Author: Karakhanian Suren

FUNDS RAISED FROM "THEY ARE WAITING FOR US…" CAMPAIGN WILL BE ALLOCATED AS SOCIAL AID TO 1200 ELDERLY PEOPLE LIVING IN DORMITORIES
Anush Petrosyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 19, 2010

Out of 500 thousand elderly people living in Armenia, 50 thousand
are lonely.

According to the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, out of 500
thousand elderly people in Armenia, 50 thousand are lonely, living
in extreme poverty. For most of them, pension is the only source of
income, and only 10 thousand are registered as eligible for social,
medical and psychological assistance.

The number of lonely elderly people, who always enjoyed respect in
Armenia, increased after the devastating 1988 earthquake, collapse
of the Soviet Union as well as due to the huge refugee flows from
Azerbaijan (nearly 400 thousand). The state’s attempts to resolve
the problems elderly people are experiencing prove insufficient,
as there is a strong need for public support.

The problem is addressed by a number of Armenian NGOs, including the
Armenian Red Cross Society, which has been for many years implementing
programs to reduce vulnerability of the population through social
reforms. On March 1, 2010, the ARCS announced the launch of "They
are waiting for us…" campaign aiming to attract public attention
to social, health and psychological problems of lonely elderly living
in dormitories across Armenia. The campaign consists of two stages –
awareness outreach and fundraising activities. Under the program, 90
recipients from the towns of Armavir, Gyumri and Gavar are provided
psychological support and home care by volunteers. Funds raised from
the campaign will be allocated as social aid to 1200 elderly people
living in dormitories.

A total of 96 people from Yerevan, Vanadzor and 13 populated areas
of Tavush region are recipients of the ARCS-led "Social and Medical
Care to the Victims of National Socialism" program.

"We are hopeful the campaign will help these lonely people. The
results will be summed up during a charity supper on May 21. Zvartnots
International Airports has also joined the campaign placing donation
boxes in its terminals," ARCS International Youth Program Coordinator
Nazeli Kirakosyan said, calling on major Armenian organizations
to join.

The data on elderly people was provided by the Ministry of Labor and
Social Affairs. The ARCS collaborates with the Ministry of Sport and
Youth Affairs and Yerevan Mayor’s Office.

DEPUTIES DISCUSS SARGSYAN’S VISIT TO WASHINGTON

Aysor
April 15 2010
Armenia

During his visit to Washington, Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan
applied to the U.S. administration for recognition and condemnation
of the 1915 Genocide of Armenians, suggested deputy of the AFRD
Artsvik Minasian.

At today’s press conference Artsvik Minasian said that the fact that
Armenia’s President had attended Woodrow Wilson’s Grave and didn’t
refer to the Arbitral Award on Turkish-Armenian Boundary by the
late American president causes concerns. He said: "This fact shows
that Armenian administration doesn’t still pay an attention to the
international importance of the Arbitral Award by Woodrow Wilson."

He said that considers the following statements to be an Armenian
side’s intention to continue the process of ratification for the
Armenia-Turkey protocols.

"The protocols are anti-Armenian and anti-national and no one should
think that one can prevent danger through refusing to ratify the
protocols. In order to get out of preconditions by Turkey, it’s
necessary to withdraw from the process of further ratification for
the protocols and to neutralize them," he stressed adding that backing
and filling here may influence Armenia-Diaspora relations.

Another Armenian deputy, Gagik Melikian said that he expected that
U.S. President Obama would make stronger statements this year during
his April 24 address to Armenians. Gagik Melikian suggested that
Armenian President Sargsyan had discussed with Obama this issue.

ARMENIA: EVA RIVAS IN CYPRUS AND RUSSIA

esctoday.com
April 16 2010

Eva Rivas just completed her promo-tour in Cyprus. Now the Armenian
participant of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 is heading to Russia,
Moscow where she will take part in the annual Armenian Music Awards
in diaspora.

After having several concerts in Nicosia, she performed as a guest
in Cypriot TV programs on different channels. The symbolic planting
of apricot trees also took place in Nicosia, where she was welcomed
by the Mayor of the city, Eleni Mavrou.

After Cyprus Eva will visit Moscow, Russia. The Annual Armenian Music
Awards in diaspora will take place in Moscow on the 18th of April.

Other participants of the Eurovision Song Contest will also perform
during the concert. The concert will be held in Moscow Kremlin Palace
and the fans wishing to attend the concert can contact: + 7 917 554
09 72.

TURKEY WANTS A ‘RICH ARMENIA’

news.az
April 15 2010
Azerbaijan

Ahmet Davutoglu Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has commented on
Turkey’s relations with America and Armenia at US think-tank the
Council on Foreign Relations.

‘I do not see any logic in binding Armenian-Turkish and
Turkish-American relations. Turkey and Armenia are two neighbouring
countries that have been living together for centuries and we will
be able to restore our relations without anyone’s interference,’
Davutoglu said yesterday.

‘We do not want Armenia to be poor. We want to see it successful and
rich. This was our logic when we signed the protocols.

‘By normalizing relations with Armenia, we are ready to establish
relations with Armenians in Paris and Los Angeles. We are ready to
listen attentively to our Armenian friends on all issues in our joint
history,’ he said.

At the same time, Davutoglu said that over 2 million Turks from the
Balkans to the Caucasus had become refugees at the end of the First
World War.

ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK INCREASES NUMBER OF ITS PLASTIC CARDS BY 2.4%

ArmInfo
14.04.2010

ArmInfo. Over Q1 2010 ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank increased the number
of its plastic cards by 2,4% to 83.7 thsd cards by 1 April 2010.

ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank told ArmInfo that the lion’s share of the
total number of the bank’s plastic cards fell on ArCa local cards
– 50,4% or 42196 cards, the rest fell on international Visa and
MasterCard, which amounted to a total of 41581 cards. The prevailing
share of international cards fell on Visa – 40731 cards. Over Q1 2010
the bank installed 6 new ATMs, the total number of the ban’s ATMs
currently being 107. As of 1 April 2010, the bank had 731 POS-terminals
at the servicing points and 47 POS-terminals at cash withdrawal points.

According to the source, since late March 2010 the ATMs of ACBA-Credit
Agricole Bank have been servicing also the cards of American Express.

The latter concluded a cooperation agreement with the bank in August
2009. To note, as of the beginning of 2010, the bank had 35 branches,
30 of them in the regions of Armenia and 5 in Yerevan.

SERZH SARGSYAN HAILS REP. SCHIFF’S EFFORTS FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION BY CONGRESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 14, 2010 – 12:53 AMT 07:53 GMT

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyanmet with Congressman Adam Schiff
(D-CA) in Washington on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.

Mr. Sargsyan thanked the Congressman for his efforts for recognition
of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Congress and for support to
Armenia and Artsakh, presidential press office reported.

Congressman Adam B. Schiff representing California’s 29th Congressional
District is one of the authors of Armenian Genocide Resolution
(H. Res. 252) passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee
on Foreign Affairs on March 4, 2010. Rep. Schiff also speaks out for
increasing humanitarian aid to Nagorno Karabakh, maintenance of parity
in military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan and observance of
section 907 of the Freedom Support Act.

The Freedom Support Act (FSA) is the main mechanism for giving foreign
aid to countries of the former Soviet Union. Section 907 prohibits
certain types of direct U.S. assistance to the government of Azerbaijan
until it has ended its aggression and lifted its blockades against
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

SARKISIAN TO LAY WREATH AT WILSON TOMB

Asbarez
Apr 11th, 2010

WASHINGTON (A.W.)-Armenia’s President Serge Sarkisian, who arrives
in DC tonight for the Nuclear Security Summit from April 12-13, will
visit the Washington National Cathedral on Monday, April 12, at 11
a.m. and lay a wreath at the tomb of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

President Wilson was a great friend of the Armenian people and an
advocate for an independent Armenia which included three Armenian
provinces of the Ottoman Empire (Erzerum, Bitlis, Van, and north to the
Black Sea port of Trabzon) in the aftermath of World War I. The Treaty
of Sevres, which included President Wilson’s boundary configuration
of Armenia, was not ratified by the Ottoman Empire.

The Armenian Embassy in the U.S. announced that leaders and members
of the Armenian community are welcome to join the ceremony.

President Sarkisian is also expected to meet with Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the summit. Erdogan
proposed such a meeting in a written message that was taken to Yerevan
by high-ranking Turkish diplomat Feridun Sinirlioglu.

Armenia considers Turkish parliamentarians’ concern with security of
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant to be groundless

2010-04-09 16:16:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has
responded to some Turkish parliamentarians’ excitement for the
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP). The deputies of the Turkish
Parliament have recently made a groundless racket about the ANPP. They
expressed "concern with the fact" that the ANPP, which is 20 km away
from Igdir, operates in a seismic zone and endangers the eastern
regions of Turkey. They also pointed out that according to the
classification of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from the
security viewpoint, the ANPP holds the last position but one out of
146 NPPs.

The press release of the Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural
Resources says that these data are false as they are in not a single
document of IAEA.

The IAEA publication of 2009 "Nuclear Power Reactors in the World"
says that the number of nuclear power units in the world is 438, and
they are located on 200 platforms.

The issues related to the ANPP security are in the focus of constant
attention of the Nuclear Power Security Council under the Armenian
President, and the Council includes the best specialists of the world.
The measures on enhancing the ANPP security are coordinated by IAEA.
According to the requirements of the Convention on Nuclear Safety,
Armenia presents a "National Report on Nuclear Safety" to IAEA once
every three years. The report is available for all the IAEA member
countries.

As regards the seismic security, the seismic security of the ANPP
platform was monitored in 2009 with participation of international
experts. According to the monitoring, there are no reasons for any
concern.

In addition, within a radius of 50 km from the ANPP, the Armenian
population is 2,145 mln people, and the Turkish population is 126 thsd
people.

Ruben Vardanyan: Consolidation of Armenian banking sector inevitable

2010-04-10 14:00:00

ArmInfo. Consolidation of the Armenian banking sector is inevitable
and it is the right process, Ruben Vardanyan, President of "Troika
Dialog" Group of Companies, Chairman of "Ameriabank" Board, said in a
press conference in Yerevan on Saturday on occasion of the merger of
Ameriabank and Cascade Bank.

He believes that the banking sector in Armenia will pass the same way
as the banking systems in other countries. "It is important for us to
understand that competition is not only internal, but also with the
global banking system, in general. The local banks must be competitive
by all criteria: by the size of capital, technologies,
risk-management, services. All this requires big investments," Ruben
Vardanyan said.

On April 10, 2010 Ameriabank and Cascade Bank announced that TDA
Holdings, Inc. had become the shareholder of Cascade Bank. The
agreement between TDA Holdings Limited and Cascade Capital Holdings,
shareholders of Ameriabank and Cascade Bank respectively was announced
in March. The Central Bank of Armenia approved the agreement on April
7th. TDA Holding acquired shares in Cascade Bank as the first step in
a merger of the two banks. The merger is to be completed by November
2010. The former shareholder of Cascade Bank, the Gafesjian Family
Fund, will get a not large share in the capital of the bank.

The amount of the deal has not been announced. The merger will create
one of the strongest financial institutions in Armenia with
consolidated capital of USD 75 million, assets of USD 400 million,
liabilities of USD 262 million assuring the bank among top three
positions in the domestic market. As of late 2009 total capital of
Cascade Bank was $20.1 million (17th position in the banking system)
and capital of Ameriabank was $57.5 million (4th position).

TIGRAN MARTIROSYAN IS EUROPE’S CHAMPION

Tert.am
09:46 09.04.10

Armenian weightlifter Tigran Martirosyan had marvelous performance
in Europe Weightlifting 2010 Championship taking place in Belarus.

Martirosyan (w/c 75kg) won a gold medal by lifting a total of 360 kg.

He lifted 165 kg in the snatch combination, while in the jerk one
Martirosyan lifted 195 kg.

It is noteworthy that in a second attempt during the snatch
combination Martirosyan tried to lift 205 kg that would be a world
record. Unfortunately, he failed to do so. Anyway, he succeeded in
winning both the big gold medal and the two small gold medals.

The championship will go on today, and some other Armenian weightlifter
will take part in it.