Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

BJNI CASE IN EUROPEAN COURT

5600.html
16:35:31 – 19/10/2009

The Bjni mineral water company informs that the third department of
the European Court accepted the factory’s application against the
Republic of Armenia. Recall that on July 24, 2009 the Bjni Mineral
Water Company and Sukiasyan appealed to the Human Rights Court of
Europe against the Republic of Armenia. The appliers asked a just
compensation of 220 million euro.

In accordance with some international experts’ opinion, this claim
is grounded regardless this fact the European court may make the
Republic of Armenia pay less money considering the social situation
in the country.

DECLINE IN GAS CONSUMPTION PREDICTED IN ARMENIA IN 2009

ArmInfo
2009-10-20 12:14:00

ArmInfo. Consumption of natural gas in Armenia is expected to fall 15%
in 2009 versus 2008, Karen Karapetyan, Chairman of Board and Director
General of ArmRusgasprom CJSC, told media on Tuesday.

He said a 22% decline in gas consumption has already been registered.

K. Karapetyan believes that the company is unlikely to get profit
for 2009 because of falling consumption and fluctuating currency rates.

In such conditions the company sets no super tasks to raise gas
tariff not to create additional burden for consumers and not to lead
to additional construction of market. K. Karapetyan said: "Financial
flows of the company are managed so that no big investment project is
damaged or delayed." He said that over the last 4 years the company
has invested US$700-750 million and there is no other company to
invest such big funds in the country. The authorized capital of the
company has almost reached $1 billion. "Such indicators, indeed,
allow us to count on profit otherwise we will be unable to invest
in a company having such big economic and social importance for the
country. The government support to the company is the best evidence
of the aforementioned," he said.

Russia supplied 2.2 billion cu meters of gas to Armenia in 2008. The
net profit of the Russian-Armenian CJSC ArmRusgasprom fell 59.2% in
2008 versus 2007 and totaled 4563 million drams. Gazprom OJSC holds an
80% stake in the company and the Government of Armenia – a 20% stake.

ArmRusgasprom is the only supplier of natural gas to Armenia.

AZERBAIJAN: BAKU AND ANKARA IN GAS PRICING DISPUTE

s/articles/eav101909.shtml
10/19/09

Azerbaijan has accused Turkey of delaying Caspian Sea natural
gas exports to Europe by insisting on a bargain-basement price
for Azerbaijani gas. The remarks come at a critical time for
Turkish-Azerbaijani relations, which have been unsettled by the thaw
in relations between Turkey and long-time Azerbaijani foe Armenia.

Addressing his cabinet, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev charged that
Ankara is nickel-and-diming Baku for transit services. "It is not a
secret that for several years now Azerbaijan has been supplying gas
to Turkey for 30 percent of the market rates," the APA news agency
on October 19 quoted Aliyev as saying. "Which country will be happy
to sell its resources at 30 percent of the world market price?"

"We want to sell our gas if not at the world market price, at least
for a price that is close to it," Aliyev continued. "Let this price
not equal the price of the Russian gas, but at the very least it can
be lower by eight to 10 percent, not by 50 percent."

Turkey is the key transit link for the US-backed Nabucco pipeline
project that is meant to bypass Russia to bring Caspian gas to Europe.

Instead of charging a transit fee, Turkey is offering to buy
Azerbaijani gas, and sell it to its European neighbours.

U.S. LEADER URGES TURKISH PRESIDENT STEP UP EFFORTS

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Oct 19 2009

During a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah
Gul, U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the situation in Afghanistan
and the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement.

The two leaders talked about "historic progress" that is being made
to normalize relations between longtime foes Turkey and Armenia and
stressed the importance of intensifying necessary efforts, reported
Associated Press.

A high-ranking official of the U.S. Department of State, who was member
of the U.S. delegation led by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
during the Zurich ceremony, told Associated Press that the United
State is interested in the Armenian-Turkish border being reopened
for the primary reason that it will open a way to Afghanistan.

U.S. President Barack Obama intends to state again the necessity of
ratifying the Armenia-Turkey Protocols signed in Zurich on October
10 as soon as possible, a high-ranking European diplomat told NEWS.am.

During his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
on October 19, President Obama intends to voice the U.S. position:
linking the ratification with other issues is fraught with a breakdown
of the Armenia-Turkey normalization process, which is unacceptable.

Moreover, if the voting fails in the Turkish Parliament, Erdogan may be
relieved of his post, as Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s position is
ratifying the protocols in the near future without any preconditions,
including ones related to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

WB READY TO ASSIST RA AND TURKISH GOVERNMENTS TO ESTABLISH BILATERAL RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.10.2009 10:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Intergovernmental border opening will create new
economy growth perspectives in Armenia, as a landlocked country,
WB Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a news conference in
Yerevan. "WB welcomes the perspective of possible opening of border
with Turkey, which will promote economic development in Armenia and
create new possibilities," she said.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed her readiness to work with RA and
Turkish governments to assist in this important process.

As WM MD stated, WB was instructed by RA Premier Tigran Sargsyan to
assess the needs of Armenian infrastructure in case of possible border
opening. "We’ll be glad to carry out his instructions," WB MD noted.

IFC TO ASSIST ARDSHININVESTBANK IN RISK MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IMPROVEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.10.2009 13:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member
of the World Bank Group, signed an advisory services agreement with
Armenia’s Ardshininvestbank to help improve the bank’s risk management
practices and increase lending to smaller businesses.

The agreement is part of IFC’s broader regional crisis-response
initiative focused on strengthening the banking sector to make it
more sustainable.

Ardshininvestbank is among the top three banks in Armenia and
has an extensive branch network. In light of the recent financial
crisis, IFC is helping the bank enhance its capacity to deal with
nonperforming loans, mitigate risks, and strengthen its lending to
local entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises to stimulate
economic development and job creation.

"As a leading Armenian bank, Ardshininvestbank has attached
great importance to risk assessment and management practices
since its establishment," said Karen Balasanyan, Deputy Chairman
of Ardshininvestbank’s Management Board. "We value very much the
cooperation with IFC and are confident that our clients will notice
the impact of advisory services rendered by IFC experts in the near
future."

Thomas Lubeck, IFC Regional Head of the Caucasus, said, "We are
happy to help one of Armenia’s largest banks address the effects of
the global financial crisis and increase the sustainability of its
operations. This should create additional opportunities for economic
growth in the country."

Interfax, Russia
Oct 16 2009

Armenia plans to start building its section of oil pipeline from Iran
in 2009

YEREVAN Oct 16

Armenia plans to start building its section of an oil product pipeline
to run from Iran’s Tabriz to Yeraskh in southern Armenia before the
end of 2009, Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen
Movsisian said at a press conference on Friday.

Russia will take part in the project, he said.

At the first stage of the project, oil products from Iran would be
shipped to Yeraskh and then distributed around Armenia, Movsisian
said.

The shipments of oil products from Iran through the pipeline are
expected to considerably reduce fuel prices in Armenia.

It was reported earlier that Iran would finance the project, which was
estimated at $240 million-$250 million.

The pipeline will be used for shipping petrol and diesel fuel from an
oil refinery in Tabriz to Armenia. A fuel storage terminal should be
built in Yeraskh as well.

Armenia’s annual demand for fuel is 450,000-500,000 tonnes.

Gafeschyan Cultural Centre to open with Arshil Gorky’s exhibition
17.10.2009 17:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 8-January 31, 2010, Gafeschyan Art
Centre of Yerevan will host the exhibition of outstanding
American-Armenian painter Arshil Gorky, the most monumental
representative of XX century American art. Exhibition will display 16
graphical and 7 oil paintings from the personal collection of Gerard
L. Gafeschyan.

The event will be organized within the frames of Gafeschyan art centre
opening ceremony due in Yerevan on October 7. The same evening,
there’ll be a firework display on the territory of Cascade complex.
Next day, on November 8, the center will host the opening of `For you
Armenia’ exhibition.

The exhibition will display Gerard L. Gafeschyan’s rich personal
collection. The exposition comprises over 100 works by outstanding
gifted masters Libensky and Brychtova . Having worked together for 50
years, spouses Libensky and Brychtova are among the most renowned
representatives of 20th century creative art.

The same day, `David of Sasun’ hall of Gafeschyan art center will host
the presentation of book titled `Libensky and Brychtova’. Both
exhibition opening and book presentation will be attended by Yaroslava
Brychtova.

Gafeschyan museum fund was established in 2002 in Yerevan, under the
auspices of RA Government and Gafeschyan Museum Foundation of America.

The objective was to create a museum of art complying with
international standards, as well as develop a cultural-tourist centre
in Yerevan.

RA Government allotted to the fund the unfinished complex of Cascade
with its adjacent territories.

American businessmen of Armenian decent, Gerard L. Gafeschyan invested
USD 35 million in complex reconstruction, as gratuitous donation to
Armenian people.

ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS ARE MAIN FACTORS OF WORLD ARMENIAN DIASPORA’S INFLUENCE: EXPERTS

Trend
Oct 7 2009
Azerbaijan

The disagreement between the Armenian authorities and the world
Armenian diasporas in the issue of signing the Armenian-Turkish
protocols occurred due to the fact that the issues relating
to Turkey are the main factors of the world Armenian diasporas’
influence. However, the diasporas unlikely will be able to disrupt
the establishment of the Ankara-Yerevan relations, experts believes.

"At present, the lobby intends not only to help Armenia, but harm
Turkey" Cornell said. "This agreement will define the specific borders
between Turkey and Armenia and the diaspora will not recognize the
existing borders," the director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
at Johns Hopkins University, Svante Cornell, believes.

Earlier Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trend News
in an exclusive interview that Turkey and Armenia will sign a deal
to establish diplomatic ties on Oct. 10.

Opposition parties in Armenia have hinted at the possibility of
proposing amendments to the text, including on the proposal to set
up a commission to address the genocide issue.

During his recent international visit, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan met with representatives of Armenian diasporas in Europe,
Argentina and the U.S, and many of them expressed their opposition
to the signing of a Turkish-Armenian agreement.

The Armenian diaspora holds protests worldwide. Sargsyan faced these
actions in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. The demonstrators met
the Armenian president with slogans such as "Traitor!", "No protocols".

Several opposition parties in Armenia are also against Sargsyan’s
policy. Such meetings are also held against signing of the protocols.

On Oct.6, rally was held in Yerevan to protest signing of protocols
on development of relations with Turkey, Armenia Today said. The
event was organized by the movement Miasum "(" Unity "). Protesters
marched to the memorial dedicated to victims of so-called "genocide"
of Armenians. There they burned copy of protocols in eternal fire,
as well as a photo of President Serzh Sargsyan.

According to the experts, the Armenian diasporas are afraid of losing
influence after the signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols.

The world Armenian lobby seriously prevents the normalization of the
Turkish-Armenian relations, since the issues relating to Turkey are
the main factors of the world Armenian diasporas’ influence, Turkish
MP Reshad Dogru said.

The world Armenian lobby hampers normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations with all its might, Cornell added.

"There is great difference between Armenia and the world Armenian
lobby. What is advantageous to the country is not always advantageous
to the Diaspora" Cornell told Trend News over phone on Oct.7.

According to Cornell, the diaspora believes that the Armenian
government does not speak on behalf of its people. "The Diaspora does
its best to influence the president and the Diaspora’s actions are
headache for the Armenian government," Cornell added.

The Armenian diaspora acts rather bravely for many years because the
lobby supports not only financial stability of the country, but also
the internal political processes, the expert said.

However, it is too early to predict the results of the disagreement of
the Armenian government and the world Armenian lobby, the experts said.

As a whole, it is still too early to speak about duration of
impact that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and the world Armenian
diaspora’s confrontation will have, Director of the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies (ACNIS), Richard Giragosian, said.

"The real impact will depend on whether the Turkish parliament ratifies
the protocols.That is the biggest test and it is still to come,"
Giragosian wrote to Trend News via e-mail.

According to the Turkish MP, the Armenian lobby is unlikely to achieve
the breakdown of negotiations.

"I do not believe the Armenian lobby will make breakdown of the
Turkish-Armenian relations, because this is a pro-American project,
and the U.S. government approves the settlement of relations, which
means that the Armenian lobby has failed to play a role," Dogru added.

The issue of the influence of the Diaspora groups in shaping foreign
policy of Armenia is ambiguous, European Expert on Caucasus Licinia
Simao believes.

"The situation is extremely delicate for the Armenian President and his
government, but his decision to consult with the Armenian Diasporas
world -wide, in my view, attest to the serious efforts by Armenian
leaders to bring this process to a positive conclusion," member of
University of Coimbra, Simao wrote to trend News in an e-mail.

According to Simao, despite the radical opposition by some groups,
others more moderate exist and have voiced their support to the
reconciliation process. This is an important departure from the
previous image of the Armenian Diaspora as an homogeneous group.

"Therefore, the balance between being optimistic or pessimistic is
hard to achieve. A lot can happen to derail or endlessly postpone
the process," Simao said.

However, concerning the important US and EU support to this process
which have helped both the Armenian and the Turkish governments
withhold criticism at home and abroad, Simao added.

But with the recent "tour" of the Armenian diapsora, President Sargsyan
seems much more confident and ambitious in taking on the opponents
to normalizing relations with Turkey, Giragosian added.

"In this sense, Sargsyan is confronting the diaspora head-on and, so
far, he seems to be succeeding in deflecting the criticism.Interesting,
this is also resulting in a broad division between the diaspora
and the Armenian government, which only seems to please Turkey,"
the director added.

R.Hafizoglu contributed in the article.

GRAND CANDY COMMITS ACTS OF UNFAIR COMPETITION, SAYS UKRAINIAN PRODUCER

Tert.am
15:56 16.10.09

"Armenian local manufacturer Grand Candy commits acts of unfair
competition, " said Ukraine’s Kharkiv Biscuit Factory General Director
Alla Kovalenko.

"We export our products to the US, European countries, Russia; we have
no problem of selling our products," Kovalenko stated, noting that
Grand Candy has patented more than 100 types of products in Armenia,
most of which are not manufactured by the company and those products
which Grand Candy patented are not limited to the assortment at the
Kharkiv plant.

"Sometimes we don’t have the time to register the names of our types
of products in other countries, since it takes a long time. Grand
Candy has patented such names of our products, which are only in
Ukrainian, for example, ‘Slabojanskaya Lastochka,’ ‘Slabojanskaya
Romashka.’ During the czarist Russia times, part of the present
territory of Kharkiv was called Slabojanshina.

"Though Grand Candy manufactures only 166 types of products, it has
patents for more than 1,000. It turned out that confectionary licensed
in the Ukraine and produced by us for years is counterfeit in Armenia
and we aren’t able to sell it. It’s the consumer who suffers from
all this in the first place," said Kovalenko.

The Ukrainian delegation headed by Kharkiv Regional State
Administration head Arsen Avakov is presently in Armenia.