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Armenia's Direction
By FIKRET ERTAN
Zaman
04.04.2005 Monday - ISTANBUL 17:54
I think Armenia is at the top of the list of the countries that
Russian Leader Vladimir Putin loves and places importance in. Putin
visited this country three times, in 1999, 2001, and 2002, and he was
in Yerevan again last week for the fourth time. This clearly shows
us that Putin places a special importance in Armenia. Many issues
were discussed during Putin's last visit to Armenia. Included were,
activities within the frame of "Russia Year" in Armenia, cooperation
in energy, industry and trade, new investments in metal industry,
excluding iron production and investments in banking, construction,
transport, military and technical issues and the reduction of Armenia's
debt. It is not yet clear on which topics there were any developments
or increased cooperation because there has been no open explanation
from either countries yet, but I will likely discuss these issues
when the time comes.
It is no secret that the relationship between Russia and Armenia is
very strong. Russia remains Armenia's number one strategic partner.
The strong military, economic and political relationship between the
two countries has been sustained over many years. Today there are
thousands of Russian soldiers and numerous Russian military bases
throughout Armenia. Gumru, located just outside our boarders, is the
largest Russian base in the country. Together, Russian and Armenian
soldiers guard both the Turkish and Iranian boarders. Although there
is no common boarder between the two countries, both the military
and economic relations are strong. The level of economic relations,
which is conducted by Georgia, was over $208,000,000 last year. Putin
made a huge effort during his last visit to Armenia to increase this
figure and ensured that Russian companies undertake whatever was
necessary to make this a reality.
There are currently 589 registered Russian companies in Armenia. Of
this number, 300 are actively operating in Armenia. According to
the Common Head of the Armenia-Russia Cooperation Intergovernmental
Committee, Igor Levitin, the companies Armenal and Sibir aviation are
the most successful of the companies currently operating in Armenia.
The Russian companies which have huge significance for the Armenian
economy are expected to add more value and importance in the future.
However, in order for this to occur, Russia must empower the financial
structures of the former Armenian companies that it took over,
in order to repay the debt of Armenia and they need to activate
the capital that is not active at the moment. Russia bought the
Mathematics Machinery Scientific Research Institute for $2,750,000,
Operation-Automatic Systems known as SRI for $3,370,000, the Mars
Facility for $56,290,000 and the Hirazdan Hydroelectric Power Plant
for $31,000,000. If Russia empowers, makes new investments in and
re-operate these institutions as soon as possible, it is certain that
the influence of Russian companies over Armenian organizations will
be strengthened. But so far, Russia has not able to do that ; it is
difficult to anticipate whether or not it can succeed in this venture
in the future because Russia needs to spend a great deal of money on
these companies. For example, Russia needs to spend $21,000,000 alone,
in order to operate the Mars Facility.
It is certain, that today, the Armenian government complains about the
Russia's moving too slowly for these companies. Also, more importantly
than this, today there is a general discontent regarding Russia among
the government and the opposition in Armenia that continues to emerge
day by day. Reports in the news and comments made in the country
that the government and the opposition seriously consider changing
Armenia's direction from Russia to America and it is also said that
the strong Armenian Diaspora in the USA is said to be struggling to
close the gap between Armenia and the US.
These are the opinions that I gathered from what I heard and
read regarding Armenia and its future direction. In short, the
Russian-Armenian relationship weakens day by day, while the Armenian-US
relationship continues to grow stronger. As an example, we can show the
recent visit of General Charles F. Wald, USAF to Yerevan. Who knows,
what other things have been happening in this countryâ~@¦ I think
Turkey, which is struggling against the so-called 1915 genocide claims
and arguments, needs to also seriously consider these perspectives
â~@¦
e-mail:[email protected]
--Boundary_(ID_YGE9BGnKaPLREe/my+pZKA)--
By FIKRET ERTAN
Zaman
04.04.2005 Monday - ISTANBUL 17:54
I think Armenia is at the top of the list of the countries that
Russian Leader Vladimir Putin loves and places importance in. Putin
visited this country three times, in 1999, 2001, and 2002, and he was
in Yerevan again last week for the fourth time. This clearly shows
us that Putin places a special importance in Armenia. Many issues
were discussed during Putin's last visit to Armenia. Included were,
activities within the frame of "Russia Year" in Armenia, cooperation
in energy, industry and trade, new investments in metal industry,
excluding iron production and investments in banking, construction,
transport, military and technical issues and the reduction of Armenia's
debt. It is not yet clear on which topics there were any developments
or increased cooperation because there has been no open explanation
from either countries yet, but I will likely discuss these issues
when the time comes.
It is no secret that the relationship between Russia and Armenia is
very strong. Russia remains Armenia's number one strategic partner.
The strong military, economic and political relationship between the
two countries has been sustained over many years. Today there are
thousands of Russian soldiers and numerous Russian military bases
throughout Armenia. Gumru, located just outside our boarders, is the
largest Russian base in the country. Together, Russian and Armenian
soldiers guard both the Turkish and Iranian boarders. Although there
is no common boarder between the two countries, both the military
and economic relations are strong. The level of economic relations,
which is conducted by Georgia, was over $208,000,000 last year. Putin
made a huge effort during his last visit to Armenia to increase this
figure and ensured that Russian companies undertake whatever was
necessary to make this a reality.
There are currently 589 registered Russian companies in Armenia. Of
this number, 300 are actively operating in Armenia. According to
the Common Head of the Armenia-Russia Cooperation Intergovernmental
Committee, Igor Levitin, the companies Armenal and Sibir aviation are
the most successful of the companies currently operating in Armenia.
The Russian companies which have huge significance for the Armenian
economy are expected to add more value and importance in the future.
However, in order for this to occur, Russia must empower the financial
structures of the former Armenian companies that it took over,
in order to repay the debt of Armenia and they need to activate
the capital that is not active at the moment. Russia bought the
Mathematics Machinery Scientific Research Institute for $2,750,000,
Operation-Automatic Systems known as SRI for $3,370,000, the Mars
Facility for $56,290,000 and the Hirazdan Hydroelectric Power Plant
for $31,000,000. If Russia empowers, makes new investments in and
re-operate these institutions as soon as possible, it is certain that
the influence of Russian companies over Armenian organizations will
be strengthened. But so far, Russia has not able to do that ; it is
difficult to anticipate whether or not it can succeed in this venture
in the future because Russia needs to spend a great deal of money on
these companies. For example, Russia needs to spend $21,000,000 alone,
in order to operate the Mars Facility.
It is certain, that today, the Armenian government complains about the
Russia's moving too slowly for these companies. Also, more importantly
than this, today there is a general discontent regarding Russia among
the government and the opposition in Armenia that continues to emerge
day by day. Reports in the news and comments made in the country
that the government and the opposition seriously consider changing
Armenia's direction from Russia to America and it is also said that
the strong Armenian Diaspora in the USA is said to be struggling to
close the gap between Armenia and the US.
These are the opinions that I gathered from what I heard and
read regarding Armenia and its future direction. In short, the
Russian-Armenian relationship weakens day by day, while the Armenian-US
relationship continues to grow stronger. As an example, we can show the
recent visit of General Charles F. Wald, USAF to Yerevan. Who knows,
what other things have been happening in this countryâ~@¦ I think
Turkey, which is struggling against the so-called 1915 genocide claims
and arguments, needs to also seriously consider these perspectives
â~@¦
e-mail:[email protected]
--Boundary_(ID_YGE9BGnKaPLREe/my+pZKA)--