Armenia's Economic Pulse

[londontsi]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Although I can't understand what's being said, I see an --- OPEN PIT MINE ----.
That's enough to raise the "red flag" warning.
No matter where these mines operate, the vaste majority pollute and contaminate the emmediate surroundings to toxic levels.
Extreme concern and vigilance is the first step.
Second step is to somehow amass or access the authority do have meaningful oversight.

The list of forbidden films in Armenia now include “Armenia’s broken Backbone” documentary.
It is barred from the main Universities.
The documentary is about the destruction of our nature to profit the few.
Needles to say, the few includes the country's top officials.

Where the cows are grazing, used to be a storage pool for the tailings.
Now a thin layer of soil covers the poisonous base.
The growing grass contain high level of heavy metals which pass on to the cows and humans.

The rivers and water table is similarly and irreversibly contaminated.

Sadly the list goes on ...

The next posting, an expert describes how unwisely our mining resources are utilized.
Our non metallic mining recourses apparently are vast.

As an example of the incompetence and corruption (??) he states that Robert Kocharyan as prime minister
sold a limestone mine in the Ararat valley with deposits of more than 350 million ton to an American mining company for $1.4m.
The value of limestone is put at $250 per ton. You can calculate the rest.

It goes on and on ....

[Eddo211]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

well that sucks....the close by residents should flood the courts with lawsuits. that will control the pollution IF they win in the courts.

[londontsi]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

well that sucks....the close by residents should flood the courts with lawsuits. that will control the pollution IF they win in the courts.

The government officials act both proprietors and licensing authority, granting themselves favourable concessions so they can say everything is done is legally.

The governor of the Marz (county) has a lot of power in granting concessions.
He is not elected but appointed by the President.
I do not believe the Parliament has any say.
In any event the Parliament is dominated by the Republicans so will support all officials actions.

The only people fighting this are the environmentalists who often seen as fringe elements and troublemakers.

[Artashes]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

The government officials act both proprietors and licensing authority, granting themselves favourable concessions so they can say everything is done is legally.

The governor of the Marz (county) has a lot of power in granting concessions.
He is not elected but appointed by the President.
I do not believe the Parliament has any say.
In any event the Parliament is dominated by the Republicans so will support all officials actions.

The only people fighting this are the environmentalists who often seen as fringe elements and troublemakers.

------- the only people fighting this are invironmentalists who often are seen as fringe elements and troublemakers -------
That could easily be a discription of the USA scene on invironmental protection.
No matter how many voices are raised in ligitimate concern for the terrible mining practices of USA , they are marginalized to ineffectivness.
Also the same big players get land to do their dirty mining at penneys per acre.
Really quite similar to the terrible behavior of Armenia on this account.
What a sham, what a shame.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Armenia is once again regional leader according to ''Global Innovation
Index 2014''

17:42 28/07/2014 >> SOCIETY


In the Global Innovation Index 2014, which ranks countries according
to the level of development of innovative technologies, Armenia is on
the 65th place while Azerbaijan hasn't even been included among the
first 100 countries. The details of the ranking can be found
here.[http://www.globalinnovationindex.org...data-analysis]

It must be noted that Armenia, as it was in the previous year, is the
leader of the region.

This year among the top ten countries in the list are Switzerland,
Great Britain, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. The last countries
on the list are Guinea, Myanmar, Yemen, Togo and Sudan.

Out of 143 countries included in the research Azerbaijan ranks the
101st, Georgia - 74th, Kazakhstan - 79th, Belarus - 58th, Kyrgyzstan -
112th, Uzbekistan - 128th, Tajikistan - 137th. Armenia's regional
neighbors Turkey and Iran are ranked the 54th and 120th respectively.

The annual analytical report "Global Innovation Index" is co-published
by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO, an agency of the United Nations, UN). The research
has been carried out since 2007.

http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2014/07/28/globalinnovationindex-armenia/

[Eddo211]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Armenia is once again regional leader according to ''Global Innovation
Index 2014''

Armenia's regional neighbors Turkey and Iran are ranked the 54th and 120th respectively.
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/20...index-armenia/

This cant be right.....Iran should be one of the top countries listed since they have done alot of innovations under severe sanctions compared to Turkey that can't even make their tanks work right.
No way Iran is behind Turkey.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse


Here is a chart i made of the economies of the three countries in our region.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

EurasiaNet.org
July 30 2014

Will Sanctions on Russia Hurt Armenia?

July 30, 2014 - 9:52am, by Giorgi Lomsadze


As international sanctions pile up against Russia, Armenia, a country
literally powered by the Russian economy, expects to get hit, too.

Armenian officials and economy-wonks are not certain about the size
and scope of the impact, but they are positive there is going to be
one. Russia is Armenia's single largest investor, export-outlet and
energy supplier, so the lateral effects of the sanctions could be
potentially felt in all those directions. "At this stage it is hard
to make expert conclusions. Even the Russian experts do not yet have
precise calculations," Economy Minister Karen Chshmatirian was quoted
as saying by Regnum news agency.

The latest round of US sanctions targeted, among others, Russia's VTB
Bank, which happens to be the largest private lender in Armenia. "The
measures taken by the US Government to restrict VTB's access to the
capital market do not impact the bank's operational performance and
creditworthiness," asserted VTB, which is majority-owned by the
Russian government. Bloomberg, however, reported that major
international lenders to the VTB Group already have put on hold a
$1.5-billion loan to the bank.

Another target of the sanctions, Gazprombank, also has a presence in
Armenia. It is owned by Russia's state energy giant Gazprom, which
essentially is the sole supplier of natural gas to Armenia.

Armenia was also pinning investment hopes on the Russian state oil
corporation Rosneft, another sanctions-target which had plans to
purchase Armenia's Nairit, a large rubber-manufacturer. Armenian Prime
Minister Hovik Abrahamian did not rule out that these plans may fall
through, though, since the sanctions may put Rosneft out of the
investment mood.

Vaagn Khachatrian, an expert on the Armenian economy and member of the
opposition Armenian National Congress, said in comments to 1in.am news
service that he expects Russian investment to become scarce and
lending more expensive.

The assessments vary about the depth of the impact, but, for now, no
official word on cold feet about the Customs Union; a membership-move
that would further tie Armenia to Russia's economy.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/69276

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Worldcrunch
July 30 2014


In Russia's Orbit, Searching The Sleepy Economy Of Armenia

by Aleksei Boyarskii (2014-07-29)

YEREVAN -- There used to be trains that connected Moscow and Armenia's
capital of Yerevan. But for different reasons, mostly an array of
regional tensions in former Soviet republics, Armenia is no longer
connected to Russia by rail.

To get to Yerevan from Moscow, you can either drive for 48 hours
through the North Caucasus and Georgia, or you can take a flight of
less than three hours. I chose the latter.

The entire time I was in Armenia, I was struck by how calm it was. The
country has the lowest crime rate among all of the former Soviet
states, and has a per-capita crime rate nine times lower than
Russia's. What's more, 90% of the criminal activity in the country
happens in Yerevan, the capital. But that is Armenia's best statistic.
In terms of its economy, Forbes ranked Armenia the second-worst
economy in the world in 2011.

Indeed when people learned that I'd come here to write about Armenia's
economy, the response I got over and over again was something like,
"Wait, you are trying to write about something that doesn't exist."

According to the 2012 census, Armenia has 3.2 million residents, 3
million of whom live in the country permanently. But according to the
economist and former Yerevan Mayor Vahagn Khachatryan, Armenia has
closer to 2.2 to 2.5 million residents. "Our GDP is around $10
billion," Khachatryan says. "Private transfers -- remittances sent back
from Armenians working abroad -- make up $1.8 billion per year. That
sum doesn't take into account the money that is brought back in cash.
If you count the cash transfers, I think it would add up to $2.5
billion per year." He estimates that 90% of that money is coming from
Russia.


This total dependency on Russia is about more than remittances.
Russian companies own 100% of Armenia's electrical grid, and the
majority of the power plants. All of the gas pipelines, including the
one that comes from Iran, are owned by Russia. Of Armenia's three
mobile phone companies, two are Russian and the third is French. In
the banking sector, 21 of the 25 banks active in Armenia are
foreign-owned.

Gold, cognac and high-tech

Have you ever heard that Armenia is an international center for
xxxelry manufacturing? People tell me that 7% of the world's famous
xxxelers are Armenian. I'm not so sure about the world leadership bit,
but it's true that after mining for copper and molybdenum, xxxelry
production is the second most important industry in the country.

Yerevan's gold market is in a building that used to house the city's
public baths. It has nine floors: The first two are shops, the others
are xxxelry workshops. There are 800 shops and up to 6,000 salespeople
and xxxelers. Everything sold in the building is also made there. I
see gold bullion with the stamp of Swiss banks that is going to be
melted down for xxxelry. The xxxelers also melt down gold that people
sell in the xxxelry shops downstairs. You can buy knock-offs of Rolex
and Tissot watches, made to order within 24 hours.



Agriculture is the Armenian economy's third-largest industry. Most of
the income in agriculture comes from making cognac. Yerevan's most
important tourist sites are two famous cognac factories next to each
other: Ararat and Noi. Both factories formerly made the famous
"Ararat" cognac, but now only one company has the rights to that
brand. That company's stocks have long been owned by Pernod Ricard, a
French company.

In addition to "Ararat," Armenia has another 27 cognac producers.
Shakhnazaryan, one of the newer cognac producers, has a factory
located near Yerevan in the city of Yeghvard. The company's owner,
Samvel Shakhnazaryan, had lived in Ukraine for years before returning
to Armenia eight years ago. At first he sold liquor, then he decided
to get into cognac production. The factory opened, from nothing, in
2010, and in 2014 it is expected to sell four million bottles.

Shakhnazaryan says that 95% of the sales go to Russia. I noticed,
though, that although the company has only been around for four years,
its oldest cognac is aged 15 years.

"Does that mean that you buy other people's cognac to resell?" I asked
the older head of wine production. "Here in Armenia, there is no
'other.' It's all ours," he responded. In fact, they do think there is
no such thing as "fake" Armenian cognac. As long as it is made from
local grapes, it is genuine.



Lastly, in fourth place in Armenia's economy is the IT sector. It
makes sense for a small, mountainous country without many natural
resources to orient itself towards intellectual products. In Yerevan,
the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies holds classes in digital
technology, web development and game development, among other
subjects, for children from 12 to 18 years old. The classes are open
to all and are completely free, and in total around 5,500 kids take
classes there twice a week.

PicsArt, a photo editor for mobile devices, is located on the
building's second floor. The company is American, but its founder is
from Armenia and all of the operations are in Yerevan. It's still a
start-up, but it's gaining traction, and now has 45 million active
users per month.

Looking at Ararat

Armenia is poised to join the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus and
Kazakhstan, but people here feel trepidation about joining its former
Soviet States. "Until last September, when we were told that we would
be joining the Customs Union, Armenia was preparing to join the
European Union, along with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine," says Vahagn
Khachatryan.

In 2013, Armenia exported $334.5 million worth of goods to Russia,
$8.6 million to Belarus and $7.3 million to Kazakhstan. The total GDP
of the Customs Union countries is 230 times larger than Armenia's GDP,
and the per capita GDP is 3.5 times higher. Theoretically that could
help Armenia's economy. Armenia's economy can expect more investments
and more exports due to joining the Customs Union, and it will also
likely add jobs.

But there are also clear disadvantages. First of all, it will be in a
different camp from Georgia, which is joining the EU, and that could
complicate trade and transit. In addition, the Customs Union will
cause a large number of imported goods to become more expensive --
everything from food to cars. Most experts say Armenia's decision to
join the Customs Union is a tribute to history, not based on economic
needs.

For Armenia, Mount Ararat is everything. It is the famous cognac
brand, the legendary soccer team, the name of the hotel I stayed in.
The snow-covered peak is easily visible from Yerevan, but the mountain
itself is in Turkey. The loss of Ararat, as well as memories of the
genocide of Armenians living in Turkey in 1915, still influences
politics.


Turkey is so close that on the road through Ararat's valleys my mobile
phone switched to a Turkish mobile network. "Do you see over there, on
the other side of the Aras River (the border between Armenia and
Turkey), those bright lights?" our driver asked, pointing into the
darkness. "That is a NATO base." Which is why Russian military bases
in Armenia give the locals peace of mind.

In Armenia, no matter what you ask, you will get an answer that makes
reference to war with Turkey or to the genocide. "There are bells on
the historic gates to warn of the arrival of the Turks," someone might
say. Or, "this is a watch tower to look out for Turks," etc.
Azerbaijanis are also called "Turks," and Armenia's borders with both
Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed.

With its other neighbor, Iran, it has a normal relationship, but Iran
is also a Muslim country. With these sorts of neighbors, the small
country needs a strong ally. Historically, that strong ally has always
been Russia.

http://www.worldcrunch.com/business-finance/in-russia-039-s-orbit-searching-the-sleepy-economy-of-armenia/turks-armenian-economy-it-sector-agriculture-cognac/c2s16507/#.U9m7f9J0zIU

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Minister Of Finance And Economy - Artsakh

Thu, Jul 24th, 2014

http://www.european-times.com/sector/minister-finance-economy-artsakh/

Impressive Economic Performance Since 1997

Spartak Tevosyan, Minister of Finance and Economy

Spartak Tevosyan, Minister of Finance and Economy, discusses Nagorno
Karabakh's impressive economic performance since 1997. He also notes
the republic's outstanding investment attractions.

European Times: Please give a brief overview of Nagorno Karabakh's
recent economic performance.

Spartak Tevosyan: The economy has been performing very well since
1997, averaging 10% growth per year. In 2013, the republic's GDP
totalled approximately EURO 310 million compared to EURO 35.6 million in 1997.
Per capita GDP is now close to EURO 2,091. In addition, the average salary
in 2013 was EURO 205.1whereas in 1997, it was EURO 24.7.

European Times: What is the tax system of Nagorno Karabakh?

Spartak Tevosyan: Nagorno Karabakh has a value-added tax of 20%, an
excise tax, an income tax for individuals at the rate of 21% of the
salary, and a profit tax of 10%. These taxes support the state budget,
which is 10 times bigger than it was in 1997. Around 24% of the budget
funds social programmes, 15.5% are for education, 6.3% for healthcare
and 3.5% for culture. During the global economic crisis, our citizens
did not suffer because the state financed social programmes. Our taxes
are low compared to other countries in the region.

European Times: Which sectors offer the most investment potential?

Spartak Tevosyan: In 2013, agriculture accounted for 14% of GDP,
industry 13.3% and construction 9.2%.

The mining sphere has developed significantly in Artsakh for the
recent years, becoming one of the most powerful subsectors of the
industry and providing 40-50% of the entire industrial product.
However, we have managed to provide the progressive development of
other subsectors of the industry as well, and in 2012-2013, the mining
sphere provided nearly 25% of the entire industrial product,
maintaining the production volumes.

We are strongly supporting the growth of the mining industry but we
are also promoting all industrial activities, including
food-processing, textiles and fabric production. In the energy sector,
hydropower has enormous potential. We have built eight small hydro
plants which provide over 70% of the country's energy needs. In 2013
we produced more than 190 million kWh. We welcome investors in the
energy sector. The construction sector is also a leading economic
driver and new systems for housing loans should stimulate the sector
further. Agriculture remains very important to the local economy, and
the tourism sector is growing rapidly. We are also promoting ICT and
the government has established the Artsakh Information-Technology
Centre as a first point of contact for ICT investors. The Artsakh
Investment Fund also supports investors.

European Times: What is your personal message to potential visitors
and investors?

Spartak Tevosyan: Our country is young but with an ancient history,
and in the last 20 years we have made impressive progress. We welcome
investors and are ready to assist them.