Virtual war of the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan is not serious, Leader of the Union for National 
Self- Determination Paruyr Hayrikian told reporters Tuesday.

"Under Kocharyan, Tigran Sargsyan was the head of the Central Bank and enjoyed Kocharyan's trust. Consequently, the criticism at the prime minister applies to Kocharyan, firstly. A clever man would never appoint an average economist to such high position," he said. Hayrikian is sure that Kocharyan should not have come out after the March 1 incidents. "A murderer must not talk to people. And those who welcome his 'appearance' are the nation's enemies," he said.

The politician believes that nearly all the political forces in Armenia are "KGB" agents who try to shatter the Armenian statehood. "All the political parties that fail to radically oppose Armenia's accession to Customs Union are just toys in the hands of Russia and KGB," he said, assuring that KGB still exists and operates secretly. 

Earlier, the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan harshly criticized the government and prime minister for blaming the previous authorities instead of working. Afterwards, a number of Republicans made counter-statements. In response, the office of the second president disseminated a statement wherein it declared that 'young Republicans' suffer from amnesia.

Gas price growing in Armenia will lead to closing of hothouse facilities of the republic, chairman of the Association of Hothouse Facilities of 
Armenia, Pogos Gevorkyan, said at today's press-conference.

He said that hothouse facilities with a total area 40 ha were functioning in Armenia in 2003, at present this territory reached 140 ha, but they are gradually closing because of gas price growth. However, he could not name the strict number of the closed hothouse facilities.

He also added that the Association submitted their rational proposals to the government, which were not taken into consideration. For this reason, hothouse facilities do not any more link any hope either with the government or "ArmRusgasprom". he said. "We are looking for the alternative fuel, 
and we shall test new heating systems in the near future. Our purposeis to fully abandon "ArmRusgasprom" services", - he emphasized. 

Gevorkyan added that the government offered hothouse facilities to use technologies so that to raise harvest and reduce expenditure for heating, but it did not want to reduce taxes which are 32%. This tax as well as absence of the state support  hindered making big investments in Armenia, he said and added that if the state does not want to develop hothouse facilities, it is evidence of its short views.

 Minister of Defense of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan met with the teaching staff and students of John Kirakosian School in Yerevan, Tuesday.

"A usual frontline subdivision of 9 men threw back two groups of Azerbaijan's special services comprising nearly 30 men. It is a true heroism, isn't it?" the minister said in his speech.

To recall, Azerbaijani subversive groups attempted to penetrate into the combat positions of the NKR Defense Army in the area of Jraberd, the northeast of contact line of the Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces, on Jan 19-20 night, according to the Arstakh Defense Ministry. The attempts of subversive action were prevented. Junior Sergeant Armen Hovhannissyan was killed in the crossfire.  Hovhannissyan was posthumously awarded with Medal For Bravery.  
Afterwards, on Jan 20-21 the enemy intensively fired at the positions of the NKR Defense Army along the line of contact.

There is no more need to organize a tender for local air carriers in Armenia as only one company, Air Armenia, has so far applied for the right to provide air 
services in the country, Head of the Chief Civic Aviation Department of Armenia Artyom Movsisyan told journalists on Tuesday.

"We were planning to announce a tender for three directions among three Armenian air carriers but only one of them, Air Armenia, applied. If other Armenian companies also wish to provide air services, we are ready to provide them with licenses. Air business requires big investments, so, it is clear why our companies are so passive," Movsisyan said.

Air Armenia started up in 2003 as cargo carrier but when Armavia went bankrupt it began carrying passengers as well. Its first charter flight was carried out on Oct 23 to Rostov-on-Don, while the first regular flight was carried out on Oct 27 to Moscow. The company has two planes - Boeing 737-500 и Airbus 320.

Any problems linked with Armenia's joining the Customs Union will be thoroughly revised and decisions will be adopted in line with international law, Belarusian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Nikolai Patskevich said, as Trend reported. 

The Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia came into existence on January 1, 2010 between the states of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The Customs Union was launched as a first step towards forming a broader European Union-type economic alliance of former Soviet states. The member states are planning to continue with economic integration and were set to remove all customs borders between each other after July 2011. On 19 November 2011, the 
member states put together a joint commission on fostering closer economic ties, planning to create a Eurasian Union by 2015. Since January 1, 2012, the three states are a single economic space called Common Economic Space to promote further economic integration. The Eurasian Economic Commission is the regulatory agency for the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Community.

Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers will hold the next meeting in Paris on January 24, APA reports quoting diplomatic sources.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will leave for France on January 23 to attend the meeting. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will also attend the meeting.

The agreement on the next meeting of the ministers was achieved during the co-chairs' visit to the region last year. The co-chairs also stated that they want to organize the next meeting of the presidents in the first half of this year.

 In 2014 Armenia is going to sign an agreement on liberalization of air traffic with Ukraine, Iran, Turkmenistan, Iraq and Kuwait, the head of General 
Department of Civil Aviation, Artyom Movsisyan, said at today's press-conference.  

He said that the first agreement on liberalization of air traffic was signed with the USA, then United Arab Emirates and in December 2013 with Russia. He also added that liberalization is made within the frames of the open sky policy conducted since October 2013. He said there is a great interest to the Armenian market because of tendencies on enhancing relations with the Armenian Diaspora, development of tourism and business. Movsisyan said that 
Aeroflot, "S7" and "Transaero" as well as Flydubai and Air Arabia air companies have already increased the number of flights and this tendency will continue in 2014 too. 

He assured that a pick of air service is expected in spring 2015 thanks to the open air policy. He also added that 2014 will be also successful, but not as successful as 2015. He explained that Armenian authorities announced about conducting an open sky policy in October 2013. For this reason, the air companies are not yet ready to make changes in the flight schedule.

The Chief Civil Aviation Department of Armenia admits that after Air Armenia's appearance on the market the ticket prices for the destinations the 
company flies to dropped.

"As soon as they started flying to Moscow, the ticket prices for that destination dropped. The same is true for the UAE. This is not dumping though as the prices of the tickets are not lower than their cost value, so, the companies selling them continue working at profit," Head of the Department Artyom Movsisyan told ArmInfo. 

In Dec 2013 Head of Air Armenia Arsen Avetisyan said that the reduction in air ticket prices in Armenia is directly connected with the launch of Air Armenia's flights and has nothing to do with the open skies policy declared by the Armenian authorities. "The prices of air tickets in Armenia started dropping only after Air Armenia announced its intention to make flights to certain destinations. After Air Armenia started selling Yerevan-Moscow-Yerevan air tickets, 
Aeroflot (Russia) and S7 (Russia) immediately reduced their prices by  40%. Unprecedentedly low prices were also set for the flights en route Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Sochi and back after Air Armenia began selling tickets to these destinations. An air ticket to these destinations costs 29 thsd AMD, excluding the duties. Such prices have never been offered for these flights. Until very recently, air tickets for Yerevan-Dubai-Yerevan cost $1200, and after Air Armenia had announced the launch of flights to the same destination the prices dropped to $800," Avetisyan said.  

Air Armenia started up in 2003 as cargo carrier but when Armavia went bankrupt it began carrying passengers as well. Its first charter flight was carried out on Oct 23 to Rostov-on-Don, while the first regular flight was carried out on Oct 27 to Moscow. The company has two planes - Boeing 737-500 и Airbus 320.-0-

The old passenger terminal of Zvartnots Airport must be dismantled, Head of Chief Civil Aviation Department Artyom Movsisyan told journalists on Tuesday.  

He said that in its 2013-2017 master plan the airport's concessionaire did not mention the old terminal. "In Dec 2013 Armenia's Prime Minister suggested creating an architectural park in the area, but he did that after approving the plan. He said that the building was an example of Soviet modernism and had no cultural or historical value," Movsisyan said.

The building does not meet modern technical and seismic requirements and cannot be used as a passenger terminal any more.

To cancel the unemployment benefits was a correct measure to combat unemployment, Armenian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Artem Asatryan said at today's press conference.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed Turkey for organizing annihilation of Christian population in Syria with the help of terrorists. 

In his interview with France-Presse, Assad compares the developments in Syria with the Genocide of Armenians and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire.  

According to Assad, in the early 20th century, Ottomans annihilated 1.5 mln Armenians and nearly 0.5 mln Orthodox Assyrians in the territory of Turkey. Assad stresses the need to elaborate a political decision and an effective anti-terrorism fight to stop the bloodshed in Syria.

"I would be proud of being considered the "godfather" of the pension reform in the country", Armenian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Artem 
Asatryan said at today's press conference, when commenting on the recent statement of Viktor Soghomonyan, Head of ex-President Robert Kocharyan's Office, who said that Artem Asatryan can consider himself both the father and the godfather of the new pension system.  

To recall, in his virtual debates with the incumbent Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan, the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said that the given reform was considered as early as during his presidency, however, the Government pondered over all the pros and contras, as well as the numerous risks, and gave up the idea to conduct the reform. Kocharyan thinks that the biggest problem is the high financial market volatility and therefore the risks related to management of the funds accumulated under the reform and the possibility of their partial loss. "Numerous pension funds lost 
serious amounts due to the recent crisis and there are no guarantees that the crisis will fail to reoccur. The Armenian Government has no enough reserves to compensate for the possible losses, and budget guarantees are an argument for naive people", said Kocharyan. 

Asatryan, however, disagrees with the opinion that the reform is being conducted suddenly and hotheadedly. He said that the issues related to the reforms have been discussed for a long time. Asatryan is sure that the results of the ongoing reform can be forecast even now.  

To recall, the voluntary accumulative pension system was introduced in Armenia on 1 Jan 2011. The system has become compulsory on 1 Jan 2014. According to the law, the minimal pension in the country will be equal to the minimum wage, while the basic pension will total 150% of the minimum wage. The compulsory accumulative pension system will cover the citizens born after Jan 1 1974 (the citizens below 40).  Starting Jan 1 2014, 5% of their salaries will be transferred to their personal accumulative accounts. The government will transfer a similar amount (but no more than 25,000 drams).

 Although generally well-administered, reports of voter harassment, vote-buying, misuse of administrative resources to favor incumbents, and police 
unresponsiveness to citizens' complaints marred the elections in Armenia, Human Rights Watch says in its World Report 2014. 

"International observers, led by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), concluded that the February presidential election "was generally well-administered" but noted "some serious violations" of OSCE and Council of Europe standards, such as pressure on voters. The OSCE also noted other breaches, including public administration bias in favor of incumbents, misuse of administrative resources, and interference by the incumbent's 
proxies. Local observers reported the presence of unauthorized persons in polling stations, numerous attempts to pressure observers and journalists by political parties and election commission members, and widespread ballot stuffing for the incumbent candidate", the report says.

The report also touches on freedom of assembly and several cases of attacks against activists. "In November, authorities arrested Shant Harutyunyan, an opposition leader, and 13 activists, after they clashed with riot police following an attempted march to the presidential administration building. The government claims that the group intended to forcibly occupy the building. At time of writing, all those detained remained in pretrial custody, facing criminal 
charges of violence against the authorities. Harutyunyan claimed that police officials physically abused him in custody, but authorities have not initiated an investigation into the allegations. In late November, a Yerevan court ordered Harutyunyan be sent to a psychiatric institution for a forced examination", says the report. 

The report points out torture and ill-treatment in custody in Armenia. "According to local human rights defenders, torture and ill-treatment in police custody persist, and the definition of torture in Armenian law does not meet international standards, as it does not include crimes committed by public officials. Authorities often refuse to investigate allegations of ill-treatment or pressure victims to retract complaints. Police use torture to coerce confessions and incriminating statements from suspects and witnesses", the report says.

 Ameriabank has taken the lead in assets. In 2013 the Bank's assets increased by almost 30% to 315.1 bln AMD due to 20% growth in its loan book. According to the financial statement of Ameriabank, by 1 Jan 2014 the Bank's lending totaled 172.6 bln AMD, with 2.7 bln AMD of this amount being the share of leasing (with a slight change fixed versus 2012). The share of factoring operations grew more than twofold y-o-y in 2013 and totaled 3.6 bln AMD.   

 Hrant Bagratyan, ex-Prime Minister of Armenia, parliamentarian from the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC), has expressed his opinion on the compulsory accumulative pension system on his Facebook page.  

"In March 2014 ArmenTel's customers will be able enjoy an application, which will allow checking the balance, changing the tariffs, turn on/out the roaming, etc. by merely pressing the button", Andrey Pyatakhin, Director General of ArmenTel CJSC (Beeline trademark), said at a workshop on January 19. 

Azerbaijan's military diversion at the line of contact between the armed forces of Karabakh and Azerbaijan is a result of the anti-Armenian policy by the Azerbaijani leadership, vice-speaker of the Armenian parliament, Edward Sharmazanov, said at today's press-conference. 

On 15th January  2014, ARDSHININVESTBANK published its preliminary financial results for the year 2013, continuing to demonstrate a sustainable growth. By results of the year, the Bank has strengthened its position  among the top three of the banking system by all  key indicators.  The comparative dynamics of main financial indicators for 2013 compared to the year 2012 is as follows:  Indicator As of 31/12/13 Increase  Growth rate
     (AMD, billion) (AMD, billion)   Net income     6.5  2.3  53.6%Assets 271 72.3 36.4%Loan portfolio 176.1 41.5 31.0%Customer funds 153.2 38.8 33.9%Total Capital 44.2 8.4 23.3%

As a result of deepening cooperation with international financial institutions, during 2013 the Bank managed to attract additional long term resources of non-treasury origin from the following financial institutions:  Partner-Financial Institution  Funding volume WorldBusiness Capital (WBC)   $ 10.0 mln Asian Development Bank (ADB)  $ 6.0 mln Atlantic Forfaitierungs  - 2.9 mln Euro Citibank  $ 2.3 mln Rosselkhozbank $ 1.2 mln Landesbank     - 0.5 mln EURO
At the end of 2013, the quantity of permanently active customers increased  by 19.4% (to  around 221 thousand customers).  Meanwhile, the sustainable growth of the Bank has recently been affirmed by Moody's Investors Service, which raised the outlook of the Bank's ratings to "stable".  
According to the Financial Rating of Armenian Banks prepared by Arminfo, in 2013 the assets of Ardshininvestbank grew by 36,5% up to  270.9 billion AMD. In their structure the requirements to the banks and other financial organizations grew more than twofold - up to 11.4 billion AMD, the credit portfolio - by 31% up to 176.1 billion AMD. At the same time, general liabilities of the bank for the reported period grew by 39,3% up to 226.7 billion AMD. As a result of activation at the credit market, the bank finished the 2013 with a net profit 6.5 billion AMD, by 53,6% more versus 2012. 

 Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Artsakh have assessed today's subversive action by Azerbaijan as Baku's provocative and irresponsible policy. Ministers Edward Nalbandian and Karen Mirzoyan made such statement when meeting in Yerevan the same day, the press-service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

 Azerbaijani subversive groups attempted to penetrate into the combat positions of the NKR Defense Army in the area of Jraberd, the northeast of contact line of the Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces, overnight, according to the Arstakh Defense Ministry.  The attempts of subversive action were prevented. Junior Sergeant Armen Hovhannissyan was killed in the crossfire. Investigation is underway.