Wednesday, Israeli Minister Seeks Closer Ties With Armenia . Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia - Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian (R) and Israel's Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi sign bilateral agreements after talks in Yerevan, 25Jul2017. An Israeli government minister spoke of a "breakthrough" in Israel's uneasy relationship with Armenia on Wednesday during an official visit to Yerevan that focused on ways of boosting bilateral economic cooperation. "The aim of my visit is to strengthen our relationship," Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) shortly before meeting with Prime Minister Karen Karapetian. "The friendship [between the two nations] has been there for many years," said Hanegbi. "Diplomatic relations have existed for 25 years. But now we are thinking of more practical mutual fields to work together and to make this friendship mutually beneficial in many fields." "I think that for more than ten years there have been no visits of an Israeli minister [to Armenia.] So this is a new breakthrough, and I'm happy to be part of it," he added. Hanegbi, who is affiliated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, began his trip on Tuesday with talks with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. "Minister Hanegbi noted that Israel wants to develop friendly relations with Armenia and this is the main message of his visit," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The two men signed agreements on avoidance of double taxation and mutual lifting of visa requirements for holders of Armenian and Israeli diplomatic passports. The Israeli cabinet member also signed a separate document on bilateral cultural exchanges with Armenia Culture Minister Armen Amirian. Karapetian told Hanegbi that Yerevan too would like to boost Armenian-Israeli ties when they met on Wednesday. "The interlocutors exchanged views on the prospects of economic relations and business contacts between Armenia and Israel," read a statement issued by the prime minister's office. Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian meets with Israel's Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi in Yerevan, 26Jul2017. Karapetian was also reported to say that his government is interested in attracting Israeli investments in various sectors of the Armenian economy and information technology (IT) in particular. Transport and Communications Minister Vahan Martirosian said technology centers operating in Armenia "would be happy to host Israeli IT companies" during his separate talks with Hanegbi held earlier in the day. According to official Armenian statistics, Armenia's trade with Israel stood at a modest $8.5 million in 2016. Relations between Armenia and Israel have been frosty ever since the Soviet collapse, reflecting conflicting geopolitical priorities of the two states. Armenia has maintained a warm rapport with Iran to ease its geographic isolation, while Israel has pursued strategic cooperation with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Armenia has been particularly worried about Israel's large-scale arms deals with its arch-foe, Azerbaijan. In 2012, Israeli defense officials confirmed a reported deal to provide the Azerbaijani military with more weapons worth a combined $1.6 billion. The Azerbaijani army used some of these Israeli-made weapons, notably sophisticated anti-tank rockets, during April 2016 hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh. Israel's current Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is a staunch backer of close ties with Baku. Lieberman reportedly reaffirmed last December his support for Azerbaijan's "territorial integrity and inviolability of borders" in the Karabakh conflict. Hanegbi, who held key security positions in the Israeli cabinet in 2003-2006, declined to comment on the Israeli arms supplies to Baku. "My trip here is concentrated on positive sides of enhancing the relationship between our countries," he said. According to the Foreign Ministry statement, Hanegbi presented "Israel's approaches to regional developments" at the talks with Nalbandian. The latter briefed the Israeli minister on international efforts to end the Karabakh conflict. Nalbandian did not meet with any Israeli cabinet members when he visited Israel in March 2015 to attend a concert by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Nalbandian again flew to Jerusalem in March this year to take part in official ceremonies marking the completion of restoration works at the Church of Holy Sepulcher. He held no talks with Israeli leaders. Government Vows To Liberalize Armenian Energy Sector . Artak Hambardzumian Armenia - Officials hold a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction by an Italian company of a new power plant in Yerevan, 20Mar2017. The government plans to liberalize Armenia's energy sector in hopes of attracting large-scale investments from U.S. and other foreign companies, a senior official in Yerevan said on Wednesday. "The government has initiated a process of energy market liberalization," Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures Hayk Harutiunian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "We have already presented a plan of actions which will ensure that the energy sector switches to a new, liberal model by 2021." The U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills, stated last month that U.S. energy firms could invest as much as $8 billion in the sector if the authorities in Yerevan open it up to competition and remove all obstacles to electricity exports to neighboring Georgia and Iran. Harutiunian dismissed suggestions that Mills made a case for reducing Armenia's heavy dependence on Russia for energy. "I believe that the ambassador definitely meant the process of energy market liberalization which we have initiated. The energy market is completely regulated and there is no free competition there right now." "The $8 billion figure was an estimate made by our ministry mainly about the commercially viable potential in the area of solar energy," argued the official. "That potential can certainly be realized. But it will be realized in a phased manner and that will greatly depend on international prices." "There are regular meetings with the U.S. ambassador and American companies on finding formats for expanding American companies' activities in Armenia's energy sector," he added. Harutiunian noted that one U.S. company, ContourGlobal, already privatized Armenia's largest hydroelectric complex two years ago in a $250 million deal strongly backed by the U.S. government. Also, he said, an Italian company started building a thermal power plant in Yerevan in March. Armenia - A hydroelectric plant in Syunik which is part of the Vorotan Hydro Cascade, 11Nov2013. Russian natural gas and nuclear fuel generate at least 60 percent of Armenia's electricity. In addition, Russia's Gazprom monopoly owns the country's gas distribution network. Another Kremlin-controlled energy giant, Inter RAO, owned the Armenian national electric utility until selling it to an Armenian-born billionaire in 2015. And just last month, the RusHydro group also controlled by the Russian government reaffirmed its intention to sell off Armenia's second most important hydroelectric complex belonging to it. The European Union is also supporting greater use of renewable energy in Armenia. As part of that effort, the EU Delegation in Yerevan installed two solar-powered bus stops in Yerevan earlier this month. The delegation chief, Piotr Switalski, said the EU is thereby "contributing to Armenia's energy independence." Harutiunian insisted that Switalski did not seek to convey any geopolitical messages to the Armenian government. "The development of renewable energy must not be viewed only through the prism of energy security," he said. "It should also be viewed in terms of cutting prices and measures taken against climate change. So I don't think it is appropriate to politicize such statements." The official added that more than 100 small solar power plants are already operating in Armenia. Armenian Villagers Oppose Gold Mining Project . Karine Simonian Armenia - Residents of Ardvi village protest against a private company's plans to mine gold in the area, 26Jul2017. Dozens of residents of a village in Armenia's northern Lori province blocked a local road on Wednesday to protest against an obscure private company's plans to mine gold near their community. They fear that the project, if implemented, will wreak havoc on the local ecosystem by contaminating forests and pastures surrounding their village of Ardvi. They say that open-pit mining there will also scare away tourists visiting 10th century shrines located Ardvi. The company in question, called Miram, has so far divulged few details of its plans to develop a gold deposit located in the mountainous area. It has yet to secure government permission for the proposed mining operation. Armenian law requires companies seeking mining licenses, among other things, to hold public hearings in communities that would be affected by their operations. Miram planned to hold such a discussion on Wednesday. The protesting villagers thwarted the procedure by blocking a road leading to Ardvi and defying police officers' calls to unblock it. "Our gold is our nature," said one of the angry protesters. "Their aim is to destroy our village. We won't allow any hearing," cried another villager. Representatives of Miram never showed up. The company's shareholders until now included Arayik Zadoyan, the manager of a restaurant in the provincial capital Vanadzor. The restaurant belongs to Vahram Baghdasarian, the parliamentary leader of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). Zadoyan claimed on Wednesday that he no longer holds a stake in Miram. He said that the company is controlled by one of his friends based in Russia. Press Review Margarit Yesayan, a parliament deputy from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), tells "Aravot" that only a handful of opposition figures are calling for Armenia's withdrawal from the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). "It would be unserious to change our foreign policy just because of some proposal," she says. "It is too early to summarize the results of our membership in the EEU. Let us acknowledge that the organization is still establishing itself and many issues are solved right now, with our participation." She also points to Armenia's rising exports to Russia and other EEU member states. "Hayots Ashkhar" says that this stage the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group can reach a settlement acceptable to all parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, impose a particular solution on them or maintain the status quo. The paper believes that the latter scenario is the most realistic one is the existing circumstances, saying that Azerbaijan is not prepared for a compromise solution and that the United States and Russia are too mistrustful of each other to jointly force the parties to accept a peace accord. "Government representatives themselves have rung alarm bells over the demographic situation in Armenia of late, even though they had for years countered experts and civil society activists who spoke about the sad demographic situation in Armenia," writes "Hraparak." The paper notes that President Serzh Sarkisian personally expressed concern about the problem when he addressed the National Assembly in May. (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org