Armenian News ... A Topalian 6 editorials

RFE/RL Report

Armenian Soldier Taken Prisoner By Azerbaijan

August 13, 2019

Artak Khulian

An Armenian soldier was detained by Azerbaijani forces after crossing the Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” around Nagorno-Karabakh in unclear circumstances on Monday.

Karabakh’s Armenian-backed Defense Army said the 19-year-old conscript, Arayik Ghazarian, “left” a military post at the section of the frontline southeast of Karabakh  for unknown reasons. It launched an internal inquiry into the incident.

The Azerbaijani military said Ghazarian surrendered to its troops deployed in the area. It said he claimed to have deserted his unit because of being systematically mistreated by his comrades.

Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan dismissed the Azerbaijani account as “propaganda.” He suggested that the soldier strayed into Azerbaijani-controlled territory by accident.

“The incident is still being investigated,” Tonoyan told reporters on Tuesday. “I personally think that our serviceman geographically got lost.”

Tonoyan said the Armenian side has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help free and repatriate Ghazarian. The Karabakh authorities likewise  said they are “making efforts to bring the prisoner of war Arayik Ghazarian back to the homeland.”

An ICRC spokesperson in Yerevan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that that it is already negotiating with the conflicting parties on the matter.

RFE/RL Report

Britain Names Ethnic Armenian Envoy To Yerevan

August 12, 2019

Heghine Buniatian

UK -- Alan Andranik Gogbashian, the newly appointed British ambassador to Armenia.

The British government has appointed an ethnic Armenian diplomat as the United Kingdom’s new ambassador to Armenia.

A government statement released on Monday said Alan Gogbashian will replace Judith Farnworth, a fellow diplomat who has served as British ambassador in Yerevan for the last four years.

Gogbashian has headed various divisions at the British Foreign Office since 2014. He was Britain’s deputy head of mission in Morocco from 2011-2014.

The office of Zareh Sinanyan, Armenia’s commissioner general of Diaspora affairs, implicitly welcomed Gogbashian’s appointment. “This is the first time that a Diaspora Armenian will be ambassador to Armenia,” the office wrote on its Facebook page.

The development coincided with Armenian President Armen Sarkissian’s latest visit to London. Sarkissian’s office said on Monday that he met there with “a number of high-ranking UK officials.” It did not name any of those officials.

Sarkissian expressed Armenia’s readiness to deepen ties with the UK when he congratulated Boris Johnson on becoming British prime minister late last month.

Sarkissian, 66, lived and worked in London, including as Armenian ambassador to Britain, for nearly three decades prior to becoming Armenia’s largely ceremonial head of state in April 2018. He received British citizenship in 2002 but renounced it about a decade later.

Meanwhile, the British Embassy in Yerevan touted on Monday a “substantial” increase in commercial ties between the two countries.

“Growth in trade turnover was 42 percent and 18 percent in 2017 and 2018 respectively,” it said in written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “There was a substantial growth in the UK’s investment flows to Armenia over the past four years in sectors such as ICT, pharmaceutical and mining.”

“The British Embassy in Yerevan sees further potential for growth and is working with UK companies and sectors in Armenia to encourage more UK trade and investment,” it added.

The British mission also said London is committed to helping Armenia become a “democratic, prosperous and resilient country.”

“To do this, over the last year or so, the UK has increased its support to Armenia’s domestic reform agenda,” it said. “We supported delivery of the free and fair elections last December and now we are focusing on helping to strengthen Armenia’s institutions, which is crucial for Armenia’s long-term development. We are doing this through a range of governance and economic 

reforms, defense reform, efforts to tackle corruption and uphold human rights.”

RFE/RL Report

Tsarukian-Owned Firm Faces Bankruptcy Proceedings

August 12, 2019

Artak Khulian

An Armenian cargo firm has initiated bankruptcy proceedings against one of the country’s larges  wineries owned by businessman Gagik Tsarukian, accusing it of failing to pay for 120 million drams ($252,000) worth of transport services provided to it.

The company, Daf Alco Trans, has shipped brandy distilled at Tsarukian Ararat Brandy Wine-Vodka Factory to Russia for almost a decade. Daf says that the factory stopped making payments for the shipments in February and has since  ignored its repeated demands to clear the debt. It claims to have incurred 85 million drams in debts to two dozen subcontractors because of that.

A lawyer for Daf, Harutiun Harutiunian, said on Monday that the company warned Ararat in April that it could ask a court to declare the winery bankrupt. “We have still not received a reply,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

Daf had no choice but to file a bankruptcy petition, Harutiunian said, adding that Ararat will automatically be declared insolvent if it fails to present written objections within 15 days.

Ararat refused to comment on the accusations on Monday. A spokesperson said only that that company’s executive director will comment after returning to Armenia later this week.

The Yerevan-based brandy manufacturer, the oldest in Armenia, is part of Tsarukian’s Multi Group comprising more than four dozen mostly medium-sized companies. Tsarukian is also the founder and leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party, the largest opposition group represented in the country’s parliament.

JAM News

Aug 13 2019

Armenia sends another humanitarian aid shipment to Syria

Yerevan

The country's authorities emphasise that in Syria, Armenia is limited exclusively to humanitarian activities

Armenia, together with Russia, has sent another humanitarian aid shipment to Syria. Yerevan provides peacekeeping assistance to Damascus since the outbreak of the war.

The shipment consists of nine containers, with meat and fish stews (87.5 tonnes), sugar (40 tonnes) as well as other dry rations (14.5 tonnes).

The cargo will be handed over to the Red Crescent of Syria, which will distribute the cargo.

After the end of the active phase of hostilities in Syria, Armenia sent a humanitarian mission to the country in 2019, consisting of demining specialists and doctors – a total of 83 people were sent.

The Armenian government has repeatedly emphasised that it is pursuing exclusively peaceful goals in Syria and is limited only to humanitarian activities.

“Assistance will be provided exclusively outside the combat zone. Armenian specialists will carry out humanitarian activities related to mine clearance, mine awareness, and the provision of medical care in Aleppo”, said Artsrun Hovannisyan, spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense.

 Agreement between Armenia and Russia

The decision to establish a humanitarian operation in Syria was made public in September of last year. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan even then stated that Armenian specialists would not be involved in hostilities:

“This is an exclusively humanitarian programme, and has no military significance. We intend to implement this programme within the framework of the budgetary opportunities of Armenia. All expenses for the humanitarian program are included in the draft budget for 2019.”

However, the press secretary of the Ministry of Defence Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that the transportation of Armenian specialists to Syria, as well as their logistic support, “are carried out with the support of [Russia]”.

A spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry explained the rationale to establish a humanitarian mission in Syria:

“The decision to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Syria was made by taking into account the critical situation that has arisen in this country and, in particular, in Aleppo as a result of hostilities, and the UN Security Council resolutions of 2017 and 2018, in addition to written requests from the Syrian side, as well as the factor that there is a large Armenian community there.”

Armenpress.am

 12 August, 2019

Yerevan becomes top summer tourist destination for Russians

 Yerevan has been the most preferred summer destination for Russian tourists, with the dynamics of visits growing around a quarter times, RIA Novosti reported citing statistics issued by Tutu.ru, a Russian online travel platform.

Analysts used June 1 – October 1 2019 tickets and bookings and compared it with the previous year’s data.

“Yerevan became the most demanded foreign direction this summer, in the event when the number of those wanting to spend the summer in Georgia decreased nearly twice,” experts of the company said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenpress.am

12 August, 2019

Non-resident deposits grow 51% in Armenian banks

The loan and deposit volumes in Armenia grew significantly as of late June 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, according to the Central Bank.

According to the report, the volume of loans provided by commercial banks to residents totaled 2 trillion 934 billion drams, which is an increase of 13% compared to the previous year, while the volume of deposits grew 18% - totaling 3 trillion 90 billion drams.

In June 2019, the volume of consumer and mortgage loans was the most to increase in the loan portfolio – 36% and 34% respectively.

Meanwhile, the volume of deposits of non-residents in Armenian banks grew 51% - totaling 813 billion drams, while the deposits of residents grew 9% - totaling 2 trillion 277 billion drams. Demand deposits of residents grew 11,2%, while term deposits grew 20,8%.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan