Armenia's Economic Pulse

[Muhaha]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Well, this certainly can't be good for Armenia's pulse, stuff isn't already bad enough, they have to screw things up even more?
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Iran fines Armenia for violations of take-or-pay gas agreement

Baku - APA-ECONOMICS. Iran is delivering 1 to 1.2 million cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia a day in exchange for an equivalent amount of electricity under a contractual agreement, said Rasoul Salmani, engineering and technical services director of Iran’s National Gas Export Company (NIGEC).

In his words, the Iranian side is technically ready to increase the daily volume to 3 million cubic meters a day but can’t do this because of Armenia’s dragging feets.

“Because this is a take or pay agreement, the Armenian side should pay Iran a fine. This is due to the fact that despite Iran’s willingness to supply more gas in accordance with the agreement, Armenia takes lessen than the planned gas volumes,” he added.

A take or pay principle is a contractual agreement in which one party agrees to purchase a specific amount of gas or to pay the equivalent cost even if the specified amount of gas is not needed.

The amount of penalty will be fixed and Armenia will be informed of this, he noted.

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=110596

[Armanen]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

When a non turkish/azeri source reports the above then I will believe it.

[hipeter924]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Well, this certainly can't be good for Armenia's pulse, stuff isn't already bad enough, they have to screw things up even more?
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Iran fines Armenia for violations of take-or-pay gas agreement



http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=110596

Was this in the the 'good news' section alongside the Azeri propaganda?

[Armanen]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

From Armenia in brief: Dalma Garden Mall to open in Armenia
by M. T.

Published: Saturday October 31, 2009

Yerevan - The scale model of one of the largest retail and entertainment centers in Armenia, the Dalma Garden Mall was presented this week in Yerevan. According to Armenpress, the multifunctional three-storied shopping center will open in 2010. The mall will house supermarkets, department stores, restaurants, fast-food outlets, cinemas, banks, and an entertainment zone for children.

The mall and grounds will cover an area of 45,000 square meters. Armenia's Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan said that the scope and size of the project is on par with international projects of the same nature and hopes that it will stimulate and promote the import of well known brands to Armenia, Arminfo reported. "This mall will also be a place to socialize where people can spend a day in a pleasant atmosphere," he said.

Alexander Harutyunyan, who is heading up the Dalma Garden Mall project, noted that this is the first such initiative in Armenia and it comes with great responsibility. "Our task is to work out a new retail standard in Armenia, where the greatest emphasis will be put on the creation of a family atmosphere," Mr. Harutyunyan said.

http://reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid=1DBAE2F6-C7A2-11DE-8E280003FF3452C2

[Muhaha]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Couple questions...What does "Dalma" mean? Also, who's funding this?

[KanadaHye]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Couple questions...What does "Dalma" mean? Also, who's funding this?

Not sure, but Dalma mall is a mall in Abu Dhabi UAE and considering they also traffic Armenian women for the sex trade business... they are probably setting up a nice mall in Armenia in return. Just my guess though. I read that Tashir holdings is involved with the construction which is based in Russia. Who knows which hands are in whose pockets.

[Muhaha]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

New companies setting up shop is always a good thing.

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Orange launches Armenia’s third mobile network

France Telecom (Orange) yesterday launched cellular services in the Republic of Armenia, promising to provide mobile users across the country with ‘the quality of service and innovative offers that have become the hallmark of Orange's reputation worldwide’. The launch of the country’s third mobile operator – the market is currently a duopoly of VivaCell-MTS and ArmenTel (Beeline) – has been eagerly anticipated since Orange was awarded its licence on 19 November 2008. In its press release, the Paris-based firm said that despite the relatively high penetration rate in the country (80% at 30 June according to TeleGeography's GlobalComms Database), there is strong demand for its services. With a population of around 3.2 million people, including 1.1 million in the capital Yerevan, Armenia offers the FT group ‘significant growth potential’, it said.

In order to get the service off the ground, Orange has invested around EUR100 million (USD148.5 million) in the land-locked country, and going forward it intends to provide the necessary expertise and investment to ensure the development of a ‘high-quality 2G and 3G+ network offering nationwide coverage’. It is targeting population coverage of over 80%, including around 500 towns and villages, from launch.

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=30850&email=html

[Armanen]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Not sure, but Dalma mall is a mall in Abu Dhabi UAE and considering they also traffic Armenian women for the sex trade business... they are probably setting up a nice mall in Armenia in return. Just my guess though. I read that Tashir holdings is involved with the construction which is based in Russia. Who knows which hands are in whose pockets.

Tashir holdings is owned by a Russian-Armenian businessman. This new mall may be owned wholly or in part by Tashir. According to the article I posted it will be opened within a year, so I am excited to visit the new mall when it does open.

In somewhat related news, the Cafesjian Art Museum has it's first opening to the public today!

[gegev]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

ArmenAL – Armenian Aluminum foil factory, promised to increase its employee salaries proportional to the increase of production. During last several years workers managed to increase production more than twice, but salaries still remain unchanged - about $250. The Russian owner of the company confessed (on local TV) that the factory equipment is outdated, nevertheless he declared that workers should “earn” the salary increase.??? And therefore the company eployees are protesting now.

By the way Armenian government owned TV channels showed government members who in past, several times, highly praised the company for the “huge” investments done to ensure high quality of the foil.

Sarcastic???

Russians own most of Armenian large scale companies which are making big profits. And yet they consider that the Armenian workforce doesn’t deserve higher salaries. Because Armenian regime is in pockets of the Russians, it doesn’t/can’t support Armenian employees. The regime supports the wrongdoings of the owners.

By the way the owners are able dumping the foil in market, because they pay employees-nothing.

Please read the following:

http://www.silobreaker.com/eu-imposes-tariff-on-aluminum-foil-from-china-brazil-and-armenia-5_2262622150944882736

The European Union decided Thursday to impose five-year duties on aluminum foil imported from China, Brazil and Armenia over alleged dumping charges.
The EU said in its decision that the duties were up to 30% as a punishment to Chinese exporters for selling the product at below cost, or...

By the way, recently Armenian State TV showed the delegation form the “ArmenAL” LLC Russian Headquarter: they met with the Head of the Armenian government. Does RoA government say something significant to them to show-up that they are willing to protect Armenian employee interests?

Do you know something about it?

[Muhaha]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

I truly have no idea how anyone with a straight face can say Armenia has a "Market Driven" Economy. Any failures the Armenian Economy and Nation are experiencing are due to the people's dragging foot on implementing true Capitalism. How can you claim to be a "Market" Economy when you don't follow basic and essential rules of the Market, such as the individual right to property. This is why the ROA is stuck in a rut, because we have people who simply refuse to be realists and instead advocate policies that have failed over and over again every time they've been implemented.
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Shirinian: The Perils of Open Market Economy in Armenia

By Razmig Shirinian

As Turkey and Armenia attempt to rebuild their strained relationships, political suspicions, deeply rooted in history, resurface between the two. The implementation of a “roadmap” for restoring relations between the two countries could certainly change the political alignments in the Caucasus region. Turkey, however, seems to be aiming beyond the Caucasus and attempting to reestablish its ties with the Arab and Muslim worlds. Armenia, on the other hand, has simply succumbed to the dictates of the regional policies and adjusted its national interests for the economic gains of the elite.

The post-Soviet oligarchic elites in Armenia have made every effort to normalize and establish open market relations with Turkey. The interests and wellbeing of the ordinary working people in these efforts seem to be neglected and, notably, the country remains in serious infrastructural deficiency. The open market relations with Turkey do not seek to alleviate the core economic problems of the country.

It is both ironic and elucidating that the Armenian government, as recently as December 2008, released its second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The document was prepared in collaboration with the IMF, a group of NGOs, central and local administrative representatives, trade unions, business representatives, and a number of professional groups and individuals. The PRSP Steering Committee, headed by Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, decided to rename the paper and call it Sustainable Development Program (SDP), since it differed from the first PRSP paper, appeared in 2003, and was more comprehensive, more inclusive, and aimed to serve as a wider “strategy for social-economic development of the country.”

Both 2003 and 2008 PRSPs for Armenia embody quite a challenging task for the years 2003-15 and beyond. However, they also seem to be largely ill-conceived economic policies in line with the dominant open market and neoliberal ideology of the post-Soviet era. Both these documents have set the policy precedent and have attuned the language of the two protocols signed with Turkey on Oct. 10, 2009. What is most notable in these documents is the fact that they fall short of some key elements of development, conveniently overlooking the equitable distribution of income and adequate appraisal of labor value, without which the overall evaluation of economic growth and development is futile.

It is, of course, both fair and appropriate to point out the remarkable neoliberal economic performance in Armenia since the turn of the century and until the onset of the recent global capitalist crisis. However, the infrastructure of growth (notably in the areas of health, education, water, and sanitation services) and the need for other improvements in basic infrastructure (say, transportation, communication, and utilities, especially in rural areas) have hardly received consideration in the country, and the questions of equitable distribution and labor value have been ignored altogether.

That’s because Armenia is a pure market-driven country. That is, the plutocratic elite’s control over the people has been legitimized and has taken the place of genuine political leadership. The majority of the Armenian people knows that the economic elite, entwined with the political leadership, is parasitic on the economic development of the country and is confined to oligarchic rule and its interests. The self-imposed plutocracy is not oriented towards infrastructural development and, as a result, the independence of Armenia since 1991 has primarily been an economic opportunity to be exploited, and not a political asset.

Lack of adequate sanitation, water, health care, roads, transportation, and utilities in general, and in rural areas in particular, come as a result of this plutocratic whim and civic deficiency. The economic development of Armenia, and of any other country for that matter, is believed to be measured first and foremost along these infrastructural bases. Otherwise, it’s the neoliberal free market dogma that will posit the unregulated market as an attractive model and obsession for development.

Since 1991, the glorification of the market has been cheered on by ruthless land privatization and small- and large-scale privatization in which business leaders, foreign investors, entrepreneurs, and the economic elite in general are to be revered as bastions of economic growth. Why then, and how is it that poverty in Armenia abounds? That teachers and scholars are neglected? Many academicians are poor? Unemployment and poverty rates are high? Income level is low? Labor is not adequately appreciated? These concerns and the facts supporting them indicate that the power of salvation should by no means be delegated to the elite if Armenia wants to develop on behalf of its ordinary people, farmers, and workers.

It is ironic that academic institutions in Armenia have not seriously examined or even questioned the neoliberal dogma that supports the IMF, World Bank, and the Turkophile policies of the ruling elite. This dogma has become a major obstacle to the improved quality of life and a threat to the general wellbeing of the people. It has increased poverty and wealth inequality, and has intensified class differences, social conflict, and hostility. Without this examination it seems that scholars, in general, would also be allured to materialistic gain and egotistic and selfish preoccupations.

PRSPs have trivialized the concern for public interest and have advanced the fundamentals of free market growth. Oligarchs and plutocrats have been increasing their power and influence on the economy, which has surely increased the fear and insecurity of wage-earning people. This fear of personal insecurity is not unfounded. After all, there is an exploitative association of businesses and politics that is draining the democratic life and economic development from the ordinary people.

What’s further distressing, the protocols signed between Armenia and Turkey will indeed constrict Armenia’s geopolitical position and compromise its security. And the economic performance of the country outlined in PRSPs will remain dependent on foreign aid, without developing sufficient prosperity for the general population.

Dr. Razmig B. Shirinian is Instructor of Political Science at the College of the Canyons in California.

http://www.hairenik.com/weekly/2009/11/11/shirinian-the-perils-of-open-market-economy-in-armenia/