Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

TIGRAN SARGSYAN TO PARTICIPATE IN 23D SESSION OF EURASEC

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 8, 2009
YEREVAN

The delegation headed by the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
will leave June 9 for the capital of Russia – Moscow – to participate
in the 23d inter-state session of the Eurasian Economic Community –
EurAsEc – on the level of the heads of governments.

Governmental press service told Armenpress that the delegation headed
by the Armenian prime minister consists of head of the government’s
staff David Sargsyan, Finance Minister Tigran Davtyan, Energy and
Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian, Deputy Finance Minister
Vardan Aramyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan and other
officials.

WPS Agency, Russia
Defense & Security
June 5 2009

IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH ARMED FORCES OF AZERBAIJAN FOUND NEW ARMENIAN ARMAMENT

Lately, the armed forces of Armenia have been firing at populated
spots of Azerbaijan and positions of our army from weapons that are
not within the contemporary military system. APA reports that a big
quantity of heads with size smaller than 7.62-mm bullets and bigger
than 5.45-mm bullets have been found on the territories at which the
enemy forces have fired. The threat of the bullet heads differs
according to prints.

According to specialists, the new bullets can pierce a layer of soil
with a thickness of one meter, a thin concrete layer, bulletproof
jackets and light armored vehicles. So far, there is no detailed
information about the weapons that fire these bullets and about their
technical characteristics.

Source: Den news agency (Baku), June 03, 2009
Translated by InterContact

CREDIT PORTFOLIO OF ARARATBANK REACHES 11.5BLN DRAMS IN JANUARY-MAY 2009

ARKA
June 5, 2009

YEREVAN, June 5. /ARKA/. As of June 2009 the credit portfolio of
Armenian Araratbank has reached 11.5bln AMD, the bank’s Chairman of
the Executive Board, CEO Ashot Osipyan told reporters on Friday.

According to him the bank continues issuing credits in all directions
but agriculture which is not in priorities of the bank.

Osipyan noted Araratbank is actively participating in crediting
program of the German Developmetn Bank (KfW) as well as in World
Bank’s program on financing small and medium businesses.

"We continue issuing credits in full terms, but as compared to the
previous period our credit policy is more reserved, more selective,
requirements for crediting is higher,’ said the banker.

In 2008 the credit portfolio of Araratbank amounted to 12,189bln AMD,
an increase of 4.76bln AMD or 32.9% against 2007.

Araratbank OJSC, legal successor of Armsvyaz Bank, was established
on September 2, 1991 and licensed (N4) on October 31, 1996.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) holds 25%
shares of Araratbank.

The 74.1% of the bank’s authorized capital belongs to principal
shareholder, businessman and owner of Flesh Company Barsegh Beglaryan.

By March 31, 2009, the banks assets had reached 28bln AMD, with capital
being 7.6bln AMD, liabilities 20.3bln AMD, credit investments 14.4bln
AMD and net loss 14mln AMD in January-March 2009.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: MEETING OF PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN IN ST PETERSBURG IS CONSTRUCTIVE

ArmInfo
2009-06-05 00:30:00

ArmInfo. Meeting of president of Armenia and Azerbaijan in St
Petersburg was held in a constructive way, Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandyan told journalists when commenting on today’s meeting
of Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev within the economical forum in
St.Petersburg, as Armenian Second TV channel broadcast. ‘Though
today one cannot say about any breakthrough or significant progress,
nevertheless the parties are moving forward and it is possible that
new meeting of the two president will be prepared’, – Nalbandyan
said. For his part, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
expressed his agreement with Nalbandyan’s viewpoint and added that
unlike previous meetings this meeting was held in another way. The
most important is that there is general consent about the necessity of
moving forward and this problem should be resolved, Mammadyarov said.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS’ MEETING BEGINS IN ST PETERSBURG

APA
June 4 2009
Azerbaijan

St Petersburg. R. Metleboghlu – APA. Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan meet in Baltiyskaya Zvezda
Hotel in St Petersburg, Russia on Thursday, APA correspondent reports
from St Petersburg.

The presidents are discussing the ways of settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Matthew Bryza, Bernard
Fassier and Yuriy Merzlyakov, Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign
ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian are also attending
the meeting.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARMENIAN-SYRIAN RELATIONS TO APPROXIMATE ARMENIA TO ARAB WORLD

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.06.2009 21:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia has good relations with countries of Arab
world and Syria is not an exception, Ruben Safrastyan, professor and
director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy
of Sciences told a PanARMENIAN.net reporter. "Influential Armenian
community plays a sound role in Armenian-Syrian relations. The visit
of the president of Syria to Armenia will promote the development
and deepening of bilateral relations, " stressed Ruben Safrastyan.

According to him, taking into account the role Syria plays in the Arab
world, the development of the Armenian-Syrian relations will help to
approximate Armenia to Arab world. "Yerevan and Damascus have all
opportunities to develop cooperation in trade and economy spheres,
and after the visit of Bashar Asad we will see trends of deepening
relation particularly in those spheres. There is a sound potential
in that sphere, which can be fully used", professor said.

In his turn, iranologist Tadevos Charchyan mentioned, that there are no
serious disagreement in Armenian-Iranian relations and the forthcoming
visit of the Syrian president to Armenia will assist strengthening of
friendly relations. "A number of agreements will be signed in economy,
trade, education spheres," Tadevos Charchyan said.

TIGRAN KARAPETYAN: SPEAKING ABOUT DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IS OUT OF QUESTION
Lilit Muradyan

"Radiolur"
02.06.2009 14:55

Giving his assessment of the past elections for the Yerevan City
Council, leader of the People’s Party Tigran Karapetyan told a press
conference today that speaking about democratic elections was out
of question. "How can one speak about democracy, when people are
taken to polling stations instead of coming on their own?" Tigran
Karapetyan said

"I condemn such elections and I’m dissatisfied with the process. I
don’t speak about my votes, because they are as clear as the tears
of a saint," Karapetyan said.

As for the international observers’ assessment of the elections, Mr.

Karapetyan said 15 observers could not have drawn objective
conclusions, especially as because they drank Armenian cognac,"
he said.

Applying to President Serzh Sargsyan, the leader of the People’s
Party expressed his stance on the declaring amnesty.

"I officially apply to the President of the Republic, Serzh Sargsyan,
and express the position of our party that it is necessary to announce
general pardon. I say this, because the President has declared
that he will use his constitutional right to announce amnesty
if necessary. Therefore, I voice my opinion and state that it is
necessary. I think, however, that this is envisaged, and a correspond
ing decree may have already been signed," Tigran Karapetyan said.

TURKISH HACKERS BROKE INTO AMERICAN MILITARY WEB SERVERS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
29.05.2009 20:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish hackers, who collectively go by name m0sted,
have broken into two American military Web servers at the Army’s
McAlester Ammunition Plant in McAlester, Okla., and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers’ Transatlantic Center in Winchester. The breach
at the McAlester ammunitions plant occurred on Jan. 26, according
to records of the investigation obtained by InformationWeek. On that
date, Web users attempting to access the plant’s site were redirected
to a Web page that featured a protest against climate change. On
Sept. 19, 2007, the same hackers electronically broke into Army Corps
of Engineers’ servers. The page, at the time, contained anti-American
and anti-Israeli rhetoric and images, records show.

Hackers are believed to have benefited by vulnerability of Microsoft
SQL Server. Earlier, that method was used for penetrating into other
resources, including Kaspersky Lab’s Web site, Lenta.ru reports.

‘VIVACELL – MTS’ MANAGER GENERAL RALPH YIRIKIAN HOSTED BY GYUMRI INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES CENTRE

ArmInfo
2009-05-27 11:54:00

ArmInfo. VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian hosted by Gyumri
Information Technology Center as a guest speaker. Ralph Yirikian
met with students and faculty of several universities of Gyumri with
engineering and scientific backgrounds, and delivered a public lecture
on mobile communication technology and Corporate Responsibility May
25, 2009, Gyumri, Armenia – VivaCell-MTS, a ubsidiary of Mobile
TeleSystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT), announces that today, at Gyumri
Information Technology Center (GITC), the Company General Manager
Ralph Yirikian delivered a public lecture "VivaCell-MTS – A Business
with a Mission". Ralph Yirikian met with the students and the faculty
of Gyumri Information Technology Center (GITC), State Pedagogical
University of Gyumri and State Engineering University. The purpose of
the lecture was to provide the engineering and science students with
an opportunity to experience at first-hand the operational processes
and managerial culture in Armenia’s leading mobile operator company,
and also to learn more about mobile communications technology. In the
course of the meeting VivaCell-MTS General Manager taught the students
about how mobile communication is set up, how the signal is transmitted
and how connection is made between subscriber’s phone and base station.

After the lecture was over, Ralph Yirikian answered a variety of
questions regarding 3G, broadband Internet, MMS, WAP and GPRS/EDGE
technologies.

"Business should above all be the supporting tool of education;
any evolution is strictly connected to the level of education we
procure. Securing the synchronous development of IT education across
the whole country, and especially Gyumri, where there is a strong
potential already, is the right way to do it",- said VivaCell-MTS
General Manager opening up the lecture. "This is one of the means to
create job opportunities and utilize local human potential to keep our
young generation in our country and stop "brain drain" from Armenia",
– he said.

ARMBUSINESSBANK COOPERATES WITH GAF, BECOMES LEADING MORTGAGE LENDER

/ARKA/
May 26, 2009

YEREVAN, May 26. /ARKA/. As a result of its two-year cooperation with
the German-Armenian Fund (GAF) as part of the Housing Finance Program,
Armbusinessbank was considered a top mortgage lender with its mortgage
loans to residents in dozens of banks and partner organizations.

As part of the program, the bank extended mortgage loans total of
4.4bln drams (19.5% of loans tailored for Housing Finance program).

As of April 30, Armbusinessbank extended 931.8mln drams worth loans
to 165 individuals. About 47.2% of the loan funds were injected into
procurement of flats, with the rest serving for repair activities.

Armbusinessbank (former Arminvestbank) was recorded on December
10, 1991.

The Kiev-based Ukrprombank became the 35% shareholder of the bank
in 2006, with the Ukrainian Alfa Garant insurance group and Christy
Management holding respectively 35% and 30% of the bank’s shares.

According to ARKA News Agency’s preliminary information, as of
March 31, Armbusinessbank’s assets totaled 46.3bln drams, with its
liabilities amounting to 39.5bln drams. The bank posted 6.8bln drams
worth total capital, with its authorized capital amounting to 5bln
drams. The bank’s quarterly loan investments totaled 26.4bln drams,
with liabilities being worth 23.9bln drams. ($1- 371.70 drams)