The well-known Spanish singer and songwriter Julio Iglesias will give a concert in Yerevan. The concert will take place at the Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex on March 18. 

Julio Iglesias has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 80 albums, and more than 2,600 gold and platinum records certified. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 5 best-selling music artists in history.

  At present Azerbaijan constantly tries to equate the Karabakh conflict with the Abkhaz and South Ossetic conflicts in the international arena, but Yerevan must prevent this by all means possible, because the given conflicts have different origin, the political expert Alexander Manasyan told media, Tuesday.

"What has Armenia done to differentiate those conflicts in the international arena? Unfortunately, no steps are taken in the given area at present," Manasyan said.

Commenting on the recently leaked news that Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II allegedly tried to equate the given conflicts saying that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are the original lands of Georgia like Nagorno Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan, Manasyan said: "These are three possible versions: either the Georgian Patriarch said that during a personal meeting with Sheikh-ul-islam Haji Allahshukur Pashazadeh to favor him and hoped his words would not be made public, or his words
were distorted, or he made no such statement at all."

To recall, the Azerbaijani Mass Media leaked the above information. Nevertheless, Head of the Georgian Patriarchy Metropolitan Gerasim of Zugdidi and Tsaish told Armenian Mass Media that Ilia II did not make such statement and the Azerbaijani media reports do not correspond to reality.

 The Armenian singer Nick Egibyan is the first to express his desire to represent Armenia at Eurovision Song Contest (Malmo 2013). His song "Release Us" uploaded on YouTube has about 3,000 views already.

To remind, in 2012 Armenia refused to participate in Eurovision in Baku and was fined by the European Broadcasting Union.

Eurovision 2013 will be held in Malmo, Sweden, on May 14-18. 39 countries will participate in the song contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey have refused to participate in Eurovision 2013.

 It is early to speak of non-competitiveness of the forthcoming presidential elections in Armenia, Head of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia
Tigran Mukuchyan told journalists on Tuesday.  

He said that at the moment the candidates are being registered; afterwards, the electoral campaign will start and every candidate will have an opportunity to present his/her own position and program to the public, and only after that it will be possible to say whether there is a political competition or not. "There are well- known politicians among the candidates, who have an immense experience in this field. I think the race will be interesting", Mukuchyan said.

As regards the observers' participation in the electoral process, Mukuchyan said that all the international organizations that monitored the May 2012 parliamentary elections in Armenia will monitor the forthcoming presidential elections. "The long-term observers from the OSCE/ODIHR will shortly arrive in Armenia. Observers from the CIS, European Parliament will also come to Armenia. ICES also applied to the CEC to monitor the elections. We
have discussed this issue and sent an invitation to that organization as well. As regards the local NGOs, only 1 NGO has applied to the CEC so far", he said.

15 people are going to run in the presidential race:  President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisian, leader of Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan, leader of National Accord party Aram Harutyunyan, former Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arman Melikyan, member of Prosperous Armenia Ruben Ayvazyan, non-partisan Taron Abrahamyan, leader of Progressive Socialist Party
Robert Aharonyan, political expert Andrias Ghukasyan, historian Vartan Sedrakyan, head of Kashatagh NGO Robert Simonyan, pensioner Pavlik Sargsyan, unemployed Mher Hayrikyan and President of National Press Club Narine Mkrtchyan.

The presidential elections will be held on Feb 18 2013.

During the forthcoming presidential elections in Armenia, not specific candidates, but two Armenias will compete - the Armenias of Serzh Sargsyan and Raffi Hovannisian, Heritage Party Leader Raffi Hovannisian said at today's press conference in Yerevan.

He said that the unpopular candidates running for president will spice up the electoral process and make it more interesting. The politician stressed that every citizen of the country has the right to participate in the elections and introduce changes in development of the country. Hovannisian is sure that the elections will have two rounds, and the dignified candidate will be elected. He expressed willingness to shake hands with the winner in case of fair and transparent elections.  

When asked whether he is ready to give place to a joint opposition candidate, the politician said that he does not rule out such developments; all the more so, as he is not going to compete with the opposition candidates - Leader of Azatutyun Party (Liberty) Hrant Bagratyan and Leader of the National Self- Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan.

15 people are going to run in the presidential race:  President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisian, leader of Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan, leader of National Accord party Aram Harutyunyan, former Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arman Melikyan, member of Prosperous Armenia Ruben Ayvazyan, non-partisan Taron Abrahamyan, leader of Progressive Socialist Party
Robert Aharonyan, political scientist Andrias Ghukasyan, historian Vartan Sedrakyan, head of Kashatagh NGO Robert Simonyan, pensioner Pavlik Sargsyan, unemployed Mher Hayrikyan and President of National Press Club Narine Mkrtchyan.

8 of them have not yet paid the 8mln AMD ($20,000) election deposit and have been given time for so doing till Jan 10 02:00 PM.

 Let's Not Be Silent civil action group has published a letter by resident of Ashtarak Karapet Karapetyan, where he accuses some of the surgeons of Margaryan Hospital in Yerevan of selling human organs.

Karapetyan claims that the surgeons sewed the urethral artery of his wife in order to stop the functioning of one of her kidneys and later advised removing the kidney promising to give it to the family after the removal but breaking the promise. 

One of the reasons why Karapetyan suspects the doctors is that the first surgery was carried out free of charge even though he was able to pay for it, while the other two were paid surgeries but the doctors did not take the money.

They in the Health Care Ministry say that they have inquired into the case and have found out that the kidney was not healthy.

Meanwhile, the administration of Margaryan Hospital is going to give an official explanation on the case.

 Two potential candidates for the Feb 18 presidential election in Armenia Pavlik Sargsyan and Robert Simonyan made a row during the Tuesday meeting of the Central Election Commission.

They accused the Commission of extortion and said that the requirement that a presidential candidate should pay a $20,000 election deposit is a direct violation of a citizen's right to run for presidency.

Sargsyan said that it is absurd to require $20,000 in a country where 95% of residents are poor.

Chairman of the Commission Tigran Mukuchyan said that the Commission had no authority to discuss the requirements of the Electoral Code. "The requirements set for presidential candidates are equal for all people wishing to run for presidency," he said.

15 people are going to run in the presidential race:  President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisian, leader of Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan, leader of National Accord party Aram Harutyunyan, former Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arman Melikyan, member of Prosperous Armenia Ruben Ayvazyan, non-partisan Taron Abrahamyan, leader of Progressive Socialist Party Robert Aharonyan, political scientist Andrias Ghukasyan, historian Vartan Sedrakyan, head of Kashatagh NGO Robert Simonyan, pensioner Pavlik Sargsyan, unemployed Mher Hayrikyan and President of National Press Club Narine Mkrtchyan.

8 of them have not yet paid the 8mln AMD ($20,000) election deposit and have been given time for so doing till Jan 10 02:00 PM.

Today, the maximum buying rates at commercial banks of Yerevan were 403 drams for 1 dollar, 529drams for 1 EUR and 13,1 drams for 1 Russian ruble. The minimum selling rates stood at 406 drams for 1 dollar, 533 drams for 1 EUR and 13,3 drams for 1 Russian ruble.

 Farmers markets in Armenia are being actively replaced by supermarkets. As a result, in the last five years their share in retail trade has dropped from 2.7% to 1.5%.

In Jan-Nov 2012 trade turnover at farmers markets made up 16.9bln AMD or $42.1mln (17.5% drop as compared with Jan-Nov 2011) against 746.3bln AMD or $1.9bln in shops, including supermarkets (3.9% growth). In Nov 2012 the share of shops in retail trade was 65.5% against 53.1% in Nov 2011.

In Jan-Nov 2012 domestic trade in Armenia grew by 3.4% to 1.84tln AMD or $4.5bln. 34.1% or 630bln AMD ($1.6bln) was wholesale trade (4.7% annual growth), 4.2% or 77bln AMD ($191.8mln) trade in cars (11.3% growth).  61.7% of domestic trade or 1.14tln AMD ($2.8bln) was retail trade. The share of commodity markets in retail trade was 8.7% or 98.9bln AMD (4.5% annual drop), the share of stalls 3.1% or 35.9bln AMD (13.6% drop). 

As of Jan 1 2012 there were 13,600 stores in Armenia. 9,200 of them were located in Yerevan, ensuring 90% of total retail trade. As of the same date, there were 30 farmers markets in Armenia: 11 of them in Yerevan, with 80% of total trade.

The CIS Business Unit of Vimpelcom Ltd has announced the appointment of Sergey Zakurayev as Head of ArmenTel's Mobile Communication Unit.

Vimpelcom's Vice President for CIS Dmitry Kromsky says that Zakurayev as quite successful when representing Beeline in Georgia. "In Armenia we have even wider growth opportunities and I am sure that Zakurayev's working experience will foster the development of our mobile services in the country," says Kromsky.

Zakurayev believes that despite its colossal efforts to improve its quality and accessibility, ArmenTel has much to do yet to gain the trust of its customers. "I am sure that specific strategies and fresh ideas will help us to bring our services in Armenia up to the highest international level," says Zakurayev.

Sergey Zakurayev was born in Stavropol, Russia, in 1974. In 2003 he graduated from the Russian Government's Academy of National Economy. He started his career at VimpelCom in 2003 as Commercial Director of Beeline Southern Region in Russia. He has represented Vimpelcom in Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

ArmenTel (Beeline trademark) has been part of Vimpelcom since Nov 3 2006. Vimpelcom owns 100% of the company's shares.  ArmenTel provides fixed and mobile telephony and high-speed internet services all over Armenia.

 Armenia's roads are mostly passable, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Temporarily closed are Selim Pass, Aparan-Kuchak, Sarnaghbyur-Lanjik, Aragats-Artik, Mastara-Lanjik-Maralik, Aragyugh-Buzhakan, Aparan- Vanadzor and Madina-Verin Gtashen roads.

According to the Emergency Situations Department of Georgia's Interior Ministry, Stepantsminda-Lars road is also closed.

 It will be snowy all over Armenia on Jan 8-10, according to the Armenian Hydrometeorological Center.

On Jan 8 the average temperature in the country will drop by 4-6 degrees, on Jan 9-10 by 3-5 degrees. In Yerevan on Jan 8 the temperature will be -1 C, on Jan 9 -2 C and on Jan 10 -4 C.

 The Central Election Commission of Armenia will meet on Tuesday to register the candidates for the Feb 18 2013 presidential election. 

There are 15 candidates: President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisian, leader of Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan, leader of National Accord party Aram Harutyunyan, former Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arman Melikyan, member of Prosperous Armenia Ruben Ayvazyan, non-partisan Taron Abrahamyan, leader of Progressive Socialist Party Robert Aharonyan, political
scientist Andrias Ghukasyan, historian Vartan Sedrakyan, head of Kashatagh NGO Robert Simonyan, pensioner Pavlik Sargsyan, unemployed Mher Hayrikyan and President of National Press Club Narine Mkrtchyan.

Earlier Chairman of the CEC Tigran Mukuchyan told Yerkir Media TV that they would give the candidates time for paying the 8mln AMD ($20,000) election deposit. 7 of the 15 candidates have already paid the money.

Some 1,988 territorial centers will be formed in 41 electoral districts. The application period for those wishing to be member of a district electoral committee is Jan 19-24. The first meetings of the committees are scheduled for Jan 27.

The committees will consist of 8 members. The parliamentary groups of the Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia, ARFD, Heritage, Orinats Yerkir and Armenian National Congress have the right to have one member in each committee.

 A petition has been started on the US president administration web page to call to open the Turkish- Armenian border. Those who have signed the petition want the border to be opened, at least for refugees from Syria.

The petition calls on the government of Turkey to open its border with Armenia for refugees from Syria.

It says: "More than 60.000 people have been killed in the war in Syria."500.000 refugees have escaped from war and death... But many millions are unable to do that. Only few air companies still fly there and tickets are strongly limited. Mostly, people escape from Syria by buses and cars. There are 200.000 ethnic Armenians living in Syria and most of them want to escape to Armenia where they can feel safe, comfortable, find a job, a place to live and go to schools. The
road from Syria to Armenia goes through Turkey which closed its border with Armenia in 1993. It creates a big problem for Armenian refugees. Thus, we are kindly asking to call Turkey to open the land border with Armenia (at least, for refugees) without any preconditions. There shouldn't be closed borders in the 21-st century."

To sign the petition you need to follow this link:  https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/register?destination=petition/cal l-government-turkey-open-its-border-armenia-refugees- syria/nbmX159C