Category: Investment

McYuck | February 05, 2005
It is coming... McDonald's is coming to Yerevan. No more Smak or McDuck. It appears that the real deal is coming. See: Armenia Now Hopefully this will bring an end to the NK Conflict. (Not familiar with the McDonald's-Peace...

Defrauded update: George Najarian wins | December 11, 2004
For background see here and here: RFE/RL report that George Najarian, an Armenian-American who claims he has been defrauded out of property in Yerevan, has won a court case he brought against prosecutors who had refused to press formal charges...

Defrauded update: back to trial | December 08, 2004
According to this report from RFE/RL, the diaspora couple who had claimed that they had been defrauded by their local associate (posted last week on Blogrel), are seeking to have the case re-opened....

Agarak and the pipeline | December 04, 2004
Construction of the gas pipeline between Iran and Armenia has started in Agarak, situated on the border. (This comes as Iran and Armenia sign an agreement on a 3rd power line between the two countries.) There is an interesting article...

Defrauded | November 30, 2004
I was forwarded this letter to the California Courier by K. George Najarian and Carolann S. Najarian. It's their story of an investment in Armenia gone wrong. Helping, befriending, and trusting a man they met while doing humanitarian aid, they...

Agreed | November 29, 2004
The government of Armenia and OTE, the owners of Armentel, have settled their long-running dispute. As a result, the Armenian consumer will benefit from an enhanced competitive offering of telecommunication services rendered. Let's see what this actually means for the...

Shop til you drop | October 14, 2004
ArmeniaNow.com reports on the shopping center (mall) opened recently in Yerevan by Robert Kocharyan and Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharyan. According to the Chief - designer of Tashir, Ashot Arshakyan, only GUM's walls are left to hold up a brand new...

Island haven? | October 04, 2004
Raffi over at Cilicia.com has a very interesting proposal for his readers: Would you live on this Armenian island? He is referring to creating an Armenian community on an island off the Mexican coast near to Los Angeles, where Western...

More border disorder | October 01, 2004
As relations between Russia and Georgia go from bad to worse and the countries' border remains closed, Armenia is feeling the strain. First, 45 unlucky passengers from Armenia to Russia have been stranded on the border since September 3rd, according...

Economic rights | August 27, 2004
The relationship of business and government in Armenia has come under increasing scrutiny. Businesses complain of a lack of consistency in dealings with government bodies. Bribery and connections still count for a lot. HETQ Online reports on the problems still...

The Software Industry | August 27, 2004
Amongst a good crop of new articles, HETQ Online has an article on the software industry in Armenia. In 1990s the experience of the most successful exporters - India, Ireland, and Israel - greatly inspired the developing and less developed...

On the telephone | August 19, 2004
The representatives of the Armenian government and Armentel have been meeting in London since August 9th, reports Haykakan Zhamanak (Via Groong). At issue is Armentel's monopoly on Armenian telecommunications, now voided by the Armenian government. In relations with ArmenTel, the...

Currency fluctuations | August 06, 2004
The continuing strengthening of the Dram versus the Dollar is being blamed on speculators, and could hurt the economy, according to an article in Eurasianet.org. Some economists now suggest Armenia is suffering from a form of "Dutch disease" in which...

Coffee imports | July 27, 2004
Here is an all-too-common story, from ArmenPress. The company Royal Armenia imports coffee into Armenia, 9,000 tons annually of the stuff in the form of coffee beans. They have been complaining recently about a bias against them by customs guards...

Rise of the Dram | July 23, 2004
RFE/RL in this week's Armenia report reports on Armenian newspapers' coverage of the rise of the Dram against the Dollar, apparently without reason. "The groundless strengthening of the Armenian national currency, the dram, is a negative phenomenon," former Prime Minister...

The big brother | July 20, 2004
According to a survey conducted by the The Armenian Center for National and International Studies, 54% of Armenians think that Russia contributes more to Armenia's economic growth than any other country. The survey was called "The Trends of Economic Growth...

Armenian wines make their debut | July 08, 2004
Well, this is not strictly true, but the Winston-Salem Journal reports that local entrepreneur Edgar Vardanian is importing Armenian wines in North Carolina. Most of his imports are wines made from native Armenian grapes rarely seen in this country. His...

High Tech growth | July 02, 2004
The Armenian Chamber of Commerce has presented an award to Monterey Design Systems for its contribution to the growth of Armenia's high-tech industry. July 01, 2004 06:02 PM US Eastern Timezone Monterey Design Systems has hired its 50th employee in...

Competition in the mobile phone market? | July 01, 2004
Will Armenia's mobile phone market, until now heavily controlled, be opened up to increased competition? ArmenPress reports (Via Groong) that the government hopes to open the mobile phone market to competition with initially one competitor for Armentel. This follows talks...

Online Commerce | June 30, 2004
There is a very interesting article from the Pictorial Gazette, Connecticut, (Via Groong), about small-scale online commerce. Peter Kwasniewski, who together with his wife spent time in Armenia as Peace Corps volunteers. Peter just launched Peter K Designs, an online...

Targeting poverty | June 29, 2004
Eurasianet.org has a relatively upbeat article on investment in Armenia. New funds from the World Bank and also the Millenium Challenge Account set up by the US will be targeted at trying to aleviate rural poverty through investment in roads...

The rich man's view | June 24, 2004
The Vahakni development, which I posted about two days ago, has a write up from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. They interview Vahak S. Hovnanian, the man behind the project. "But Vahakni is in itself a lifestyle, which...

The Sun shines on Georgia | June 17, 2004
Eurasianet.org reports that the EU is singling out Georgia to be the main beneficiary of its aid in the Caucasus region. What is seen as President Mikhail Saakashvili's genuine desire for reform has propelled Georgia far ahead of its two...

World Bank focuses on quality of life | June 16, 2004
The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today discussed a new Country Assistance Strategy for Armenia. Priorities of the new CAS include assisting the government in improving the business environment and thus create more jobs, promoting a better and more...

Raising a glass to profits | June 10, 2004
Makers of the famous Ararat brand of brandy, are breathing a sigh of relief as Russian sales of brandy (its main market) has recovered in recent years from a slump in the mid-90s. The BBC has an online story about...

Armenia's troubled aviation industry | June 04, 2004
The IWPR (Institute for War and Peace Reporting) has a story about the Armenian aviation industry, stating that Armenian Airlines is formally bankrupt. AA has already given up its routes, which have been taken over by Armavia mostly. According to...

Chamber of Commerce heads meeting in Yerevan | June 01, 2004
Tuesday, CIS Council of Heads of Chambers of Commerce and Industry will meet in Yerevan, reports Itar-Tass. The Yerevan meeting is expected to demonstrate achievements in the sphere of small and medium business on the post-Soviet territory, to reveal the...

EU aid halted | June 01, 2004
The Irish Times is reporting (free registration required) that the EU has halted aid to Armenia in a row over Metsamor, the nuclear power facility that the EU, Turkey, and the US want closed down. Alarmed at the potential for...

Going for a song | May 27, 2004
Ara Manoogian over at Martuni or Bust has posted the story from Azg about a cold food storage facility in Gyumri being sold for $150,000. This facility was originally built with money from the Diaspora, and was (or is) worth...

OTE to stay in Armenian market | May 26, 2004
OTE's Georgios Vasilikis says his company has so far invested $216 million in Armentel, Armenia's until now telecoms monopoly. (Via Interfax) He said that the company will continue to work in Armenia after the company's monopoly on mobile communications and...

A Window on Ararat? | May 18, 2004
Property speculation is heating up in Yerevan. Everybody's talking about it. My lawyer said I should consider buying my property now because by September it will have gone up. And that's in Tatev, which I don't think the property market...

EBRD to support Armenia | May 17, 2004
President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Jean Lemierre will arrive in Yerevan on Tuesday. Itar-Tass is reporting that the European Bank for Reconstruction is planning to support Armenia as 'one of the poorest countries'. The EBRD...

New loans from the World Bank | May 11, 2004
From Baku Today, the World Bank has released $35 million in new loans for Armenia. The biggest of the World Bank loans, worth $23 million, is aimed at improving supplies of drinking water and wastewater disposal in the regions outside...

More European Investment? | April 20, 2004
ITAR-TASS has this report about the The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) planning more investment in the "the seven poorest CIS nations", including Armenia. more tan 50 percent of people in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and...

Imports, Exports on the Rise | April 14, 2004
Interfax is reporting that Armenia's trade deficit grew 13.5% in Q1. Foreign trade amounted to $445.9 million, up 14.5%, First Deputy Trade and Economic Development Minister Ashot Shakhnazarian said at a press conference Tuesday. Exports increased 9.6% to $152.6 million...

EU launches IT development project in Armenia | April 01, 2004
The extensive SiliconArmenia website has this report (from ArmInfo). The project, which is to be completed in 2005, costs 1.2mln EUR. It has two components: training and retraining of personnel and the drafting of necessary laws. The Armenian office of...

AmCham hosts Business Ethics Roundtable | March 31, 2004
This from the American Chamber of Commerce: Yerevan. A Roundtable, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia (`AmCham'), took place on March 23rd 2004 in the Queen Erato Room of the Armenia Marriott Hotel....

Around $1 billion invested in Armenia in last decade | March 28, 2004
This from ArmenPress (by way of Groong): YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS: Deputy trade and development minister, Tigran Davtian, predicted today that the average amount of annual investments in the Armenian economy will from now on range between $200 million-250 million....

Flats (Apartments) for sale in Yerevan | March 25, 2004
Raffi over at cilicia.com has posted this poll about Flats (Apartments) for sale in Yerevan. Looks like prices are on the rise. On my last visit I saw some of the apartments on Abovian Street nearest to Republic Square had...

Japan sends financial aid to promote stability of South Caucasus | March 25, 2004
This from Pravda The Armenian agriculture minister, David Lozhan, and an adviser to the economic section of the Japanese embassy in Russia, Masataka Esidzave, on Monday signed an agreement for the transfer to Armenia of a Japanese grant worth USD...