally just does not stand
tension."
Touching upon the version in press that he is still the factual head of
the country, R. Kocharian said: "It is an absolute absurd. If it were
so, L. Ter-Petrosian would be already imprisoned for his criminal
activity. By the way, by doing so I would have corrected my mistake of
1998. And certainly, the President of Turkey would not be invited to
Yerevan to watch football. The goal of such publications is to cause
additional problems in Armenia. Persons authorized by the Constitution
should rule the country and bear responsibility. Power and
responsibility are inseparable and cannot be shady," the former
President said.
SARKSYAN PROPOSES ‘FRESH START’ FOR GRADUAL NORMALIZATION
Today’s Zaman
July 10 2008
Turkey
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan has issued an open call and proposed
"a fresh start" in relations between estranged neighbors Armenia
and Turkey, while suggesting that dialogue would eventually lead to
normalization of relations between the two countries.
"The time has come for a fresh effort to break this deadlock, a
situation that helps no one and hurts many. As president of Armenia,
I take this opportunity to propose a fresh start — a new phase of
dialogue with the government and people of Turkey, with the goal of
normalizing relations and opening our common border," Sarksyan said
in an opinion piece published yesterday in The Wall Street Journal.
"After my election in February, my Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul,
was one of the first heads of state to congratulate me. Turkey’s Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that the doors are open to
new dialogue in this new period," Sarksyan explained in his article,
titled "We Are Ready to Talk to Turkey."
"There is no real alternative to the establishment of normal relations
between our countries. It is my hope that both of our governments
can pass through the threshold of this new open door. … We cannot
expect tangible progress without such structured relations. Only
through them can we create an effective dialogue touching upon even
the most contentious historical issues," he suggested.
In Ankara, diplomatic sources welcomed the article, saying that Turkey
would be pleased with initiatives for eventual normalization of ties
with the neighboring country. "Such messages are helpful. Yet our
proposal to establish a joint commission of historians is still on the
table, and we have not yet received any response to our letter sent
to Yerevan," the same diplomatic sources, who requested anonymity,
however, emphasized while speaking with Today’s Zaman.
The sources were referring to Prime Minister Erdogan’s 2005 letter to
then-Armenian President Robert Kocharian, inviting him to establish
a joint commission of historians and experts from both Turkey and
Armenia to study the events of 1915 using documents from the archives
of Turkey, Armenia and any other country believed to have played
a part in the issue. No positive response has yet been received to
this offer. Over the weekend President Gul held the first courtesy
meeting with Sarksyan, elected in February.
On the sidelines of weekend festivities in Astana to celebrate the
10th birthday of the Kazakh capital city, Gul spoke briefly with
Azerbaijani President Ä°lham Aliyev and Sarksyan at the Akorda
presidential palace. Speaking to reporters later, Gul called his
conversation with Sarksyan and Aliyev a "courtesy meeting." During
the conversation Gul congratulated Sarksyan on his election to the
presidency and told him that he had received a formal invitation to
visit Yerevan for a football match in September. "We are assessing
the invitation," Gul briefly told reporters, when asked whether he
would accept the invitation. Armenia and Turkey will play against each
other in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Sept. 6 in a qualifying
match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, scheduled to be held in South Africa.
–Boundary_(ID_mVl5FqDqiCQkW9aKA1jayg)–
ITERA COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ CHAIRMAN READY TO CONSTRUCT ENTERPRISE FOR PRODUCTION OF BUILDING MATERIALS IN ARMENIA
DE FACTO
08.07.08
YEREVAN
On July 7 RA President Serge Sargsian received Igor Makarov, Chairman
of Board of Directors of Russian Itera Oil and Gas Company.
According to RA President’s Press Office, in the course of the meeting
the parties discussed cooperation programs in various spheres and
tasks referring to further plans.
Chairman of Board of Directors of Itera Oil Company expressed readiness
to invest in the sphere of building materials’ construction and build
an enterprise for production of building materials in Armenia.
ABDULLAH GYULL RECEIVES INVITATION
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 08, 2008
Armenia
During his visit to Astana, President Serge Sargsyan had a non-official
meeting with the Turkish President Abdullah Gyull who has received
an invitation for arriving in Armenia and watching the Armenia-Turkey
football game together with the Armenian President, Samvel Farmanyan,
Press Secretary of the President reported to radio station "Liberty"
yesterday.
"In the frameworks of the non-official summit of the Presidents and
the solemn ceremonies devoted to the 10th anniversary of Astana,
the capital city of Kazakhstan, Serge Sargsysan had non-official
discussions with the leaders of different countries. The Armenian
and Turkish Presidents did not have a private meeting, and nothing
of the kind was envisaged by the agenda of the summit.
Yes, President Serge Sargsyan did really have a non-official meeting
with the Turkish President Abdullah Gyull in Astana, and during
the meeting, the Turkish President informed Mr. Sargsyan that he
had received the invitation for arriving in Armenia and watching the
Armenia-Turkey qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup. The invitation
was sent to the Turkish President through diplomatic channels and he
received it before leaving for Astana.
I am aware that the President of Turkey has also informed the
representatives of the Mass Media about this," the Spokesman of the
President mentioned. S. Farmanyan also added that, "the information
disseminated by separate news agencies does not correspond to the
reality."
Improvement of Armenia’s Sovereign Ratings Shows Higher Confidence in
Country’s Authorities
YEREVAN, July 4. /ARKA/. Improvement of Armenia’s international ratings
shows increased confidence in the country’s authorities, Armenian
President’s Chief Adviser on Economic Issues Vahram Nersisyants said on
Friday.
Fitch international rating agency has upgraded Armenia’s long-term
foreign and local Issuer Default ratings (IDRs) to `BB’ from `BB-‘ (BB
minus). The agency has also upgraded the Country Ceiling to `BB+’ from
`BB’ and affirmed the Short-term IDR at `B’.
Nersisyants told journalists that Armenian Government headed by PM
Tigran Sargsyan has quite professional approach to own programs aimed
at reformation and new success achievement in economy.
`This enables foreign banks to mobilize their resources for applying
them in Armenia’, he said.
The presidential adviser said the outlooks changed from Positive to
Stable shows that Armenia is now viewed as stable country.
`Fitch specialists think that the atmosphere forming investors’
confidence has been created in the country’, he said adding that this
is a great achievement and `our nation can be proud of it’.
Fitch experts say that the upgrade of Armenia’s sovereign ratings
reflects the economy’s rapid growth, rising incomes and strong policy
framework, which the agency cited as potential triggers when it placed
the ratings on Positive Outlooks in May 2007.
According to Fitch, Armenia scores relatively favorably on the World
Bank’s Doing Business survey, where the country ranks 39th out of 178
economies, well above the `BB’ median of 98th place.-0–
NEITHER IN THEORY, NOR IN PRACTICE
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 04, 2008
Armenia
According to the information disseminated recently, 70-80 percent
of the gasoline imported to Armenia is not represented in relevant
documents.
That’s to say, a large quantity of gasoline is smuggled into the
republic in thousands of freight cars.
As mentioned by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, it might mean that
we are dealing with international smuggling because the imported
gasoline crosses the borders of several states.
Besides, it might also mean that there is no relevant control on
the border.
"This information is very far from the reality. It is unfeasible either
in theory or in practice. A small vehicle importing some product that
may be used for twofold purposes becomes a subject of discussions in
the international tribunals once it crosses our border, and we all
know it very well. And this kind information currently presented to
the republic cannot be true.
Such information is disseminated with the purpose of discrediting
the authorities instead of strengthening our statehood," T. Sargsyan
mentioned yesterday.