MARCH 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s external debt grew by 4.4% in 2013 to $3.9b, media quoted the national statistics service as saying. Nearly half of this debt is owed to the World Bank, underling just how dependent Armenia is on international finance organisations.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili visited his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to reaffirm strong relations between the two countries despite their divergent foreign policy. Georgia is close to the West while Armenia is increasingly close to Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
MARCH 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A new law in Russia means 220,000 Armenian workers will shortly have to return home, cutting remittance flows, media quoted demographic analyst Ruben Yeganyan as saying. From Jan. 1, Russia will allow casual labourers to stay only 90 days in a 180-day period. Remittances from Russia are a vital income for many Armenian families.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan chalked up a diplomatic success when the government of Honduras in Central America passed a motion earlier this year condemning Armenian aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani media reported. Azerbaijan fought a war over Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in the early 1990s. Watch out for fresh investment in Honduras by Azerbaijan.
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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In case there was ever any doubt over who is in charge, Armenia’s national gas distributor was renamed Gazprom Armenia from ArmRosGazprom, the company said in a statement. Gazprom, Russia’s gas monopoly, finalised buying the whole of Armenia’s gas network in January.
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(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian energy company Rosneft and Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli are considering building a rubber plant in Armenia, media reported. The plant would be a boost for Armenian industry and would also underscore the close relationship between Russia and Armenia. Armenia is joining the Russia-led Customs Union this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 171, published on Feb. 12 2014)
FEB. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Reports from the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh said shootouts between Azerbaijani and Armenia soldiers have intensified over the past few weeks. Information from Nagorno-Karabakh is generally patchy and difficult to verify. The dispute, though, is considered a dangerous flashpoint for regional stability.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
FEB. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Technology and Science Dynamics Inc. an Armenian-US joint venture, unveiled its much anticipated Armtab tablet. The Armtab has been heralded as a significant step for Armenia’s fledgling technology sector. The Armtab is similar in size to Apple’s iPad.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
FEB. 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia unveiled a so-called road map to joining the Russia-led Customs Union by September 2014. Last year Armenia elected to join the Customs Union ahead of further integration with the EU. Importantly, though, this move did not set off the anti-government protests that have rocked Kiev in the past few weeks.
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(News report from Issue No. 170, published on Feb. 5 2014)
JAN. 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Paris to continue their glacier-slow peace talks over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. In the region, though, reports said that there had been an increase in the number of shootouts between the two sides. Both sides reported casualties.
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(News report from Issue No. 169, published on Jan. 29 2014)
