Russian Visit to Armenia Articles

ARMENIA EXTENDS RUSSIA'S MILITARY LEASE
By Isabel Gorst in Moscow
August 18 2010 23:25

Armenia has agreed to extend Russia's lease at a Soviet-era military
base on its territory until 2044 citing security concerns.

The deal, to be signed this week in the presence of Dmitry Medvedev,
the Russian president, will bolster Moscow's influence in the South
Caucasus, a corridor for strategic pipelines carrying Caspian oil
and gas to the west.

Armenia's foreign ministry said an agreement allowing Russian forces
to remain at the Gyumri military base until 2044 would be signed this
week when Mr Medvedev visits Yerevan on Thursday and Friday.

"It is a security measure reflecting our strong relationship with
Russia and the security challenges we face," said Tigran Balayan,
spokesman for the foreign ministry, on Wednesday.

Armenia faces a threat of renewed conflict with Azerbaijan over the
disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh which broke away from Azerbaijan
during a violent war in the early 1990s.

Azerbaijan, which is investing part of its oil windfall in boosting its
defense capability, has vowed to win back control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Under the existing 25 year lease agreement signed in 1995, Russia
stations about 5,000 troops at Gyumri and helps patrol Armenia's
former Soviet boundaries, including its frontiers with Turkey and Iran.

The revised lease will extend Russia's stay for an additional 24 years
and allow Russian forces to protect Armenia's border with Azerbaijan
as well.

Russia has moved to regain military influence in the South Caucasus
since defeating Georgia in a war over Georgia's breakaway regions of
South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008.

After the war, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia and
deployed thousands of troops in the regions.

It also moved to rebalance its relations in the South Caucasus,
building stronger ties with oil-rich Azerbaijan while maintaining
traditionally friendly relations with Armenia.

Russia belongs to an international group that has tried, without
success, to broker a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for
the past 15 years.

The dispute has left landlocked Armenia isolated in the South Caucasus.

Turkey sealed its border with Armenia in 1994 to demonstrate solidarity
with Azerbaijan, its main ally in the region.

Wary of the security risk posed by the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute,
foreign oil companies bypassed Armenia when building oil and gas
pipelines across the South Caucasus in the last decade.

Armenia and Russia have signed inter-governmental agreement on
cooperation for construction of nuclear energy block at the territory
of Armenia
2010-08-20 15:26:00

ArmInfo. Armenian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen
Movsisyan and Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian Federal Atomic
Energy Agency, Rosatom signed an inter-governmental nuclear
cooperation agreement in Yerevan today.

As S.Kiriyenko told journalists, Russia is ready to provide more than
20 percent of the funding for the construction of a nuclear power
plant in Armenia. The joint Russian-Armenian company on construction
of the plant has been already set up, which will raise at least 40
percent of the funding for the NPP with 60 percent expected to come
from investors, Kiriyenko said.

Armenia and Russia signed an agreement on having Russian trade
representation in Armenia and Armenian trade representation in Russia


Five documents signed at the extended negotiations between the
Armenian and Russian delegations

YEREVAN, AUGUST 20, ARMENPRESS. Five documents have been signed at the
extended negotiations between the Armenian and Russian delegations
today within the framework of the state visit of the President of the
Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev to Armenia. The signing was
followed after the private meeting between the presidents of the two
countries at the Residence of the President of the RA.

Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan and his Russian counterpart
Anatoly Serdyukov signed a protocol on making changes in the agreement
between Armenia and Russia signed March 16 1995 on location of the
Russian military base in the territory of Armenia.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisyan and Director
General of the RF `Rosatom' state corporation Sergey Kirienko signed
an agreement on cooperation between the governments of the two
countries on construction of new energy blocks in the territory of the
Armenian Atomic Station.

Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan and Russian Deputy Economic
Development Minister Andrey Slepnyev signed agreement on establishing
reciprocal trade representations between the executive bodies of the
two states.

Head of the Migration agency Gagik Yeganyan and deputy director of the
Russian federal migration service Nikolay Smorodin signed declaration
on implementation of the agreement on readmission.

Deputy defense minister Ara Nazaryan and first deputy of the Russian
federal service Alexander Fomin signed a memorandum on mutual
understanding on creation of joint military-technical ventures.

Heads of the two states Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry Medvedev highly
praised the current level of bilateral relations, pointing out the
strategic and allied nature of the relations. The first state visit of
the Russian president was considered a serious impetus for registering
new quality of relations.

Armenian President: We are forced to wait for Ankara to show real
commitment to meet its international obligations
2010-08-20 17:41:00

ArmInfo. There are no two neighbor nations who have no historical
contradictions and unresolved problems, President of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan said during the opening of Hill of Honor Memorial Complex
today.

The ceremony was also attended by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"The civilized response to this challenge is cooperation, mutually
beneficial trade, joint search for common grounds. We followed this
very logic when initiating the process to normalize Armenian-Turkish
relations. Today, this process has come to a standstill because of
lack of political will on Turkey's part and for the moment we are,
unfortunately, forced to wait for Ankara to show real commitment to
meet its international obligations," Sargsyan said.

ARMENIA'S NEXT ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS?
Diana Markosian
RIA Novosti
17:33 19/08/2010

The tiny mountainous nation may soon become a desert.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Armenia Thursday evening
on a two-day visit. On his agenda: the Russian military base, ongoing
discussions about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and a visit to the
genocide memorial. But, what's not a priority is the environmental
crisis currently taking place in Armenia.

The tiny mountainous nation may soon become a desert, environmentalists
say.

Human logging in Armenia wipes out an estimated 750,000 cubic meters
of forest coverage each year. Today only 8 percent of the country is
forested. That's down from a peak of more than 40 percent, according
to the World Bank.

At the current rate of deforestation, environmentalists say
desertification will take place in the next 50 years.

To make matters worse, the changing global climate is threatening
the last fragments of the country's forests.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) warns that "Armenia's
future economic development will depend on the decisions that the
current generation makes about investments in adaptation [to climate
change]." The group recently released its findings in a study conducted
by the Stockholm Environment Institute called the "Socio-Economic
Impact of Climate Change in Armenia."

"Armenia is focused on economic and social impacts when it comes
to development, but the third aspect of sustainable development is
environmental impacts and this is not being adequately addressed,"
said Jason Sohigian, deputy director of the Armenia Tree Project,
a non-governmental organization working to reforest Armenia.

"Business and economic development have been identified as a priority,"
he says. "That's obviously very important, but business and life itself
are supported by natural ecosystem services like forests, water,
soil, and clean air, which often can't be easily replaced when they
are degraded or depleted."

The Armenia Tree Project, based in the U.S. state of Massachusetts
is trying to revive Armenia's lost forests. In the last 16 years,
the small organization has planted more than 3.5 million trees around
the country. But with the current rate of deforestation, the group's
efforts may not be enough to solve the country's problem.

"One or two organizations with small budgets cannot reforest Armenia,"
said Areg Maghkian, associate director of the Armenian Tree Project.

"The government must realize that this is an issue of national
security. If we as a country are serious about reforestation, then
the initiative must be taken by the government."

The tiny country, nestled in the southern pocket of the Caucasus,
lost many trees during the energy crisis and economic blockade in the
1990s. Two decades later, experts say illegal logging and lucrative
lumber trading have done greater damage.

"The deforestation started spontaneously in the 1990s," said Hakob
Sanasaranyan chairman of the non-profit organization, Armenia's Union
of Greens. Sanasaranyan says the exploitation of forest resources
got worse when powerful statesmen monopolized resources and began to
profit from importing firewood to the Ararat Valley.

The demand for wood has created a multimillion-dollar lumber export
business. In the last five years, wood exports have seen a 10-fold
increase, most of which were shipped to places like Italy and
the United Arab Emirates, according to the Republic of Armenia's
Statistical Service.

Some environmentalists blame Armenia's Environment Ministry because
the forests are state-owned, and are supposed to be protected by
law; but several firms in the lumber business have managed to obtain
licenses from the ministry so that they could log legally.

"The problem is our leaders are more concerned about maintaining power
than helping the country," said Kharik Hovhannisyan, an environmental
expert in Armenia. "A lot of them are scared to speak out and to
honestly express their opinions, for fear of losing their position."

To date, the Minister of Nature Protection Aram Harutyunyan has yet
to respond to an emailed interview inquiry about the environmental
crisis taking place in his country.

"When we cut forests, we are contributing to climate change with our
own hands," said Hovhannisyan. "There is a natural climate change,
and one caused by humans. Armenians are propelling this."

"No water, no heat, no electricity"

Dwindling forest land has also threatened Armenia's water resources.

The country's forest cover is fundamental to the quality and quantity
of water resources, environmentalists say.

In the center of Yerevan, only a handful of homes have the luxury
of 24-hour running water. Each month, a French-run company managing
Yerevan's water distribution sends charts to all households, detailing
the times that running water will be available. For most people,
this is actually an improvement on the previous system.

"Now they don't have to guess when they will have water," said Abgar
Yeghoyan, chairman of Consumer Rights Protection in Yerevan. "The
amount of water you have during the day really depends on where you
live and what floor your apartment is on. Some people have two hours,
some people have eight."

But environmentalists say Armenia is not short on fresh water supply;
on the contrary, it has more than 80 medium-to-large water reservoirs.

They say the problem is how to distribute water resources and maintain
infrastructure.

"We have enough water, enough resources in this country, but it is
not being managed well," said Maghakian of the Armenian Tree Project.

"There's so much potential for this country, if we are really thinking
of the future."

With climate change a reality, environmentalists are painting a bleak
future for Armenia.

The First National Report to the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change warned that a two-degree Celsius increase in Armenia
over the 21st century will decrease the total annual flow of water
by 15 to 20 percent.

"This would devastate Armenia," said Soghian of the Armenian Tree
Project, adding that even major water sources like Lake Sevan can't
provide water forever.

"You can't bring back the beauty that once existed in Armenia,"
said Hovhannisyan. "Even if you spend millions of dollars, you can't
achieve what was once was here," he says. "If you lose water, you
lose life in this world."