Tag Archives: Armenia

Mudslide blocks Russia-Georgia trade routes

JUNE 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A major mudslide has blocked one of the most important trade routes between Georgia and Russia for more than a week, media reported. The mudslide on June 23 at the Upper Lars checkpoint is especially important for Armenia. It is the only major route linking Russia and Armenia. Armenia is largely reliant on goods being imported in from Russia. It has decent relations with Iran to the south but poor relations with neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)

Armenian MP’s approve Russian air defence deal

JUNE 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — MPs in Armenia approved the government’s decision to join its air defence system with Russia’s. The move pulls Armenia further into Russia’s sphere of influence. Russia already maintains one of its largest overseas bases in Armenia. It has been increasing cooperation with its neighbours since relations with the West deteriorated over fighting in Ukraine.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)

Pope pays visit to Armenia

JUNE 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a three day trip to Armenia, Pope Francis called for closer links between the Vatican and the Armenian Orthodox Church and also described the killings of over 1m Armenians at the end of the First World War by Ottoman Turks as a genocide. The Pope has been one of the most outspoken proponents of Armenia’s insistence that the killings 100 years ago constitute a genocide. Turkey furiously denies the allegations and has said that the deaths were part of the chaos of WWl.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)

Armenia’s CB cuts interest rates

JUNE 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate to 7.5% from 7.75% because of continued deflationary pressure on its economy. Armenia’s interest rate is now at its lowest level for 18 months. It had aggressively increased its interest rate to prop up its currency. Now prices are falling and the economy is slowing, forcing the Central Bank to try to stimulate business and economy activity.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)

Pope Francis prepares to visit Armenia

JUNE 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pope Francis is set to visit Armenia on June 24, a trip that will further strain relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The Vatican has already had to modify the trip, originally planned to include both Armenia and Azerbaijan, after the most serious violence in the disputed of Nagorno-Karabakh region for 20 years broke out in April. The Pope will now only visit Armenia, where he will deliver a liturgy on June 25.

Last year, Pope Francis labelled the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks as a genocide, a diplomatic victory for Armenian lobby groups. The declaration damaged Turkish-Vatican relations. Turkey has denied the genocide.

In the past few years, the Roman Catholic Church has tried to boost ties with Armenian Apostolic Christians.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Utility cost rise in Armenia

JUNE 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s state regulator said it will consider a 5% reduction in the price it charges homes for electricity, currently in the 38.8 – 48.8dram range (8-10 cents), adding to the deflationary pressure in the economy. In April, Russia’s Gazprom agreed to apply a 9% discount to the gas it supplied to Armenia. Rising electricity costs for households had sparked a popular protest in the summer of 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Armenian taxi associations accuse Yandex

JUNE 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian taxi associations have accused Yandex Taxi of market dumping practices as the Russian search-engine owned company tries to enter the local market. Yandex Taxi will start operations in Armenia on July 1 and has set prices that appear to be half the average rate of 500dram ($1) per 5km. The new taxi service will function through an online app. This month Uber started operations in Astana.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Armenia to export electricity to Iran

JUNE 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s state-owned power distributor Electro Power Systems Operator said it will export around 1b kWh of electricity to Iran in 2016 from itsHradzan and Yerevan thermal power plants. Armenia and Iran have signed an agreement on the exchange of Iranian gas for Armenia’s electricity.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

Business comment: BREXIT, Oil & Crisis

JUNE 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – As the results of the referendum on Britain’s EU membership came in early on Friday, the decision to leave the EU has shaken the global market.

The Leave vote has hit the London stock market, where most of the companies focusing on Central Asia and the South Caucasus are listed. Economists now expect more volatility in the short term for the London Stock Exchange.

The so-called Brexit also negatively affected oil prices, sending both Brent and WTI down by 6% in just a few hours. Analysts have said that the period of uncertainty regarding oil prices will now last longer.

Currency markets were also hit, as the British pound lost value against the US dollar, effectively strengthening the greenback.

This had an immediate domino effect on currencies across Central Asia and the South Caucasus, where local currencies weakened against the US dollar.

The increasing uncertainty and volatility is now poised to harm, at least in the short term, local markets in the region, prompting elites in from Tbilisi to Astana to brace for more tough times. It will also hit global markets in general, forcing investors to flee to safety and this means missing out Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Now both the Fed in the US and the Bank of England will have to revise their economic policies and this is likely to insulate further their economies and pull investment back from Emerging Markets.

In these uncertain times, countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus cannot but hope that Western investors will go against the tide and continue investing in the region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

OSCE to monitor contact line between Azerbaijan and Armenia

JUNE 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a meeting in St Petersburg hosted by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbiajani leader Ilham Aliyev agreed to continue discussions reaching a permanent peace deal over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

They also said that an OSCE mission would be sent to the region to monitor the contact line between the two sides.

The Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe is Europe’s democracy watchdog and conflict resolution group. Its involvement in the disputed region of Nagorno-Ka- Karabakh, which suffered its worst outbreak of fighting in April since a UN-brokered peace deal in 1994, is considered vital.

“The OSCE [will] monitor the line of engagement between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops near the village of Agdam in Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district on June 22,” Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said in a note following the meeting.

The fighting in April between Azerbaijan’s army and Armenia-backed forces killed several dozen people and looked at one time that it would drag in neighbouring countries and spread.

The two presidents had previously met in Vienna in mid-May. After the St. Petersburg meeting they are likely to schedule another summit to evaluate the progress made in Nagorno- Karabakh. Analysts have said that continued meetings between the two leaders is important.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)