Armenian News
Contactmusic.com, UK
Dec 27 2008
CHARLES AZNAVOUR - AZNAVOUR AWARDED ARMENIAN CITIZENSHIP
Veteran French singer CHARLES AZNAVOUR has been granted Armenian
citizenship by presidential decree.
The 84-year-old singer - born Shahnur Aznavourian - was born in Paris,
France to Armenian parents.
He serves as Armenia's permanent delegate to the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Aznavour also set up a foundation and organised a series of charity
concerts to help earthquake victims in the country, ravaged by the
1988 disaster which left 25,000 people dead.
The presidency of the ex-Soviet republic said on Friday (26Dec08):
"Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has signed a decree granting
Armenian citizenship to the prominent singer and public figure, a hero
of the Armenian people, Charles Aznavour."
Global Downturn Slows Armenian Growth
By Emil Danielyan
Armenia's robust growth looks set to slow down to single digits this
year in a further indication of the worldwide economic downturn's
growing impact on its economy.
Official macroeconomic statistics for the first eleven months of 2008
show Gross Domestic Product increasing by 7.2 percent year on year.
They also herald the end of a construction boom that has
significantly sped up country's economic recovery in recent years.
The Armenian economy was on track to expand at a double-digit rate
for the seventh consecutive year when stock markets in the United
States, Europe and Russia began collapsing in September. Economic
activity in the country shrunk considerably in the following months,
even though local banks remained largely unaffected by the financial
meltdown. According to the National Statistical Service (NSS), GDP in
November was down by as much as 30 percent from the October level.
The NSS data show that retail trade and other services were the main
contributors to the GDP growth rate registered in January-November
2008. Construction, another key driving force of the double-digit
growth and the single largest sector of the economy in this period,
expanded by only 1.6 percent, down from 12 percent registered in the
first half of the year. The sector grew by 20 percent in 2007.
The construction boom, largely concentrated in the center of Yerevan,
has resulted from skyrocketing real estate prices and strong demand
in expensive housing and office space. Well-to-do Armenians living
abroad, notably in Russia, are believed to have been among the main
buyers of those properties.
Economists say the global financial and economic crisis will
inevitably reduce cash inflows from them and, more importantly, a
much a larger number of migrant workers supporting their families in
Armenia. A large part of the country's population is dependent on
their remittances.
Another negative consequence of the crisis has been a sharp fall in
the international prices of non-ferrous metals, Armenia's number one
export item. Hundreds of employees of Armenian mining companies have
already been laid off or sent on indefinite leave as a result. The
country's two largest chemical enterprises have suspended their
operations and are facing an uncertain future for the same reason.
The Armenian government says it can mitigate knock-on effects of the
crisis by launching large-scale infrastructure projects and giving
local firms better access to cheap credit. It is seeking hundreds of
millions of dollars in loans and assistance from foreign governments
and lending institutions.
The government hopes to obtain $800 million from the World Bank
alone. More than a quarter of the sum would be channeled into small
and medium-sized businesses in the form of low-interest loans. A
World Bank official said earlier this month that Yerevan is well
placed to secure large-scale assistance.
Nevertheless, opposition politicians and economic dismiss the planned
government measures as inadequate. The main opposition Armenian
National Congress (HAK) has criticized the government for not
adjusting the state budget for 2009 that was approved by parliament
last month. HAK representatives argue that the budgets does not
envisage concrete anti-crisis measures and set aside funding for them.
Also, Hrant Bagratian, a former prime minister and a senior HAK
member, accused the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) this week of
artificially shoring up the national currency, the dram, by selling
large amounts of hard currency in the local market. He said the
dram's moderate depreciation would give a major boost to struggling
manufacturers.
By Emil Danielyan
Armenia's robust growth looks set to slow down to single digits this
year in a further indication of the worldwide economic downturn's
growing impact on its economy.
Official macroeconomic statistics for the first eleven months of 2008
show Gross Domestic Product increasing by 7.2 percent year on year.
They also herald the end of a construction boom that has
significantly sped up country's economic recovery in recent years.
The Armenian economy was on track to expand at a double-digit rate
for the seventh consecutive year when stock markets in the United
States, Europe and Russia began collapsing in September. Economic
activity in the country shrunk considerably in the following months,
even though local banks remained largely unaffected by the financial
meltdown. According to the National Statistical Service (NSS), GDP in
November was down by as much as 30 percent from the October level.
The NSS data show that retail trade and other services were the main
contributors to the GDP growth rate registered in January-November
2008. Construction, another key driving force of the double-digit
growth and the single largest sector of the economy in this period,
expanded by only 1.6 percent, down from 12 percent registered in the
first half of the year. The sector grew by 20 percent in 2007.
The construction boom, largely concentrated in the center of Yerevan,
has resulted from skyrocketing real estate prices and strong demand
in expensive housing and office space. Well-to-do Armenians living
abroad, notably in Russia, are believed to have been among the main
buyers of those properties.
Economists say the global financial and economic crisis will
inevitably reduce cash inflows from them and, more importantly, a
much a larger number of migrant workers supporting their families in
Armenia. A large part of the country's population is dependent on
their remittances.
Another negative consequence of the crisis has been a sharp fall in
the international prices of non-ferrous metals, Armenia's number one
export item. Hundreds of employees of Armenian mining companies have
already been laid off or sent on indefinite leave as a result. The
country's two largest chemical enterprises have suspended their
operations and are facing an uncertain future for the same reason.
The Armenian government says it can mitigate knock-on effects of the
crisis by launching large-scale infrastructure projects and giving
local firms better access to cheap credit. It is seeking hundreds of
millions of dollars in loans and assistance from foreign governments
and lending institutions.
The government hopes to obtain $800 million from the World Bank
alone. More than a quarter of the sum would be channeled into small
and medium-sized businesses in the form of low-interest loans. A
World Bank official said earlier this month that Yerevan is well
placed to secure large-scale assistance.
Nevertheless, opposition politicians and economic dismiss the planned
government measures as inadequate. The main opposition Armenian
National Congress (HAK) has criticized the government for not
adjusting the state budget for 2009 that was approved by parliament
last month. HAK representatives argue that the budgets does not
envisage concrete anti-crisis measures and set aside funding for them.
Also, Hrant Bagratian, a former prime minister and a senior HAK
member, accused the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) this week of
artificially shoring up the national currency, the dram, by selling
large amounts of hard currency in the local market. He said the
dram's moderate depreciation would give a major boost to struggling
manufacturers.
Armenia To Pick New Nuclear Plant Builder
By Ruben Meloyan
The Armenian government will call this week an international tender for
the right to build a new nuclear power station in place of the
Soviet-era facility at Metsamor, Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said on
Monday.
Movsisian said the government has already approved bidding
specifications and will formally call for proposals `in a few days'
time.' It expects to choose a winner by late February, he told
journalists.
It remained unclear, however, who will finance the project estimated to
cost at least $1 billion.
The government hopes to have the new plant built by 2016, in time for
the planned decommissioning of Metsamor's sole operating reactor which
generates about 40 percent of Armenia's electricity. President Serzh
Sarkisian announced in October that work on the facility meeting modern
safety standards will start `in the coming months.'
The United States and the European Union, which have long been pushing
for Metsamor's closure, support the ambitious idea in principle. The
U.S. government allocated in November 2007 $2 million for the first
feasibility studies on the project that were jointly conducted by
Armenian and U.S. atomic energy experts this year. But U.S. diplomats
have made clear that Washington will not finance the plant's
construction.
Movsisian indicated that Yerevan has still not attracted funding for the
project. Armenian officials have spoken of Russia as the likely source
of that funding.
Sergei Kirienko, head of Russia's Federal Agency on Atomic Energy
(Rosatom), discussed the matter during an April visit to Yerevan. He
said Russian energy companies have expressed strong interest in the
construction of a new Armenian nuclear plant and are well placed to win
the planned tender.
Movsisian stressed that the winner will be tasked with only building the
new plant and that the latter will be run by a different foreign
company. `We have to find a company knowledgeable about all the
subtleties [of nuclear power generation] and assign it to do this,' he
said.
As the minister held a news conference several dozen Metsamor employees
gathered outside the Energy Ministry in Yerevan to demand pay rises and
greater social benefits. They said their current average wage of 130,000
drams ($420) per month has barely grown over the past decade.
`Those who work with the reactor usually do not live for more than 55
years,' Vahram Baghdasarian, a senior reactor engineer, told RFE/RL.
`They die very early. Our parents were among them and the same fate
awaits us.'
`We have no social protection, no hope for the future, no privileges for
medical assistance,' he said.
MORE DISCOVERIES IN CHEMISTRY AND MECHANICS
Panorama.am
20:42 23/12/2008
In 2008 the Agency of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of
Economy received 232 applications of discoveries and useful models,
said the head of the department of discoveries and useful models
Peryan Avetisyan to Panorama.am.
He said that 10 of those 232 were foreign citizens, and the rest
Armenians. This year more than 200 discoveries were certified and the
rest are being investigated. According to him the discoveries of this
year were in Chemistry and Mechanics.
Compared with the previous year, 147 applications were received and
141 were national scientists and 6 foreigners.
Panorama.am
20:42 23/12/2008
In 2008 the Agency of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of
Economy received 232 applications of discoveries and useful models,
said the head of the department of discoveries and useful models
Peryan Avetisyan to Panorama.am.
He said that 10 of those 232 were foreign citizens, and the rest
Armenians. This year more than 200 discoveries were certified and the
rest are being investigated. According to him the discoveries of this
year were in Chemistry and Mechanics.
Compared with the previous year, 147 applications were received and
141 were national scientists and 6 foreigners.
BIOMETRIC PASSPORTS TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN ARMENIA STARTED JANUARY 1, 2010
ArmInfo
2008-12-23 14:38:00
Biometric passports and cards will be implemented in Armenia beginning
from January 1, 2010, Head of the Visa and Passport Department of the
Armenian Police Norayr Muradkhanyan said at today's press-conference.
He also added biometric passports will be necessary for the citizens
of Armenia when leaving abroad, and identity cards will be used
inside the country. He also said that after implementation of a new
system, citizens of Armenia will have two documents confirming their
citizenship.
According to M. Muradkhanyan, beginning from 2010 persons having
reached the age of 16 will be given two documents at once, while the
earlier given passports will be replaced by the biometric documents
after expiration of their validity. He added that implementation of
the new system will essentially simplify the process of delivery of
identification documents.
Moreover, due to a more reliable control, this system will prevent
violations by the citizens when receiving social payments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ArmInfo
2008-12-23 14:38:00
Biometric passports and cards will be implemented in Armenia beginning
from January 1, 2010, Head of the Visa and Passport Department of the
Armenian Police Norayr Muradkhanyan said at today's press-conference.
He also added biometric passports will be necessary for the citizens
of Armenia when leaving abroad, and identity cards will be used
inside the country. He also said that after implementation of a new
system, citizens of Armenia will have two documents confirming their
citizenship.
According to M. Muradkhanyan, beginning from 2010 persons having
reached the age of 16 will be given two documents at once, while the
earlier given passports will be replaced by the biometric documents
after expiration of their validity. He added that implementation of
the new system will essentially simplify the process of delivery of
identification documents.
Moreover, due to a more reliable control, this system will prevent
violations by the citizens when receiving social payments.
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