Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

ARMENIAN CB FORECASTS HIGH GDP GROWTH RATE FOR NEXT 3 YRS
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
September 6, 2006 Wednesday 5:41 PM MSK
The Armenian economy will continue to grow at a high rate over the next
three years, Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sarkisian said in a speech
at the Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice Center (AEPLAC).
The forecasts in an AEPLAC report in many cases coincide with the
Central Bank’s forecasts, he said.
Armenia has managed to accumulate a significant potential to provide
for economic growth and GDP could reach two figures in the next three
years, Sarkisian said.
He forecasts that the Armenian dram will strengthen in the next few
years. The Central Bank’s monetary and credit policy will focus on
holding back growth in prices for consumer goods, he said.
Quality changes could take place in the country’s economy over the
next three years, Sarkisian said. Many leading companies could find
themselves bankrupt or reorganized if they don’t withstand competition.
“The fundamental problem for the Armenian economy is the high level of
competition on foreign markets,” Sarkisian said. “In the worst case,
the economy could slow in the next three to four years,” he said.
Armenian GDP grew 11.6% in January-July.
The Armenian budget envisions GDP growth of 7.5% in 2006. GDP rose
13.9% in 2005.

CIS: WORLD BANK ASSESSES REGION’S BUSINESS CLIMATE
By Julie A. Corwin
Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep.
Sept 6 2006
Armenia is one of the simplest countries in the world in which to
register property (TASS)
WASHINGTON, September 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) — The World Bank today released
its annual survey on ease of doing business.
The report evaluates 175 countries in 10 specific areas of business
regulation, including the ease of registering a business, paying taxes,
and trading across borders.
According to “Doing Business 2007,” Armenia and Georgia — ranked
34th and 37th, respectively — scored better than EU countries such
as Spain and Portugal.
Showing Greater Initiative
This doesn’t mean that international investors are going to start
pulling their money out of large markets like the EU and shift to
Yerevan and Tbilisi. But World Bank senior economist Caralee McLiesh,
the lead author of the report, says it does show that emerging market
economies can sometimes show greater initiative than established ones
in simplifying the commercial regulations and procedures.
And, McLiesh says, the results of such reforms can be a dramatic
improvement in their own international and domestic business
opportunities. She cites Georgia as an example.
“Business registrations jumped up by 55 percent on previous years,
and also unemployment is on the decline,” McLiesh says. “It’s fallen
by about 2 percentage points in the last year to 18 months. And so
these are signs that the economy is moving in the right direction.”
Georgia made it a lot easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses
and reduced the minimum capital required to start a new enterprises.
In addition, the number of days exporters would need to get their
goods out of customs has dropped from 54 to 13.
McLiesh says Armenia was not such a vigorous reformer this year as
Georgia, but it too has consistently been improving over the years:
“[Armenia] is one of the simplest countries in which to register
property in the world,” she says.
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli’s (left) government is doing
something right (InterPressNews, file photo)It takes only four days
on average to register a property in Armenia, compared to 231 days
in Belarus.
Taxes High And Hard To Pay
She notes Belarus is the worst country in the world in terms of
paying taxes. Businesses in Belarus must pay 186.1 percent of their
profits and make 125 tax payments a year in order to comply with
tax regulations.
Neighboring Ukraine ranks just behind Belarus in terms of the
difficulty of paying taxes. McLeish says it’s not just the high
rate of taxation there, but the “complexity of the tax system” that
creates problems for businesses. For example, Ukraine’s annual tax
return for businesses is 92 pages long.
“In Ukraine it takes [medium-sized businesses] 2,185 hours per year
if they were to comply fully with all tax payments,” McLeish says.
Trade Barriers
Ukraine and Belarus also score poorly in terms of ease of trading
across borders, but not as poorly as all five Central Asian
countries. Even Kazakhstan, which has the highest overall ranking
— 63 — of any of the Central Asia countries retains considerable
barriers to trade. For example, it takes 93 days on average to export
a product and 87 days on average to import one.
McLiesh says high trade costs raises domestic prices, limit the
growth of domestic businesses by restricting their exports abroad,
and increase opportunities for corruption.
“In many of the countries in the [Central Asia] region, customs
is one of the most corrupt areas of business regulation,” McLiesh
explains. “And one of the reasons is the fact that there are a number
of different documents and a number of different procedures behind
trading. There are enormous delays if you choose to go through all of
the official procedures. And so entrepreneurs are basically almost
forced to pay bribes in order to be able to do business, to be able
to import and export.”
Will Power
Why are some countries, such as Georgia, able to successfully reform
business regulations, while such reforms have stalled in other
countries, such as Russia? McLiesh suggests that both political will
and timing can be critical factors.
“When we look at the countries that have reformed the most — the top
reformers in the past three years since the ‘Doing Business’ project
has been running — 85 percent of the reforms in those countries were
implemented in the first 15 months of a government,” she explains.
“So the lesson is that when you have a lot of political capital right
at the start of a government’s term, that’s the time to spend it.”
And what about governments that have long ago missed that critical
15-month window of opportunity? McLiesh says they should not stop
trying. She notes there are still significant reforms that can be
made through “simple administrative changes” that are not necessarily
“politically contentious,” such as reducing the number of days it
takes for a business to be registered.

ROMANIAN NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER VISIT TO ARMENIA POSTPONED
Author: À.Mammadov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug 5 2006
September 6 Romanian National Defense Minister Teodor Atanasiuwill
arrive in Armenia on a 3-day visit, RA Defense Minister’s Spokesman,
Col. Seyran Shahsuvaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net. As reported before,
Teodor Atanasiu’s visit was scheduled September 6-8.
During the visit the Romanian MOD head was to meet with RA President
Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, Minister of
Defense Serge Sargsyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian.
–Boundary_(ID_X8egtkmJJYtMHcdeCV+L/w)- –

ISRAEL DOES NOT DISCLOSE ITS STANCE IN NAGORNO KARABAKH ISSUE
AZG Armenian Daily
06/09/2006
“My words about Nagorno Karabakh conflict uttered during my Baku
visit in May were distorted,” Azerbaijani media quoted Josef Shagal,
deputy of Knesset, as saying. The Israeli deputy said that he never
expressed his country’s position in Nagorno Karabakh issue.
“Israel will make public its stance in Nagorno Karabakh as soon as
Azerbaijan makes known its position in Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

ANDRE AGASSI WALKED OFF THE COURT THE WAY HE WANTED, TO A CHAMPION’S OVATION
Panorama.am
13:30 04/09/06
In the end, despite all the tears, it hardly made a difference to
him or his fans that he didn”t win.
A career for the ages came to a close Sunday with Agassi worn down
and wincing, losing to 112th-ranked Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-7 (4),
6-4, 7-5 in the third round at the U.S. Open.
Betrayed by a creaky body that needed four injections this week,
his spirit never waned. And that is something Agassi and his fans
will always remember.
“For me, it was never about winning and stopping,” he said. “It was
about getting the most out of myself for as long as possible,” he said.
Agassi announced this summer that the Open would be his final event. It
seemed unimaginable that he could win seven matches to take the title,
but after two inspiring victories, fans began to hope and wonder.
Instead, the end came with Agassi looking like what he”d become —
a 36-year-old man with a bad back, ready for retirement.
“I just credit the doctors that I was able to play out there today,”
he said. “I didn”t expect a whole lot physically. And sure enough,
it was real early when I wasn”t feeling so good.”
The 25-year-old Becker started strong, showing few nerves, and closed
out the match with a 133 mph ace.
Moments later, Agassi teared up on the blue court as he addressed a
crowd that showed up early at Arthur Ashe Stadium and tried to spur
him all afternoon.
“The scoreboard said I lost today,” he said. “But what the scoreboard
doesn”t say is what it is I”ve found.”
Becker, who had to win three qualifying matches merely to make it
into the Open, applauded as Agassi spoke.
Agassi”s wife, Steffi Graf, and their two young children looked on.
“He was my idol growing up,” Becker said.
He joined the crowd for a four-minute, loud standing ovation saluting
Agassi, who stared out at the crowd from his chair, wiping tears from
his eyes.

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 1 2006

OSKANIAN-MAMEDYAROV MEETING UNDER DISCUSSION

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov has announced about
his telephone conversation with OSCE Minsk Group cochairman from
France Bernard Fassier who suggested holding a meeting between the
foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan as part of the `Prague
process’ on September 12-13 in Paris or 14-15 in London.
`I agreed to hold that meeting. Now the format of the meeting is
being discussed. Some time later we will again get in touch with him
and will specify the day and venue for the meeting,’ the Trend news
agency quoted Mamedyarov as saying.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry also confirmed that a meeting between
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan may take place until the end
of the year. `The possibility of the meeting of the presidents
depends on the negotiations between the foreign ministers of the two
countries,’ Mamedyarov said.
Earlier this week it was also confirmed by Armenian President Robert
Kocharian’s press secretary Viktor Soghomonian. `This meeting may
take place if the presidents have enough material to discuss,’ he
said during a press briefing in Yerevan on Wednesday.

AZERBAIJAN POSTS HIGHEST INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT GROWTH IN CIS IN 7 MTHS
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS General Newswire
August 31, 2006 Thursday 4:18 PM MSK
Azerbaijan posted the highest year-on- year industrial output growth in
the CIS in the first seven months of 2006 at 41.4%, the CIS Interstate
Statistics Committee said Thursday.
Industrial production increased 12.7% in Belarus, 6.2% in Tajikistan,
5.9% in Kazakhstan, 4.8% in Ukraine and 4.2% in Russia.
Production fell 8.9% in Kyrgyzstan, 6.7% in Moldova and 1% in Armenia.
The CIS statistics committee does not have industrial production
figures for Georgia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
GDP grew 6% year-on-year on average in the CIS in the first seven
months of 2006 and industrial production was up 5.3%.
GDP growth was highest in Azerbaijan at 35.1%. GDP went up 11.5%
in Armenia, 10.1% in Belarus, 7.2% in Tajikistan, 5.5% in Ukraine,
and 2.5% in Kyrgyzstan. GDP has not yet been calculated for the rest
of the CIS countries.

POPE BENEDICT XVI TO MEET WITH THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH OF TURKEY
ArmRadio.am
31.08.2006 11:50
Late in November the Pope of Rome Benedict XVI will meet with the
Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Mesrop Archbishop Mutafian in
the framework of his visit to Turkey. The Ambassador of Vatican to
Ankara Antonio Lucibello told the Turkish “Jumhurriet” daily that the
meeting with the Armenian Patriarch is not of particular importance
and that Benedict XVI will meet with all religious leaders of Turkey.

MODERN DRUNKARD
by Fern Siegel
MediPost Publications, New York
Aug. 30, 2006
Admit it–if you walked by a newsstand, you’d pick it up. So would
Carrie Nation. Even Lynne Cheney might give it a glance. That’s what
catchy titles are all about–so outrageous, you can’t turn away.
True, much of the pro-drinking prose results in a literary hangover,
but who could resist the cover line “Inebriated in Iran”? So throw a
few cubes into your highball–if it was good enough for Nick Charles,
it’s good enough for you–and down Modern Drunkard. (And if you
don’t know Nick Charles, you’re in for a treat. Rent “The Thin Man,”
in which William Powell plays Nick Charles, the suave, cheeky 1930s
PI with panache–aided by enough gin, scotch and bourbon to keep the
Titanic afloat.)
Now, we’re not suggesting that excess is laudable–or that MD appeals
to anyone other than males 18-to-25 who consider alcohol a second
career. True, Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill produced great art,
but talent played a bigger role than Tanqueray. Yet MD capitalizes on
a renegade motif, film-noir design and a novel line when soliciting
subscriptions: “it’s hip, it’s dangerous, it’ll fill your family with
dread.” Especially if you’re applying to law school.
Yet for a magazine that shows up on a New York newsstand, the ads
are parochial–all Denver-based. That’s because the editorial staff,
which proudly claims a bar in the office, is on a perennial Rocky
Mountain high. Apparently, so is the sales team, whose inventory
extends to local pubs and the occasional attorney, no doubt suing
on behalf of the injured party in a bar brawl. Strangely, what you
won’t find are liquor ads. What you will find is a poetry editor.
Submissions show up in “Postcards from Skid Row,” where one
enterprising entrant wrote a haiku to Jack Daniels. It’s Sylvia Plath
for barflies.
But first, it’s necessary to plow through the frat-boy groaners, like
“The Wingman’s Handbook,” a salute to men who help their pal get the
girl. The wingman’s job is to distract her friend so his buddy can
score. Of course, nine times out of 10 wingman and company aren’t
wading in the deep end of the gene pool. And the women, far from
distractible, are tripping over each other in their race to the exit.
It’s one thing to imagine a hot babe, a couple of Stolis and a night
of bliss. But it only counts if you don’t have to put money on the
dresser.
However, MD understands brand identity, clearly reinforced with
merchandise, graphics and stories. Each piece has an alcohol link,
whether the subject is political, historic or cultural. For instance,
“FDR: Portrait of a Drinking President,” salutes our most-esteemed
commander-in-chief for beating the Nazis, spearheading The New Deal
and repealing Prohibition, though MD would put axing Prohibition
ahead of Hitler. Yes, its priorities are screwy, but that’s the point:
It’s all about the booze.
Which is why MD notes FDR’s love of hooch in detail. Many biographers
have written about his–and his sons’–drinking, so it’s not a reach.
The article notes the real reason FDR legalized drink: the revenue.
Alcohol generated big bucks in state and federal tax dollars,
something Depression-era America desperately needed. Never mind that
after reading the newspaper–then and now–it’s easy to see why gin
is considered a vitamin.
Similarly, “The Rise of the Dives” takes a socio-cultural look at
the working-class bar and its psychological significance to patrons
of all classes. The article quotes Jim Atkinson, who, in the book
The View from Nowhere, describes dives as a place of “transcendent
egalitarianism.” Or, it could be a reaction to the Botox-obsessed,
hit-the-gym, fast-track lifestyle. Whatever else a dive is, it isn’t
a place where fitness and drive reign. It is, in an odd way, authentic.
Still, one takes MD’s wino wisdom, et. al. with a chaser, though I
agree with its purist approach to martinis: Gin. Vermouth. Olive.
Forget the peach gin or apple martinis or lemongrass vermouth. It would
be like Ann Coulter embracing Hillary Clinton; it’s just not done.
Nor, despite evidence to the contrary, would a sane person touch
alcohol in Iran. The mullahs decreed that anyone caught drinking would
be subject to 40 lashes. It may be, as the writer of “Inebriated
in Iran” suggests, that the Armenian Christian minority and even a
few Muslims have their liquor connections. But is a Tuborg worth a
flogging? MD sticks to its credo, but fellas, there are limits. How
drunk do you have to be before the concept of whipped into shape
kicks in?
Fern Siegel is Deputy Editor of MediaPost.

NA SPEAKER SENDS TELEGRAM OF CONDOLENCE ON OCCASION OF SILVA KAPUTIKIAN’S DEATH
Noyan Tapan
Aug 28 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, NOYAN TAPAN. RA NA Speaker Tigran Torosian sent a
telegram of condolence on the occasion of prominent poetess, laureate
of state prizes Silva Kaputikian’s death. The telegram, submitted
to Noyan Tapan by the NA Public Relations’ Department, particularly
reads the following: “I got to know with the deepest grief about
Silva Kaputikian’s death. Silva Kaputikian’s contribution is great in
the Armenian literature: her poetry, prose and publicizing writings
became best pages of the Armenian literature of the previous century
and this one. A poet’s loss is always people’s loss: I’m sure that
not only connoisseurs of her poetry but also our compatriots living
in Armenia and abrod grieve about her death. I express my sincere
sympathy to Silva Kaputikian’s relatives and friends.”