Armenia's Economic Pulse

[KarotheGreat]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

And the Armenian oligarchs are from the Soviet Era and the elite families of the time. And even after the collapse have retained their positions in Armenian society. Bottom line is the oligarchs in Armenia are slowing down our economic progress and progress in general. At least if people are going to control large sectors of the economy let them be businessmen who've worked their way up the economic chain, and aren't just the sons or relatives of a rich elite family.

It seems that you know nothing about Europe and the real people that control it. They aren't people who grew through the ranks but the sons of rich people (like in Armenia) the only difference is that the rich here want their children to get the best possible education. That doesn't change the fact that most of money and capital invested in big business in Europe and in every other country belongs to an elite. The only difference there is how well can they hide that fact of control.

Mr. Negative? You know how much damage the oligarchs have done to Armenia and Armenian people? Oligarchs are just remnants of the same type of oligarchs that controlled the economy and politics from Soviet Union. The oligarchs can do whatever they want as not only they have so much economic control but also political control. So stop acting like it's not a big problem, go ask any Armenian from Armenia and they will agree that these oligarchs are a big problem.

The only reason why the Armenians think that the oligarchs are a problem is because of the huge income and wealth gap between the two. Wait and see when Armenia gets a real middle class if they still will mind the oligarchs, but then they will not be oligarchs but businessmen like everywhere else on the planet.
Mos don't ever talk about what the people of Armenia feel while living in Austria or else people will start thinking that you are living in Armenia and aren't pulling things out of your ass 90% of the time.

[Mos]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

It seems that you know nothing about Europe and the real people that control it. They aren't people who grew through the ranks but the sons of rich people (like in Armenia) the only difference is that the rich here want their children to get the best possible education. That doesn't change the fact that most of money and capital invested in big business in Europe and in every other country belongs to an elite. The only difference there is how well can they hide that fact of control.

The major concern is that the oligarchs not only have the economic power but also take up positions in government, and effectively control the government.
For example look at dodi gago who own multigroup, or serzh who also has major stakes in the economy.

The only reason why the Armenians think that the oligarchs are a problem is because of the huge income and wealth gap between the two. Wait and see when Armenia gets a real middle class if they still will mind the oligarchs, but then they will not be oligarchs but businessmen like everywhere else on the planet.
Mos don't ever talk about what the people of Armenia feel while living in Austria or else people will start thinking that you are living in Armenia and aren't pulling things out of your ass 90% of the time.

the gap between rich and poor is much higher in Armenia than in Europe.

second, I live in Armenia every year for a few months as all my relatives are there so I very well know how Armenia is doing and what the people think. My uncle owns several businesses in Yerevan, so I've had first hand experience with this as I help him out. Don't talk about me like you know who I am.

[Federate]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Dashnaktsutyun calls to buy made in Armenia products

November 16, 2010 | 13:58

ARF Dashnaktsutyun joined calls of the government to buy Armenian products. ARFD MPs Ara Nranyan, Lilit Galstyan and Artyusha Shahbazyan introduced draft amendments to the law on government purchases. Preference should be given to local goods and services if price exceeds cost of foreign goods for not more than 15%. The draft bill is on the agenda of parliament’s four-day session.

The government had drawn a negative conclusion on the proposal. Most likely they think that calls to buy Armenian goods refer only to average citizens, whereas respected ministers do not want to wear local underwear preferring it to Turkish one. However, the formal conclusion of the government was based on two points: first, preference will be given to expensive goods while making public purchases, secondly, it will contradict international treaties.

http://news.am/eng/news/38265.html

[londontsi]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

http://hetq.am/en/economy/ship/

Where Did Millions Paid for a Lake Sevan Monitoring Ship Go?

Last year Hetq published an article about how a resident of the Aragatzotn village of Sasounik was incarcerated for stealing wheat from a neighbor’s basement.

He stole the flour to feed his four hungry children. The villager was sent to jail and released a few months later under the general amnesty provisions. What does one, two or three sacks of flour cost? Ten or twenty thousand drams at best?

Now, dear readers, let me tell you how certain government officials have pocketed more than 100,000,000 AMD and gotten away scot free. Anyone who steals a sack of flour will quickly wind up behind bars in Armenia, but nothing happens to government officials who “appropriate” millions from the state budget. These are the accepted rules of the game in Armenia; the actual laws at work in the republic. If this wasn’t the case, at the very least a handful of government officials would be behind bars today.

In May of 2010 the State Interests Protection Department of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office initiated criminal proceedings against the director of the Armenian State Hydro-Meteorological Service (ASHMS) and the Ministry of Nature Protection’s Department of Economics for abuse of their office.

The ASHMS was supposed to have procured a ship for hydrological and meteorological monitoring of Lake Sevan. In 2006, 153 million AMD was earmarked by the state budget and the amount was later paid to Kamar Ltd. It later turns out that Kamar purchased a However, it was found out that Kamar CJSC bought a BMP-74M fishing vessel, not a special monitoring ship, from Akhtarskaya Sudoverf CJSC (Russia) for 47 million AMD.

Sona Truzyan, Press Secretary at the Prosecutor General’s Office, informed us that the case was still being investigated by the General Investigative Department of the Armenian Police.

Below is the reply of the Prosecutor General’s Office:

The head of the administrative-economic department of the Armenian Nature Protection Ministry, who was authorized to accept the vessel, failed to carry out his official duties, and at the instruction of the director of the Armenian State Hydro-Meteorological Service and without an appropriate examination, confirmed in writing that the BMP-74M vessel was valued at 153 million AMD and met the technical characteristics specified in the agreement. This was not the case. As a result, the vessel was transferred to the assets of the Armenian Nature Protection Ministry, and this caused considerable damage to the state’s interests.

Taking into account the fact that there are components of crime in the actions of the director of Kamar CJSC, chief accountant, director of the Armenian State Hydro-Meteorological Service, and head of the administrative-economic department of the Nature Protection Ministry, the Department for Protection of State Interests of the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office has instituted a criminal case under Article 178 Item 1 Part 3 (fraud), and Article 308 Part 2 (abuse of office) of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

During the pre-trial examination, H. Vardanyan, one of those charged, has partially compensated for the loss to the state by depositing 33 million AMD into the account of the RA Prosecutor General.

The RA Police also report that fraud charges have been brought against Kamar Ltd Director H. Vardanyan.

We remind readers that the relevant documents in the case were signed by various officials at the Nature Protection Ministry. None of them have yet to be charged for any infractions.

They continue to work at their same jobs or at other posts; ever adept at embezzling more tax payer money.

[gegev]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

http://hetq.am/en/economy/ship/

Where Did Millions Paid for a Lake Sevan Monitoring Ship Go?

Last year Hetq published an article about how a resident of the Aragatzotn village of Sasounik was incarcerated for stealing wheat from a neighbor’s basement.

He stole the flour to feed his four hungry children. The villager was sent to jail and released a few months later under the general amnesty provisions. What does one, two or three sacks of flour cost? Ten or twenty thousand drams at best?

Now, dear readers, let me tell you how certain government officials have pocketed more than 100,000,000 AMD and gotten away scot free. Anyone who steals a sack of flour will quickly wind up behind bars in Armenia, but nothing happens to government officials who “appropriate” millions from the state budget. These are the accepted rules of the game in Armenia; the actual laws at work in the republic. If this wasn’t the case, at the very least a handful of government officials would be behind bars today.

In May of 2010 the State Interests Protection Department of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office initiated criminal proceedings against the director of the Armenian State Hydro-Meteorological Service (ASHMS) and the Ministry of Nature Protection’s Department of Economics for abuse of their office.

The ASHMS was supposed to have procured a ship for hydrological and meteorological monitoring of Lake Sevan. In 2006, 153 million AMD was earmarked by the state budget and the amount was later paid to Kamar Ltd. It later turns out that Kamar purchased a However, it was found out that Kamar CJSC bought a BMP-74M fishing vessel, not a special monitoring ship, from Akhtarskaya Sudoverf CJSC (Russia) for 47 million AMD.

Sona Truzyan, Press Secretary at the Prosecutor General’s Office, informed us that the case was still being investigated by the General Investigative Department of the Armenian Police.

Below is the reply of the Prosecutor General’s Office:

The head of the administrative-economic department of the Armenian Nature Protection Ministry, who was authorized to accept the vessel, failed to carry out his official duties, and at the instruction of the director of the Armenian State Hydro-Meteorological Service and without an appropriate examination, confirmed in writing that the BMP-74M vessel was valued at 153 million AMD and met the technical characteristics specified in the agreement. This was not the case. As a result, the vessel was transferred to the assets of the Armenian Nature Protection Ministry, and this caused considerable damage to the state’s interests.

Taking into account the fact that there are components of crime in the actions of the director of Kamar CJSC, chief accountant, director of the Armenian State Hydro-Meteorological Service, and head of the administrative-economic department of the Nature Protection Ministry, the Department for Protection of State Interests of the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office has instituted a criminal case under Article 178 Item 1 Part 3 (fraud), and Article 308 Part 2 (abuse of office) of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

During the pre-trial examination, H. Vardanyan, one of those charged, has partially compensated for the loss to the state by depositing 33 million AMD into the account of the RA Prosecutor General.

The RA Police also report that fraud charges have been brought against Kamar Ltd Director H. Vardanyan.

We remind readers that the relevant documents in the case were signed by various officials at the Nature Protection Ministry. None of them have yet to be charged for any infractions.

They continue to work at their same jobs or at other posts; ever adept at embezzling more tax payer money.

You are right Londontsi. The true reason of poverty in Armenia is the leaders/"elite" corruption, at least 70% of them are corrupt. The laws most of them believe are the robber's/"gogakan" ones.

[Federate]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Karabakh To Boost Public Spending In 2011


The Nagorno-Karabakh parliament approved on Thursday the unrecognized republic’s state budget for next year that calls for an 8 percent increase in government expenditures projected at 64.8 billion drams ($180 million).

The higher spending target was made possible, in large measure, by a corresponding rise in annual subsidies from Armenia that continue to account for most of the Karabakh government’s budgetary revenues.

The subsidies, officially called “inter-state loans,” will total 35.4 billion drams in 2011. The authorities in Stepanakert will still run a budget deficit of over 2 billion drams.

About one-quarter of the projected expenditures are to be channeled into social programs. One of those programs envisages the construction of free housing for about 100 Karabakh Armenian families whose members were killed in the 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan.

Another 3.8 billion drams was budgeted for healthcare, up by 25 percent from this year’s level.

Karabakh Prime Minister Ara Harutiunian, whose governing coalition comprises all four political groups represented in the local legislature, told lawmakers that “food security and energy independence” will be his cabinet’s chief economic priorities in 2011.

“From 2012 the NKR will become self-sufficient in energy … and we will be able to think about exporting electricity,” he said.

Electricity production in Karabakh is expected to soar in the coming years as a result of the ongoing construction of more hydro-electric stations. The Karabakh and Armenian prime ministers inaugurated one such plant in the northern Martakert district in April.

Agriculture will still remain the dominant component of the disputed territory’s economy. Harutiunian said his government will promote its “intensive development” in 2011 and the following years.

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/2257425.html

[londontsi]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

http://asbarez.com/92113/new-minister-proposes-to-kill-armenia%e2%80%99s-farmers/

New Minister Proposes to Kill Armenia’s Farmers

In a classic case of greed outweighing the needs of the people, Armenia’s new agriculture minister, Sergo Karapetian said on Wednesday that the future of Armenia’s agriculture lies in the enlargement of land plots and farms, proposing to effectively kill the hundreds of thousands of small farms that operate in and feed Armenia.

Karapetian called the small farms inefficient because of their owners’ inability to buy the necessary equipment or to obtain credits because they do not have assets to use as collateral.

That’s because when most agricultural land was privatized after Armenia’s independence and was evenly distributed among the country’s rural population, successive governments did not provide state assistance, irrigation and credit incentives for the farmers to cultivate their land.

RFE/RL reported Wednesday that most farmers have been forced to sell their lands to wealthy land owners, who probably seek to consolidate their holding and reap the benefits at the expense of Armenia’s farmers.

The new minister was appointed last month, because under the old minister, the agriculture industry showed a 14-percent decline, which directly impacted Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product. Bad weather was blamed for the shortage of crops.

Karapetian, who previously managed and co-owns one of Armenia’s largest food distribution companies, now is proposing to further widen the gap and allow his wealthy cohorts to have more opportunity to amass wealth, instead of critically analyzing the situation and providing local and small farmers with incentives to grow their existing plots and crops.

The glaring conflict of interest aside, Armenia prides itself on its agriculture and the crops that not only feed the farmer, but the entire country. Karapetian’s proposal to consolidate agriculture among a few who can afford to own and operate large farms signals the government’s reckless disregard toward its own population and perpetuates the oligarchic establishment that already owns most of Armenia’s industry.

This nebulous—and dubious—proposal does not delineate the government’s efforts to protect the small farmer once this proposal in enacted.

Instead of looking to consolidate Armenia’s agro-business, the minister should propose uniting farmers under collectives and providing incentives for their crops to be sold—and exported—at higher prices to ensure a better standard of living.

But the “let them eat cake” attitude, which has prevailed in successive administrations, only stifles the population and fills the pockets of the ruling elite.

Voices of dissent—including from my own party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation—should not only be raised high but should band together to topple this effort to oppress the farmers of Armenia.

[Eddo211]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Good news I guess, not everyone seem to agree though......

Armenian Economic Growth In 2010 Fueled By Industry

January 27, 2011
YEREVAN -- Armenia's economy grew 2.6 percent last year as it rebounded from a sharp decline in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

Official statistics released January 26 show Armenian growth in 2010 was driven primarily by industry and the mining sector, which benefited from a rally in prices for nonferrous metals.

Data from the National Statistical Service (NSS) show industrial output -- which accounts for about a quarter of Gross Domestic Product � rose 9.7 percent.

Overall, the economy expanded more than 6 percent in the first half of 2010, but growth slowed later in the year because of a 14.5 percent drop in agricultural output due to bad weather. Continued weakness in the construction sector was also partly responsible for the slowdown.

Addressing officials from the National Competitiveness Foundation on January 22, Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said there were "very serious changes" in the structure of the economy. He said economic growth was no longer excessively dependent on construction, which was the main driving force before the global economic crisis.

The economy�s heavy dependence on construction was widely seen as being responsible for a more than 14 percent fall in GDP in 2009.

For this year, the government, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank expect GDP to grow 4.6 percent this year. The World Bank said growth could reach almost 5 percent in 2012.

"We had really positive and negative indicators last year," Gagik Minasian, the chairman of the parliament's Finance and Economy Committee, told RFE/RL on January 26. As positives, he pointed to industry�s increased share of GDP and the more than 41 percent surge in exports reported by the NSS.

On the negative side, Minasian singled out an inflation rate of 9.4 percent, the highest in many years. He attributed the rise in prices to many factors, though acknowledged a lack of competition in some sectors had aggravated the problem.

Artsvik Minasian, an economist and deputy from the opposition National Congress (HAK), gave a more negative assessment of the economic situation.

�When we look at real life and people's living standards, we see there has been a regression,� he said.

Minasian told RFE/RL that the modest growth in 2010 only benefited "oligarchs and the state budget" and that no genuine economic diversification is under way.

"The Armenian government is not ready and willing to make radical changes in its socioeconomic policy," he said.

Another opposition force, the Armenian National Congress (HAK), was also highly critical of the authorities' economic policies.

In a written statement, HAK alleged that the policies are aimed at "strengthening the oligarchy and monopolies and eliminating the class of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs." It also said socioeconomic tensions in Armenia have risen lately -- an apparent reference to a recent series of unpopular economic decisions taken by the government.

The statement said the governing board of HAK, led by former President Levon Ter-Petrossian, met January 26 to discuss the alliance's further steps �in this context.� It did not elaborate

http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia_economic_growth/2289273.html

[Karabed]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

European Firms Anxious to Invest Millions in Karabakh

STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL)–A group of entrepreneurs from Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia offered to invest millions of dollars in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s economy during a visit to Stepanakert on Friday.

The businessmen met with the republic’s leadership and received a positive response to their plans.

According to Ashot Grigorian, the Armenian-born owner of a Slovakian energy consulting firm who organized the trip, they are specifically interested in the local energy, construction and agriculture sectors. He said they would like to start out with pilot projects worth a total of at least $15 million.

“For the time being, we are talking about each of the firms investing only several million dollars,” Grigorian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “But if the process goes well, they will invest more serious sums.”

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakian was quoted by his office as welcoming the foreign investors visiting Stepanakert and promising to support them.

Georgi Petrosian, Karabakh’s foreign minister, meanwhile said the businessmen were unfazed by likely Azerbaijani protests to their investment plans.

“The energy sector is particularly attractive to them because the government of Artsakh (Karabakh) has adopted an exceedingly progressive program,” said Grigorian. “They are going to build a cascade of hydro-electric stations. Artsakh is laying the foundation of a modern energy system that doesn’t exist elsewhere in the South Caucasus.”

Under that program, Karabakh will stop importing electricity from Armenia in 2012 and be able to export power generated by its fast-flowing rivers in the following years. Ara Harutiunian, the Karabakh prime minister, described “food security and energy independence” as his government’s chief economic priorities in late December.

In Grigorian’s words, any new investment in the country will mark a step forward in Karabakh’s drive to gain international recognition. “I think that apart from economic calculations, people in Artsakh should also take into account the fact that when a plant is opened here [by foreigners] it marks a further step towards recognition of their independence,” he said.
http://asbarez.com/92985/european-fi...s-in-karabakh/

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

ARMENIA-IRAN HIGH-VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINE PROJECT NEARING COMPLETION

news.am
Feb 15 2011
Armenia

The construction of the Armenia-Iran high-voltage transmission line
will be 80% ready by the end of this year, Armenian Minister of Energy
and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan told journalists Feb. 15.

Under the project, the Hrazdan-Shinuhayr section of the 220-V line
will be completely renovated. The World Bank will invest in the
project as well.

Minister Movsisyan also reported that the Armenian-Iranian "Gas against
energy" program enhanced the Armenian energy system`s efficiency by
15%. Domestic energy consumption has increased by about 3%.

The "Gas against energy" program will be continued in 2011 as well.

Armenian News-NEWS.am reminds readers that under the program Armenia
is to supply 1kwh of energy to Iran against 3 cubic meters of gas.