Yerevan is not Troy, and Heritage Party Leader Raffi Hovannisian is not Odysseus, Vice Speaker of Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov said when commenting on public figure Tigran Khzmalyan's statement that Raffi Hovannisian has chosen the Trojan horse to gain the power. 

Sharmazanov said that at the moment Hovannisian needs Ariadne's thread rather than a Trojan horse to get out of the labyrinth. He added that Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) remains committed to the policy of dialogue. Sharmazanov said that the RPA is ready to listen to Hovannisian, but it will not yield to ultimatums.  

He added that the statements of Hovannisian's supporters saying that the headmasters of the schools conduct an election campaign and propaganda of the incumbent Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan under the RPA's pressure are black PR and the RPA pays no attention to them.  Sharmazanov pointed out that the RPA will take part in the elections of the Yerevan Elders' Council with the slogan "Better Yerevan", as the party thinks that Yerevan may become much better and is ready to do its best to achieve this goal after the elections. Sharmazanov also told ArmInfo that the March 28 sitting of the RPA's Executive Body did not cover personnel issues.

To note, the elections to the Yerevan Elders' Council will be held on May 5.

The processes around the Civilitas Foundation and the criminal prosecution against ex-foreign minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian are the result of the Armenian authorities' resistance to the West, Leader of the opposition New Times Party, told ArmInfo.  

"Through Oskanian and the Foundation founded by Oskanian, the National Security Service is trying to find the modular foundations and organizations that financed Civilitas. These are American, Norwegian and German organizations. Here I see analogues with the actions of the Russian law-enforcers, who search the buildings of non-commercial organizations. The Armenian authorities' actions are an attempt to resist the immense pressure exerted by the West. This pressure is exerted on the elite and Serzh Sargsyan, whom the West has never considered apart from the oligarchic system", said Karapetyan.

He added that the West exerts pressure by means of money, the meaning of the Armenian oligarchy's life. The oppositionist thinks that the money of oligarchs is mostly kept in the Western banks, and today the Western elites have apparently decided to cover up this money or to return only 20-30% of it. "The excitement around Cyprus and the nervous response of Moscow speak volumes. The Cyprian authorities' decision to impose a tax on deposits at the Cyprian banks is a direct blow on the interests of Russian oligarchs and affiliated Armenian oligarchs. It is clear that the Armenian authorities will apparently resist. And the persecution against the Civilitas Foundation is the result of that resistance", he stressed.

Migration in Armenia is getting bigger and bigger, evolving into the population's escape, economist Bagrat Asatryan, ex-head of the Central Bank of Armenia, said at a press conference in Yerevan, when commenting on the European Union's 1 mln EUR assistance provided to Armenia for implementation of the return
migration and reintegration programme, which will last for 2.5 years. 

The economist pointed out that the EU's support will not help solve the problems connected with the large-scale migration, which, the economist thinks, will continue within the next few years.  Asatryan also thinks that Armenia will face a demographic downturn. He said that within the next 5-7 years for the first time in the history Armenia will find itself in a situation when death rate will exceeed birth rate. The number of women of reproductive age will also inevitably decline.

Referring to the results of public opinion polls conducted by international organizations, Asatryan said that nearly 1 million Armenians see their future outside Armenia, particularly, in the EU countries. In the neighboring countries the number of citizens connecting their future with Europe is much lower. For instance, in
Azerbaijan there are about 500 thsd such citizens and in Georgia - 250 thsd.

Asatryan expressed confidence that Armenia should connect its future with Europe and criticized the Russian programme "Compatriots". He thinks that despite the will of the authorities, the given programme is still going on, probably, on illegal basis. The expert is sure that the pro- Russian sentiments in Armenia may leave the country without a future.

For his part, economist Vardan Bostanjyan, ex-Armenian MP, pointed out that the migration sizes in Armenia endanger the national security of the country. The economist thinks that the country should solve the problems of unemployment and low revenues.   

 "We should strengthen our efforts towards the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict," US ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar told journalists during his visit to Guba, as APA reported.

The ambassador said that his country will do its best for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within OSCE Minsk Group. " I and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair of the US will continue our activities along with Azerbaijani officials to put forward new ideas for achieving progress in the settlement of the conflict", he said.

 Today, the maximum buying rates at commercial banks of Yerevan were 419 drams for 1 dollar, 535drams for 1 EUR and 13,5 drams for 1 Russian ruble. The minimum selling rates stood at 420 drams for 1 dollar, 536,5 drams for 1 EUR and 13,5 drams for 1 Russian ruble

 The Heritage party still thinks that  Liberty Square is the only place for the dialogue with Armenian authorities.

Leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovannisian has presented his offers to President Serzh Sargsyan and they will not be changed, deputy chairman of the Heritage party, Armen Martirosyan, said at today's press-conference. "As to the location of Hovannisian-Sargsyan meeting, there is no better place to solve
Armenia’s crisis than at Liberty Square. It was this square where we were struggling for independence of our state," - he said.

He also added that he does not trust in the ability of the Armenian parliament to draw out the needed machinery for settlement of the situation. "The incumbent president is more possible to come forward with acceptable proposals than the National Assembly to convene extraordinary session for discussion of the domestic political situation. One should not wait for effective measures from the parliament in this direction, as the trust of the society in the legislative body is extremely low, and in such conditions effectiveness of this structure is minimized", - Martirosyan said.

The settlement of the post-election domestic political situation in Armenia before the inauguration on 9 April is stemming from both the interests of the authorities and the opposition, as nobody needs split of the society, National Assembly opposition Heritage Faction MP, opposition Free Democrats Party
member, and former FM Alexander Arzumanyan said at today's press-conference.

"At present it is necessary to protect the votes of those 37% of citizens which voted against the ruling regime, especially if we take into account that this is a rather big number of votes. The aouthorities have to understand that it is impossible to rule for another 5 years by means of work imitation. Changes are unavoidable", - Arzumanyan said.

He also added that changing of premier will not resolve problems, as the person is not significant, it is the system that is incorrect.   "We need the system changes. As for the incumbent premier, he has all the needed professional skills to carry out his duties", - he said.

 At today's session of the executive body to be held tonight, the Republican Party of Armenia will discuss several domestic political and party problems
which are still relevant today, press-secretary of RPA, Edward Sharmazanov, told Arminfo correspondent.

He disproved the rumors in mass media, that allegedly the RPA will discuss the problem of setting up a coalition with Heritage party. He also added that besides the above mentioned problems, they will also discuss preparation to the Yerevan Council of Elders election.

  Yerevan lags practically behind all the CIS countries by the number of green territories, the head of Armenian Architects' Union, Mkrtich Minasyan, said at today's press-conference.

He said that during the Soviet times, Yerevan had 14 sq/m of green territories per capita, but today this indicator reduced to 3 sq/m. The active site development which is often implemented with breaking of all the urban development norms, is the reason of that, he said and added that even the conception for development of the small Center of Yerevan will not save the situation as it is a little bit late. He emphasized that many CIS cities, including Minsk, Tbilisi and Baku, are more careful about preserving of the green sectors than Yerevan.

Construction at the Covered Market in Yerevan is continued, Mkrtich Minasyan, Head of the Union of Architects of Armenia, told media, Thursday.

He recalled that the Ministry of Culture and the Yerevan Municipality have banned illegal construction in the backyard of the Covered Market. So, it was to be demolished. 

"Instead, there is an absurd situation. The construction is continued. A question arises as to whether the owner of the Covered Market reckons with the opinion of the Municipality and the Ministry," he said.

Research and Methodology Council of the Ministry convened on March 6 and studied the issue of the Covered Market. The Council issued an expert resolution saying that the back walls of the building must be restored and reinforced and the newly built concrete-construction must be demolished in line with the project.  Afterwards, a project of the market's restoration must be developed on the basis of a new resolution on the technical state of the building and submitted to
the Culture Ministry.

To note, the Covered Market is included in the list of the historical monuments of Yerevan. It was built in 1952 by Armenian architect Grigory Aghababyan's project and has been considered one of the symbols of the Armenian capital since then. Many think that impunity for destruction of the Covered market is connected with its owner Armenian MP Samvel Alexanyan.

Armenian midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the major transfer goal of Liverpool Football Club, Sportbox reports.

The two parties will probably start negotiating on Mkhitaryan's transfer in April-May, the source reports. 

Transfermarkt specialized Internet portal assesses 24-year-old Mkhitaryan's transfer value at ?17 million.  The player of Armenia's national team is currently the leader in the race of bombardiers of Ukraine Championship and has already bagged 19 goals in 20 matches.

Artyom Poghosyan, the son of Mikhail Pogosyan, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), has been appointed senior vice president for economy and finance at Sukhoi Civil Aircrafts producing Sukhoi Superjet 100 and belonging to the UAC.

Poghosyan was appointed to the new position on March 18 and already participates in negotiations with partners, Vedomosti newspaper reported on March 28. Before appointment, Poghosyan was Director for Operative Analysis and Economic Control at SCA.

Sukhoi - is Russia's major aircraft holding company, employing more than 26,000 people. 100% of stock of the Sukhoi Aviation Holding Company (JSC) belongs to the United Aircraft Corporation (JSC). The Company supports a complete cycle of work in aircraft engineering: from front end engineering to comprehensive aftersales support. In 2011 the company's net profits totaled 3.86 billion RUR (124.3 million USD). In the first half of 2012 the company's loss grew 6fold to 100.3 million USD versus the same period of 2011.

 "Artavazd" National Theatrical Award Ceremony was held in Yerevan on March 27.

Two performances: "Morgan's godfather" (Paronyan Theater of Music Comedy) and  "Abgar Dpir" (Vanadzor Dramtic Theater after Abelyan) were announced the Best Performances of the Year.  The Best Art Direction Award was shared by Alexander Grigoryan (Russian Dramatic Theater after Stanislavsky) and Hakob Ghazanchyan (Paronyan Theater of Music Comedy).

The Best Actors were announced Yervand Yengibaryan for the role in  "Duck Shooting" and David Hakobyan for the role in "Nostalgia." The Best Actress is Luisa Hambaryan for the role in "Romantic Comedy."

Awards were given also in the nominations: The Best Youth Performance, The Best Youth Art Director, The Best Young Actors etc.

Tbilisi. The Board of Trustees of the Ministry of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refuges discussed the EU-funded program of assistance to IDPs in Georgia, the press-service of the department reported on Tuesday, March 26. Representatives of EU, international organizations and governmental departments of Georgia were present at the sitting of the Board of Trustees.

Tbilisi. The co-rapporteurs of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's Monitoring Committee for Georgia, Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE) and Boris Tsilevich (Latvia) welcome  constitutional amendments on restriction of President's right to appoint individually the Cabinet of Ministers in case the parliament is dissolved.

Tbilisi. President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili has signed the amendments to the Constitution of Georgia, restricting rights of the head of the state to appoint individually the Cabinet of Ministers in case the parliament is dissolved, Chairman of the Georgian legislative body David Usupashvili stated on Wednesday, March 27. 

Baku. Ukraine would like to pump gas from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan via the Russian pipelines. Nikolai Azarov, chief of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers, said that the agreement on free trade zone in the CIS offers such an opportunity.

Baku. During a visit to Qatar, a delegation from the Ministry of Economic Development, for the first time, put forward a proposal to establish a joint investment fund to finance projects in two and third countries.  The Ministry of Economic Development Press Service said that the idea was received with interest.  In particular, Qataris were invited to invest in the private sector and the development of industrial parks in Azerbaijan. They discussed issues of cooperation in infrastructure, tourism, agriculture, education, science and technology.

Baku. The third Turkish-Azerbaijani-Georgian business forum will be held on May 21 in Gabala. Previous discussions with senior economic ministers of the three countries were in Tbilisi (February 2012) and Kars (June 2012).

Baku. The Human Rights Campaign, Art for Democracy and the organization "Free Youth" will hold a festival on documentary films on human rights on April 12- 14, the theme is "CAUCADOC and Our Rights - Our Future."