The Armenian and Azeri presidents will hardly meet soon in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan told journalists on Tuesday.

He believes that after the Ramil Safarov case the presidents have nothing to say to each other - especially as they have absolutely different views of how the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved.

Minasyan doubts that the world community is pressuring the conflicting parties into signing some document. "I can hardly imagine them agrreing to sign any complex document – not even a preamble to the Madrid Principles as the latter are not accepted by Azerbaijan. Tensions in the conflict zones are the last resource the Azeris are trying to use to pressure Armenia and the world community. They don't even want to negotiate the removal of snipers from the contact line. Why should the presidents meet then?" the expert said, adding that the meetings of the Armenian and Azeri FMs are just a fruitless formality.

The FMs met with the OSCE MG co-chairs in Krakow on May 17. After the meeting the co-chairs said that they were going to visit the South Caucasus so as to discuss some questions with the Armenian and Azeri presidents.

There still are lots of questions to Azerbaijan's last information campaign even now that the Azerbaijani Parliament has refuted the report that it is going to adopt a law
stipulating criminal penalty for Azerbaijani individuals and NGOs that will cooperate with Armenia before "the occupied territories are liberated."

"In any case we are going to continue doing what we have done so far.  We are going to organize online interviews with international experts and to ask them to comment on this situation. It would be a pity to see cancelled all we have done in the last years - and we have done a lot.  The very fact that Armenians and Azerbaijanis have begun to contact and to regard each other as human beings rather than beasts is already a big result, and it would be wrong now to put a barrier
to possible understanding between the two nations," Baghdasaryan said.

She believes that if adopted the abovementioned law would be a blow on all the projects organized by the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities so far. "It would be contrary to the interests of both communities", Baghdasaryan said.

Supported by the British embassies in Armenia and Azerbaijan, Region Research Center (Armenia) and Peace and Democracy Institute (Azerbaijan) organize joint online press conferences of experts from various countries for Armenian and Azerbaijani mass media concerning urgent problems. The interviews are part of a project aimed to expand knowledge of Armenians and Azerbaijani about each other and to build confidence through first-hand information.

ArmenTel CJSC (brand Beeline) announces appointment of Andrey Ponomarev as Director for Fixed-line Telephony Network. It is a position that was created as part of the company's development strategy. ArmenTel CJSC has separated the fixed-line network in a special unit for sustainable development of infrastructure and introduction of new commercial offers in the market. Andrey Ponomarev has over15 years of experience in the sphere of telecommunications as manager at big telecommunication companies. He has implemented a range of big and successful commercial and technical projects in the segments of fixed-line and mobile
telephony.

"This appointment is very important for me. It is a good opportunity for me to apply my experience and knowledge in development and improvement of ArmenTel's business.  I am sure that the fixed-line telephony unit of the company will manage to offer attractive products and leading technological solutions to the telecommunications market of Armenia," says Andrey Ponomarev.

At company they are sure that the fixed-line telephony will keep successfully developing for Beeline customers throughout the country under management of Andrey Ponomarev.

Andrey Ponomarev started as head of the logistic support at Ural Mobile Networks CJSC in 1997.  In 2003- 2009 Ponomarev headed the subsidiaries of Golden Telecom and VimpelCom in Ural region and the Board of Directors of Agency of Telecommunications CJSC in Perm. In 2009-2012 Andrey Ponomarev occupied the post of Director General at Foratec Communications in Yekateringburg, which was merged with VimpelCom in 2010.

ArmenTel CJSC (Beeline brand) is the subsidiary of VimpelCom Group. The VimpelCom Group consists of telecommunications operators providing voice and data services through a range of wireless, fixed and broadband technologies. The Group includes companies operating in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Armeniaas well as Vietnam and Cambodia, in territories with a total population of about 782 million. The Group companies provide services
under the "Beeline" brand.  VimpelCom was the first Russian company to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). VimpelCom's ADSs are listed on the NYSE under the symbol "VIP". As of MArch 31 2013, the company's subscribers numbered 215 million.

 Armenia's Finance Ministry has disproved publications in mass media according to which Finance Minister David Sargsyan charged state departments to  decrease subscription to Armenian newspapers.

As  press-service of the Ministry reported, the information disseminated in the press, according to which David Sargsyan sent an official letter to the state departments demanding to reduce the subscription to the newspapers, does not meet reality.

 Gas price for the population of Armenia may rise by some 20% and for commercial consumers by 15%. These are preliminary data, said Robert Nazaryan, Head of the Public Services Regulatory Committee of Armenia, in an interview with Haylur program on the Armenian Public Television.
 
He said that the Committee has not adopted a final decision yet, as it is holding discussions and consultations. Gas price components are currently being studied, particularly, ArmRusgasprom Company's expenses, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, inflation rate for materials and equipment necessary for the gas network, Nazaryan said.

Following the rise of the Russian gas tariff for Armenia from the current $180 per 1,000 cu m to $270, ArmRusgasprom applied to the Public Services Regulatory Commission for increasing the gas tariff for the population by 67.4% - from the current 132,000 drams to 221,000 drams per 1000 cu m, and for the large consumers by 61.3% - from $243 per 1000 cu m to $392.  The Government of Armenia has submitted a written application to the Committee for subsidizing 30% of the Russian gas price for Armenia. The last time gas tariff rose in April 2010. Armenia imports also Iranian gas in exchange for electric power - 3,000kWh per 1 cu m.

 A government must be responsible for its mistakes and ready to resign if its reforms go wrong, the head of the parliamentary group of ARFD Vahan Hovhannisyan said on Tuesday. 

"Why haven't our people ever seen a government official punished for his mistakes or wrongdoings? If a government official gets the pensions of dead people, he must be punished – this is normal," Hovhannisyan said, meaning the former chief of the Social Security Service Vazgen Khachikyan, who was arrested for machinations.

"Normally, a government undertaking radical reforms must be ready to resign should they go wrong, but our government is conducting reforms for the sole purpose to stay in power. Power is not a means for them but a goal. This is a dangerous logic. It may finally prompt them not to conduct any reforms at all: why educate people, if it is easier to control them when they are ignorant? why fight oligarchs if they may go into opposition or leave the country with their money? This is a logic that will lead us to nowhere," Hovhannisyan said.

 The parliamentary group of Armenian National Congress cannot support the program of a government that has broken all of its promises, the secretary of the group Aram Manukyan said.

"They have promised to put an end to monopolies, to force oligarchs to pay taxes, to boost competition and fight corruption but none of the promises has been kept. The regime buys votes during elections, so, their results cannot be regarded as people's opinion of its work. The rise in the Russian gas price is the price the regime has to pay to the Russians for them to say that it is legitimate. The Government's program will lead to either a revolution or a new wave of emigration," Manukyan said.

 If the previous programme of the government of Armenia was the collection of toasts, we can just say that in the current programme the toasts are becoming more
and more sweeter, deputy of the National Assembly, former foreign minister of Armenia, Alkesandr Arzumanyan, said in the parliament today.

He said that only one thing is good in the present programme of the government: it seems to be edited only by one person, as there are no obvious disagreements in it. However, despite the availability of positive elements, the programme is an electoral one. "There are more emotions than logic in it", - he said.

He also added that the goals have been fixed in the programme, and no way how to reach these goals. Arzumanyan is disappointed with many points of the programme. For instance, opening of the job places is not a function of the state, as opening of job places and new companies should be regulated by the market, he said.

Touching on the points of the government's programme about the foreign policy goals, Arzumanyan wonders why CIS and CSTO were fixed in the programme but there is no word about NATO, although our servicemen take part in the peacemaking missions within the frames of NATO and our defence minister often leaves to meet NATO's high-ranking officials. He also added that the programme says that Armenia will make efforts not to let genocides and to recognize them. "This is fixed in the governmental programme of the country which negated the initiative on recognition of the Pontian Greeks genocide, the country, which did not recognize any other genocide except the Armenian one", - Arzumanyan said.

He also wonders why the government gives guarantees to sick people that they will be correctly diagnosticated. He said that this  should not be the government's function. "You do not guarantee that a taxi driver will choose an optimal route to take a passenger to his place, do you?", - Arzumanyan asked.

The reports that the Azeri Parliament might adopt a law "On the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan" were just an attempt to see the reaction of the Azeri society, Armenia and the world community, Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan told journalists on Tuesday.  He believes that such a law would be a gift for Armenia. "It would strengthen our positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process as it would confirm our arguments that unilateral concessions here are impossible," Minasyan said.

The need for such a law was mentioned by Azeri MP Gudrat Gasanguliyev.  He said that all non-citizens wishing to enter "the occupied territories" should get a visa or permit from the Azeri authorities.

Later the press service of the Azeri Parliament refuted that information.

 The Armenian Government's program for 2013-18 is rather a declaration than a program, because it contains nothing specific, Artsvik Minasyan, MP from ARF Dashnaktsutyun faction, said at a press conference in Yerevan on Tuesday. 

He expressed his indignation at the fact that even when the matter concerns the main socio-economic problems, i.e. poverty, migration, unemployment, there is no doubt the provisions have been prepared by the Government. "These provisions have mostly likely been taken from the speeches of the President and political forces of Armenia. In fact, the Government has no full idea of these processes and it is not sure that they should become the priorities for the forthcoming 5 years", he stressed. Minasyan said that to remove unemployment, it is necessary to create at least 500 thsd new jobs, however, the Government is going to create 100 thds new jobs, with 50 thsd of them being in the agrarian sector.     

Minasyan thinks that one of the main flaws of the Government's program is the lack of provisions on creation of a national air carrier. He pointed out the provision on construction of the new nuclear power unit present in the program 2012 has been removed from the current program. He also thinks that the lack of items about gas and gas transmission system is a serious flaw. "Our energy system has become dependent on Russia, on the Russian policy. They are constantly talking about energy independence, but no real steps are taken to ensure it", he said.

To note, on May 20 Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan submitted the new Government's program for consideration of the Parliament. When presenting the program, Head of the Government Staff Vache Gabrielyan said that the new program of the Government had taken into account most of the remarks and proposals made by the republic's structures.

 In the conditions when 250 thsd people left Armenia for the last 5 years, and allegedly 6% growth of economy was ensured, one cannot say about success of the previous programme of the government, the former premier of Armenia, leader of the Freedom party, Hrant Bagratyan, said in the parliament today when commenting on the Armenian government's programme for 2013-2017.

He said that actually, the state budget revenues do not grow in Armenia. At first sight, it seems that we have the growth from 600 billion drams up to 1 trillion drams, but if we compare the last figure with tax administration and inflation, it will become clear that the budget  ensured no growth. "What does the point about the necessity of raising of the level of tax administration mean? Such a process should be permanent in any government and in any state of the world", - Hrant Bagratyan said and added that this point cannot be a programme thesis. At the same time, there is no word in the programme about the 7 million Armenian Diaspora which nsures the main inflow of investments in the country, he said and added that at least $3-4 bln invested by the Diaspora should be used directly for development of economy.  He also called on executive power to settle problems with the airport and civil aviation, which will make it possible to attract extra $5 bln. "You may do nothing, simply settle this issue and the problem of the state budget will be resolved", - Bagratyan said. He also called on Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan to pay attention at the situation in the National Statistics Service, as it is simply impossible to produce 241 thsd tons of grape and 812 thsd tons of vegetables in the republic.  "The figures were sexed up at least threefold", - he said and called on the government and premier to speak about the true results.

The Government's statement that the gas supplied to Armenia is the cheapest in the region is absurd, Artsvik Minasyan, MP from ARF Dashnaktsutyun, said at a press conference on Tuesday.  

Minasyan said that since Armenia has handed over more than 80% of energy capacities to Russia, one should take into account the price at which the gas reaches the consumers, not the price the gas is sold at on the border. "If we look at the problem from this point of view, the highest gas tariff is offered to Armenia. The tariff for Armenia is higher than the one for Georgia", he said. Minasyan also assured that the amount of gas consumed in Armenia is only 2-2.5% of the gas consumed in the CIS. He thinks that this small figure cannot seriously affect the financial condition of Gazprom. The economist also advised the authorities to think about nationalization of ArmRusgasprom CJSC.

The MP is not inclined to consider the rise in gas tariffs from the political viewpoint. However, if the gas price is connected with a political haggle between Armenia and Russia, official Yerevan should refuse such a strategic partner. "This will mean that Russia has launched a program "Armenia without Armenians"; subsequently, we
don't need such an ally", he said.

Following the rise of the Russian gas tariff for Armenia from the current $180 per 1,000 cu m to $270, ArmRusgasprom applied to the Public Services Regulatory Commission for increasing the gas tariff for the population by 67.4% - from the current 132,000 drams to 221,000 drams per 1000 cu m, and for the large consumers by 61.3% - from $243 per 1000 cu m to $392. The Government of Armenia is going to subsidize the Russian gas import price by 30%. On May 20 PSRC Chairman Robert Nazaryan said that according to the preliminary data, the gas price for the population of Armenia may grow to 20%, and for commercial consumers  - by 15%.  The Russian gas price in Armenia has not changed since April 2010. Armenia also receives Iran gas and pay for it with electricity at the rate of 3 KW/h per 1 cu m of gas.

 Today, the maximum buying rates at commercial banks of Yerevan were 416,5 drams for 1 dollar, 536drams for 1 EUR and 13,3 drams for 1 Russian ruble. The minimum selling rates stood at 417,8 drams for 1 dollar, 539 drams for 1 EUR and 13,5 drams for 1 Russian ruble.

 The Emergency Situations Ministry of Armenia received an alarm at 12:47pm of May 20 saying that a grenade was found in a bus of the route No54 in the village of Dashtavan, Ararat region, Armenia.

A truck crew and operative group of the regional rescuer department arrived at the spot. The firemen and rescuers were on duty near the bus from 12:50pm to 1:06pm. At 1:00pm the police deactivated the RGD-5 hand-grenade and moved it to a safe area.

Directors Across Borders project will be presented at Golden Apricot Film Festival in Yerevan on July 9-11.

The project is funded by the European Union through the Eastern Partnership Culture Programme and implemented by the Golden Apricot Fund for Cinema Development in Armenia and its partners, MAIA (Italy), INTERNEWS (Ukraine), Cinema Art Centre Prometheus (Georgia), and INTERNEWS (Armenia).

Its objective is to encourage film co-production among Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. The winner projects will receive one 5,000 EUR and two 3,500 EUR grants.

 A group of Armenian and Turkish filmmakers will meet in Yerevan on July 8-10 within the framework of the Armenia-Turkey cinema platform.

All those concerned may apply till May 31. The jury will select the top ten projects, with the winner to receive $10,000. The meeting will be part of Golden Apricot Film Festival.

The Armenia-Turkey cinema platform was first presented in Istanbul on Apr 16 2009 as part of Meetings on the Bridge Festival.
Last year the winner of the platform was Manuk's Voyage, a project by Turkish filmmaker Ozlem Sariyildiz.

 Spokesman of the Armenian Defense Minister Artsrun Hovhannisyan has neither confirmed nor refuted the news reporting that the Azeris fired on the helicopter that was carrying Seyran Ohanyan to Noyemberyan Monday morning.

"There were no traces of bullets on it," he said.

The Minister went to Noyemberyan to inquire into the accident that took place in a local military unit on May 15 and came back to Yerevan two hours later.

On May 15 at 3:30pm, soldier David Khachatryan fired at Luks Stepanyan from his automated gun. Stepanyan died of the wound in the head. Another soldier Hrachya Sargsyan was hospitalized with gunshot wound in the head. Khachatryan was prosecuted on May 18 under Article 104.2 and Article 112.1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia, with a petition made to the court for his arrest.

  The Ethics Commission on the ethics of high-ranking officials of Armenia has completed the proceeding initiated on the basis of the anti-corruption
centre Transparency International regarding chairman of the State Revenues Committee, Gagik Khachatrayn.

As Transparency international reported, the Ethics Commission adopted a decision, according to which no conflict of interest was found. The Commission was looking for the  conflict of interest between the companies associated with his name and his position.So Gagik Khachatryan did not violate ethics, and no conflict of interest occurred.

 The biggest case linked with corruption in Armenia was registered in the social sphere, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said in the parliament today, when replying
to the question of a deputy from ARFD, Vahan Hovanisyan.

He said that thanks to solving the crime, they have managed to economize about 12 billion drams which were directed to raising of pensions and allowances. A system was formed in the social security, which resulted in the criminal deals. As a result, a representative of the ruling RPA which headed the system and other responsible
persons were arrested, and a criminal case was initiated. We have similar examples about several Police officials, he said. He also added that the community want to gave big number of the solved crimes, but populism prevails in this demand which is very much dangerous. "Our country is small and we should be as much
impartial as possible", -the premier said and added that it is not so simple to resolve this problem. He said that the community should  evaluate the activity of the ruling political force. "In this context, both the power and the opposition of Armenia are in one and the same boat, and cooperation is the only correct direction
for development of the country", - Tigran Sargsyan said.

For his part, Vahan Hovanisyan recalled that the RPA drove the opposition out of the competitive field, and against such a  background an offer to cooperate looks, at least, strange.

The premier gave an example from the American "Renaissance" magazine which says that the power and the opposition may effectively cooperate if the GDP per capita is $12 thsd. In Armenia this indicator is $3 thsd. He said that this problem may be settled in case of development of civil society and civilian institutions.

 The government of Armenia is the most interested party of growth of prices in the republic, ex-candidate for president, political expert, Andreas Gukasyan, said at today's press-conference.

"The growth of prices in the country will make it possible to ensure the economic growth. It is no secret that the people are the biggest taxpayer and just thanks to their money, the government is trying to ensure the budget of the country", - Gukasyan said. He also added that raising of prices by 1,5-2 times will become fatal for the people and will promote the growth of migration.

He said that the situation in the republic has reached rock bottom, the people lost the trust in the power, as a result, we have got focuses of discontent.

The expert also recalled the time when Armenia used to buy gas from Turkmenistan and had no problem with the gas tariff. But as soon as in 2000 official Yerevan started buying gas from its strategical partner Russia, various problems arose, including the politization of the gas tariff rising problem.