Author: Andres-Papazian

Vilen Khachatryan. “In the case of single currency, the Central Bank
will lose its functions.”

April 4 2015

The Chairman of National Assembly Finance and Budget Affairs Committee
Gagik Minasyan, during the roundtable discussion on “Eurasian Economic
Prospects” held at the National Assembly, said the introduction of the
single EaEU currency will contribute to facilitation of mobility of
services, goods and capital between its member countries. Aravot.am
talked on this to economist Vilen Khachatryan. He said that the
capital mobility within the EU is happening very easily because when
dealing with a single currency, this problem is solved. “The problems
related to transition from one exchange rate to another and causing
fluctuations, thus, disappear. But there is a problem here. If a
country has high prices, these high prices are transferred to other
countries. And as for the capital and the entire transaction system,
unified system functions in a unified way and everything is done for
it.”

The economist believes that problems may arise in the process of
strengthening the EaEU countries’ central banks partnership as the
central banks of different countries are managed by different systems.
He noted that there was also a single currency during the Soviet
Union, but Armenia was able to attract more money. “Under the EaEU
market conditions, this might be more difficult, nevertheless, the
Central Bank will lose its functions, in this respect, it is negative.
I am raising the issue of financial sovereignty because, in the case
of single currency, the Central Bank cannot conduct an independent
financial policy in the monetary industry.” Ami CHICHAKYAN

From: A. Papazian

TURKEY REJECTS GREEK-CYPRIOT LAW UPHOLDING ARMENIAN CLAIMS

Northern Voices Online
April 3 2015

ANKARA: The Turkish Foreign Ministry blasted late Thursday the law
adopted by the Greek-Cypriot administration to criminalize any denial
of Armenian claims over the 1915 incidents.

“The Greek-Cypriot administration’s decision is null and void for
Turkey and not worthy of comment,” AA news agency reported, citing
a statement by the Ministry’s spokesman Tanju Bilgic.

“It is without doubt that those who try to exploit the 1915 incidents
at every opportunity by using simple political ambitions, cannot get
any result,” Bilgic said hours after the Greek Cypriot parliament
passed into law a bill to uphold the Armenian allegations over the
incidents.

The Greek Cypriot move coincides with Armenia preparations for a
mass commemoration in capital Yerevan on April 24 to mark the 100th
anniversary of the 1915 incidents.

The law, backed by all political parties represented at the
Greek-Cypriot parliament, imposes a five-year imprisonment and fine
of USD 10,000 on those who may deny Armenian allegations.

From: A. Papazian

LOUISIANA: ARMENIAN PRODUCE GROWERS VISIT LSU AGCENTER

US Official News
April 2, 2015 Thursday

Baton Rouge

LSU AgCenter, The state of Louisiana has issued the following news
release:

Five Armenian farmers and food processors are visiting Louisiana this
week (March 30-April 4) as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Cochran Fellowship Program, which provides short-term training to
agriculture professionals from middle-income countries.

The visitors have been touring Louisiana fruit and vegetable farms and
attending workshops taught by LSU AgCenter faculty members on topics
including pruning techniques, drip irrigation and cold-storage systems.

“The whole purpose is to expose the Armenian growers to applicable
technologies that we use here for small family farms in Louisiana
for the betterment of their livelihoods in rural Armenia,” said David
Picha, director of AgCenter International Programs. “There are a lot
of appropriate applicable technologies that made our small farmers
strong that we would like to share with the growers to uplift their
rural sector.”

The visiting Cochran fellows grow and process crops such as figs,
persimmons and pomegranates. In Louisiana, they’ve seen strawberry
farms – which are in full swing now – and are interested in starting
berry production in Armenia, Picha said. That could help them diversify
their income and make use of land they don’t currently use.

“Most of their income is received in two or three months, and they
must do their planning in the first three months for the whole year,”
said Smbat Grigoryan, the group’s translator. “Berry production can
get them income in other months.”

Picha said shifting from low-value grain crops to specialty crops
like berries could boost the Armenian economy.

“We’re focusing on high-value horticulture crops, which are more
applicable to small-scale family farms,” Picha said. “You can
make a lot of money on fruit and vegetable production and their
value-added products – dried fruits, juices, jams – for local and
regional markets.”

The Armenians said they plan to share the information they’re learning
in the U.S. when they return home, where agriculture is very different,
and farms are much smaller. They visited a several-hundred-acre farm
in Louisiana, but the largest farm in their region of Armenia is
about 25 acres, Grigoryan said. And many growers still use Soviet-era
techniques and technologies.

“There are three stages of agriculture: agriculture, effective
agriculture and high-value agriculture,” Grigoryan said. “We are
still in stage one.”

Yields of Armenian crops could stand improvement, he said, and
the group hopes what they’re learning about varieties, pruning and
irrigation will help.

The Armenians will travel next to California to meet with farmers
and tour their operations.

From: A. Papazian

RUSSIAN AIR FORCE TACTICAL MANEUVERS BEING IN ARMENIA

ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 2, 2015 Thursday 03:40 PM GMT+4

YEREVAN April 2.

Russia’s Air Force launched tactical maneuvers in Armenia on
Thursday. The Southern Military District pilots are drilling combat
tasks at Russia’s airbase Erebuni using the MiG-29 fourth-generation
frontline fighters, a district spokesman told TASS, adding that the
exercise is conducted at the Kamkhud and Alagyaz ranges

“The manoeuvres involve more than 100 troops of flight and service
personnel of the force grouping and more than 30 units of special
military and aircraft equipment,” the Southern Military District
spokesman said. Within three days, the MiG-29 fighters will practice
air cover of troops, as well as drill combat actions to destroy air
targets simulating bombers, cruise and ballistic missiles of the
imaginary enemy.”

The Erebuni airbase is part of Russia’s military base that has been
deployed in Armenia since 1995 under a bilateral treaty that was
extended in 2010 from 25 to 49 years, ensuring Russian military
presence in Armenia through 2044. –0–ezh

From: A. Papazian

GEORGIA’S COOPERATION WITH TURKEY-AZERBAIJAN DUO INEVITABLE – ARMENIAN ANALYST

21:34 * 03.04.15

Despite its efforts to avoid a further deepening of cooperation with
Azerbaijan, Georgia has no choice but to pursue such policies, an
Armenian analyst has said, considering both political and economic
cooperation inevitable.

Speaking to Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan said he expects the Georgian,
Azerbaijani and Turkish defense ministers to sign a trilateral
partnership agreement in the course of their negotiations in Tbilisi.

“Georgia’s presence in that format, as that of an obliged side, may
naturally create problems for Armenia, as the country is getting more
and more immersed in the circle evolving between these two states,”
he told our correspondent.

The expert said he thinks that the political and economic leverages
are the first constraints, which rapidly intensify through the big
energy communication companies founded in Georgia with the help of
Azerbaijani capital.

As another constraint, the expert cited ethnic pressures which he said
gradually gain more ground in Georgia thanks to Turkish-Azerbaijani
efforts.

At a trilateral meeting held earlier in Nakhichevan, a former Georgian
minister of defense said the Georgian-Turkish-Azerbaijani cooperation
was not targeted against third countries. But the Armenian expert
questions the frankness of such a statement. “The three countries
practically cooperate in three different sectors, with the military
cooperation practically adding to that. And the former Georgian
defense minister’s statement is not clearly sincere, given that
Turkish-Azerbaijani policies in the South Caucasus are targeted
against two countries, Armenia, and – strange though it may be —
the Georgian side,” he said.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan see today that Georgia is militarily an
attractive state for both NATO and separate states in the West in
general. And they actually try to fit themselves into than format
ahead of time,” he added.

From: A. Papazian

A $65 MILLION INVESTMENT IN NAIRIT CHEMICAL PLANT I WOULD SECURE ANNUAL PROFIT OF $17 MILLION -TRADE UNION HEAD

YEREVAN, April 3. / ARKA /. A $65 million investment in Nairit chemical
plant in Yerevan that produced synthetic rubber would secure an annual
profit of $17 million, the head of the company’s trade union Hrachya
Tadevosyan said today when speaking at a discussion on the future of
the plant organized by the Public Council.

He said although the plant has been idle since March, 2010, there is
all the necessary equipment that will allow resumption of operation
if the investment is made. Tadevosyan argued that the investment
would pay back in 3 years.

Tadevosyan’s arguments were endorsed by the head of the Union of
Domestic Commodity Producers Vazgen Safaryan, who said a relating
study shows that the facility is able to become self-sufficient. The
only problem is finding potential investors.

He said the Public Council sent to the government a plan of actions
to revive the plant by merging it with the Yerevan Thermal Power
Plant and to use Iranian gas shipped to the thermal power plant for
production of synthetic rubber. He said Nairit can produce 17,000
tons of rubber and 6,000 tons of soda a year.

Nairit was the only plant in the Soviet Union to produce chloroprene
rubber. The plant was closed in 1989 for environmental reasons and
resumed operating partially in 1992. In 2006, 90% of Nairit’s shares
were sold to British Rhinoville Property Limited for $40 million. The
remaining 10% belong to the Armenian government.

Rhinоville Property Limited has been co-founded by the Samex company
(Poland), Intertex (USA) and Evrogaz (Russia). In 2010 production
was suspended at the plant. The back wages in late 2013 were worth
$12 million. -0-

From: A. Papazian

Constitutional Court rejects NiÃ…?anyan appeal

Emre Can DaÄ?lıoÄ?lu 04.02.2015 10:28 NEWS

The appeal to the Constitutional Court regarding Sevan NiÃ…?anyan’s
cases for opposition to the Code of Protection of Cultural and Natural
Properties for which he received long term prison sentences has been
rejected. The next legal step is the ECHR.

In its verdict dated January 30, the Constitutional Court ruled that
the appeal displayed a `clear lack of basis’ since no explicit
arbitrariness had been detected in NiÃ…?anyan’s trial process.
NiÃ…?anyan’s lawyer Ergin Cinmen stated that with this ruling of the
Constitutional Court they had exhausted domestic legal remedies, and
that they would be applying to the European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) in the coming days.

Grounds of appeal

The appeal filed on 23 September 2014 covered the sentences attributed
to NiÃ…?anyan in reference to Article 65 of the Law on `deliberately
causing damage to immovable cultural assets under protection’. The
appeal was founded on the fact that the allegation had not been
serviced to NiÃ…?anyan and that therefore NiÃ…?anyan could not have known
the specific criminal scope of his acts. The prior cancellation of the
relevant law by the Constitutional Court had been presented as a
further rationale.

In response to the appeal, in its verdict, the Constitutional Court
justified the decision of the local court that ruled for the sentence
and that of the Court of Cassation, which approved it, and accepted
the view that NiÃ…?anyan was aware of the fact that the site where he
committed the attributed crime was a Protected Area. The
Constitutional Court also ruled that the Court of Cassation had
approved a crime that had been committed before the Constitutional
Court had annulled the relevant law. In the conclusion for the
verdict, the Constitutional Court stated that there was no apparent
mistake in valuation or explicit arbitrariness in the cases, clearly
underlining that the Constitutional Court would not examine such
cases, and that therefore the appeal was unacceptable because it
displayed a `clear lack of basis’.

Next step: ECHR

NiÃ…?anyan’s lawyer Ergin Cinmen who filed the application to the
Constitutional Court said the following regarding the verdict: `The
Constitutional Court had previously ruled that the procedure related
to crime NiÃ…?anyan has been sentenced for was a violation of the
Constitution. Thus the Court, at present, has confirmed NiÃ…?anyan’s
confinement by attributing to him a crime that itself found to be in
violation of the Constitution in its nature. Since with this ruling of
the Constitutional Court we have exhausted domestic legal remedies, we
will be applying to the European Court of Human Rights in the coming
days. However, the procedure there progresses very slowly.’

NiÃ…?anyan has been imprisoned since January 2014, and he also has a
pending prison sentence of 14 years 2 months inflicted for opposition
to the Construction Law and the Code of Protection of Cultural and
Natural Properties which has not been approved by the Court of
Cassation as of yet. NiÃ…?anyan is currently the only person in Turkey
who is serving a prison sentence in a closed prison in relation to
these specific crimes.

From: A. Papazian

US-Russia efforts not enough to resolve Karabakh conflict

15:29 * 04.04.15

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not the kind of land dispute to be
resolved by the mere desire of either Russia or the United States,
according to a former defense minister,

Speaking to Tert.am, Vagharshak Harutyunyan expressed his disagreement
to the widely circulating opinion that Russia is trying to delay the
final settlement in an attempt to keep Armenia and Azerbaijan in
dependence of itself.

“I can ask the opposite question: why don’t Azerbaijan’s allies do not
help resolve the dispute in that country’s favor?”

“There is one thing that needs to be understood: a land is seized with
blood and defended with blood. Azerbaijan was not able to do that, but
we were. So our task today is to maintain it,” he said.

Asked what can hold back Azerbaijan from the repeated acts of sabotage
along the frontline, the former minister replied, “There is one
option: to hand over Karabakh. Do you agree to that?”

Harutyunyan said he thinks that the society needs to have a proper
understanding of the fact that a decade or two is not a sufficient
time period for resolving a conflict. “We must bring the affair to an
end. Painful though it is – and with losses unfortunately – life is a
struggle,” he added.

From: A. Papazian

Will Armenia find a right solution between Russia and Iran? (video)

14:08 | April 4,2015 | Economy

Tehran celebrates nuclear agreement between Iran and six powers gained
in Lausanne. According to that agreement, Tehran is obliged to refrain
from creating nuclear weapons, in return the West lifts the sanctions
against Iran. The agreement is also important for Armenia.

Economist Vahagn Khachatryan says, “The same country, which was a
threat to Europe and the region, today can become an opportunity for
development.”

The West started its sanctions against Iran in 2006. Iran’s trade with
the outside world was suspended. Iran raised its customs duties on
imports in order to compensate its economic losses to some extent. “It
is difficult to negotiate with Iranians in the economic cooperation.
They measure a thousand times but cut once. They will cooperate and
will make investments, when their interest is very important.”

In 1995 Mr. Khachatryan was a member of Armenian-Iranian
intergovernmental commission and he reminds that many economic
agreements were signed with Iran, but only one or two of them were
implemented, “They were even ready to make investments for the
rehabilitation of “Nairit” plant.

President of the Union of Employers of Armenia Gagik Makaryan doesn’t
think that Armenia will benefit from the abolition of the sanctions
against Iran, “It isn’t excluded that Armenian investors establish
economy in the free zones of Iran, where they are freed from taxes for
20 years.”

Having closer relationship with the RA among the neighbors, will Iran
use our country as a transit route to Europe, “They can enter Georgia
through the RA as tourists, but the RA cannot yet serve as a transit
route for cargo transportation.”

Vahagn Khachatryan thinks that Europe is mainly interested in Iranian
gas and petroleum, and the transportation of these energy carriers
through the territory of Armenia may not please our strategic ally
Russia, “We must assess whether we need to endanger our relations with
the RF. Though from the economic point of view the RA will only
benefit.”

The economists think that if the RA wants to be a platform between the
EEU-EU, it must develop a right relationship with Iran.

From: A. Papazian

Armenian General Benevolent Union building opens in Yerevan (PHOTOS)

17:35, 04.04.2015
Region:Armenia
Theme: Politics

YEREVAN. – President Serzh Sargsyan attended, on Saturday in Armenia’s
capital city of Yerevan, the official opening of the new building of
the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Headquarters.

During the tour, the President was informed that the new AGBU building
occupies a space of around 1,300 square meters, and where a five-story
modern building with an underground parking has been built.

To note, the building complex, which was there in the past, has been restored.

According to the AGBU officials, this building, which has opened in
Downtown Yerevan, will enable to expand the programs of the Armenian
General Benevolent Union.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

From: A. Papazian