Author: Kamalian Hagop

CELLIST NAREK HAKHNAZARYAN TO GIVE A CONCERT IN BOSTON

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.06.2009 20:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On June 20, Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan will
have a joint performance with Boston Pops Orchestra within "Armenian
Soiree" 58th international festival framework. The 20-year-old
cellist will feature excerpts from Aram Khatchaturyan’s "Gayane" and
"Spartacus" ballets, Ippolitov-Ivanov’s "La Procession du Sardar",
"Lara’s Theme" from Maurice Jarre’s Dr. Zhivago, Tchaikovsky’s
"Variations on a Rococo" theme for cello & orchestra.

Narek Hakhnazaryan was born in 1988 in Yerevan, Armenia, into a
family of musicians. His early studies were at the Sayat-Nova School
of Music in Yerevan with Zareh Sarkisyan. At the age of 12, he began
studies at the Moscow Conservatory with Alexey Seleznyov.

Narek Hakhnazaryan is a laureate of several international competitions,
including First Prize in the 2006 Aram Khachaturian International
Competition in Armenia, First Place in the 2006 Johansen International
Competition for Young String Players, and Fifth Prize at the 2007
Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow. He has received
scholarships from the Rostropovich Russian Performing Arts Fund and has
performed in Russia, Germany, Italy, Austria, France, Great Britain,
Greece, Turkey and Canada

RA CB LICENSES NATIONAL MORTGAGE COMPANY

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.06.2009 13:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Central Bank of Armenia has licensed
National Mortgage Company universal credit organization to perform
activities. The decision was taken during the meeting of CB Council,
the Bank’s press office said.

4 CHINESE SPECIALISTS DIE IN HRAZDAN HEAT POWER PLANT INCIDENT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
17.06.2009 14:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ ArmRosgazprom CEO Karen Karapetyan extended
condolences to the Chinese Embassy in Yerevan over the death of 4
Chinese specialists in an incident in Hrazdan heat power plant on
June 16.

The incident took place during repair works at the tower of the 5th
power-generating unit, reportedly because of safety rules violation

HISTORIAN MODEST KOLEROV: MOST OF RUSSIANS SUPPORT NAGORNO KARABAKH STRUGGLE

Noyan Tapan
June 15, 2009

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Russia’s possibilities in the
diplomatic sphere of NKR’s international recognition are limited,
but most of Russians support the Nagorno Karabakh struggle: according
to a public poll, nearly 65% Russians support this struggle. Modest
Kolerov, a candidate of historic sciences, the managing director of
the REGNUM Novosti Russian Federal Information Agency, reported at a
round table organized on June 12 at the NKR Foreign Ministry. At the
same time he said that in the opinion of Russian society, the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict should be solved only in a political and peaceful
way. "The number of supporters of conflict’s military settlement in
Russia is very small," M. Kolerov said.

Saying that he has always spoken for Nagorno Karabakh’s participation
in conflict settlement negotiations, he said that it is too
important from point of view of diplomatic technique. At the same
time M. Kolerov is against artificial acceleration of the conflict
settlement process, especially in the context when settlement
is presented as a precondition for other regional processes, in
particular, for opening of the Armenian-Turkish border, which, in
his opinion, is fraught with some dangers. "All nations are equal,
but each nation’s fate is unique, and one cannot change a nation’s
fate at the expense of the fate of another nation," M. Kolerov said.

In his words, no doubt Nagorno Karabakh is a fully-established state,
but it should work more actively in the foreign sphere, in particular,
at expert level ensure Nagorno Karabakh representatives’ participation
in international events.

Another representative of Russia taking part in the round table,
Director of the Quorum Center for Monitoring of Democratic Processes
Alexei Kochetkov, mentioned the necessity of establishing contacts
between Russia and Nagorno Karabakh at the level of society and
non-governmental organizations. He attached importance to civil
society’s significant role in the issue of conflict settlement.

At the same time A. Kochetkov said that Nagorno Karabakh conflict’s
essence is not widely known to the world. In his words, Azerbaijan
allocates huge funds for agitation purposes, but the Azeri side accepts
any step of introducing NKR to the international community as a threat.

According to the report of the NKR Foreign Ministry Press Service, NKR
National Assembly deputies, representatives of NKR Foreign Ministry
diplomatic corps, and non-governmental organizations took part in
the discussion.

ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSIONS TAKEN PLACE AT THE NKR MFA

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

2009-06-12 17:16

On June 12, Managing Director of REGNUM Novosti (News) Russian Federal
Information Agency, Candidate of Historical Science Modest Kolerov and
Director of Quorum Democratic Processes Monitoring Center Alexei
Kochetkov, who had paid a visit to the Nagorno Karabagh Republic, held
round-table discussions at the NKR MFA, with the participation of
Deputies of the NKR NA, representatives of non-governmental
organizations and the MFA diplomatic corps.

Modest Kolerov dwelled on the ongoing processes in the world, their
impact on the situation in the South Caucasus, and, in particular, on
the Karabagh conflict settlement.

Speaking of the prospects of international recognition of the NKR, he
noted that Russia’s facilities in the diplomatic sphere were limited,
but the majority of the Russian people sympathized with the struggle of
Nagorno Karabagh. He informed that according to the public opinion
survey, about 65% of Russians supported that struggle.

Modest Kolerov also informed that the Russian people shared the opinion
that any ways of the Karabagh conflict settlement must be political and
peaceful.

`Only a miserable amount of people in Russia support the military way
of the issue’s solution’, noted the IA REGNUM Novosti Managing Director.

Modest Kolerov emphasized that he had always decla
red for Nagorno
Karabagh’s participation in the negotiations on the conflict
settlement, which, according him, was also extremely important from
diplomatic technology’s point of view. At the same time, he declared
against speeding-up the conflict settlement process, especially in the
context of connecting the settlement with a range of preconditions, in
particular, with opening the Armenian-Turkish border, which, according
to Mr. Kolerov, is fraught with certain threats.

`All the nations are equal, the fate of each being unique, and a
nation’s fate cannot be exchanged with another’s’, Modest Kolerov noted.

According to him, Nagorno Karabagh is surely an existing state, but it
should intensify its foreign policy, in particular, ensure stable
participation of Nagorno Karabagh’s representatives in international
events on an expert level.

In his turn, Director of Quorum Democratic Processes Monitoring Center
Alexei Kochetkov declared for the necessity of establishing
corresponding relations between Russia and Nagorno Karabagh on public-
and NGO levels. He noted the significant role of the civil society in
the conflict settlement. `The opinion of the civil society is, to a
large extent, more important than that of the ruling Party’, he
emphasized.

At the same time, Alexei Kochetkov noted that the international
community was poorly informed about the Karabagh conflict. According to
him, Az
erbaijan allocates huge amounts for propaganda, but it takes any
step on introducing the NKR to the international community as a threat.

The participants of the round-table discussions expressed their
opinions on the issues raised. Representatives of the NKR NGOs
expressed their readiness to cooperate with their Russian associates.

HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN: "I HOPE THAT ESTONIA WILL CONTINUE TO ACTIVELY PROMOTE THE INTEGRATION INTO EUROPEAN FAMILY AND ARMENIA’S EFFORTS DIRECTED TO COMPLYING WITH ITS STANDARDS

National Assembly of RA
June 12 2009
Armenia

On June 11 President of the National Assembly Mr. Hovik Abrahamyan
received Foreign Minister of Estonia Mr. Urmas Paet, who was in
Yerevan on an official visit.

Welcoming the guest the President of the National Assembly highlighted
his official visit in the context of the development of bilateral
relations, within the format of direct, as well as cooperation with
European Union. He expressed hope that Estonia as a member of the
European Union, will continue to actively promote the integration
into European family and Armenia’s efforts directed to complying
with its standards. He also emphasized the Armenian-Estonian Economic
Forum, being held in Yerevan, which can boost the cooperation of the
businessmen of the two countries.

The interlocutors highly assessed the level of bilateral
political relations and expressed their satisfaction on that
occasion. Nevertheless, they noted that it was necessary to develop the
inter-parliamentary contacts, using the potential of the parliamentary
friendship groups existing in both countries and the legislators’
mutual visits.

During the meeting the sides also discussed issues regarding the
political situation of Armenia, stability of South Caucasus region
and Armenian-Turkish relations.

NALBANDIAN CAUTIOUSLY WELCOMES DAVUTOGLU’S RECENT STATEMENT

Today’s Zaman
June 12 2009
Turkey

The exchange of messages between the foreign ministers of Armenia and
Turkey continued Thursday, with the former cautiously welcoming the
latter’s statement that Turkey is willing to normalize its relations
with Armenia as soon as possible.

"We have repeatedly stated that Armenia is ready to normalize
its relations with Turkey without any preconditions. If the latest
statement from the Turkish foreign minister falls in that context and
if they are ready to move in that direction, the statement can only
be welcomed," Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, speaking
at a joint press conference with the visiting foreign minister of
Estonia, was quoted as saying by the Armenian public radio, when he
was reminded of remarks delivered by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu on Monday.

Davutoglu’s message had actually come when he was reminded of recent
remarks by Nalbandian, who last month suggested that it is now Turkey’s
turn to contribute to the ongoing joint efforts with his country for
the normalization of bilateral relations between the two estranged
neighbors, saying, "The ball is in Turkey’s court now."

WORLD BANK MANAGEMENT BOARD APPROVES STRATEGY OF PARTNERSHIP WITH ARMENIA FOR 2009-2012 TO AMOUNT OF $670-700MLN

ARKA
June 12, 2009

YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. The Management Board of the World Bank
approved the strategy of partnership with Armenia for 2009-2012 to
the amount of $670-700mln, Head of Yerevan Office of the World Bank
Aristomene Varudakis told reporters on Friday.

According to him, the World Bank will issue $545mln credit to Armenia
under the program for 2009-2012, which is twice more than in 2004-2008.

Varudakis said $150mln will be issued to Armenia as International
Development Association (IDA) credit on favorable conditions, while
$395mln will be issued on conditions of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development for states with average revenue.

Besides, Varudakis noted the International Financial Corporation,
as member of WB Group will assign an additional $120-160mln as credit
or participation in capital of private companies.

Varudakis stressed that the period for strategy development coincided
with the period when Armenia can feel the negative impact of the
crisis which led to reduction of exports, prices of main goods as
well as to reduction of international transfers.

The Head of WB Yerevan office stated that as a result of such shocks in
2009 the economic activity and tax incomes significantly reduced which
may bring to a regress in Armenia’s efforts for reducing poverty level.

In this context Varud akis noted that the new WB strategy will
facilitate the country’s struggle for reduction of the crisis impact
so that the rate of economy growth is recovered in 2010 and influence
of the crisis is smoothed for vulnerable population of the country.

Talking about long-term intentions Varudakis pointed out WB assistance
to Armenia for establishing foundations for creating a more competitive
economy, specifically for ensuring a more diversified and continuous
economic growth.

He said that a more diversified economy will be less dependent on
separate economy sectors, such as construction and foreign transfers
and will ensure flexibility towards international shocks.

According to him the strategy is aimed at liquidation of the main
vulnerable factors caused by the world crisis and provides for
assigning budget credits to the Government for implementation of
complex reforms, namely in the sector of management of healthcare and
education as well as of improvement of management in tax authorities.

As part of strategy, a part of the means will be assigned to commercial
banks of Armenia for issuing credits to small and medium businesses
which will contribute to activation of economy and will enable to
carry out investments and create jobs.

The other aim of the assistance to Armenia is improving its
competitiveness and preparing it for economic growth after the crisis.

At the same time the World Bank intends to make investmen ts in
transport infrastructures for reducing transport expenditure as well
as in energy sector for improving energy-supply and reducing loss of
energy in the network.

Varudakis said WB will also assist reforms aimed at improving business
atmosphere and ensure modernization of organs collecting tax incomes.

Since 1992 the World Bank has issued a total of $1.2bln credits
to Armenia.

Armenian PM sees return to economic growth in 201006.09.09, 09:14 AM EDT

MOSCOW, June 9 (Reuters) – Armenia’s economy will return to growth of
around 1 percent in 2010 after a contracting this year, Prime Minister
Tigran Sarksyan said on Tuesday.

Inflation will run at no more than 5 percent this year, while the
budget deficit will hit 7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)
before easing slightly to 5-6 percent in 2010, he said.

‘The government and the central bank will continue to carry out
expansionary policies,’ he said. (Reporting by Gleb Bryanski, Writing
by Toni Vorobyova) Keywords: ARMENIA ECONOMY/
([email protected]; Tel: +7495 7751242, Reuters
Messaging: [email protected])

US: ARMENIA AND TURKEY SHOULD ESTABLISH BILATERAL TIES WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
09.06.2009 17:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US Administration remains committed to the idea
that Armenian-Turkish ties normalization process cannot last forever,
Philip Gordon, US Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs,
told a press conference in Yerevan. "After April 22 statement of
Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministries, US State Department welcomed
the step. Today, I reiterate Washington’s position that Armenia
and Turkey should establish mutual ties without any preconditions
and within reasonable time-limits," American diplomat stressed,
characterizing Yerevan-Ankara talks as a separate process. "Talks on
Armenian-Turkish ties normalization cannot last forever, and it’s very
important that parties perfectly realize that," Philip Gordon added,
noting the mutual advantage of the process for both countries as well
as the entire region.

On April 22, 2009, Armenia and Turkey carried out intensive work by
the mediation of Switzerland, towards normalization of bilateral ties
and development of friendly relations. Thereafter, US State Department
released a statement calling on parties to normalize relations without
preconditions and within reasonable time-limits. "We call on Yerevan
and Ankara to act within the frames of the agreement and road map. We
hope for both parties cooperation towards normalization of ties,
contributing to peace, security and stability in the region," runs
the statement.