Author: Kamalian Hagop

HEAD OF CENTRAL BANK: ARMENIA RETAINS FINANCIAL STABILITY AVOIDING SHOCKS

ARKA
Dec 28, 2009

YEREVAN, December 28. /ARKA/. Armenia has managed to retain stability
at its financial system, avoiding shocks, Arthur Javadyan, chairman
of the Central Bank of Armenia, said Monday at a press conference.

He said that not a single financial institution has got support from
the government.

Unlike many developing and even developed countries, Armenia has done
it without state support for financial organizations.

Javadyan said that in July 2009, amid 18-percent economic decline, the
central bank started spurring the economy by pursuing its expansionary
monetary policy.

"The expansionary policy implied not only the lowering of interest
rate by 2.75 percentage points, but also another bailout move –
volumetric expansion," Javadyan said.

AZERBAIJAN TO SET QUOTAS ON INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING FORCES

news.az
Dec 28 2009
Azerbaijan

Zahid Oruj The bill "On Azerbaijan’s participation in peacekeeping
operations" must also define exact quotas of international peacekeeping
troops.

The bill "On Azerbaijan’s participation in peacekeeping operations"
adopted in the second reading of Milli Medjlis will be considered in
the third reading in late February, said Zahid Oruj, member of the
parliamentary committee of security and defense.

He considers that this bill will specify the main forms and rules
of our country’s participation in operations to prevent and settle
local and regional conflicts. The document also reflects conduction
of peacekeeping operations in the occupied lands with Azerbaijan’s
participation.

Zahid Oruj said the bill must also define exact quotas of international
peacekeeping troops dislocated in Nagorno Karabakh. The deputy
considers that exact quota must be defined in conduction of
peacekeeping operations in Azerbaijan based on the format of these
international forces.

"If a ceasefire agreement is signed, the number of armed troops from
each country in the region cannot exceed 33% of the overall staff",
Oruj said.

PRESIDENT AND FIRST LADY HOST BEST STUDENTS

Aysor
Dec 28 2009
Armenia

Today, Armenia’s President Serge Sargsyan and Armenia’s First Lady Rita
Sargsyan hosted at Presidential Residence 138 best senior students,
who participated in Writing Contest "If Not Me, Then Who?" and became
nominees for gold medal.

President Sargsyan welcomed and congratulated the students. He said,
a few months before he had promised to meet with those students who
were doing well and would win the Olympics, and he made good of this.

"I’ve already hosted last year’s awarded students and Olympics’
winners, and I intent to go on with these meetings," said President
Sargsyan adding that he praised First Lady’s idea to host best
students.

"I wish you all a very happy New Year and Christmas, and I wish you
all good wishes for 2010. I wish you a world of cheer, achievements,
and progress. You will meet and pass final exams, you will face
competitions to win medals and entrance examination. I wish you world
victories for 2010. Let it bring you notable victories. And in this
sense I can say that your victories are in knowledge. You should
firstly win over your doubts and uncertainty.

"All victories start from simple saying ‘I can!’ I wish you to believe
in yourself, all the more so I believe in you. And I have great causes
for trust," said President.

Does Hovik Abahamyan play up to Sargsyan?

"A1+"
26/12/09

Leader of People’s Party (ZhK) Tigran Karapetyan pledges to run in all
elections in Armenia. He says he is mostly concerned over the
situation in the political domain.
"I shall never deprive our people of an alternative option," Tigran
Karapetyan told A1+.

Regarding National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abahamyan’s statement that
President Serzh Sargsyan will be reelected in 2012, the ZhK leader
said: "It is Mr. Abrahamyan’s personal opinion. Where would he know
which of the candidates will be elected? Hovik Abrahamyan simply plays
up to Serzh Sargsyan," said Tigran Karapetyan.

Responding to journalists’ questions, the ZhK leader referred to
Artashes Geghamyan’s statement that he had always supported Serzh
Sargsyan.

"People know everyone perfectly. For example, where is former Heritage
member Vardan Khachatryan? I always speak straightforwardly," said
Tigran Karapetyan.

The ZhK leader says people don’t trust the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun either.
"The ARF-D was a steamer pulling a few cars behind it. The party can
no longer pull the cars and people have lost confidence in the party."

Tigran Karapetyan also predicts some changes in the Armenian National
Congress. "The Congress has somehow softened and resembles a buttered
loaf. It no longer speaks of the bandit regime. No one but me
criticizes the regime today. I became a radical with my centrist
stance. They say I have become an oppositionist but I have always been
one."

HOVIK ABRAHAMIAN TO BE GLAD IF NIKOL PASHINIAN ELECTED NA DEPUTY

NOYAN TAPAN
DECEMBER 24, 2009
YEREVAN

Speaker of the RA National Assembly Hovik Arahamian said he would be
glad if the editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak daily Nikol Pashinian
wins the upcoming by-election (on 10 January 2010) at electoral
district No 10 in Yerevan and becomes a deputy of the National
Assembly. "The more opposition members we have in the parliament,
the deeper the problems will be discussed, and a lot of good laws
and ideas will be born as a result of reasonable contradictions,"
H. Abrahamian stated during the December 24 press conference.

To recap, N. Pashinian is charged in relation to the March 2008 events
and is currently in prison.

At the request of reporters, the NA speaker spoke about the recent
fact when members of "Republican Party of Armenia" (RPA) faction joined
the petition for release (on medical grounds) of the former NA deputy
Sasun Mikaelian sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment in relation to
the same March events and a short time later the RPA members withdrew
their signatures. In the opinion of H. Abrahamian, who is a member of
RPA’s governing body, the RPA faction members should not have signed
that document to be sent to the Armenian president who is also the
chairman of RPA.

According to H. Abrahamian, it is improper for deputies who are also
members of the party to write a letter to the party head. The deputies
could have applied to Serzh Sargsyan verbally. H. Abrahamian also said
that under the law, the Armenian president is not empowered to grant
a pardon to somebody based on a letter of a deputy and the NA speaker.

ALEXANDER MARKAROV PREDICTS INTENSIFICATION IN ARMENIA-TURKEY NORMALIZATION IN MARCH-APRIL
Nvard Davtyan

Radiolur
23.12.2009 18:17

Political scientist Alexander Markarov predicts certain activeness
in Turkey in March-April 2010 connected with the ratification of the
protocols. Then it will become clear whether this is an imitation
process for the Turkish side or there is real willingness to enter
a new practical stage.

He reminded the stance of the Armenian party on the issue and said
that "if the ratification of the protocols is suspended, Armenia can
get use of the resources ensured by the international law and recall
its signature or just announce that the process didn’t get the course
of action expected by Armenia and the West."

According to him, it’s a possible that the Turkish party might suspend
the process but he thinks, however that "Turkey will undertake some
steps in April."

AN ARMENIAN MAKES AN EXTREME BIKE RIDE FROM YAKUTSK TO YEREVAN

Aysor
Dec 23 2009
Armenia

After more than an hour-long waiting for cyclist Arthur Oganian in
the cold at thirty degrees below zero in Petropavlovsk’s square,
journalists thought that Roman Arakelov, a director of the
Ethno-Cultural Kentron Foundation, had made fun of them. Indeed,
who will believe that a sunlit country’s resident can make more than
an eleven thousand kilometers bike ride through taiga, in the cold,
cold weather?

Arthur Oganian, a builder from Armenia, two years on goes to Russian
north to earn money. Last summer, along-side with dozen of other
nationalities, he worked at the restoration of Evangelical Church in
Yakutsk. It was such a friendly and marvelous team, that Arthur made
a decision to dedicate a bike ride to peoples’ friendship.

"After all, neither Armenian has ever done such a ride. I was hoping,
my countrymen would be proud of me. I want to show all nations I’ll
meet on my way, that Armenians are courageous, risky, and honest
people," Arthur told journalists.

Arthur has been riding three and a half months on his way home, leaving
behind Neryungri, Irkutsk, Chita, Kemerovo, Omsk. And everywhere
he met warm and friendly people, who wished him a happy way home,
whether those were Armenian communities, which bought a new cycle
for Arthur and provided him with a food, or a hunter in taiga near
Aldan, who was greatly surprised to meet a single man in taiga and
took Arthur to his place for supper and overnight, or dozens of others.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN MEETS BUSINESSMEN
Shakeh Avoyan

"Radiolur"
22.12.2009 17:48

On the occasion of the New Year and Christmas President Serzh Sargsyan
had a meeting with more than 100 representatives of the business
community of Armenia.

Wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, President Sargsyan
said: "The passing year was rather hard for our economy, it was a
period full of problems."

However, according to Serzh Sargsyan, the unprecedented downfall
caused by the financial-economic crisis is gradually reducing. "The
macroeconomic developments and the trends of economic stabilization
allow us to predict the perspectives of economic development of 2010."

"Armenian businessmen have always stood out for their flexibility
and the ability to find wise solutions. The economic crisis was a
test of wisdom for Armenian businessmen," the President stated.

According to Serzh Sargsyan, the important principle of unity and
closer cooperation with the Government should be maintained in 2010.

"We all realize that the coming year is going to be a year of hard
work. It should be a year of rapid rehabilitation. I think that both
the Government and the President’s Office will do their best for 2010
to be a year of rehabilitation," the President said.

President Sargsyan wished success to the businessmen. "The success
of every of you is the success of all of us. It is the success of
our economy," he said.

DAVID NALBANDIAN WINS COPA ARGENTINA FINALS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
21.12.2009 14:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Argentinean tennis player of Armenian descent, David
Nalbandian, won Copa Argentina finals in Buenos Aires, gaining 6:4,
6:4 victory over Marcos Baghdatis.

Despite losing 3:6, 7:5, 4:6 in the last 3 sets to his compatriot
Gaston Gaudio, David Nalbandian managed to make it to the finals.

This has been the second victory of Armenian tennis player who was
unable to perform for 8 months because of an injury.

MAJORITY OF ARMENIANS AGAINST PROTOCOLS: SURVEY

News.am
Dec 18 2009
Armenia

Large part of Armenians is against Armenia-Turkey Protocols on
relations’ normalization. Public opinion poll conducted among 600 RA
citizens by "Human Rights 96" Party shows that 49.5% of the pollees
are against the Protocols, 23.5% — in favor of the initiative,
whereas 27% — at a loss to answer.

Asked about the ultimate cause of Serzh Sargsyan’s initiative on
the Protocols, 26.5% responded economic upturn in Armenia, 7.7% —
establishment of peace in the region, 14.3% — oblivion of 2008
presidential elections’ consequences and 34.8 % — growth of his
authority internationally.

The respondents were also asked "what ARF Dashnaktsutyun activities
against the documents arise from", and 17.2% said party’s national
ideology, 21.5% — Diaspora’s pressure, 23.3% — fear to lose funding
sources, while 16.5% reckon it was conditioned by support to RA
President’s initiative.