Author: Tambiyan Samvel

Rosfinmonitoring delegation to arrive in Yerevan on January 21 at
invitation of Armenian CB Financial Monitoring Center

2008-01-18 19:02:00

ArmInfo. Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring)
delegation is to arrive in Yerevan on January 21at invitation of
Armenian Central Bank Financial Monitoring Center. Armenian CB
press-service told ArmInfo, meetings are expected with the heads of CB
and relevant services of CB as well as representatives of Prosecutor
General’s Office.

The source reports Oleg Markov, Head of Rosfinmonitoring, Chairman of
Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism
(EAG) heads the delegation. His deputy Sergey Osipov, Head of the
Rosfinmonitoring Department for International Relations and Vice
Chairman of CoE MANEYVAL Committee Vladimir Nechaev, as well as others
are in the delegation. CB Center of Financial Monitoring and Federal
Services of Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring) will sign a
cooperation agreement on January 22. Members of inter-department
commission on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism
(EAG) will attend te signing-ceremony. Rosfinmonitoring representatives
will organize seminars for law-enforcement and CB specialists at the
Central Bank on January 23.

The visit of the delegation will over on January 24.

FIRST ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS OSCE OBSERVERS, JANUARY 18

arminfo
2008-01-18 21:19:00

ArmInfo. First Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan received Head
of OSCE/ODIHR’s observation mission to monitor the 2008 presidential
election in Armenia Geert-Hinrich Ahrens, Deputy Head of the mission
Paul O’Grady and political analyst Lolita Cigane, Friday.

As ArmInfo learnt from the campaign headquarters of the ex-president of
the country, head of the campaign headquarters of Levon Ter-Petrosyan
Aleksander Arzumanyan, director of the first president’s office Avetis
Avakyan were also present at the meeting. A practical talk took place,
which covered issues on the current pre-election situation in Armenia,
the course of presidential election, as well as the activity of the
observation mission.

GRAVES PLANNED TO BE CARRIED AWAY FROM NARIMANOV DISTRICT CEMETERY

Today, Azerbaijan
Jan 16 2007

Regular works on carrying graves away from the cemetery of the
Narimanov district of Azerbaijani capital will start on January 25.

"These works were to be initiated earlier, yet bad weather and ice make
grave digging difficult", director of the cemetery in the Narimanov
district Kamran Mamedov said.

He explained that the transfer of graves to Govsany from the other
part of the cemetery is caused by the plans of the city administration
to lay a new street of Teymur Aliyev on this territory.

The problem of this cemetery went beyond not only Baku, but also
Azerbaijan, as people of different nationalities, whose relatives
reside all over the world, are buried there. Many former Bakuvians,
whose relatives were buried at this cemetery, have settled in
Armenia. Therefore, the so called disrespect to the deceased in Baku
is discussed in the Council of Europe owing to the Foreign Ministry
of Armenia.

It is possible to understand workers, who carry out a heavy work of
digging out tens of corpses a day. If there are no relatives of the
deceased near the grave, the lower-paid salaried workers work without
due respect to the corpses.

But this does not relieve the pain of the relatives. The issue of the
attitude to graves on the Narimanov cemetery was officially raised
by the Coordination Council of Russian-language public organizations
in Azerbaijan, Russian and Ukrainian communities of Azerbaijan and
organization "Commonwealth". Before raising the issue on the European
level, these organizations sent an appeal to President Ilham Aliyev
with a request to carry out this process in conformity with the norms
of religion and morals.

According to Baku reporter Semen Kastrulin, who was directly connected
with the issue, previously the government allocated one free coffin for
each corpse, while now due to the absence of funds of the Executive
powers of the Narimanov district, the ready graves are not purchased
from the producer.

The relatives of the deceased can purchase coffins from the producing
firm at M.Gashgay street, corner of M.Akhundov street.

High quality coffins cost AZN 80 each. Kastryulin states that the
transfer of graves from the second part of the Narimanov district
cemetery started on December 15 of 2007.

K.Mamedov opposed Kastryulin’s words about the lack of funds in the
Administration of the Narimanov district for purchasing coffins. He
said the government undertook all expenses for the transfer of
graves. He also noted that the works are carried with due respect to
the national traditions of a family of the deceased.

URL:

INECOBANK INCLUDED IN LIST OF 50 BEST MICROFINANCE ORGANIZATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.01.2008 18:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ranking 26, Armenia’s Inecobank entered the list
of top 50 microfinance institutions of the world, prepared by the
Microfinance Information Exchange under the direction of Forbes
magazine, Inecobank told PanARMENIAN.Net.

Forbes’ first-ever list of the World’s Top 50 Microfinance Institutions
were chosen from a field of 641 micro-credit providers. To qualify,
the institutions must have made available their audited financials
and must have passed review by a Forbes panel of advisers.

This sortable table gives the rank (out of 641) for the top
institutions according to scale, which is based on the size of their
gross loan portfolio; efficiency, which considers operating expense
and the cost per borrower as a percent of the gross national income per
capita of their country of operation; risk, which looks at the quality
of their loan portfolios, measured as the percent of the portfolio
at risk greater than 30 days; and return, which is measured as a
combination of return on equity and return on assets. Each category
is equally weighted for an institution’s overall ranking.

Mediamax, Azerbaijan
Jan 14 2008

Armenian leader back after eye surgery in France

Yerevan, January 14: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan underwent an
ophthalmologic surgery in Paris last week on eliminating pterigyum.

As the spokesman for the Armenian president, Viktor Soghomonyan, told
Mediamax today, "the illness does not create problems for sight".

"The president is recovering, he returned to Yerevan on Saturday
evening and continues working without any changes on the agenda," the
spokesman stressed.

6 LICENCES FOR AUDIT SERVICES GRANTED IN 2007

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA ministry of finance and
economy granted 6 licences for providing audit services in 2007. In the
indicated period, 6 licences for audit services were cancelled, 7
licences suspended and one licence for providing audit services was
reformulated.

State duties of 8 mln 234.1 thousand drams were collected in order
envisaged by law in 2007, including duties of 8 mln 82.5 thousand drams
from audit companies and duties of 151,6 thousand drams – from private
auditors. Fines of 800 thousand drams were imposed.

Out of 27 applicants who took an auditor qualification examination, 5
received a qualification of auditor, while out of 78 persons who took
an accountant qualification examination, 33 a qualification of
accountant. State duties of only 315 thousand drams (about 1,000 USD)
were charged from the persons who took examinations for qualification
of auditors and accountants.

According to the press service of the RA ministry of finance and
economy, as of January 1, 2008, there were 29 licensed audit
organizations and 6 licensed private auditors in Armenia. As of the
same date, 157 auditors and 20 accountants had valid qualification
certificates.

Bulgaria’s Ambassador hands his credentials to President Kocharyan

armradio.am
15.01.2008 14:30

The newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the
Republic of Belarus to Armenia Thodor Marinov Staikov presented his
credentials to RA President Robert Kocharyan, President’s Press Office
reported.

Robert Kocharyan noted that the Armenian-Bulgarian relations have good
bases, which is a good precondition for the new Ambassador to enlarge
the framework of cooperation with his active work.

The Ambassador conveyed the greetings of Bulgarian President Georgy
Prvanov to Mr. Kocharyan and said that he is ready to do his best for
the development of Armenian-Bulgarian relations.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 15 2008

Erdoðan: Iraq operations may be extended if needed

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said yesterday that his
government may seek an extension of its parliamentary mandate to
attack the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq
when the current authorization expires in October.

His remarks came in Madrid at a meeting with members of the Spanish
media hosted by the Spanish Europa Press agency. The meeting — which
took place ahead of today’s landmark meeting of the UN Alliance of
Civilizations initiative, in which Erdoðan will be participating —
was aired live on Turkish news channel NTV.
Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops, backed by warplanes,
artillery and tanks, near its border with Iraq. Parliament approved a
resolution on Oct. 17 providing the legal basis for cross-border
operations against the PKK over a 12-month period.

"We hope our fight against terrorism ends quickly, but I can’t say
when it will end. If it doesn’t end, we will ask Parliament for the
authorization to continue," Erdoðan said.

Turkey claims the right under international law to carry out
cross-border operations and has been receiving intelligence from the
US, its NATO ally, to pinpoint PKK targets. The US and the EU, like
Turkey, classify the PKK as a terrorist organization. In addition to
air and artillery strikes, Turkish commandos have staged limited
raids into Iraqi territory. But commentators say a full-scale
invasion is unlikely, despite the troops amassed along the border.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people since
1984, when the terrorist organization began its fight for an ethnic
homeland in southeastern Turkey.

`Article 301 amendment soon’

During the meeting with Spanish media, the prime minister pledged
that within a month his government would propose an amendment to
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which has been widely
considered a stumbling block for freedom of expression in Turkey.

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Þahin had originally said the article
would be sent to Parliament last week, but divisions within the
government over the scope of the change — which is opposed by
powerful nationalist parties — have caused delays.

The EU, which Ankara hopes to join, says the article stifles free
speech and must be changed. It has been used against dozens of
writers and journalists, including slain Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate Orhan Pamuk.

`Meeting with Merkel, Sarkozy in May’

While reiterating Ankara’s objection to any option short of Turkey’s
full membership in the EU, Erdoðan said he would meet with the
leaders of Germany and France — which oppose Ankara’s bid to join
the EU — in May to discuss future relations between the EU and
Turkey. Erdoðan had already said last week that the meeting would
take place in Germany, but he had not given a date. Turkey rejects
outright the idea of any privileged partnership that would replace
full membership in the 27-nation bloc. French President Nicolas
Sarkozy proposes membership in a "Mediterranean Union" instead of
Turkish EU membership.

15.01.2008

Today’s Zaman Ankara

Levon Aronyan in the lead

armradio.am
14.01.2008 10:56

Defeating ex-World Champion, Bulgarian Vesellin Topalov in the first
round and Boris Gelfand of Israel in the second round, Armenian Grand
Master Levon Aronyan is in the lead in the Curus International Chess
Tournament underway in Wijk aan Zee, Holland.

Grand Master Gabriel Sargsyan, who plays in Group B, played a draw with
Sergey Movsisyan of Slovenia and Smets of the Netherlands. He currently
shares the 7th to 10th places with one point. Six players have 1.5
points.

Lragir, Armenia
Jan 11 2008

THE BALLOON OF THE ARMENIAN ECONOMY

In an interview with the ARKA news agency the president of the
Central Bank revealed, maybe unintentionally, the misery of the
Armenian economy, although against the background of glamour.
However, Serge Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan need not reproach Tigran
Sargsyan in this pre-election stage for thoughtless judgments.
Firstly, Tigran Sargsyan is one of the few officials who could be
accused of anything except thoughtless judgments. With the ability to
think and to judge – the court of law is not meant – Tigran Sargsyan
differs from other representatives of the public administration.
Simply the activities of this system have created a situation when in
saying something you unintentionally reveal the balloon of the
Armenian economy, the most dangerous thing about which is that it is
blown from the outside.

If at least we blew the balloon of our economy, we would know the
degree we need and we would not blow it too big to burst, and our
facial expression would not turn into horror and fear, like the face
of the child who blows a balloon with a feeling of joy and pride as
it grows big, which turns into fear in a wink when the balloon
bursts, usually without a warning. Meanwhile, if our economy is blown
from the outside which Tigran Sargsyan confirms, saying that
remittances exceed one billion dollars, and will continue to grow
with a progressive dynamics, it is possible that they will go too
far, even not intentionally but out of mentality to which Tigran
Sargsyan also refers to. He says it is typical of the Armenian
mentality to invest more money in Armenia as they start earning more
abroad. The point is that this money is invested in households and
spent on daily expenses. In other words, when this type of investment
is moderate, it has a positive effect, but as soon as it is too big,
it may lead to cataclysms on the monetary market. The president of
the Central Bank must be aware of this. He must be also aware of the
losses of our citizens and producers due to the depreciation of the
dollar with the same progressive dynamic as the growth of the
remittances. And their growth is claimed to be one of the main
reasons for the depreciation of the dollar and the revaluation of the
dram.

And since, according to Tigran Sargsyan, we deal with the almighty
mentality, it is clear that even if an extra one dollar of the
remittance were destructive for Armenia, the relative living abroad
would nevertheless send it to the relative living in Armenia, because
he will take care of his relative rather than the state or the
society. Such is mentality and nothing can be done about it. In other
words, they will continue blowing the balloon. We only need to close
our ears not to go deaf or stop the blowing. However, in case of
stopping people will not afford to buy, which means the growth of the
economy based on imports and services will stop. And every reader
without any knowledge of economy can understand the consequences. In
that case, we will not be lost, and the country will not collapse, of
course, because the benefactors of our times will lend a hand to the
society. However, it is not clear who will lend a hand to our
benefactors, from whom or where they will draw immense profits
through raising prices and depreciating the dollar to give the crumbs
to the society.

JAMES HAKOBYAN