Author: Markos Nalchajian

Alina Hovhannisyan. Starting next year, the Armenian Trinity Canyon Vineyards Winery, which is the beneficiary of the The Organic Agriculture Support Initiative (OASI) program, funded by the EU, will start exporting organic wine. The executive director of the plant, Hovakim Saghatelyan, told journalists about this as part of a study tour with the EU delegation to Vayots Dzor region.

Answering the question of ArmInfo, H.. Saghatelyan noted that since the time of its foundation, an organic wine has been produced at the winery, but production has received certification only this year. The vast majority of products is exported to a number of European countries – Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, and is sold in specialized stores in the domestic market. On average, the total production is 30 thousand bottles per year.

"Organic farming is the future of Armenia. And our most important task is to return to our sources and produce organic wine, which our ancestors produced more than 6 thousand years ago. Today we are trying to establish a niche in the market under the conditional name historical wines, which we hope to fill with other producers in the region – Georgia and our other neighbors. And then a European will want to taste the wine from which the history of the wine began, "he said.

To note the vineyard "Trinity" was founded in 2009 in Areni on the territory adjacent to one of the oldest wine regions in the world. The production process itself has been launched since 2013.

To note Karine Sargsyan, marketing specialist of the OASI (The Organic Agriculture Support Initiative ) program of the Austrian Development Agency, said earlier that in the GDP structure the share of agriculture is 20%, of which only 0.01% is organic. The expert attributed low production volumes to the lack of public awareness about the benefits of organic production, which certainly affects the level of consumption. At the same time, K. Sargsyan noted that Armenian organic products are ahead of the quality of producers in European countries, taking into account the climatic conditions and the number of sunny days.

OASI was launched in Armenia in January 2015 and is being implemented by the Austrian Development Agency with EU funding. The initiative is aimed at the development of organic agriculture and the sale of organic products in Armenia both in the domestic and foreign markets. The total program budget is 3.3 million euros.

According to the latest data of the RA Customs Service, in 2017 Armenia exported 2.8 million liters of wine, with an annual growth of 50.5%, while the customs value grew by 81% to $ 10.78 million. -0-

Emmanuel Mkrtchyan. The Gini ratio, a statistical indicator of the degree of social stratification based on consumption, puts Armenia at a moderate level of inequality, the WB report "Unequal opportunities in the South Caucasus" says.

According to the report, while the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia show some degree of heterogeneity in terms of inequality, with Gini ratio in the range from 0.25 to 0.45, for 15 years Georgia did not find any noticeable signs of deterioration. and in Armenia, the Gini coefficient based on consumption ranges from 0.30 to 0.35.

It is noted that, as of November 2017, income inequality in Armenia and Georgia is significantly lower, on average, among 30 low- and middle-income countries. For example, Gini coefficients calculated for final income and considering pension payments as deferred income in Armenia and Georgia are 0.36 and 0.38, respectively, which is significantly lower than the 0.41 coefficient for an average of 30 countries.

Moreover, as noted in the report, citizens' perception of property inequality is often more important than the actual state of affairs, since perception is more closely linked to effective political actions, such as voting, behavior, or government policy. As a result, despite rather unremarkable tendencies, the understanding that inequality is widening is rather widespread among the residents of Armenia and Georgia. Over 75% of respondents in Armenia and 60% in Georgia believe that inequality is widening. Armenia is distinguished by the fact that the proportion of the population that believes that the gap between the rich and the poor should be reduced exceeded 80% of the respondents and is one of the highest in the region, while Georgia is among the countries of the region with a relatively smaller share of the population adhering to this opinion.

According to experts, such an approach of the population is associated with certain difficulties associated with inequality of opportunities for people and a less transparent procedure for the allocation of resources, which increases the degree of discontent among people. In Armenia, this issue is most acute not so much due to the gap between the poor and the rich, as a large gap between the poor and middle classes and a huge gap between the poor and oligarchs, which since the early 1990s due to uncontrolled privatization and other illegal ways have accumulated incredibly huge wealth. Thus, according to experts, "collapsed social contract", and the majority of the population realized that they face difficulties related to unequal access to markets in the absence of competition and inadequate regulation. This is a process in which even a good education and significant efforts do not contribute to the growth of well-being.

Such feelings of inequality are likely to be relevant in Azerbaijan and Georgia, since these countries share similar institutional problems in Armenia caused by the imperfection of the transition period, experts at the World Bank emphasize.

Elite Babayan. September 27 at 19:00 in the large conference hall of the Presidential Administration in Moscow will host a memorial evening "As long as I can remember, I live", dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the death of the outstanding Soviet composer and pianist Arno Babajanyan.

Exactly 35 years ago – on November 11, 1983 the great Soviet composer Arno Babajanyan passed away, leaving a rich cultural heritage to millions of his admirers. This date annually unites millions of hearts. "This year's memorial concert program will feature – in high recognition sign of reverence and respect for the merits of the maestro, his most famous works will be performed within the walls of a large conference hall of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation with the participation of the Central Military Orchestra of the Ministry of Defense of Russia", – he informed in a conversation with ArmInfo Sarkisyants, the general producer of the International Fund for the Memory of Arno Babadzhanyan, was the ArmInfo correspondent in Moscow.

Famous Russian and Armenian singers – Jean Tatlian, Zaur Tutov, Alexey Glyzin, Natalya Manulik, Armine Sargsyan, Gagik Ezakyan and others will take part in the concert.

The organizer of the memorial evening is the United Trade Union Committee of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Staff of the Government of the Russian Federation, the Staff of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Co-organizers are the International Memorial Fund Arno Babajanyan and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Russia and the All-Russian Public Organization of the Union of Armenians of Russia. Information partner of the event is Information Company ArmInfo.

The great maestro moved to Moscow in 1956. The composer gained great popularity as a songwriter, successfully collaborated with the poet R. Rozhdestvensky and singer M. Magomayev. Phenomenal success fell to the share of songs written in co-authorship with E.Evtushenko, A.Voznesensky, L.Derbenev. "Song of the first love" and "Yerevan" are perceived today as a hymn to the native city.

Only favorite Moscow – the best city in the world, maestro dedicated 5 songs. But Moscow did not remain indebted to the greatest composer. In 2001, in Moscow, in recognition of the maestro's merits, the Arnaud Babajanyan Star was opened. In 2008, in the Gazette Lane – in the house where the maestro lived almost 30 years, a memorial plaque by the sculptor Tigran Arzumanyan was installed. In 2013, by order of the Department of Culture of Moscow, one of the Moscow schools was renamed the Children's Music School named after Arno Babajanian. Last year, on the initiative of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the Russian airline Aeroflot assigned one of its aircrafts the name of Arno Babajanyan – A.BABAJANYAN.

Alexander Avanesov. In the world-famous Metropolitan Museum in New York on September 22 an exhibition "Armenia!" Will open, where exhibits from the Museum of the History of Armenia, Matenadaran and Etchmiadzin will be presented.

The Minister of Culture Lilit Makunts, the director of the Museum of the History of Armenia Grigor Grigoryan, the director of the Matenadaran Vahan Ter-Ghevondyan and the director of the Museums and Archives of the Holy Echmiadzin Astghik Karapetyan stated this at the July 18 press conference. The exhibition is devoted to the artistic and cultural achievements of the Armenian people from the adoption of Christianity to the 17th century. The exhibition will feature 140 exhibits, including 34 exhibits from the Museum of the History of Armenia, 20 exhibits from Etchmiadzin and 28 manuscripts from Matenadaran. There will be exhibits, which will be exhibited for the first time.

Minister Makunts noted that the exhibits were also provided by the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, the fraternity of the St. Hakobyan Church, the Mkhitarist Congregation, the Galust Gulbenkian Museum and other museums. Makunts stressed that before the opening press conference will be held for the international press, there will also be interviews that will increase interest in this important event. The curator of the exhibition is the Byzantologist Helen Evans, who worked in Yerevan for many years. The charity companies donated money to the event. The exhibition will last until January 13, 2019.