Armenian News‏

Hürriyet, Turkey
Nov 21 2008
Historic Ani Ruins get a new face-lift

ISTANBUL - Ministry of Culture and Tourism has begun the renovations
of the Ani Ruins. It has plans to showcase the area to the world more
efficiently. The Tigran Honents church and The Ebul Menucehr Mosque
will have a face lift

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has started renovation work on
the Ani Ruins in the Eastern Anatolian city of Kars, while trying to
figure out a quick solution for the quarries on the Armenian side of
the border that threaten the historic ruins.

The Tigran Honents church in the area will have drainage dug around
its walls and its surroundings will be cleaned. The original floor of
the entrance will be surfaced.

The Ebul Menucehr Mosque will have its roof cleaned in order to make
the original overlay visible. Maintenance to its minaret has already
been carried out and earth in the ground floor rooms was removed. The
mosque's floor is also being renovated after the detachment of the
cement laid earlier.

Also, work is in progress for the structural fortification of Seljuk
Palace's as well as surveying, restitution and renovation of the
churches of Ebulhamrent and Prikitch.

The ministry has new plans to publicize the area to the world more
efficiently. A nearby village, Ocaklı, will be undergirding for
cultural and socio-economic development. Besides that, training
programs will be arranged for the local community with aims of better
preservation of historical buildings.

International symposiums, photography exhibitions, increasing the
number of publicity brochures and billboards, manufacturing souvenirs
and producing written and visual media products are being planned on
for the upcoming years to attract more tourists to the ruins.

Open air museum
The ministry will form a center for research, documentation and
publicity and create a data bank for research. The team from the
Global Heritage Fund is working on some of the monumental buildings'
and the rampart's three dimensional modeling. The west and northwest
fronts of the cathedral are being reinforced in collaboration with the
Sorbonne University of Paris and the World Monuments Fund has joined
the project.

Quarries in Armenia
Orhan Düzgün, director general of cultural assets, said a board of
project coordination and consultancy was formed for Ani and it has
prepared a report and a plan of action on the subject.

Düzgün said the matter of the Armenian quarries' negative effects on
historical artifacts is among the short term subjects.

The report said the quarries enlarge day by day, splitting the
topography and also damaging the spectacular natural landscape.

It is demanded by the report that the matter will be carried to
international arenas and the quarries must be stopped.

Interfax, Russia
Nov 20 2000
Armenia to put $300 mln into economy as anti-crisis support

The Armenian government presented its anti-crisis program on Thursday,
which foresees the provision of over $300 million in economic support,
Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said at a government session.

He said that the funds would be earmarked for developing small and
medium-sized business, which would, in turn, create new jobs and step
up Armenia's economic development.

He said that the development of financial opportunities for small and
medium sized business was the best instrument for resisting the
current world economic crisis.

The Armenian government will provide around $50 million while the
World Bank will allocate the remaining $250 million.

He added that a preliminary agreement had been reached for the
allocation of $250 million during a visit of an Armenian government
delegation to Washington. Sarkisian expressed his hope that the first
tranche worth $50 million would be received in the first quarter of
2009.

In addition to financial assistance, the government has worked up a
program for the anti-crisis program's implementation, as well as
changes in legislation on state debt. In accordance with these
changes, restrictions are being lifting on the provision of state
guarantees to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Sarkisian said that these measures would improve the Armenian
economy's ability to stave off the negative effects of the world
economic crisis. A special commission formed by the Prime Minister
will examine business projects in the framework of the anti-crisis
program.

Yerevan Police Report Rise in Crime in 2008
By Lilit Harutiunian

A senior Yerevan police official has reported an upsurge in crime in the
Armenian capital so far this year as well as a decline in the crime
detection rate.

Police Colonel Ashot Mirijanian told the media on Wednesday that the
statistics for the first 10 months of this year shows a nearly 14
percent increase in the number of reported crimes in the city.

`A total of 3,857 crimes were registered in Yerevan during the period in
question, which is an increase by 462 compared to the same period in
2007,' he said. `The rate of crime detection in the cases under
investigation made 56.8 percent, against 61.4 percent reported for the
same period last year.'

The police representative reported no progress in the investigation on
the recent attack against a prominent investigative journalist in
Yerevan, but voiced optimism that the crime would be disclosed very
soon.

`The work is being done. I have no doubt that it will be disclosed in a
very near future and the attackers will be brought to responsibility,'
Mirijanian said.

Edik Baghdasarian, an award-winning investigative journalist known for
writing stories exposing government corruption, suffered severe head
injuries as he was ambushed and beaten on Monday evening by unknown
assailants. The journalist himself believes the attack was connected to
his critical reporting.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian
condemned the attack the same day and issued strict instructions to
law-enforcement agencies to ensure a quick detection of the crime.
Premier Sarkisian also visited Baghdasarian at the hospital. Police have
not yet come up with any theories yet.

Baghdasarian's assault is the seventh reported case of violence against
a media representative in Armenia this year. No one has yet been
punished for any of the attacks.

Mirijanian, however, said his experience and professional intuition
prompted him the case would be disclosed quickly.

`Sometimes a detective can feel a case is detectable,' he said.

The police official also said they expected Baghdasarian to be helpful
to the investigation and promised to keep the media and public informed
of any new developments in his case.

FRANCE TELECOM GETS FULL MOBILE LICENSE IN ARMENIA
Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
November 19, 2008 Wednesday 6:22 PM EET

The public services regulation commission of Armenia has issued a
full license to France Telecom's subsidiary in Armenia, the regulator
said Wednesday.

France Telecom obtained a preliminary license for both GSM and third
generation (3G) mobile services in October, having offered 51.5 million
euros for the license at a tender. The company is the country's third
mobile operator.

Under the 15-year license, France Telecom is obliged to provide GSM
coverage in 43 cities in Armenia within two years.

ARMENIAN ARMAVIA AIR COMPANY INTENDS TO LAUNCH NEW 

REGULAR FLIGHTS TO BERLIN AND ZURICH IN APRIL

ARKA
Nov 20, 2008

YEREVAN, November 20. /ARKA/. Armavia, Armenian national air company,
is planning to launch new regular flights to Berlin and Zurich
in April.

Nana Avetisova, press secretary of the air company, said that the
flights will be operated twice a week and air fares won't be higher
than European.

She stressed that Armavia intends to use new aircrafts for these
flights.

Earlier, Mikhail Baghdasarov, the owner of the air company, said
that Armavia intended to acquire new airbus A 321 that can carry
178 passengers.

The airbus is planned to come to Armenia in March.

Mikhail Baghdasarov, president of MIKA Armenia Trading, bough 100%
of Armavia's shares in June 2005. The company offers routs to Russia,
CIS, Middle East and European countries to its clients.

Armavia operates flights in 30 directions to CIS and Europe. The
company has an Airbus 319, an Airbus 320, a Boeing 737, a Boeing 300,
Yak 42, Tu 134 and Il 8



IMF APPROVES NEW POVERTY REDUCTION PROGRAMME FOR ARMENIA
Venla Sipila
World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
November 19, 2008

Armenia's fourth poverty reduction programme with the IMF keeps the
focus on strengthening of the macroeconomic policy framework and tax
sector reform.

Building on Past Success

The now approved new loan arrangement follows the completion of
Armenia's third PRGF-supported reform programme in May (see Armenia:
22 May 2008: ). As in the last review of the completed programme,
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) now reiterated that Armenia's
progress with its structural reforms and its responsible macroeconomic
policies have allowed for rapid economic growth rates and reduction
in poverty. Inflation initially remained low even in the face of
high GDP growth rates, while it has recently accelerated as rising
international food and fuel price have been combined with growing
demand side pressures. However, IMF notes that, nevertheless, inflation
in Armenia still remains relatively low in peer comparison with other
countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Global Insight Perspective Significance: The Executive Board of the
IMF has approved a new three-year assistance programme under the
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) for Armenia.

Implications The arrangement supports the government's economic reform
programme until 2011 with a loan of 9.2 million Special Drawing
Rights (SDR, some $13US.6 million, with 1.31 million SDR available
for withdrawal immediately.

Outlook Especially given the deteriorating global financial and
economic outlook, and considering that Armenia's external deficit
remains wide, it remains important that the Armenian authorities
make further progress with structural reforms. The focus of the new
IMF programme remains strengthening the fiscal and monetary policy
frameworks and deepening of structural reforms, the ultimate goal
being to support growth potential by improved productivity and
competitiveness.

Risks and Challenges Persist

Further, the international lender notes that, while the deteriorated
global growth outlook has increased uncertainty also regarding
development and prospects of the Armenian economy, the country
remains in a strong position to weather the global turmoil. Indeed,
the IMF expects that the expected gradual deceleration of Armenian
growth will lead to a moderation of inflation, while it may also help
in containing the widened current-account deficit. Looking forward,
the IMF sees the medium-term outlook as favourable, given attractive
investment opportunities, even if risks remain.

The IMF also reiterated that keeping to responsible macroeconomic
policies remains the key for continued stability, given the sizeable
imbalances in the economy. The international lender urges strengthening
of the macroeconomic policy frameworks. In particular, it states that
the floating exchange rate regime remains the most appropriate approach
for Armenia, while the monetary authorities are urged to complete
their journey to fully-fledged inflation targeting. In addition, the
effectiveness of fiscal policy as a tool for managing demand needs
to be increased by strengthening the capacity for policy analysis,
which allows for improvement of the budgetary process and increases
credibility of fiscal policy.

The Fund also stresses the need to complete the important tax policy
and administration reforms. Reforms in these areas would strengthen
the business environment and improve competitiveness and productivity.

Outlook and Implications

Given Armenia's so far relatively convincing reform progress, the
approval of the new IMF lending facility was expected. As announced
earlier, the new development programme is worth less than the
previous arrangement which had totalled 23 million SDR (seeArmenia:
18 September 2008: ). This is because Armenia has been able to increase
its income level.

Before the intensification of the current international financial
crisis and marked weakening of global growth prospects, we were
increasingly concerned about the risk of overheating of the Armenian
economy, while acknowledging the good reform progress. With the
gloomier global outlook, the inflow of foreign exchange is likely
to moderate, and the resulting cooling economic momentum will aid
in suppressing inflation. Moreover, cost-side price pressures are
also easing with the falling global commodity prices. We also believe
that, with growth slowing, cooling domestic demand and the resultant
moderation in import growth will lead to easing of the current
account deficit. However, as the IMF notes, medium-term prospects
remain subject to uncertainty.

While noting Armenia's progress in tax reforms, the IMF has repeatedly
stressed the importance of continued focus in strengthening tax
collection and administration further. With the rapid deterioration in
the global growth outlook and the uncertainty related to investment
inflows, this remains as important as ever. With external financial
and economic conditions weak, the risks related to finding financing
for the wide current account gap have increased. Thus, it remains
crucial to support Armenia's attractiveness for foreign investment
by improving the operational environment by completing the reforms
in the fiscal sector.

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