After a few weeks of work in Yerevan, I am happy to return to rural Armenia. The greater Yerevan area is getting harder and harder to enjoy and the expense of staying there is becoming unreasonable. Sadly, in my time in the capital, I went visiting old friends in my favorite part of the center which is Tigran Mets past St. Gregory. It is part of Yerevan that still has some neighborhood charm with Tashir being the only major blight on the area. However, that is about to change.

My dear friends are beside themselves as what happened in the area of which is now North Avenue is due to repeat itself with the recently passed law allowing the government to use eminent domain for development purposes. The area from Tashir to the Erebuni area border on Tigran Mets will soon be seized by the government and auctioned off. The area’s best known residents are the owners of the large meat market that starts opposite the Gyum Shuka. Plans are even calling for the ripping down of the triangular shaped apartment building that starts on the south corner across from Tashir which would displace hundreds of families. Will these families receive $200,000 so they can buy a similar apartment in the center? I doubt it.

Rumors are thick but it is suspected the Sarkissiyan family is behind this push as it is the last area of the center of Yerevan that is populated by local Yerevansti. Of course, knowing the current leadership’s business interest it is also a power grab as some of the most successful small meat merchants reside in this area. As we know, most of the current oligarchs have major interest in the food chain as it provides great cash flow. Again, we see the use of the government to condense power for a few and remove the ability for small business owners to make a reasonable living.

My friends have condemned the current building spree that seems to be fueled by investment from outside Armenia. I am constantly asked, “Who is buying these apartments in the center?” Most people who read this blog are Diaspora or like myself care greatly for the country. Many people from this love wish to live in Armenia some of the year so they buy a modern apartment in the city center but it seems most remain ignorant of the social injustices that occurred to build that apartment. At the same time, as Onnik talks about today, there doubts about the structural integrity of those buildings.

The locals are angry and they are frustrated because at every turn they are loosing the opportunity to compete. Many feel they are being pushed out of the center and even the areas of Komitas, Barikamutsun and Monument, people are realizing they can no longer afford property but foreign peoples can easily buy the property for what by developed nation standards is a bargain. My friends, if you are investing in Armenia, be sure you are investing in a way that makes you part of the community. What makes Armenia strong is its sense of community. Having the whole center of Yerevan full of rich people will quickly end the culture which people have come to be a part of.

We cannot say the market will take care of itself due to the lack of freedom and the use of law to force people out. If you are investing or have invested, look at your motives. Would you be better giving that money in rent then continue to encourage the oligarchs to rip apart what was five years ago one of the nicest city centers I have ever seen.

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. Armenia ranks 96th among 122 countries in the Network Preparedness Index says the 2006-2007 IT Global Competitiveness Report prepared by the Economy and Values Research Center.

According to the report, the strong points of Armenia’s network preparedness are the companies’ capability to apply new technologies, availability of scientists and architects, as well as the number of patented inventions and discoveries per each million of residents.

Among the weak points are high prices for Internet communication, the number of subscribers and on-line services.

I personally take it as a failure for a country which announces IT as a strategic aspect of economy, to be on the 96th place.

Wow! I spoke of my dream of having Armenia covered by a technology such as wimax which is a long range computer networking technology. In short, it is like taking your current home wireless router and giving it 10,000 times more power. Today, Cornet seems to be announcing plans to move head with wimax installation.
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RFE/RL reports phenomenal figures in Armenia’s tourism industry.

…The increased influx of tourists, most of them foreign nationals of Armenian descent, was particularly visible last year. Virtually all hotels in central Yerevan and flights to and from the Armenian were fully booked from August through October, the traditional peak period for travel to Armenia… more…

My anger over the growing problems of Armenia’s most important natural resource, Lake Sevan, is hitting a boiling point. I am always overjoyed when I finish my climb from either the Dillijan Valley or the Ararat Valley and I am met with the beauty of Lake Sevan. However, her beauty is only skin deep.

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I was very happy to see that Air Arabia is now serving Yerevan! In my opinion, this is a very important link for business. The fact is air links equate business expansion and opportunity. If you look at most any major economic development initiative in Europe or America, there is an emphasis on having air links with business hubs. Air Arabia has many links with up and coming business centers which could truly add to real, knowledge economy expansion in Armenia.

Why do I see this as such a good thing? The main reason is the fact this past week we saw a huge issue made about the lack of skilled technology professionals in the developed world and even more of a surprise was the projection of a huge shortage in India. Just imagine if Armenia can continue to increase its knowledge work force especially in high technology to become a destination for knowledge work! A cheap air link with the knowledge centers of India could boon well for true economic expansion. Of course the jewel in the cap of the Armenians is the fact that Armenians are excellent linguists, picking up languages easier than most due to the difficulty of Armenian. Couple language with increasing technical know-how and we have a strong mix for future growth!

This is a wonderful thing! I hope that Armavia sees the competition and picks up its own expansion. Yerevan could become a hub of engineering excellence and if served by solid air links it could grow tremendously fast! Here is to open borders and expansion of ties!

Assuming the role of information is to help people make correct decisions which will make their life better, the only correct decision the citizens of Armenia can make, after looking at this charts and the comments to them by the Head of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Tigran Sargsyan, is to ask their relatives not to send any USD Money Transfers to Armenia, and investors: not to invest USD in Armenia, and the Millennium Challenges Corporation: not to grant $235 Million USD to Armenia.
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Top banker in Russia says investment in Armenia attractive from purely profit motive Suren Deheryan & Suren Musayelyan / ArmeniaNow reporters
The Moscow business journal Profile recently named Garegin Tosunian the sixth most influential financier in Russia, and the only Armenian in the top 10.
The 50-year-old, who in 2002 was elected president of the Association of Russian Banks (ARB) says ratings don’t impress him, and he attributes the accolade to the fact that he never refuses to speak to the media.

Born in Yerevan, Tosunian moved to Moscow in 1971 to study at Moscow State University, where he earned a PhD in physics and then a doctorate in law.
“I am grateful to this country as Moscow gave me everything to shape my personality,” he says. “I don’t accept it when my friends of different nationalities speak of Russia as ‘this’ country. I correct them that it is ‘our’ country.”

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Yerevan, 17.05.06 ArmInfo. According to the information distributed by an Indian News Paper Economic Times Vedanta Resources is planning to enter the precious metal business in Armenia.
The Economic Times also informs that the intention of Vedanta - India’s major player in non-ferrous metals, in investing in gold mining industry is based on an all-time high current prices of gold. The Vedanta Resources listed in London Stock Exchange may make an investment in Sterlite Gold, controlled by Agarwal family through Volcan Investments. For expansion of their gold mining project Sterlite needs $70-80 mln. Vedanta is likely to step in by investing the money and thereby picking up a stake in the company.

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Microsoft has opened its office in Armenia, with the well-known IT specialist Grigory Barsegyan appointed as director. The office will be officially presented, after a number of organizational and technical preparations. CIS HUB Director John White and CIS Business Development Manager Yuri Omelchenko paid a short visit to Armenia recently. Mr. White, who is responsible for big corporate projects, donor organizations and education, has kindly agreed to give an interview to ARMINFO.

Would you tell me please what are the functions of Microsoft CIS HUB?

The key function of Microsoft CIS HUB is to support Microsoft’s business development in the CIS, that is, in the countries where there is no developed Microsoft business. In the CIS, besides Russia, we have big offices in Kazakhstan and Ukraine, which are some kind of autonomies, while in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Belarus we are actively working to develop our business. Grigory Barsegyan is our new man, whom we have appointed to direct the Microsoft Armenia Office, and we are here to help him to start up. Now he has to solve some small administrative tasks to lay a basis for our future business in Armenia. We hope that in the coming months this all will be solved and we will organize a special event to publicly announce the opening of the office.

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TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Armenian Energy Minister Tuesday met with Iranian Foreign Minister and discussed avenues available for consolidation of the two countries’ ties.

A statement released by the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Bureau said that during the meeting, Mottaki noted the common interests shared by the two states and their profound relations and stated that the visit to Iran by the Armenian Energy Minister could pave the way for future agreements in the two countries’ 6th joint commission meeting.

Noting the necessity for promoting the two countries’ relations, the Iranian Minister underlined that the two sides should study new ideas and grounds of cooperation very actively.

He also stated that the two countries should prepare the grounds required for the promotion of relations through cooperation in areas of road communication, tunnel excavation, railroad, activation of private companies, providing more business facilities, reducing trade risks and facilitating of exchanges.

Mottaki said that the two states’ cooperation could reach a desirable level through upgrading of the existing trade balance, adding that Iran and Armenia should build more and more capacities.

For his part, Armenian Energy Minister Armen Mousisian expressed pleasure with the performance of the two countries’ joint commissions and welcomed the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s taking up of the responsibility of the said commissions.

“In light of the two countries’ profound ties, we have succeeded in implementing all the approvals of the joint commission,” he said.

Viewing exchange of visits by the two countries’ officials significant, he said that the upcoming visit to Tehran by the Armenian president could open a new chapter in the two states’ interactions. Mousisian further stated that talks by the two countries about construction of the gas pipeline project, exchange of electricity and construction of new link roads could serve to be a turning point in mutual cooperation.

I love these articles that appear every so often. Once every month or so the Armenian State TV’s news service runs a nice little clip of a a Minister going to Mr Kocharyan’s office and showing him what he has done.

This time it was the taxation service. According to the article a new battle is to drawn against those organisations who don’t pay enough taxes.

To judge how effective this is we can ask ourselves a simple question: what large companies come to mind when you think of Armenia? Now see if you can find them in at least the top 20 taxpayers - here’s the list

Armenian tv has just launched its own news portal. You can visit here.

Two explosions ripped through Russia’s main natural gas supply pipeline to Armenia and Georgia, halting supplies to the two Caucasus countries for possibly several days, Russian officials said.

They aren’t sure why the explosions occured yet.

Georgia has started importing gas from Azerbaijan. No one is sure yet what Armenia is going to do.

Kocharyan was supposed to go to Russia later this week - he’s likely not to go now.

Blogs:
Ben at neweurasia.net is covering the story. He says that Kazakhstan may benefit from this situation.
Myrthe is covering this too.

News:
Forbes
CNN
RFE/RL

Cross posted on neweurasia.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation has approved a five-year $235.65 million Compact with the Republic of Armenia.

To overcome these constraints, Armenia’s Millennium Challenge Compact aims to reduce rural poverty through a sustainable increase in the economic performance of the agricultural sector. The Compact consists of two investments: a Rural Road Rehabilitation Project and an Irrigated Agriculture Project. The program will directly impact 75% of the rural population and is expected to increase annual incomes by $36 million in 2010 and over $113 million in 2015.

Hoorah! Rural poverty is so hot right now. People may disagree with me, but I just hate the rotating “flavour of the week” attitude that these development agencies get into.

Anyway, interestingly, the MCC Corp. mentioned one other thing of interest:

Addressing reports of irregularities in the referendum on reforms to the Armenian constitution held in November, Ambassador Danilovich continued, “MCC is concerned about the government’s lack of transparency and commitment to open and fair elections in the recent referendum. I have expressed those concerns to President Kocharyan and look forward to working with the government to protect Armenians’ ability to participate fully in the electoral process. MCC was designed to reward and work with nations that take the hard steps necessary to create a policy framework to spur economic growth and reduce poverty. Consequently, Armenia’s continued participation in the Millennium Challenge Program depends on its good performance in ruling justly, investing in people, and encouraging economic freedom. MCC will continue to monitor Armenia’s policy performance in these three categories throughout the life of the Compact.”

OUCH! Good thing that the rural poor probably aren’t surfing the web and reading this English language press release. If they knew that the MCC was ticked at the Armenian government, they might get ticked too!

Found this post…

December 06, 2005
Armenia Tests the MCC’s Willingness to Say No

Days before the MCC is supposed to sign its compact with Armenia, an article from Open Democracy, “Armenia’s Emptying Democracy,” flags major slippages in political rights, civil liberties and corruption — all policy indicators measured by the MCC in determining country eligibility.

And, recall that Freedom House flagged Armenia for the MCC in the FY 06 selection round as one of the weakest performers in political and civil rights.

If you look at the data used by the MCC to track policy performance, there will inevitably be linkages between the events outlined in Open Democracy’s article and future MCC indicator performance. Indeed, Armenia has already showed policy slippages in the MCC indicators since its original selection in 2004. The rubber meets the road here for the MCC. Is the road too far paved to restrict driving?

I’d love to hear more from folks closer to the details on Armenia. This raised all sorts of theoretical questions, including use of foreign aid as an incentive vs. a reward, and whether the MCC can be different from other aid agencies in the ability to say no.

Any thoughts?

James Tufenkian, who is in rug manufacturing and tourism development business in Armenia, has been recognized by Travel and Leisure magazine for “defending the historical, cultural, and ecological integrity of tourist destinations.”

Specifically,

The magazine paid tribute to seven innovative programs and initiatives across seven categories in the inaugural Global Vision Awards. Selected by a jury of seven distinguished global travel authorities, the winners are defending the historical, cultural, and ecological integrity of various regions throughout the world and are featured in the magazine’s December issue.

The winners are:
Economic Development: Tufenkian Artisan Carpets, Nepal and Armenia
New York-based James Tufenkian has enhanced the economy of developing communities in Nepal and Armenia by implementing worker-welfare programs, providing schools, housing, medical facilities and a water-purification plant for thousands of artisans and craftspeople.

The Financial Times noted today that investors should keep chugging their money into Azerbaijan regardless of political activities there. Ian Bremmer wrote this article.

He tells investors: “Assuming that opposition protests do not grow and change in character over the next couple of weeks, investors can continue to find profitable opportunities in oil-rich Azerbaijan.”

There are several reasons why Azerbaijan remains stable. First, President Aliyev is popular. When a son inherits power from his father, many assume he will struggle to consolidate power. But Mr Aliyev has shed his playboy image and earned considerable respect within Azerbaijan and the region.

Second, Mr Aliyev inherited an economy infused with petro-dollars. No end is in sight to the high oil prices that bolster Azerbaijan’s economy, and Mr Aliyev has undertaken some modest economic reforms. He is backed by Azerbaijan’s military establishment.

Third, and most important, Azerbaijan’s opposition is badly fragmented. During Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003 and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004, the efforts of individual charismatic and well-known opposition figures to dislodge entrenched elites enjoyed broad public support. In Azerbaijan, rivalries among opposition leaders cripple the ability of the factions to pool their resources.

A new website, funded by the US and British Embassies, for exploration… newneighbors.am… here’s what they have to say about themselves:

The situation in the South Caucasus changes dynamically. Neighboring countries today and several years ago – are different units, with different role and different approach towards their future. Today we all percept each other as New Neighbors – countries, which are in a new situation and have the necessity for new approaches towards their mutual relations.

There is something else tha is new in our region: it’s the European Neighborhood Policy, which has created a new prospect for the development of our region. The European integration and aspirations towards Western values are the main links to join the neighbors, divided by various problems.

Three Southcaucasian countries are involved in the European Neighborhood Policy. Turkey – the most powerful country of the South Caucasus, has been tending to join the EU for decades. All these processes of course have a deep impact on the formation of a new profile for the region, creating a need to communicate in a new way.

The partnership between Armenia and Georgia, Georgia and Turkey can play an increasingly important role, bridging the separated neighbors through new links, becoming mediators for the establishment of peace and cooperation in the region. The first thing to achieve this is the establishment of really open and positive dialogue between the peoples.

The Public Dialogue will allow discussing all the painful issues in a tolerant atmosphere, showing the world that South Caucasus is ready to integrate into the discourse of societies and civilizations, initiated after the WW II. The Center for Public Dialogue and Development has initiated this project to unite the efforts of all the people, who are not indifferent towards the future of our region, who have something to say in this large dialogue and who know the real value of tolerance and peaceful neighborhood.

Now that I’m starting to do research for my dissertation and narrowing down topics to probably being about IT development and policy in Armenia (or the Caucasus?), here’s today’s duh story:

OTE Remains Main Obstacle to Internet Development in Armenia

PM Margarian is Armenia’s delegate to WSIS. (They could have sent me!)

In a reference to Armenia the organization’s report says Armenia is one of few former Soviet republics where the government does not censor the Internet, but it says the government is slow to secure Internet development that still remains inaccessible to the overwhelming majority of population. The report says high Internet connection price and its poor quality remain major obstacle to its development. “The reason is the Greek OTE that has a 15 year monopoly in Armenia’s telecommunication market,” it concludes.

Anyone that has any ideas or research that may be helpful for me in my research for this dissertation that I’m starting on, please let me know.

We’ve discussed this before and there was a lot of negative feedback saying that Yerevan-wide wireless internet would discourage telecom businesses from developing.

But check out this article on city wifi and see if your opinion changes.