Armenian News... A Topalian...
TWO ANTHRAX CASES REPORTED IN ARMENIA
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug 5 2015
YEREVAN, August 4./. Two anthrax cases have been reported from
Armenia as the diagnosis was confirmed in two residents of a small
village of Artamet, the ministry of health said on Tuesday.
"The diagnosis has been preliminarily confirmed. Medics say the
two patients are in condition of moderate gravity," the ministry's
spokesperson, Anait Aityan, told TASS. "The final diagnosis will be
available after laboratory tests."
One of the patients supposedly bought infected meat in Georgia in
late July.
Anthrax is a bacterial infection caused by the organism Bacillus
anthracis. It can be found in grass-eating wild and domestic animals,
such as cows and sheep, most often in the agricultural regions
of Asia, Africa, South America and parts of Europe (southern and
eastern). Diseased animals can spread anthrax to humans, either by
direct contact (e.g., inoculation of infected blood to broken skin)
or by consumption of a diseased animal's flesh. Anthrax does not
spread directly from one infected animal or person to another; it
is spread by spores. These spores can be transported by clothing or
shoes. There are effective vaccines against anthrax, and some forms
of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment.
RFE/RL Report
Armenian Trade In First Decline After 2009 Recession
Sargis Harutyunyan
04.08.2015
Armenian foreign trade shrank by a fifth in the first half of 2015,
the latest data released by the country's National Statistical Service
shows. This is the first time Armenia's trade falls after the 2009
recession when its economy declined by more than 14 percent.
In the mentioned period Armenia's trade with other countries,
including Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, with which it formed the
Eurasian Economic Union at the beginning of this year, totaled $2.186
billion, which is by 20.6 percent less than in January-June 2014.
When Armenia's economy went into recession in 2009 the foreign trade
decline in the first half of the year was 31.5 percent compared with
the same period of 2008.
Moreover, the statistics also shows that for the first time since the
2009 crisis domestic trade in Armenia also fell this year.In
January-June 2015, the decline was 5.1 percent compared with the same
period in 2014.
The Armenian government collected by 13.5 percent less taxes (just
over $1 billion) during the period under review than in the
corresponding period last year. It is also the biggest decline since
the 2009 crisis.
Finally, remittances wired to Armenia by individuals, which is also a
crucial for the Armenian economy, showed a further decline by 28.4
percent (some $682 million) as compared with January-June 2014. This
decrease is also the biggest since 2009.
Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian, meanwhile, struck an
optimistic note about the prospects of economic growth this year when
he talked to media while visiting Armenia's second largest city of
Gyumri last weekend.
Abrahamian, in particular, said that overall the economy expanded by
4.5 percent in January-June and that it showed growth in all sectors
except for commodity turnover. He also stressed that Armenia's economy
was on track to expand by 4.1 percent in 2015, which is the
government's target for the year.
At the same time, the head of the Armenian government downplayed the
forecasts of leading international financial institutions that predict
considerably lower growth or no growth at all for the Armenian economy
in 2015. Abrahamian also reiterated that Armenia's economy will be
more active in the second half of the year.
Economist Vahagn Khachatrian, who is affiliated with the opposition
Armenian National Congress party, is, however, skeptical about
government assurances on the economic growth prospects. He says there
are a number of key indicators that show the true state of the
country's economy. The first indicator, according to him, is the
decline in the collection of taxes. "Another such indicator is the
real estate market, and if we summarize the data for the same first
six months, we shall see that there is also a decline in the number of
transactions and reduced prices in dollars by 15 percent per square
meter [of property]," Khachatrian said.
"The decrease in trade, private remittances is also crucial. And all
this means that Armenia's economy is in crisis," the pro-opposition
economist concluded.
tert.am
HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: ARMENIA'S INTERNATIONAL
05.08.15
shrinking steadily over the recent period, the paper has learned.
In July alone, they declined reportedly by over US $ 50 million.
The paper claims that the reserves decreased from 1.598 million to
$1.546 million from June 1 until July 1. The lowest level - $1,246
million - was recorded in February, says the paper , adding that the
foreign currency later obtained from the Eurobonds' release went to
the reserves.
"Armenia thus increased its foreign debt, meantime also adding funds to
its international reserves. Our foreign debt keeps increasing now, with
the reserves simultaneously continuing to shrink," the paper comments.
tert.am
ARMENIAN FISH INDUSTRIES CLOSING DOWN OVER FOOD
A total of 85 fish manufacturing industries have been suspended
in Armenia since 2013, with 25 more being on the brink of closure,
says the president of the Union Armenian Fish Farmers and Exporters.
Artur Atayan raised the problem at a news conference on Wednesday,
citing heavy loan duties and poor conditions as major reasons causing
many owners of fish manufacturing units to close down their business.
"We expect more companies to close down," he said. "Regrettably there
isn't anyone to lend a helping hand to those enterprise. In Europe,
for example, all the government institutions offer support to any
enterprise facing financial hardships; they study the cause and
offer consulting. Here, an entrepreneur is left alone with his or
her problems."
Asked how many new fish industries opened in the country in the
past two years, Atayan said their number is eight, adding that he is
personally aware that the owners of five are currently planning to
sell their business.
"They are discontent with their decision to launch that business,
as the food coming to Armenia from Europe is expensive. Besides,
they are facing loan duties, unable to develop the business," he added.
Asked why no efforts are taken to import fish food from member states
of the Eurasian Economic Union, Atayan said he knows that those
countries' product falls short of meeting the necessary standards.
"There are now several [fish] food manufacturing factories in the
Russian Federation and Belarus, but the European assortment is of more
interest to us. We may conduct a study for the quality of the Russian
food to compare it with the European. If that meets our requirement,
we'll make the imports from Russia," said the Union's president.
armenpress.am
SITUATION IN KESSAB IS PEACEFUL, HARVEST BEGINS
4 August, 2015
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. The situation is peaceful in Kessab,
there are no clashes. Kamo Manchikyan, member of the Kessab Executive
Committee of the organization called First Aid and Rehabilitation
for Armenians from Syria and spokesman for the Armenian Community of
Kessab told Armenpress the aforementioned, adding that the 1st stage
of harvest begins and people are busy with it.
He also informed that due to the present situation several hundreds of
people from Aleppo had come to Kessab recently. The latter includes
both Armenians and Arabs. Manchikyan said that the life in Kessab is
more or less active though its being neighbor to Turkey always gives
rise to concerns.
In reference to the information on the internet concerning forests
burning in Kessab, Manchikyan said that there are some forest areas
10 km away from Kessab. There are gunmen in the forests who release
missiles. It is a pity, but, on the other hand, because of forest
fires the gunmen are not able to hide in the woods.
The spokesperson noted with happiness that a delegation of 23
participated in the 6th
Tatevik Lazarian
05.08.2015
A popular referendum on constitutional amendments may be held as early
as at the end of November, according to a member of the expert
commission working on the draft.
Vardan Poghosian believes this timeframe is "realistic" after the
Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) has released all 15 chapters of
the new Constitution and is going to also publish the transitional
provisions soon.
According to him, the full draft and not just parts of it will also be
sent to the Venice Commission, which is an advisory body of the
Council of Europe.
"We expect the Venice Commission to express its opinion on all
chapters, and the final conclusion will be in October when the body's
plenary session is due," Poghosian told RFE/RL's Armenian Service
(Azatutyun.am).
Earlier, the Commission effectively refused to follow the
recommendations of the Venice Commission to remove a controversial
provision on the so-called "second round" in parliamentary elections
from the draft constitutional amendments.
International experts had also raised concerns about the proposed
order of forming the judiciary that they said could undermine the
independence of this branch of power.
The constitutional amendments proposed by the CRC essentially turn
Armenia into a parliamentary republic with a largely ceremonial
president.
Armenia's leading opposition parties view these changes as an attempt
by President Serzh Sarkisian, whom the current Armenian Constitution
bars from seeking a third presidential term, to remain in power in
some other capacity after completing his tenure in 2018. They also
claim there is no consensus on the need to amend the Constitution
either.
Representatives of the Sarkisian-led ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) consider the constitutional reform vital for the further
democratization of the country and deny that this way the current
administration simply solves the issue of its own "reproduction".
HHK members also see an ongoing substantive debate around the proposed
amendments.
CRC member Poghosian also acknowledged that quite a few changes in the
final draft had been made after proposals submitted by different
organizations and individuals as well as based on critical views
offered by media.
He predicted that the referendum on the final reform package was
likely to be held already this year. "One of the reasons is that if
the referendum is held, for example, next spring, then there will be
very little time left to develop the Electoral Code for adoption," he
explained.
According to Poghosian, if discussions unfold on the document in the
National Assembly next month, then the month of November will fully
correspond to the timeframe envisaged by the law on referendums.
Lawyers Criticize Armenian Constitutional Amendments
Irina Hovhannisyan
05.08.2015
About two dozen Armenian lawyers have launched a campaign against the
proposed amendments to Armenia's Constitution, discarding them as "a
waste of resources" aimed at serving the interests of the ruling
party.
The lawyers say they are currently involved in studying the 15
chapters of the new draft Constitution released by the expert
commission drafting the amendments to expose what they describe as
"dangerous points".
Some legal experts working in European countries have also joined the
campaign.
Lawyer Gevorg Gyozalian says they are not going to participate in any
substantive discussion concerning the new Constitution and will not
submit any proposals to the Constitutional Reform Commission as they
believe that there is no need for constitutional changes in Armenia at
this stage. They believe Armenia's current problems are not connected
with the Constitution.
"If any Constitution, no matter what is written in it, doesn't work,
what is the purpose of changing it? When we try to understand what the
purpose is, we come to the conclusion that the authorities have set
themselves a task of changing the form of government. But Armenia
cannot be a testing ground. Everything here should be based on
objective needs and one cannot, based on the interests of certain
entities, change a document like the Constitution," Gyozalian says.
Armenia adopted its current Constitution in 1995. It was amended
through a popular referendum a decade later. "Now it is being changed
in 2015, and since a culture of changing [the Constitution] is being
formed, in 2025 someone may come and change it again, this is
ridiculous," the lawyer adds.
"The current Constitution says that entrepreneurs cannot be members of
the National Assembly and the government, but we see the opposite. The
law does not have a big role here, and it is not through changing this
law that people's lives will improve, because no document says that a
judge should take bribes# And that's the problem, and this commission
has not been able to prove the objective necessity in conditions of
which the Constitution should be changed."
The constitutional amendments proposed by the Constitutional Reform
Commission (CRC) essentially turn Armenia into a parliamentary
republic with a largely ceremonial president.
Armenia's leading opposition parties view the proposed changes as an
attempt by President Serzh Sarkisian, whom the current Armenian
constitution bars from seeking a third presidential term, to remain in
power in some other capacity after completing his tenure in 2018.
Last year Sarkisian publicly pledged not to seek a top government post
if the constitutional reform was carried out, but theoretically as
leader of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) he will be able
to remain influential in Armenian politics even without a formal post
if his party manages to retain its majority in the next National
Assembly.
Top HHK representatives give assurances, however, that the proposed
constitutional amendments create a level-playing field for all parties
and are aimed at ensuring the country's further democratization.
The constitutional package will need to be formally endorsed by
President Sarkisian before it is sent to the Parliament for
approval. Armenian lawmakers are expected to start debating it in
September. A CRC member said on Wednesday that the constitutional
referendum could be held already in November.
At least two major opposition parties, the Armenian National Congress
and Heritage, have so far signaled their intention to try to scuttle
the constitutional reform with street protests.
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