Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

ARMENIAN COMPANIES’ SHARE IN IT DECREASED BY 38%

news.am
Feb 9 2010
Armenia

Share of Armenian companies decreased by 38% in IT sphere. At the
same time, average revenue per company for locals increased by nearly
25% and only by 9% for the foreign branches, Enterprise Incubator
Foundation (EIF) report reads.

In 2009, the turnover of Armenian software and services sector reached
around $130m resulting in 27% CAGR in 1998-2009. This turnover figure
constitutes 1.1% of Armenia’s $11.9 bn nominal GDP in 2008. It is
close to the share of IT sector in GDP for such countries as India
(1.4%) and Germany (1.3%)

In 2006-2009, industry showed compound annual growth of 24%.

Industry’s contribution to the total exports rose from 3.6% in 2003
to 5.6% in 2009 proving the growing importance of the software sector
for Armenia’s landlocked economy focused on the expansion of export
oriented businesses.

33 largest companies (with turnover $1m and over) comprising 17% of
all IT firms generating 60% of all industry revenue. Today, there are
13 more companies with revenue ranging $1m and over compared to 2006.

Number of small firms with less than $100,000 in revenue also increased
by 4%, although these firms do not have any visible impact on the
industry. Rising operating costs and low effectiveness of small
companies make it highly difficult for companies with less than 10
employees to operate in the long term.

PRESS RELEASE
JOINT STATEMENT
Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Contact: John De Trana
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

February 9, 2010

MEETING WITH SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON POSTPONED

President Sargsyan Urges Turkey to Honor its Commitments

Washington, DC – with a blizzard that blanketed Washington, DC over
the weekend, and more snow predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday,
today’s meeting scheduled with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly), the Armenian General
Benevolent Union (AGBU), the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern), the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Western), the Knights
of Vartan, and the Armenian National Committee of America, has been
postponed, announced the Assembly and AGBU.

Meanwhile, today, Armenia’s President, Serzh Sargsyan in a message to
his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul urged Turkey to honor its
commitments stating that "now the time has come to manifest
determination to make [the] next major step and leave to the coming
generations a stable and secure region."

The Assembly and AGBU welcome President Sargsyan’s renewed call to
Turkey and view the meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton as an opportunity to discuss steps in which the U.S. can take
to ensure that Turkey lift its blockade and normalize relations with
Armenia without preconditions. Considering Turkey’s behavior, the
timing is even more appropriate for the United States to reaffirm its
record of Genocide acknowledgement and honor President Obama’s
commitment that "America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about
the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides." The
House of Representatives is set to consider the Armenian Genocide
Resolution in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4, and with
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s support, the Senate should advance
the resolution as well.

Late last week, unfortunately, a specious editorial by the Armenian
Weekly, about the upcoming meeting with Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, not only misrepresented the facts, but unfortunately sowed
seeds of division instead of presenting a united front. While the
State Department had asked for discussions to consider expanding the
meeting to include four more slots, the Armenian Assembly of America
and the Armenian National Committee of America/Armenian Revolutionary
Federation could not reach consensus on who those additional
participants should be or several other matters. To date, the Armenian
National Committee of America has not even confirmed whether it will
attend or not, regardless of the ultimate configuration of the meeting
participants, and has also declined to meet at the Embassy of the
Republic of Armenia with all the groups invited prior to the meeting
with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The AGBU and Assembly want to be clear: "We would welcome the
participation of additional independent voices in the meeting, but do
not support the attempt by a political party to enhance its agenda to
politicize the process and further polarize the community. Those
initially invited are the organizations which had voiced their
position at the initiation of the issue of the Protocols and represent
a large cross-section of our community. In addition, we should all
agree on a common agenda in advance to present a unified front during
such a meeting, and avoid the type of posturing and lack of respect
with the Secretary of State as displayed during the community meeting
with President Sargsyan in New York City last October."

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian program, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America ()
is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting
public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is
a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

THE RECONCILIATION PROCESS HAS SLOWED DOWN BUT IS NOT DEADLOCKED

Aysor
Feb 8 2010
Armenia

Turkey is playing for time in Armenian – Turkish reconciliation
process, said Director of Institute of Oriental Studies at Armenian
National Academy of Sciences Ruben Safrastyan. He also added that it
is rather early to speak about the deadlock in the process.

"Turkey seems to make its trade with the USA more objective", –
the speaker said adding that during the upcoming two months the
Turkish side will undertake some distinct stepswhich come from the
normalization of the Armenian – Turkish relations.

"There is a possibility that in these months the commission of foreign
affairs of Turkey will start discussing the protocols", – said R.

Safrastyan.

The reconciliation process has slowed down but is not deadlocked. It’s
Turkey’s turn to move", – he noted.

SWITZERLAND TO ANNOUNCE THE VERDICT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL CASES FEBRUARY 9

armradio.am
05.02.2010 12:38

A top Turkish diplomat will travel to Switzerland to seek support
against an Armenian court ruling that Ankara says threatens the
normalization process between Turkey and Armenia. Questions linger
over his efforts, however, because Bern considers it a crime to deny
the Armenian Genocide.

Sinirlioglu’s visit will also take place just a few days before a final
verdict is issued for three Turks who were found guilty of denying
genocide claims, the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review reports.

After months of Swiss-mediation and U.S. encouragement, Turkey and
Armenia signed two protocols in October to establish diplomatic ties
and reopen their shared border.

But the process hit the rocks after the Armenian court upheld the
legality of the protocols, but underlined that the interpretation and
application of the protocols should be in compliance with the Armenian
Declaration of Independence, which states: "The Republic of Armenia
stands in support of the task of achieving international recognition
of the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia."

Following the decision, Turkey asked Switzerland and the United States
for clarification, bur both said the decision would not hamper the
commission’s discussions but refused to give an assurance in writing.

Sinirlioglu will try to convince Swiss authorities at talks in Bern
on Friday to give a binding assurance that the historians’ commission
will work without any prejudice about the final outcome. This could
prove difficult, however, because denial of the Armenian Genocide is
a crime according to Swiss law.

A final verdict is expected Feb. 9 on an appeal from three Turks
found guilty of denying Armenian genocide claims. Turkish politician
Dogu Perincek was the first Turkish citizen to be found guilty by
the Swiss court. He is also among the suspects in the trial of an
alleged gang called Ergenekon that is suspected of seeking to topple
the government by staging a coup.

WHAT MESSAGES U.S. SENDS SPEAKING OF PROBABILITY OF WAR?

news.am
Feb 5 2010
Armenia

"While Azerbaijan speaks from a stronger stand, diplomatic pressure
on Armenia increases," oppositional Armenian National Congress member
Vladimir Karapetyan told NEWS.am.

"Unlike the period when Azerbaijan had to withstand two Armenian states
at the negotiating table, under Kocharyan’s presidency Armenia alone
was driving a bargain. Presently, two Turkish states oppose Armenia
that gives exceptional diplomatic advantage to Azerbaijan," he added.

According to him, Azerbaijan will ring these changes and only after
final strengthening of its diplomatic positions, it will be capable
of thinking about military actions. "At the moment I do not think
hostility is possible," oppositionist said.

Asked what changes Karabakh peace process underwent, having Stratfor
experts as well as Director of U.S. National Intelligence Dennis Blair
speaking of probability of Armenia-Azerbaijan war, Karapetyan replied:
"I do not rule certain arrangement with RA authorities to shape public
opinion that in case of no concessions hostilities are possible. At
the moment, out authorities can refer to these U.S. structures creating
a favorable basis for concessions."

ANC: ARMENIAN CC VIOLATES LAW

news.am
Feb 3 2010
Armenia

The RA Constitutional Court fixed March 5 as the date for hearing
the appeal lodged by Nikol Pashinyan, one of the candidates in
by-elections in Election District #10, thereby grossly violating the RA
Constitution, stated the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).

According to the ANC, the RA Constitutional Court violated point 18
of Article 74 of the RA Law on Constitutional Court, which sets a
30-day deadline for appeals against municipal election results.

"The point does not allow of any other interpretation," the ANC states.

According to the statement, the RA Constitutional Court grossly
violated the law regulating its activities.

The ANC states that the most likely reason for the violation is the
deadline for Nikol Pashinyan’s appeal considered by the RA Court of
Appeal, as well as the enforcement of the verdict.

"This is evidence that the Constitutional Court received an order
to reject the appeal and, in defiance of the law, avoid moral
responsibility for its verdict unseating Nikol Pashinyan," the
ANC states.

AGARAK COPPER MOLYBDENUM COMBINE PLANS TO INCREASE PRODUCTION VOLUMES IN 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.02.2010 18:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Agarak Copper Molybdenum Combine CJSC processed
around 1.3 million ton of ore in the first half year of 2009, exceeding
2008 results (second half year) by 5%. As predicted, the volumes of
ore mining and processing shall increase up to 3-3,5 million ton in
the current year.

In 2009 the Company produced about 248 ton molybdenum concentrate and
13.500 ton copper concentrate. In February of 2009, because of the
impact of global economic crisis the Company stopped its production
activities and resumed its full scale operation starting from June 30.

Since the end of 2008 ACMC’s operation became instable and starting
from the month of October it started to accumulate losses, which were
covered at the expense of investments of the shareholders. From the
moment of stoppage of the Company 500 employees out of 900 continued
renovation-recovery works and received full salaries, and 400 employees
were on downtime vacation, and received 2/3 of their salaries. After
the Company restarted it operation all the employees were reinstated.

Increase of the processing volumes last year was achieved due to
the anti-crisis program, which was aimed at technical re-equipment,
which resulted in increase of mining and production effectiveness. The
program suggests a systematized approach, including capital investments
for modernization of production, raising of qualification of junior
staff, as well as changes of organizational structure of the Company.

In 2010 the Company is planning to increase mining and processing
volumes up to 3-3,5 million ton, and reach the volumes of stripping
works up to 2.2 million cubic meters. Growth shall be obtained due to
technical re-equipment and, particularly due to modernization of the
processing plant. In the result of such re-equipment ore processing
capacity of the plant and the extraction level of useful matter will
increase. Due to modernization of the plant the self-cost of the
production will considerably reduce, because the costs for electric
power, photoreagents and other components will decrease.

For mining of 3,5 million ton ore it is important to increase the
number of mining machinery and vehicles. Increase of ore mining will
bring about increase of stripping works.

Social issues are one of the most important problems for
the management. Salaries are regularly paid and all social
responsibilities are being carried out. City-formation policy is one
of the Companys priorities. It is actively cooperates with the Agarak
city administration, and to the extent of its abilities participates
in realization of social projects.

GeoProMining Group obtained the shares of Agarak Copper Molybdenum
Combine in December of 2007. GeoPromining specializes in mining and
processing of metaliferous ores (copper, molybdenum, antimony) and
precious metals (gold, silver). The Group has a diversified production
structure and markets. Deposits and processing plants of the Group
are in Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Vietnam.

HARUTYUNYAN’S TIES WITH PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE FORMER CHAIR REASON FOR POSTANJYAN’S REMOVAL?

Tert.am
17:14 â~@¢ 03.02.10

The Heritage Party will continue to dispute the decision to remove
Heritage Party MP Zaruhi Postanjyan from a permanent standing position
in Armenia’s PACE delegation, said Heritage Party leader Stepan
Safaryan and Postanjyan herself, while speaking to journalists today.

Postanjyan noted that one of the reasons for the decision is that
the former chair of the PACE Monitoring Committee has close ties
with the head of the Armenian delegation, Davit Harutyunyan. "Davit
Harutyunyan participated in meetings, presented opinions; however,
similar opportunites were not made available to me," she said.

In Postanjyan’s opinion, Armen Rustamyan shouldn’t be a member of the
Armenian delegation since he represents that political party which was
the ruling party during the events of March 1, 2008. Consequently,
the Dashnaks (Armenian Revolutionary Federation members) will not
be impartial in presenting the March 1 events and they won’t come to
the defense of the rights of prisoners, said Postanjyan.

According to Safaryan, the parliamentarian representing the ruling
party in PACE has more opportunities. "However displeased they might
be by policies implemented by Armenia’s governing authorities, it
doesn’t matter, they are obliged to accept their perspective," he said.

In Safaryan’s observation, the authorities consistently continue to
impede Heritage Party’s activities. One of the testimonies of this
fact is that someone else, instead of Larisa Alaverdyan, is going to
participate in the upcoming OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session.

"If Armenia’s governing authorities spent as much consistency,
diligence, energy and efforts into overcoming external cries for war
as they do toward fighting against Heritage, then Genocide-denier
CavuÅ~_oglu wouldn’t today be representing Europe, there wouldn’t be
numerous battle cries and unfulfilled obligations before Armenia,"
he said.

HERITAGE PARTY INFORMS GERMAN DELEGATION OF CALLS TO SHUT DOWN PARTY

Tert.am
16:32 ~U 03.02.10

Heritage Party board chair, Armen Martirosyan, and party faction
leader, Stiopa Safaryan, held meetings yesterday with the German
Liberal-Democratic Party delegation, reads a statement released by
the Heritage Party.

The meeting was aimed at boosting cooperation between like-minded
liberal Armenian and European political forces.

Martirosyan presented the party’s political activities, while
Safaryan. its parliamentary activities. The parties discussed the
most important issues currently on the Armenian political agenda: the
release of political prisoners, the completion of the investigation
of March 1 events, prerogatives over the reforms in mass media,
and political and electoral systems.

Heritage leaders also presented to the delegation the party’s vision
and stance over the process of normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations.

They also spoke about specific instances when party activities were
hampered in parliament.

The statement also says the parties spoke about "mandated" requests
to close down the Heritage Party, as well as about the "dirty
propaganda organized by mass media operating under the control of
the authorities."

FAMOUS ARMENOLOGIST GEVORG KHRLOPIAN DIES

Noyan Tapan
Feb 1, 2010

GLENDALE, FEBRUARY 1, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Famous
Armenologist, Ph.D. Gevorg Khrlopian died in Glendale on January 31
after a long illness. He was 82.

Gevorg Khrlopian was born on August 19, 1927 in Aleppo. His father
Tigran Khrlopian was an Armenologist, the founding head of the
Department of Armenian Studies at Haykazian University in Beirut.

Gevorg Khropian received his education at the Emmanuel Armenian
School in Aleppo, then at Aleppo College, after which he studied
at the Department of Armenian Language, Psychology and Logic of
Yerevan State University. He earned a degree of Candidate of Science
in the history of Armenian philosophy, then a degree of Doctor of
Science. In 1965-1985 he studied the history of Armenian theology
under the guidance of the Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I. He
was a Doctor of Theology.

He wrote a number of monographies, including "The World View of
Anania Shirakatsy", "The Humanism of Grigor Narekatsy", "Problems of
Complex Upbringing at School", "Social and Psychological Problems of
University Upbringing", "The Modern Notions of Upbringing", etc. He
was the author of 20 brochures and about 200 research papers on
Armenological, religious and other issues.

Among the awards he received were the St. Sahak and S. Mesrop Order
conferred by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin I, a silver medal
of Yerevan State University, the Mkhitar Sebastiatsi Medal of the
Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice, other awards.

The Noyan Tapan media association expresses its deep condolences to
the relatives of Gevorg Khrlopian – a great scientist, a prominent
Armenologist and theologian, and a dedicated son of the Armenian
people.