Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

POLITICAL ANALYST: RUSSIA WANTS TO LEAVE US WITHOUT ANY ALTERNATIVE (VIDEO)

13:56 | April 8,2015 | Politics

Political analyst Stepan Grigoryan says Armenia can start cooperation
with Iran in all spheres, first of all in the energy sector.

However, he says there is a serious obstacle for this cooperation in
the face of the Russian Federation.

“Russia wants to leave us without any alternative. They want to make
us fully dependent of them. Russia wants to hinder our cooperation
with the European Union, the West and Iran and uses its levers of
influence against us. Gazprom is one of them,” he said.

From: Baghdasarian

IMF SAYS ARMENIAN INFLATION MAY GO BEYOND TARGET BAND IN 2015

YEREVAN, April 8. / ARKA /. Armenia’s inflation level in 2015 may go
beyond the projected target band of 4% (± 1.5%), chief of IMF Mission
in Armenia, Mark Horton, told a news conference today.

According to him, inflation rate in Armenia will be depending on
possible changes in utility rates, which may occur in the summer
of 2015.

He said although the Armenian government is negotiating with Russia
to maintain prices of natural gas at the current level, however, a
possible rise in the price may push the inflation beyond the upper end
of the target band and keep it there for a protracted period of time.

In the first two months of 2015 inflation in Armenia grew by 4.8%
year-on-year. The 12-month inflation in late February 2015 was 5.4%.

-0-

From: Baghdasarian

APPEAL FOR RECOGNITION: YEZDI COMMUNITY TURNS TO ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT FOR SUPPORT

SOCIETY | 08.04.15 | 15:32

Alina Nikoghosyan
ArmeniaNow intern

Armenia’s Yezdi community is urging the National Assembly to adopt
a resolution that would recognize the “Yezdi Genocide”, as having
occurred during the same period as the Armenian Genocide, 100 years
ago under the Ottoman Empire.

A bill on the issue was refused in February when introduced by
(opposition) Heritage Party MP Zaruhi Postanjyan. A similar bill
was introduced by Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) faction head Naira
Zohrabyan, urging recognizing the Yezdi Genocide in the Ottoman Empire
before April 24, which was approved.

“It is surprising for me that there were people who said that documents
related to the Yezdi Genocide are insufficient. It is not so, such
people are unaware. We have all proof, both scientific and historical,”
Aziz Tamoyan, World Yezdi Union President told reporters Wednesday.

According to Tamoyan, Armenian State institutions were introduced
to the books he published and said that the stories he introduces
are factual, but for him the silence of international structures is
not understandable.

“In 2014 in Iraq there was an attack on Yezdi villages in which 17,000
Yezdis were slaughtered and now it continues. There are institutions
that deal with human rights, why have they closed their mouths and
eyes? What is the reason that today one of the oldest nations in
the world is being abolished,” Tamoyan said asking Germany, England,
and Russia to support the Yezdis.

Tamoyan is calling on international recognition, as his community is
still targeted today by ISIS, in Iraq.

“The area of Sinjar is uninhabited, let (international agencies)
provide security so that they return to their homes, and let them
create an autonomy of Cross Worshippers),” Tamoyan said urging both
Yezdis in Armenia and in the world to stand up and protect their
rights. “We must be strong and united to be able to solve these
questions. We will continue our fight, and with Armenians we are
brother nations and will remain such.”

From: Baghdasarian

RAZM.INFO: AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE MINISTRY HIDES 2 LOSSES IN NAKHIJEVAN ARMY AND COMBAT INJURIES OF 3 SOLDIERS

15:22 08/04/2015 >> SOCIETY

Azerbaijani non-official sources report two recent losses and
Azerbaijani Armed Forces three servicemen wounded in combat
conditions. The official agencies of Azerbaijan did not comment on
those incidents, Armenian military-analytical outlet Razm.info writes
citing alternative sources.

According to the article, the sources report that 2 servicemen from
the separate combined-arms army of the Nakhijevan Autonomous Republic,
senior lieutenant Anar Kerimov and contract soldier Mehdi Zeynalov,
had been caught in a storm and died on the spot.

It is also noted that to this day only Zeynalov’s body has been
possible to be found. According to the outlet, the same source says
that three servicemen from one of the military units in Beylagan
district, Azerbaijan, had been seriously wounded as a result of mortar
firing on the frontline. The wounded soldiers were taken to the Central
clinical military hospital in Baku. Other details are not disclosed.

This is not the first case of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan
hiding the losses. Consequently, the Armenian side is obliged to
consult alternative sources more frequently in order to find out the
real number of the losses in the Azerbaijani army. Note also that
since early 2015 the Azerbaijani government agencies acknowledged the
death of 13 servicemen: according to official information, 9 of them
were combat deaths on the frontline.

Related:

Razm.info: Azerbaijani pro-government media first wrote then removed
news about unconfirmed loss in army

From: Baghdasarian

YEREVAN LAND AREAS POLLUTED WITH MERCURY, LEAD, ZINC, CHROMIUM, NICKEL, COPPER AND MOLYBDENUM

18:39 April 07, 2015

EcoLur

The land areas in Yerevan are polluted with mercury, lead, zinc,
chromium, nickel, copper and molybdenum: as “Main Results of Scientific
Activities of NAS RA for 2014” report says, mainly Shengavit, Erebuni,
Arabkir, Nor Norq and Norq Marash communities have land areas with
superhigh pollution.

The primary pollutant in the land areas is lead (Pb): its concentration
exceeds the local background in the 99.9% of samples, while it exceeded
the MPC by 1.7 times on average in 54% of samples.

Supertoxic mercury (Hg) was detected in the land areas: its
concentration exceeds the background in 89% of the samples, on average,
by 7 times. Background and MPC exceeding were recorded for zinc (Zn),
copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo).

The recorded concentrations of heavy metals and their list are very
serious risk factors for the population health in Yerevan.

The studies have been carried out by the Center for Ecological
Noosphere Studies of NAS RA.

From: Baghdasarian

IRAN JOINS CHINA-LED ASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK

(c) AFP 2015/ Takaki Yajima
MIDDLE EAST
13:51 08.04.2015(updated 14:09 08.04.2015) Get short URL
44870
The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank accepted Iran’s
membership on Tuesday, the Iranian embassy in Beijing said.

(c) AP PHOTO/ MICHEL EULER Moscow’s AIIB Membership to Bring More
Foreign Investments in Russia The Islamic Republic thus became the
34th founding member of the AIIB, which is the main rival of the
World Bank, Iran’s Fars news agency reported.

The Iranian embassy noted that the AIIB officials had invited Iran’s
banking officials to attend the upcoming meetings of the bank.

Fifty-seven countries have applied for membership in the international
bank and 34 have already been granted membership.

China is going to invest about $50 billion in the bank to hold about
50 percent of AIIB’s shares.

Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, speaking on
Saturday at a forum in Boao on the Southern Chinese island of Hainan,
said the country plans to join the AIIB.

Washington’s European allies including Britain, France, Germany and
Italy have already also announced they would join the bank, leaving
the US isolated, World Bulletin reported.

Other countries such as Turkey and South Korea have also said they
would join. Brazil, China’s top trading partner, said on Friday it
would sign up.

Read more:

From: Baghdasarian

ITALIANS FIND GENOCIDE HORRORS INSTEAD OF NOAH’S ARK ON MT. ARARAT

April 8, 2015

The documentary “Mysterious Mountain” will air in the Italian Trichiana
commune (Province of Belluno, Veneto region) on April 11.

Director Roberto Soramae, as well as writer and researcher Tito de
Luca will be present during the screening, News.am reports citing
italian newspaper Bellunopress.

For several years they had been searching Mt. Ararat for Noah’s
tracks only to come across the horrors survived by the Armenian
nation. Soramae and de Luca will dwell upon this all during the
screening.

De Luca is a researcher and rock-climber from Belluno who lived in
Turkey for several years, where he looked for the tracks of the Great
Flood. De Luca has already written several books under the Armenian
pen-name Azad Vartanian. Among his works are “Ararat – the mysterious
mountain,” “Mysterious Island of Lord Byron”, as well as research on
the possible location of Noah’s Ark. Soramae also shot several films
about Ararat, including “Giants in the sky.”

From: Baghdasarian

RALPH YIRIKIAN HOSTED BY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA

14:33 08/04/2015 >> SOCIETY

VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian was invited to the
American University of Armenia as a guest speaker to lecture on
the contemporary issues of Corporate Social Responsibility for the
students of the School of Business Administration, the press service
of VivaCell-MTS reports.

Ralph Yirikian has delivered numerous lectures at different educational
institutions and forums in Armenia and abroad, as part of his voluntary
commitment to share his experience and knowledge with future managers
and entrepreneurs, in order to enable them find the formula of success
in business and effectively manage modern-day business structures,
to give them innovative practical knowledge for them to be able to
make the country competitive on international markets.

Prior to touching upon the concept of corporate responsibility and
its application in the Armenian context, Ralph Yirikian introduced to
MBA students the stakeholder approach employed by VivaCell-MTS as a
socially responsible company. Based on the experience of VivaCell-MTS,
he encouraged future managers and executives to keep integrated
the principles of CSR into the core of their business strategies,
to always take into consideration interests of stakeholders during
day to day operation and in managerial decision-making processes.

VivaCell-MTS General Manager presented the importance and the
principles of responsible management. He introduced the difference
between traditional management and responsible management, as well
as the importance of stakeholder engagement and its analysis.

“A corporate executive striving for excellent performance can’t
underestimate the importance of thinking strategically about key
stakeholders’ concerns, mapping out their values and power bases.

Corporate executives should be able to make right decisions to support
and strengthen the alignment of organizational strategies with the
most influential stakeholders. Commercial organizations don’t live
isolated. They are bound by moral obligations to their stakeholders,
including consumers, customers, regulators, suppliers, shareholders,
the natural environment and communities,” Ralph Yirikian commented.

Ralph Yirikian provided the students with special frameworks helping
decision-makers to address a diverse set of stakeholders with
different goals, interests and values. VivaCell-MTS General Manager
Ralph Yirikian is sure that in developing and implementing sound
long-term strategy, companies should seek feedback from stakeholders
toward the goal of mutual understanding.

In less than 10 years, VivaCell-MTS has become popular not only as
the leader in telecommunications, with the largest market share,
but also in innovations. The Company was not only the first and only
telecommunications operator to offer 4G services, but also the first
to introduce and promote the concept of CSR as an essential part of
corporate behavior. At the same time VivaCell-MTS has implemented
numerous of social investment projects in a broad range of spheres,
contributing to the sustainability of these spheres and the country’s
economic development. The Company makes considerable investments
into the implementation of innovative projects in the spheres of
healthcare, culture, science, children, environmental protection,
education, and rural infrastructure.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA: GENEALOGY FILM THEIR EUROVISION POSTCARD

16:38, 08 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Genealogy, the 2015 Armenian Eurovision representatives have filmed
their presentation Eurovision postcard, according esctoday.com.

Geneology will represent Armenia at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest
with their entry Face the Shadow.Genealogy were selected via an
internal selection by ARMTV in order to fly the Armenian flag in
Vienna. Genealogy is a 6 member group consisting of: Essaï Altounian,
Tamar Kaprelian, Stephanie Topalian, Vahe Tilbian, Mary-Jean O’Doherty
Vasmatzian, and Inga Arshakyan.

The Armenian representatives receive a special package from Armenia
during the filming of their Eurovision postcard with a surprise in
store for them. The Armenian hopefuls have filmed the first part of
their poscard in the beautiful and scenic Armenian city of Dilijan,
whilst the second part will be filmed in Austria in the coming days.

An ORF special crew travelled all the way to Armenia in order to film
the first part of the 2015 Armenian Eurovision presentation postcard.

The 2015 Eurovision postcards carry the the 2015 Eurovison theme
Building Bridges, participants from the 40 competing countries will
be depicted receiving a special surprise package from Austria in
their respective home countries during the first part of the postcard.

Whilst in the second part of the postcard we will see the 40 competing
acts in Austria.

Armenia will compete in the First Semi-final of the 2015 Eurovision
Song Contest on 19 May and will perform on postion #2 on the night.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA AND WORLD BANK SIGN TWO LOAN AGREEMENTS WORTH $82 MILLION

YEREVAN, April 8. / ARKA /. Armenian Finance Minister Gagik Khachatryan
and World Bank Country Manager for Armenia Laura Bailey signed on
Wednesday a credit agreement whereby the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will provide the Armenian
government with a $52 million loan for the Electricity Transmission
Network Improvement Project for Armenia (ETNIP).

The new project will improve the reliability of the power transmission
network and system management, and support the government’s efforts
in ensuring adequate electricity supply across the country. Total
financing of the project is $69.16 million, of which $17.16 million
will be the government’s contribution.

The World Bank will provide the $52 million IBRD loan of variable
spread with a 14.5-year grace period and the total repayment term of
25 years, according to the report.

The Ministry of Finance said the IBRD will provide the government
with another $30 million loan for the Social Investment and Local
Development (SILD) Project in Armenia.

This project will further assist the government of Armenia to improve
the quality, use of and access to community infrastructure for the
poor and vulnerable groups. The loan is repayable in 25 years with
a 14.5 -year grace period.-0-

From: Baghdasarian