AUG. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank appointed Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JP Morgan to lead the issue of its inaugural $500m Eurobond, media reported. In May, Armenia said it wanted to issue the debt to pay off a $500m loan from Russia it had borrowed during the 2009 global financial crisis.
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(News report from Issue No. 147, published on Aug. 12 2013)
AUG. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In the year to end-July food prices in Armenia increased by around 10%, media quoted official statistics as saying. Food price increases are an important statistic to monitor as fast rises can trigger discontent. Spending on food makes up a large proportion of ordinary people’s income.
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(News report from Issue No. 146, published on Aug. 5 2013)
JULY 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia and Georgia separately concluded trade talks with the EU that will free up markets. The talks will lead to the expansion of a so-called Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) and will allow Armenian and Georgian goods easier access to the EU. EU companies will also have easier access to Armenia and Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 145, published on July 29 2013)
JULY 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Armenian and Iranian chambers of commerce have signed a deal designed to increase business between the countries, media reported. Armenia has been slowly building ties with Iran. Earlier this month, reportedly under pressure from the US, Georgia scrapped visa-free travel for Iranians.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fresh figures showed that Armenia’s economy is expanding steadily, media reported. Armenia’s economic activity index increased by 4.4% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2012. Using the same comparison, industrial output was 8.4% high in the first six months of 2013.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — German football club Borussia Dortmund paid Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk 24m euro for Armenian footballer Henrikh Mkhitaryan, one of the highest fees paid for a footballer from the former Soviet Union. The 24-year-old has played for the Armenian national team 39 times and scored 11 goals.
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(News report from Issue No. 143, published on July 15 2013)
JULY 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia will upgrade its military base in Armenia and help modernise the Armenian army, local media reported. The move was probably designed to balance out increased Russian arms exports to Azerbaijan, Armenia’s main enemy. Armenia and Azerbaijan are officially at war over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 142, published on July 8 2013)
JUNE 25 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s national security service arrested three people and accused them of spying for Azerbaijan, media reported. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that two of the people arrested were Armenian army officers, will raise tension between the two arch-enemies.
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(News report from Issue No. 141, published on July 1 2013)
JUNE 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s Gazprom has said it wants to buy a 20% stake in Armenia’s ArmRosGazprom that it doesn’t yet own. Armenia’s government currently owns the outstanding 20% stake in ArmRosGazprom. ArmRosGazprom is Armenia’s monopoly gas distributor and the move would give Russia control over Armenian energy consumption.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
YEREVAN/Armenia, JUNE 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Carrefour, the French supermarket brand famed for its aggressive discount model, was supposed to open its first branch in Armenia last December. It didn’t hit this target although it has established an office in Yerevan.
Rumours on just why Carrefour’s launch has been delayed, drift around the Armenian capital. Most of these suggest that local, well-connected businessmen who control the supermarkets in Armenia don’t want the competition and have called in a few favours to delay the opening.
Regardless, the delay is frustrating people.
“Carrefour is no angel,” Anna Kachatryan, a 40-year-old housewife, said. “But I think that we need this sort of company to establish themselves in Armenia.”
She wanted food prices to drop and thought that Carrefour would help do this.
Armen Safarya, 54, though, said that he worried that Carrefour would become the dominant supermarket in Armenia and would end up harming local producers by pushing down their fees.
“This is not the solution,” he said. “Carrefour will control the entire market and will make local producers suffer.”
Carrefour itself has not explained the delay in opening its first store in Yerevan, although it has insisted that one would open by the end of 2013.
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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)