Armenian News...This is one post which must be read! A Topalian... Garo Paylan
If you missed the BBC Radio 4 program on The 40 Days of Musa Dagh, or want to watch if again, click on:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09pkmpc
An excellent program from historical background, the writer, the book, personal aspects (including from our own Srpazan) through to the Turkish government's successful efforts to kill the movie.
Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
January 26, 2018 Friday
Garo Paylan speaks out against Turkish military operation in AfrinMember of the Turkish parliament of Armenian origin Garo Paylan,
representing pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, has spoken out
against the Turkish military operation in Syria’s Afrin called Olive Branch, ARMENPRESS reports Paylan twittered.
“Supporters of war are also accomplices to war. Say “no” to Afrin war,
do not be part of that crime”, the MP urged, addressing the public.
“The authorities try to silence individuals voicing the truth and
supporters of peace. Striving for peace is not a crime”, Garo Paylan
added, drawing attention on the crackdown against journalistic and
intellectual circles voicing against the Afrin incidents.
The Turkish army launched military operations called “Olive Branch”
against Kurds in Syria’s Afrin region on January 20. 72 military jets
bombed the positions of the Kurds that day, following which the
Turkish troops crossed the Syrian border.
RFE/RL Report
Russian Envoy Details New Deal On Karabakh Truce Monitoring
January 26, 2018
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is to deploy
seven more ceasefire monitors in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone
under an Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement finalized last week, a senior
Russian negotiator said on Friday.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers agreed in principle to
expand an OSCE mission monitoring the ceasefire regime along the
Karabakh "line of contact" and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border when
they met Krakow, Poland on January 18. The measure designed to prevent
truce violations was proposed by the U.S., Russian and French
mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group and backed by
Armenia. Azerbaijan has been reluctant to accept it until now.
"There are some technical details that still need to be worked out,"
the group's Russian co-chair, Igor Popov, told the Azerbaijani APA
news agency. He said the OSCE mission will be boosted by an
"additional seven observers."
The existing, largely symbolic mission headed by a Polish diplomat,
Andrzej Kasprzyk, is similar in size. Its members travel to Karabakh
and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border once or twice a month to briefly
monitor the parties' compliance with truce agreements reached in 1994
and 1995.
The tentative agreement on the expansion of Kasprzyk's team reflects
some progress that seems to have been made in Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace talks in the last few months. Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov met twice, in the
presence of the mediators, after an Armenian-Azerbaijani summit held
in Geneva in October.
Popov said that he and the fellow co-chairs from the United States and
France will again visit Baku and Yerevan early next month for further
discussions on the proposed measures to minimize truce violations. He
said they also expect to "ascertain" the conflicting parties'
positions on details of a Karabakh peace plan put forward by the
mediators.
"We are making efforts to propose to Baku and Yerevan variants
acceptable to them and this is what we will be talking about in the
region," said the Russian envoy.
In a joint statement issued in Krakow on January 18, the three Minsk
Group co-chairs said they discussed with Nalbandian and Mammadyarov
"core sensitive issues contained in the working proposals currently on
the table." They did not disclose those issues.
Popov also told APA that it is too early to say whether Presidents
Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev might been again soon.
Sarkisian will complete his final presidential term on April 9. He may
well remain in power as Armenia's prime minister.
EurasiaNet.org
Jan 29 2018
Survey: Armenians' Attitudes Toward Azerbaijan Increasingly Hardening
“Non-compromising attitudes have become mainstream in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. These attitudes jeopardize the prospects of peaceful resolution.”
Joshua Kucera Jan 29, 2018
People in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh are increasingly opposed to making any concessions to Azerbaijan in their long-running conflict, and are also increasingly pessimistic about the chances for peace, a new study has found.
Hardening attitudes in Armenia have been anecdotally observed for the last several years, a trend that accelerated after the heavy fighting in April 2016 in which Armenians, for the first time since the ceasefire in 1994, lost some territory. But the new survey , from the Yerevan think tank Caucasus Institute, fleshes out those impressions with some data.
A 2004 poll, for example, found that two-thirds of Armenians expressed support for some sort of concessions to Azerbaijan in the name of peace. But a 2017 survey, the report found, “shows that readiness for compromise has drastically decreased,” with only eight percent expressing support for some concessions.
“Non-compromising attitudes have become mainstream in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh,” the report's authors wrote. “These attitudes jeopardize the prospects of peaceful resolution.”
The idea of friendship with individual Azeris also has declined. According to surveys in 2009, 30 percent of Armenians said they considered friendship with an Azerbaijani to be possible, while only one percent of Azerbaijanis said the same thing about Armenians. “This is a huge gap, which, sadly, has been closing in recent years,” the Caucasus Institute reported.
The report doesn't give a new number to support that claim, but it does show a significant decline in the number of Armenians willing to do business with an Azerbaijani, from about 35 percent in 2009 to about 17 percent in 2015. (The numbers for Azerbaijanis willing to do business with Armenians has, like the numbers for friendship, remained vanishingly small over those years.)
The trend has only become worse since the heavy fighting two years ago, one unnamed expert told the report's authors: “Since April 2016, radicalization of attitudes has been manifest. People want to give payback to Azerbaijanis if they start a war again. On one hand, we have lost territories, on the other hand, many people want revenge and would like to resolve the issue through war once and for all.”
One telling detail: apparently children in Karabakh used to divide up in teams of “Armenians” and “Turks” (“Turk” and “Azerbaijani” are often conflated in Armenian discourse), “but now the hostility is taken so seriously that the practice went away.”
While that hardening of opinion is the big takeaway from the report, there are a lot of interesting nuances. Pessimism about the chances for war is greater among people who live closer to the border with Azerbaijan or Karabakh than those who live farther away. While most Armenians don't support a military “solution” to Karabakh, those who do are disproportionately young (between 18 and 24) or between 45 and 54, “the generation that participated in the Karabakh war in 1991-1994.”
One effect of the pessimism: people in Karabakh and in the areas of Armenia close to the Azerbaijani border emigrate abroad at greater rates than other Armenians. But there are mixed emotions about this, the report notes: “Leaving Nagorno-Karabakh is a chance to improve one's living standards, or, at least, to minimize risks. However, since there are no exemptions from conscription in Nagorno-Karabakh, departure of men is often seen as equivalent to desertion. Regardless of gender, people who emigrate feel that they are letting everyone down.”
Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
January 26, 2018 Friday
Smoking to be banned in public areas in Armenia, fines to reach 1500$
The healthcare ministry aims at tackling smoking with a new bill which plans strict limitations andrestrictions for tobacco use.
Article 7 of the bill bans the use of cigarettes, tobacco products,
and similar products in enclosed and public areas.
Smoking will be banned in public locations ranging from hospitals,
educational buildings, cultural locations, sports structures, public
food areas, in special nature preservation areas, in state buildings,
transportation etc. The sale of tobacco is also banned in the
abovementioned areas. Moreover, the bill also bans the use of
discounts in selling tobacco products. The bill also stipulates
banning advertisement of tobaccos.
High fines are planned under the bill for smoking in restricted areas
ranging from 100$ to 1500$.
Advertising tobacco will be fined with 1000-1500$.
The fine for smoking in a vehicle will be 100$.
The initiative aims at boosting the anti-smoking campaign.
It is expected that the bill will come into force from November 1, 2018.
Pan Armenian, Armenia
Jan 27 2018
Armenia smokers to protest proposed smoking ban
Smokers in Armenia will gather at the Republic Square in downtown Yerevan to protest a draft law prohibiting tobacco smoking in public spaces on February 1.
The government has recently presented the proposal for public discussions.
“We respect the rights of non-smokers, no fines beget respect,” the We Must Smoke movement said in a Facebook event.
The bill unveiled just recently imposes major fines for smoking in public catering facilities, hotels, cars, medical, cultural, entertainment centers and other spaces prohibited by law.
A great number of social media users have taken to Facebook to express their discontent with the decision.
Pan Armenian, Armenia
Jan 27 2018
Export of Armenia’s agricultural produce grew 21% in 2017
Export of Armenian agricultural produce increased by 21% in 2017, while imports from abroad grew by 17% in the reporting period, minister of agriculture Ignati Arakelyan said at a meeting with prime minister Karen Karapetyan on Friday, January 26.
Agricultural sector accounted for the 15.9% of Armenia’s gross domestic product in 2016, reaching 21.6% the next year, the minister said.
“The level of self-sufficiency of primary foodstuffs stood at 64%, with 338,000 people involved in the sector overall," Arakelyan said.
According to him, 9 million litres of wine were produced in the country throughout the previous year against the 7 million litres produced a year earlier. Export of wine, meanwhile, increased by 30%.
Transportation Monitor Worldwide
January 25, 2018 Thursday
Yerevan to get rid of minibuses as part of new transportation network
A draft for a new transportation network has been developed for
Yerevan in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles operating in the
capital. The aim is to increase the number of buses and trams, to
promote active use of the metro as well as to do away with minibuses.
The number of routes and means of transport will be reduced almost
threefold:
There will be 42 routes instead of 115;
The number of vehicles will be reduced from 2039 to 939.
The initiators of the project are confident that the various transport
methods in the new system will be operating so as to complement one
another.
Transport will be equally available for all districts of the capital,
providing safe, reliable and decent passenger services. To the
consulting companys credit it should be noted that it has done
thorough work on developing the new project, said Vahe Nikoyan, the
First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan.
In his words, passenger transit will be carried out by articulated
buses that are 18 meters in length and are designed for up to 150
passengers, along with 12 meter long buses with a capacity of 90-100
travelers.
A uniform e-ticketing system will be introduced to ensure efficiency.
There will be mobile apps with special e-schedule software as well as
ticket machines and payment terminals. Some advanced technologies will
be implemented to monitor travel fares, said Nikoyan.
It is the first time that a professionally substantiated public
transport network strategy is being developed in Armenia. WYG
Consulting Co. initiated the project. 2017 Global Data Point.
“Supporters of war are also accomplices to war. Say “no” to Afrin war,
do not be part of that crime”, the MP urged, addressing the public.
“The authorities try to silence individuals voicing the truth and
supporters of peace. Striving for peace is not a crime”, Garo Paylan
added, drawing attention on the crackdown against journalistic and
intellectual circles voicing against the Afrin incidents.
The Turkish army launched military operations called “Olive Branch”
against Kurds in Syria’s Afrin region on January 20. 72 military jets
bombed the positions of the Kurds that day, following which the
Turkish troops crossed the Syrian border.
RFE/RL Report
Russian Envoy Details New Deal On Karabakh Truce Monitoring
January 26, 2018
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is to deploy
seven more ceasefire monitors in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone
under an Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement finalized last week, a senior
Russian negotiator said on Friday.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers agreed in principle to
expand an OSCE mission monitoring the ceasefire regime along the
Karabakh "line of contact" and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border when
they met Krakow, Poland on January 18. The measure designed to prevent
truce violations was proposed by the U.S., Russian and French
mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group and backed by
Armenia. Azerbaijan has been reluctant to accept it until now.
"There are some technical details that still need to be worked out,"
the group's Russian co-chair, Igor Popov, told the Azerbaijani APA
news agency. He said the OSCE mission will be boosted by an
"additional seven observers."
The existing, largely symbolic mission headed by a Polish diplomat,
Andrzej Kasprzyk, is similar in size. Its members travel to Karabakh
and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border once or twice a month to briefly
monitor the parties' compliance with truce agreements reached in 1994
and 1995.
The tentative agreement on the expansion of Kasprzyk's team reflects
some progress that seems to have been made in Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace talks in the last few months. Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov met twice, in the
presence of the mediators, after an Armenian-Azerbaijani summit held
in Geneva in October.
Popov said that he and the fellow co-chairs from the United States and
France will again visit Baku and Yerevan early next month for further
discussions on the proposed measures to minimize truce violations. He
said they also expect to "ascertain" the conflicting parties'
positions on details of a Karabakh peace plan put forward by the
mediators.
"We are making efforts to propose to Baku and Yerevan variants
acceptable to them and this is what we will be talking about in the
region," said the Russian envoy.
In a joint statement issued in Krakow on January 18, the three Minsk
Group co-chairs said they discussed with Nalbandian and Mammadyarov
"core sensitive issues contained in the working proposals currently on
the table." They did not disclose those issues.
Popov also told APA that it is too early to say whether Presidents
Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev might been again soon.
Sarkisian will complete his final presidential term on April 9. He may
well remain in power as Armenia's prime minister.
EurasiaNet.org
Jan 29 2018
Survey: Armenians' Attitudes Toward Azerbaijan Increasingly Hardening
“Non-compromising attitudes have become mainstream in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. These attitudes jeopardize the prospects of peaceful resolution.”
Joshua Kucera Jan 29, 2018
People in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh are increasingly opposed to making any concessions to Azerbaijan in their long-running conflict, and are also increasingly pessimistic about the chances for peace, a new study has found.
Hardening attitudes in Armenia have been anecdotally observed for the last several years, a trend that accelerated after the heavy fighting in April 2016 in which Armenians, for the first time since the ceasefire in 1994, lost some territory. But the new survey , from the Yerevan think tank Caucasus Institute, fleshes out those impressions with some data.
A 2004 poll, for example, found that two-thirds of Armenians expressed support for some sort of concessions to Azerbaijan in the name of peace. But a 2017 survey, the report found, “shows that readiness for compromise has drastically decreased,” with only eight percent expressing support for some concessions.
“Non-compromising attitudes have become mainstream in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh,” the report's authors wrote. “These attitudes jeopardize the prospects of peaceful resolution.”
The idea of friendship with individual Azeris also has declined. According to surveys in 2009, 30 percent of Armenians said they considered friendship with an Azerbaijani to be possible, while only one percent of Azerbaijanis said the same thing about Armenians. “This is a huge gap, which, sadly, has been closing in recent years,” the Caucasus Institute reported.
The report doesn't give a new number to support that claim, but it does show a significant decline in the number of Armenians willing to do business with an Azerbaijani, from about 35 percent in 2009 to about 17 percent in 2015. (The numbers for Azerbaijanis willing to do business with Armenians has, like the numbers for friendship, remained vanishingly small over those years.)
The trend has only become worse since the heavy fighting two years ago, one unnamed expert told the report's authors: “Since April 2016, radicalization of attitudes has been manifest. People want to give payback to Azerbaijanis if they start a war again. On one hand, we have lost territories, on the other hand, many people want revenge and would like to resolve the issue through war once and for all.”
One telling detail: apparently children in Karabakh used to divide up in teams of “Armenians” and “Turks” (“Turk” and “Azerbaijani” are often conflated in Armenian discourse), “but now the hostility is taken so seriously that the practice went away.”
While that hardening of opinion is the big takeaway from the report, there are a lot of interesting nuances. Pessimism about the chances for war is greater among people who live closer to the border with Azerbaijan or Karabakh than those who live farther away. While most Armenians don't support a military “solution” to Karabakh, those who do are disproportionately young (between 18 and 24) or between 45 and 54, “the generation that participated in the Karabakh war in 1991-1994.”
One effect of the pessimism: people in Karabakh and in the areas of Armenia close to the Azerbaijani border emigrate abroad at greater rates than other Armenians. But there are mixed emotions about this, the report notes: “Leaving Nagorno-Karabakh is a chance to improve one's living standards, or, at least, to minimize risks. However, since there are no exemptions from conscription in Nagorno-Karabakh, departure of men is often seen as equivalent to desertion. Regardless of gender, people who emigrate feel that they are letting everyone down.”
Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
January 26, 2018 Friday
Smoking to be banned in public areas in Armenia, fines to reach 1500$
The healthcare ministry aims at tackling smoking with a new bill which plans strict limitations andrestrictions for tobacco use.
Article 7 of the bill bans the use of cigarettes, tobacco products,
and similar products in enclosed and public areas.
Smoking will be banned in public locations ranging from hospitals,
educational buildings, cultural locations, sports structures, public
food areas, in special nature preservation areas, in state buildings,
transportation etc. The sale of tobacco is also banned in the
abovementioned areas. Moreover, the bill also bans the use of
discounts in selling tobacco products. The bill also stipulates
banning advertisement of tobaccos.
High fines are planned under the bill for smoking in restricted areas
ranging from 100$ to 1500$.
Advertising tobacco will be fined with 1000-1500$.
The fine for smoking in a vehicle will be 100$.
The initiative aims at boosting the anti-smoking campaign.
It is expected that the bill will come into force from November 1, 2018.
Pan Armenian, Armenia
Jan 27 2018
Armenia smokers to protest proposed smoking ban
Smokers in Armenia will gather at the Republic Square in downtown Yerevan to protest a draft law prohibiting tobacco smoking in public spaces on February 1.
The government has recently presented the proposal for public discussions.
“We respect the rights of non-smokers, no fines beget respect,” the We Must Smoke movement said in a Facebook event.
The bill unveiled just recently imposes major fines for smoking in public catering facilities, hotels, cars, medical, cultural, entertainment centers and other spaces prohibited by law.
A great number of social media users have taken to Facebook to express their discontent with the decision.
Pan Armenian, Armenia
Jan 27 2018
Export of Armenia’s agricultural produce grew 21% in 2017
Export of Armenian agricultural produce increased by 21% in 2017, while imports from abroad grew by 17% in the reporting period, minister of agriculture Ignati Arakelyan said at a meeting with prime minister Karen Karapetyan on Friday, January 26.
Agricultural sector accounted for the 15.9% of Armenia’s gross domestic product in 2016, reaching 21.6% the next year, the minister said.
“The level of self-sufficiency of primary foodstuffs stood at 64%, with 338,000 people involved in the sector overall," Arakelyan said.
According to him, 9 million litres of wine were produced in the country throughout the previous year against the 7 million litres produced a year earlier. Export of wine, meanwhile, increased by 30%.
Transportation Monitor Worldwide
January 25, 2018 Thursday
Yerevan to get rid of minibuses as part of new transportation network
A draft for a new transportation network has been developed for
Yerevan in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles operating in the
capital. The aim is to increase the number of buses and trams, to
promote active use of the metro as well as to do away with minibuses.
The number of routes and means of transport will be reduced almost
threefold:
There will be 42 routes instead of 115;
The number of vehicles will be reduced from 2039 to 939.
The initiators of the project are confident that the various transport
methods in the new system will be operating so as to complement one
another.
Transport will be equally available for all districts of the capital,
providing safe, reliable and decent passenger services. To the
consulting companys credit it should be noted that it has done
thorough work on developing the new project, said Vahe Nikoyan, the
First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan.
In his words, passenger transit will be carried out by articulated
buses that are 18 meters in length and are designed for up to 150
passengers, along with 12 meter long buses with a capacity of 90-100
travelers.
A uniform e-ticketing system will be introduced to ensure efficiency.
There will be mobile apps with special e-schedule software as well as
ticket machines and payment terminals. Some advanced technologies will
be implemented to monitor travel fares, said Nikoyan.
It is the first time that a professionally substantiated public
transport network strategy is being developed in Armenia. WYG
Consulting Co. initiated the project. 2017 Global Data Point.
News.am, Armenia
Jan 28 2018
Armenian presidential candidate pays tribute to memory of fallen heroes in Yerablur Pantheon
Candidate for the President of Armenia, Armenia’s Ambassador to the UK, former prime minister, Armen Sargsyan visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon to pay tribute to the memory of Armenian heroes fallen for the independence of the Homeland on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian Army, Armenpress reported.
Armen Sargsyan laid flowers at the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier, the graves of Commander (Sparapet) Vazgen Sargsyan, Commander Andranik and the memorial of volunteers and soldiers fallen at the Artsakh war.
Earlier the top leadership of Armenia and Artsakh visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon.
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
January 26, 2018 Friday
Armenia thanks the Arab sheiks for the renovation of the monastic complex
Alexander Avanesov.
Jan 28 2018
Armenian presidential candidate pays tribute to memory of fallen heroes in Yerablur Pantheon
Candidate for the President of Armenia, Armenia’s Ambassador to the UK, former prime minister, Armen Sargsyan visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon to pay tribute to the memory of Armenian heroes fallen for the independence of the Homeland on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian Army, Armenpress reported.
Armen Sargsyan laid flowers at the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier, the graves of Commander (Sparapet) Vazgen Sargsyan, Commander Andranik and the memorial of volunteers and soldiers fallen at the Artsakh war.
Earlier the top leadership of Armenia and Artsakh visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon.
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
January 26, 2018 Friday
Armenia thanks the Arab sheiks for the renovation of the monastic complex
Alexander Avanesov.
On the margins of the Davos summit, Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan met with the head of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, the Emirati company, on January
25, Budur al Qasimi.
According to the press service of the Armenian government, during the
meeting the Prime Minister presented the process of reforms
implemented in Armenia, which are aimed at improving the investment
environment and creating favorable conditions for business. The head
of the Armenian government expressed gratitude for the reconstruction
of the monastery complex, financed by the Kasimi family several years
ago in the community of Haghartsin.
Budur al Qasimi, in her turn, noted that in the UAE the Armenian
market is considered attractive, it is also a good platform for
entering other large markets. Ms. Kasimi also stressed that she is
impressed with the cultural heritage of Armenia and is glad that her
company took part in the restoration of one of the most beautiful
places of the country.
Arab Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad al-Qassimi, a few years ago, donated
money for the restoration of the ancient Christian monastery
Haghartsin in Armenia. According to the Armenian media, this is about
$ 1.7 million. Restoration and construction work was conducted in the
monastery and around it for several years. The new road to Haghartsin
was opened in October 2013. Sheikh visited Haghartsin in 2005.
According to eyewitnesses, entering the main monastery church of the
Holy Mother of God, he stated that "the word of God is really heard
here." Then he offered to pay for the renovation of the ancient
monastery.
Monastery Haghartsin, located in the Tavush region of Armenia, was
founded in the X-XIII centuries of our era. The Church of the Holy
Mother of God was built in 1281. On the territory of the complex are
preserved and more ancient buildings: the church of St. Gregory and
St. Stephen, as well as the refectory.
RAEXPERT
25, Budur al Qasimi.
According to the press service of the Armenian government, during the
meeting the Prime Minister presented the process of reforms
implemented in Armenia, which are aimed at improving the investment
environment and creating favorable conditions for business. The head
of the Armenian government expressed gratitude for the reconstruction
of the monastery complex, financed by the Kasimi family several years
ago in the community of Haghartsin.
Budur al Qasimi, in her turn, noted that in the UAE the Armenian
market is considered attractive, it is also a good platform for
entering other large markets. Ms. Kasimi also stressed that she is
impressed with the cultural heritage of Armenia and is glad that her
company took part in the restoration of one of the most beautiful
places of the country.
Arab Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad al-Qassimi, a few years ago, donated
money for the restoration of the ancient Christian monastery
Haghartsin in Armenia. According to the Armenian media, this is about
$ 1.7 million. Restoration and construction work was conducted in the
monastery and around it for several years. The new road to Haghartsin
was opened in October 2013. Sheikh visited Haghartsin in 2005.
According to eyewitnesses, entering the main monastery church of the
Holy Mother of God, he stated that "the word of God is really heard
here." Then he offered to pay for the renovation of the ancient
monastery.
Monastery Haghartsin, located in the Tavush region of Armenia, was
founded in the X-XIII centuries of our era. The Church of the Holy
Mother of God was built in 1281. On the territory of the complex are
preserved and more ancient buildings: the church of St. Gregory and
St. Stephen, as well as the refectory.
RAEXPERT
Upgrade to Armenia's Financial Rating
According to Rating Associate Hector Alvarez:
«The upgrade of Armenia’s SGC ratings to ‘BB-’ and CCE ratings to ‘B+’ reflects the consistent and sustained improvement in fiscal metrics, better economic growth prospects and prolonged stability of the banking system. Moreover, the monetary policy has had better transition to the economy and the external sector metrics have slightly improved, despite the economy remaining highly dollarized. However, government debt remains high, although expected to decline, the competitiveness of the economy remains subdued and the economy remains highly exposed to external shocks. Going forward, Armenia’s monetary policy effectiveness could be further harmed if the current levels of dollarization persist..»
Additional information about ratings:
The sovereign government rating reflects the Agency's opinion on the government's ability to meet current and future financial obligations.
The country credit environment rating is a measure of the systemic credit risks of the country in comparison with other countries of the world. The rating level of the credit environment reflects the Agency's opinion of the level of risk of non-return of investments in public or private debt instruments of issuers of a given country.
Rating of the creditworthiness of sovereign governments:
BB - Sufficient level of creditworthiness: c apability to meet obligations in the long run is sufficient. Moderate level of credit risk on obligations.
B - Moderately low level of creditworthiness: capability to meet obligations in the long run is moderately low. Moderately high level of credit risk on obligations.
Rating-Agentur Expert RA GmbH (RAEX-Europe) is an independent European rating agency affiliated with the international group of rating agencies RAEX, which has more than two decades of experience in the rating industry.
Since 2015, the Agency has been accredited by the European Regulator for Securities and Markets (ESMA) and has the official status of the Institute for External Credit Evaluation (ECAI).
The Agency's office is located in Frankfurt am Main (Germany).
The purpose of the Agency is to assign ratings in accordance with the most stringent regulation and ethical code to non-financial companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, regions and countries
According to Rating Associate Hector Alvarez:
«The upgrade of Armenia’s SGC ratings to ‘BB-’ and CCE ratings to ‘B+’ reflects the consistent and sustained improvement in fiscal metrics, better economic growth prospects and prolonged stability of the banking system. Moreover, the monetary policy has had better transition to the economy and the external sector metrics have slightly improved, despite the economy remaining highly dollarized. However, government debt remains high, although expected to decline, the competitiveness of the economy remains subdued and the economy remains highly exposed to external shocks. Going forward, Armenia’s monetary policy effectiveness could be further harmed if the current levels of dollarization persist..»
Additional information about ratings:
The sovereign government rating reflects the Agency's opinion on the government's ability to meet current and future financial obligations.
The country credit environment rating is a measure of the systemic credit risks of the country in comparison with other countries of the world. The rating level of the credit environment reflects the Agency's opinion of the level of risk of non-return of investments in public or private debt instruments of issuers of a given country.
Rating of the creditworthiness of sovereign governments:
BB - Sufficient level of creditworthiness: c apability to meet obligations in the long run is sufficient. Moderate level of credit risk on obligations.
B - Moderately low level of creditworthiness: capability to meet obligations in the long run is moderately low. Moderately high level of credit risk on obligations.
Rating-Agentur Expert RA GmbH (RAEX-Europe) is an independent European rating agency affiliated with the international group of rating agencies RAEX, which has more than two decades of experience in the rating industry.
Since 2015, the Agency has been accredited by the European Regulator for Securities and Markets (ESMA) and has the official status of the Institute for External Credit Evaluation (ECAI).
The Agency's office is located in Frankfurt am Main (Germany).
The purpose of the Agency is to assign ratings in accordance with the most stringent regulation and ethical code to non-financial companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, regions and countries
![["Armenian Diocese of the UK"]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v-W-xvkuKNCaBQdiOM-W1EDggotxdOKh6hfy4QW-uiZNUpJNNjmtmD0_tuhvwok49ZMpGW6lDiK02tdUrxBH_LbAAnh5DP2YcBNuSRgqCMnsv8UIBSMwTaaP98Y5A=s0-d)
