RA CENTRAL BANK ISSUES ZBIGNIEW BONIEK COMMEMORATIVE COINS
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.05.2009 15:05 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Central Bank of Armenia issued Zbigniew Boniek
commemorative coins.
50 000 silver coins with nominal value of AMD100 were issued in the
framework of Kings of Football international program.
BTA BANK DECLARES ABOUT ISSUE OF INTERNATIONAL PLASTIC CARDS MASTERCARD
ArmInfo
2009-05-12 18:29:00
ArmInfo. BTA Bank has declared about issue of international plastic
cards MasterCard.
As press-service of BTA Bank told Arminfo, the bank gives plastic
cards MasterCard of Cirrus/Maestro, MasterCard Standard, MasterCard
Gold, MasterCard Business types. Payment for the year service of
the Gold cards is 30 thsd AMD, Business – 20 thsd AMD, Standard –
8 thsd AMD and Cirrus/Maestro – 3 thsd AMD. According to the tariffs
fixed, when taking cash from these types of cards 0,3% from the sum
is taken. The bank announces 50% discount from 1 May to 1 August for
the year service of the MasterCard.
ARMEN ASHOTYAN APPOINTED NEW MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF ARMENIA
ArmInfo
2009-05-12 18:44:00
ArmInfo. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on
dismissing Armenian Minister of Education and Science Spartak
Seyranyan, Tuesday.
The Armenian presidential press-service told ArmInfo that by another
decree of the president, Chairman of the Standing Parliamentary
Commission for Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Armen
Ashotyan is appointed new education and science minister.
‘ARMENTEL’ EMPOWERS ITS SUBSCRIBERS TO PAY ACCOUNTS ONLINE
ArmInfo
2009-05-13 13:56:00
ArmInfo. ‘ArmenTel’ (Beeline brand) empowers its subscribers to pay
the mobile and fixed communication accounts online at the Company
site , the Company press release says.
The payment is made by MasterCard or virtual cards of Tandem and
ArCa payment systems. A subscriber should indicate the mobile phone
number in a 9-digit format without spaces or any other symbols, the
account replenishment amount in drams and the banc card requisites. No
commission is charged from a subscriber for the payment. The minimum
possible payment – 100 drams. Payment is allowed to unblocked numbers
only. ‘Henceforth, our subscribers can pay for the telephone services
in any convenient place and any convenient time online. Our subscribers
may replenish the accounts of their relatives and friends and be
always in contact’, Head of "ArmenTel" Public Relations Department
Anush Begloyan said.
NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULDN’T BE HOSTAGE OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS
PanARMENIAN.Net
11.05.2009 23:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ By no means should the progress in Nagorno Karabakh
settlement be a hostage of Armenian-Turkish reconciliation, Russian
Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Juri Merzlyakov said in an interview
with Ekho Moskvi radio station.
"Initially, starting that process, Armenian and Turkish sides agreed,
that the process will last without any preliminary conditions,
or preconditions, as they say. Among such conditions previously
Turkey considered progress in Nagorno Karabakh settlement. It means,
it conditioned Armenian-Turkish reconciliation by a tangible leap in
Nagorno Karabakh settlement," he said.
According to him, if believe to the comments, related to recent
agreement of joint statement of foreign ministries of Armenia, Turkey
and Switzerland, playing a role of mediator, one must suppose that
there are no preconditions from each side.
"Therefore we think that the processes certainly affect each
other. However, that impacts should be positive to enable the
processes develop parallel, without intersecting. Something will be
obviously attained earlier somewhere, or later in some other place,
but co-chairmen’s position is the following. The main thing is not
to turn our process, the Nagorno Karabakh settlement into the hostage
of Armenian-Turkish reconciliation," stressed Merzlyakov.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH MUST BE FULL-FLEDGED PARTICIPANT IN TALKS – PRESIDENT
Interfax
May 9 2009
Russia
Nagorno-Karabakh must become a full- fledged party to the negotiating
process on settling the conflict over this self-proclaimed territory,
Bako Saakian, the president of Nagorno- Karabakh, said in Shushi
on Saturday.
"The negotiations are now proceeding in a format in which Nagorno-
Karabakh is not taking part. Armenia, represented by its president,
is making efforts primarily aimed at restoring the Budapest summit
decision under which Nagorno-Karabakh is a full-fledged party to the
talks," local media quoted Saakian as telling journalists.
Everybody, including the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, understand that,
"without Nagorno-Karabakh, it is impossible to achieve the final
solution, and Karabakh should become a party to the negotiations."
On May 9, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh celebrate the victory in the
Soviet Union’s war against Nazi Germany in 1941-1945, the liberation
of Shushi, and an anniversary of the foundation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
armed forces.
PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA AND WORLD CHESS LEGEND ANATOLY KARPOV MEET
ArmInfo
2009-05-11 17:22:00
ArmInfo. President of Armenia, Head of Armenian Chess Federation
Serzh Sargsyan received Anatoly Karpov, many times world chess
champion, UNICEF Regional Goodwill Ambassador and president of the
International Association of Peace Funds, Monday, the presidential
press-service reported.
Serzh Sargsyan highlighted that A. Karpov has always been a desired
guest in Armenia where his chess successes and public activity are
highly appreciated.
A. Karpov, for his part, said that the International Association
of Peace Funds that was founded in 1983 is now involved in various
activities in 27 countries worldwide. He mentioned that it was the
first to render assistance to Armenia after disastrous earthquake
of 1988.
The parties also discussed the chess victories of Armenia and the
prospects of further development of chess in the country. Karpov
highlighted the team spirit and the support at the top level as the
key components of the Armenian chess team’s success.
ARMENIA CASTS SHADOW OVER REGIONAL ENERGY
United Press International
2009/05/08/Armenia-casts-shadow-over-regional-ener gy/UPI-95611241796067/
May 8 2009
MOSCOW, May 8 (UPI) — Turkish moves to mend relations with Armenia
may harm the European energy sector as resource-rich Azerbaijan eyes
moves toward Russia in response.
Turkey moved toward normalizing relations with longtime foe Armenia
following a visit to Ankara by U.S. President Barack Obama. The
situation bodes well for Ankara’s ties to the European community but
could have a ripple effect on relations with oil-rich Azerbaijan.
The Czech presidency of the European Union on Friday hosted a major
summit in Prague to hammer out energy security in the region, calling
for implementation of measures on the long-awaited Nabucco pipeline
"as soon as possible."
The Prague summit brought together energy giants from the Middle
East and Caspian region to work in harmony in the regional oil and
gas sector, but with Azerbaijan deeply offended by Turkish moves
toward Armenia, efforts toward unity could unravel, Britain’s The
Daily Telegraph noted.
Azerbaijan sits on some of the richest resource fields in the world,
notably the Shah Deniz gas field and the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli
oil complex. The EU puts considerable weight on those resources,
particularly as Prague urges swift action on Nabucco.
The Prague summit brings delegates from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan
together on energy-security issues, but securing gas from the Caspian
region may require additional diplomatic efforts beyond oil and
gas contracts.
ARMENIAN AND TURKISH PRESIDENTS AGREED TO MOVE FORWARD IN DIRECTION OF NORMALIZING ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS AND IN REASONABLE TERMS
Noyan Tapan
May 8, 2009
PRAGUE, MAY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting
with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on May 7 in the capital city
of Czech Republic Prague. RA and Turkish Foreign Ministers Edward
Nalbandian and Ahmed Davutoglu also took part in the meeting that
the two Presidents assessed positively.
According to the report of the RA President’s Press Office, during the
meeting the sides agreed "to respect all agreements reached earlier and
to move forward in the direction of normalizing the Armenian-Turkish
relations without preconditions and in reasonable terms."
FITCH AFFIRMS VTB ARMENIA AT ‘BB+’; ACBA CREDIT AGRICOLE AT ‘BB’
ArmInfo
2009-05-06 14:30:00
Ratings has today affirmed two Armenian banks, VTB Bank Armenia (VTBA)
and ACBA- Credit Agricole Bank (ACBA), at Long-term Issuer Default
(IDR) ‘BB+’ and ‘BB’, respectively. The Outlooks on both banks
are Stable. The Individual Ratings of VTBA and ACBA have been also
affirmed at ‘D/E’ and ‘D’, respectively. A full list of rating actions
is provided at the end of this commentary, Fitch Rating reported.
The IDRs of both banks reflect Fitch’s view of the moderate probability
of support being forthcoming, if required, from their owners. Fitch
believes Russia’s JSC VTB Bank (VTB; ‘BBB’/Negative) would have a
strong propensity to support VTBA, in case of need, due to its 100%
ownership, the strategic importance of CIS markets for VTB and the
small size of VTBA relative to its parent.
In respect to ACBA, the probability of support being forthcoming
from Credit Agricole (CA; ‘AA-‘ (AA minus)/Stable) is undermined by
CA’s minority stake (28%) and the fact that the Armenian market does
not appear to be of high importance for CA; these considerations
are reflected in the lower Long-term IDR of ACBA, relative to
VTBA. Nevertheless, support is factored into the ratings of ACBA due
to brand association, the close involvement of CA in establishing
and supervising ACBA and ACBA’s relatively small size.
The Individual Ratings of both banks reflect rapid loan growth in
recent years, the high proportion of foreign currency loans and
the high-risk operating environment, but also take into account
the solid capitalisation of both banks and their broad domestic
franchises. However, the high concentration of VTBA’s loan book, its
relatively high exposure to the vulnerable construction sector, the
somewhat higher current loan impairment level, larger tier 2 component
in capital and much higher reliance on shareholder funding/liquidity
support make the bank weaker on a standalone basis, which is reflected
in its Individual Rating of ‘D/E’. The Individual Rating of ACBA at
‘D’ considers the high granularity of its loan portfolio, diversified
funding base and stable liquidity position, high profitability and
good corporate governance.
ACBA is Armenia’s largest bank by assets and loans, with market shares
of 12% and 13%, respectively, at end-2008. It has a leading position
in agricultural lending with a 71% market share. The biggest stake
in the bank is owned by CA and the remainder is distributed among 10
regional agricultural unions.
VTB held 11% of sector loans and 5.9% of retail deposits at
end-2008. The bank has an extensive branch network covering all
regions of Armenia and is 100%-owned by VTB.
The rating actions are as follows:
Bank VTB Bank (Armenia) CJSC Long-term foreign and local currency
IDR: affirmed at ‘BB+’; Outlook Stable Short-term foreign and local
currency IDR: affirmed at ‘B’ Individual Rating: affirmed at ‘D/E’
Support Rating: affirmed at ‘3’ ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank Long-term
foreign currency IDR: affirmed at ‘BB’; Outlook Stable Short-term
foreign currency IDR: affirmed at ‘B’ Individual Rating: affirmed at
‘D’ Support Rating: affirmed at ‘3’