DW: Germany has largest trade in South Caucasus with Armenia

August 23, 2018 By administrator

In the first half of 2018, Germany’s trade relations with Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan are developing with dynamism, and Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit these three countries, from Thursday to Saturday, reported Deutsche Welle (DW).

Germany’s trade with these three South Caucasus republics grew by 17.1 percent and reached €1.2 billion, the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations announced on Wednesday.

And from these three countries, Germany’s trade has increased the most with Armenia—by 41 percent, and reached up to €171 million.

“The political changes, which took place in [Armenia’s capital city of] Yerevan in Spring 2018, seem to contribute to the dynamic development of the [country’s] economy,” the aforesaid committee also noted, in particular.

U.S. Envoy ‘Confident’ About More Trade, Investment In Armenia

July 5, 2018 By administrator

U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills talks to journalists in Yerevan on July 4.

The U.S. ambassador to Yerevan said recent political changes in Armenia will help bring new trade and investment to the South Caucasus country.

“I am confident that this new chapter in Armenian history is going to spark a lot of interest from U.S. businesspeople,” Richard Mills said, speaking on July 4 at an event in the Armenian capital marking U.S. Independence Day.

The comments come two months after peaceful protests led by lawmaker and activist Nikol Pashinian led to the resignation of longtime ruler Serzh Sarkisian in early May.

Pashinian, who vowed to crack down on widespread corruption in the country, was voted in by parliament as prime minister on May 8.

Mills said new investment could come both from members of the Armenian diaspora and from others looking to trade with Armenia.

“I heard from the diaspora Americans and also from American businesspeople of all backgrounds that they were very interested in Armenia if the new government follows through on its commitments to make this a more equitable society, [provide] a more level playing field for all businesses, and if they can root out some of the problems of corruption,” he said.

“I think American businesses are interested in some of the key sectors that the [Armenian] government is also focused on — IT, agriculture, tourism and energy, in particular,” he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently said he has not rule out that assistance to Armenia can be resumed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Armenia received $177 million under a program for the rehabilitation of its rural irrigation networks a decade ago.

However, further aid was frozen after a disputed 2008 presidential election that was followed by a government crackdown on the Armenian opposition.

Sarkisian’s administration unsuccessfully lobbied to restore Yerevan’s eligibility for the aid program in subsequent years. U.S. officials said, however, that Yerevan was not doing enough to combat widespread corruption, among other issues.

Mills told RFE/RL that he did not have any “new news” on the program.

But he added: “Again, the way the Millennium Challenge Corporation works is that Armenia will have to meet some criteria, hit some standards in the areas of fighting corruption, political liberty, media freedom.

“So, we will be working with the government to encourage them, to support them in making some changes that will help Armenia meet those criteria so that next year, when the Millennium Challenge Corporation is deciding on compacts, Armenia can be considered.

“[Reform] is really what Armenia needs and what I heard the Armenian people were demanding on the streets two months ago,” the ambassador said.

What’s behind curious gold traffic between Turkey and UAE?

May 12, 2017 By administrator

By Zülfikar Doğan

ANKARA, Turkey — While Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves are melting fast, its gold reserves have increased by 50 tons since the beginning of the year. An intriguing pattern, meanwhile, has emerged in Turkey’s gold trade with the United Arab Emirates, bringing to mind the oil-for-gold scheme with Iran that is still haunting Ankara.

Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who is accused of being the key figure running the scheme to circumvent US sanctions on the Islamic Republic, was arrested in the United States last year. In March, another high-profile figure — Mehmet Hakan Atilla, deputy president of Turkey’s public bank Halkbank — landed behind bars during a trip to New York on charges of colluding with Zarrab and facilitating his financial transactions.

Now the gold controversy is back on Turkey’s economic agenda yet again. The gold traffic between Turkey and the UAE is especially striking, with export and import figures raising myriad questions.

In times of economic strain, one of the first solutions that Turkish governments propose is to lure the gold that citizens keep “under the mattress” into the economy. Gold, along with foreign exchange, is a popular form of savings in Turkey, seen as a shield against inflation and the depreciation of the national currency.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, who is in charge of the economy, Turkish citizens today are estimated to have gold savings at home, worth relatively close to $100 billion. In early April, Simsek announced plans to issue gold-denominated bonds to draw those savings into the economy.

Some pundits, however, believe that Turks are no longer willing to part with their gold. Nasrullah Ayan, a veteran of Turkey’s financial markets who helped found the Istanbul stock exchange, argues that the under-the-mattress gold savings have been repeatedly exploited with promises of high yields in the past and people have grown mistrustful of the state on this issue.

In December, when the Turkish lira entered freefall against the dollar, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged citizens to prop up the national currency by converting their foreign exchange savings to Turkish liras or gold, blaming the turbulence on malicious foreign forces. Yet few seemed to have heeded his call as no decrease was seen in foreign exchange deposits in banks. Moreover, the foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank have declined, standing at $102.7 billion at the end of April, down from $122 billion in August 2016.

Under international standards, a country’s foreign reserves are required to cover four to six months of imports at least. If the coverage drops to three months, the International Monetary Fund sees this as a serious economic risk or a red alarm. Given that Turkey’s annual imports are worth around $200 billion, its total reserves of $102 billion do not sound a red alarm yet, but are still a warning signal.

The drop in foreign reserves comes at a time when gold trade has picked up, notably with the UAE.

According to the World Gold Council’s latest data, released May 2, Turkey’s official gold reserves have climbed to 427.8 tons, up from 377.1 tons at the end of 2016. As a result, Turkey has moved from 15th to 13th place on the global gold reserve ranking.

The surging gold trade invokes the years of the oil-for-gold trade with Iran. In 2013, Turkey’s gold imports had hit a record high of $15 billion, including $2.8 billion in the first quarter. This year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) puts gold imports at $2.7 billion in the first quarter, almost on par with the corresponding period in 2013. Nearly half of those imports, worth $1.4 billion, came from the UAE. What is even more interesting, Turkey itself exported $1.7 billion worth of gold to the UAE in the same period.

According to the Turkish Gold Miners Association, the country’s record gold imports in 2013 amounted to 302 tons.

In December the same year, corruption and bribery probes rocked the government, implicating Zarrab as well as several ministers, who allegedly helped the businessman in return for kickbacks. The government responded with massive purges in the police and the judiciary, thwarting the probes. In the wake of the scandal, the trade scheme with Iran decelerated and so did Turkey’s gold trade in general. Gold imports fell to 131 tons in 2014 and then to 49 tons in 2015. Last year, however, the imports picked up anew, reaching 106 tons. Now, with the intriguing trade with the UAE, gold imports could well climb back to the 2013 level at the end of the year.

Turkey’s total gold exports were worth $531 million in January, $619 million in February and $740 million in March, according to official foreign trade data. The bulk of those exports were to the UAE — $400 million in January, $581 million in February and $678 million in March. In the same quarter, Turkey’s gold imports from the UAE amounted to $507 million in February and $692 million in March. The proximity in the import and export numbers can hardly escape attention, as if the same gold was coming and going between the two countries.

It is worth recalling that the UAE and especially Dubai were an essential element in the oil-for-gold trade between Turkey and Iran, serving as the link via which the gold traveled to the Islamic Republic after the sanctions froze it out of the international banking system.

According to TUIK figures from March, the UAE has become the second biggest buyer of Turkish exports after Germany. Yet why similar shipments of gold are coming and going between the two countries and who gains what from such exchanges requires explanation. One cannot help but wonder whether this curious form of trade may result in another “Zarrab case” or a corruption scandal similar to the one in 2013.

Now the gold controversy is back on Turkey’s economic agenda yet again. The gold traffic between Turkey and the UAE is especially striking, with export and import figures raising myriad questions.

The drop in foreign reserves comes at a time when gold trade has picked up, notably with the UAE.

According to the Turkish Gold Miners Association, the country’s record gold imports in 2013 amounted to 302 tons.

Zülfikar Doğan

Contributor, Turkey Pulse

Zülfikar Doğan began his career in journalism in 1976 at the Yanki news magazine in Ankara. He has worked as a reporter, news editor, representative and columnist at Milliyet, Posta, Aksam, Finansal Forum, Star and Karsi

Russian Premier: Import from Armenia to Russia grows by 70%

January 24, 2017 By administrator

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan of Armenia is paying a two-day official visit to Russia at Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev’s invitation.

As press service of the Government of Russia reported, opening the meeting Medvedev noted that despite the international situation, changes in energy prices and a number of other economic aspects, “goods turnover is stable, but import from Armenia to Russia increased by 70% during the last year.”

According to him, “this was the consequence of accession of Armenia to the Eurasian Union and strengthening of our economic relations.”

Bilateral trade between Russia and Armenia in January-October of last year made $1,033 billion. Russian export decreased by 14.6%, but import from Armenia grew 2.1 times to 314 million.

The two sides prepared documents for signing, which, as Medvedev expects, will develop direction for cooperation of between two countries: “I hope that it will promote development of commercial ties,” Russian Prime Minister said.

According to Karapetyan, the intergovernmental meeting will become a good opportunity to discuss urgent directions of the Russian-Armenian cooperation.

“I want to assure that our delegation arrived with very positive business spirit. Traditionally, the agenda of the Armenian-Russian relations is very expanded”, he stated noting that the Armenian delegation has a number of new offers which will help to broadencooperation with Moscow.

Horrific Details Emerge of the Aleppo Turkish Rebels Human Organs trade across the border with Turkey,

December 29, 2016 By administrator

After the liberation of Syria’s second-largest city of Aleppo from jihadists, horrific details of their rule continue coming to light: local residents have revealed to Sputnik Arabic the mechanisms of a well-established network of organ traders and their price list.

Amid so much western fuss concerning the so-called “Russian atrocities” during the liberation of Aleppo, local residents of the liberated city sat down with Sputnik Arabic to reveal for the first time the horrific details of the jihadists’ rule.

They spoke of a massive illegal human organ trade across the border with Turkey, set up by the militants. Civilians learned to fear the local emergency vehicles as they sped around the city hunting for potential donors. One of the “patients” happened to be 60-year-old Abu Mohammad. “We were shelled from a grenade launcher and immediately afterwards rebels came in an emergency vehicle.

They ended up stealing one of my kidneys and part of my spleen,”

he told Sputnik. He further described the mechanism of the traders’ operations: a team of rebels wait for an explosion and immediately afterwards pounce on the wounded and dead. Some of those wounded could have been later returned home, he said. Alia has been residing in the Bustan al-Qasr district of Aleppo which was under control of Al-Nusra Front. Once she was offered to undergo treatment in a Turkish clinic as none of eastern Aleppo’s clinics had enough medication.

“There was a huge market on the border with Turkey where virtually anything was on sale, including women and children. A dead body was selling for 25,000 Turkish lira (TRL), the equivalent of $50, a body of an injured person was selling for 150,000 TRL ($290),” she told Sputnik.

“Every day those wounded at war are sent to hospitals and are regarded as potential donors,” she said.

According to statistics, there have been 18,000 documented cases of illegal removal of human organs in the north of Syria. However the majority of these secretive crimes will remain that way, as people are afraid to openly speak about them.

A group of forensic experts from Aleppo told Sputnik that it was pretty easy to obtain a human organ in the city. It is located not far from the Syrian-Turkish border which could be easily crossed from the districts which were under control of the rebels. Many foreigners who were allegedly offering humanitarian aid have flooded the city through that border. In fact, these were predominantly mafia who, together with foreign medics, were hunting for human organs and sending them across the border. Doctor Bagjat Akrush told Sputnik that many Syrian medics have been involved in this criminal industry under the cover of the war. It was most active in the hot spots in the north and east of Syria and in the refugee camps.

The governments of many countries have taken part in these crimes either directly or covertly and have done nothing to stop it. The doctor said that the majority of these crimes have been committed in the north of the country and children were among those suffered. Up to 100,000 children in the refugee camps on the Turkish territory are facing the same very danger, he said. Up to 80 percent of refugees in these camps are women and children who have been on sale for almost three years. And it is no secret that the Turks are also involved in it.

The war in Syria made it possible for criminals to get very cheap human organs, Akrush went on. They choose a victim through a medical organization, desirably a healthy one as the organs of a diseased man are not that in-demand. Then the organs are sent across the border.

Armenia arranges free trade area with Iran, Economy Minister says

August 25, 2016 By administrator

free-trade Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan at a session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council has reached an agreement on the establishment of a free trade area with Iran, Economy Minister Artsvik Minasyan said Thursday, August 25, according to Tert.am.

“The creation of a free trade area with Iran will enable establishing better relations between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union,” Minasyan said.

The main problem facing Armenia, according to the Minister, is ensuring legal guarantees.

Weighing in on the deal, Minasyan said that both Armenia and Iran should be engaged, with Armenia, according to him, already making efforts.

Asked whether Armenia can have a free trade area with Iran independent from Russia, Minasyan said Armenia has had such a status from the very beginning, and that no new document will be signed between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union in this regard.

Eastern Europe and the lucrative Middle East arms trade

August 9, 2016 By administrator

Robert Stephen Ford, the US ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014, told BIRN and the OCCRP that the trade is coordinated by the American secret service, the CIA, and expedited via Turkey and the Gulf States. By shipping to destinations that initially appear unsuspicious, he said, suppliers can circumvent all mandatory approval procedures. Furthermore, many of the flight documents investigated by BIRN contained no information whatsoever on cargo that weighed thousands of tons. Arms shipments from Bulgaria and Slovakia were flown out as “unidentified cargo.”

Weapons like these from eastern Europe are in use in Syria, not only by the rebels of the Free Syrian Army, but also by the Islamist fighters of Ansar al-Sham and the al-Nusra Front (now Fatah al-Sham), which until recently was allied with al-Qaida, as well as the group calling itself “Islamic State.” The two organizations BIRN and OCCRP have provided evidence of this, primarily photos and videos and images from social media.

Many eastern European countries supply arms to the Middle East. The trade is said to be worth more than a billion euros, with the majority of goods going to Saudi Arabia. But the weapons don’t stay there. Their ultimate destination is the war in Syria.

War-torn Syria is full of arms: thousands of AK47 assault rifles, machine guns, mortar shells, rocket launchers and anti-tank weapons, aging T-55 and T-72 tanks. Most are believed to come from the following countries: Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Montenegro, Serbia and Romania. They reach Syria via a circuitous route. First, they are sent by air or sea to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates or Turkey – then on from there to the war zone. The trade is worth 1.2 billion euros.

Years gathering proof

Journalists from the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) researched for years to expose these arms transport routes. They analyzed export data and United Nations reports. They watched hundreds of videos and looked at hundreds of photos; they traced the movements of ships and planes, read arms contracts, and followed up on numerous tips from the arms dealers’ milieu.

A couple of examples: In a confidential document from 2013 obtained by BIRN and OCCRP, a high-ranking official in the Serbian defense ministry describes how arms shipments to Saudi Arabia were rerouted from there to Syria. And a detailed analysis of cargo planes provided evidence of more than 70 plane movements that were related to the indirect delivery of weapons to the conflict zone.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/eastern-europe-and-the-lucrative-middle-east-arms-trade/a-19459840

Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia cooperation possible alternative to new trilateral format – Suren Sargsyan

August 9, 2016 By administrator

In an interview with Tert.am, Suren Sargsyan, Teaching Assistant, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, says that Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia cooperation could be an alternative to the newly formed Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran format.

With the trilateral format in effect, Armenia should intensify cooperation with Iran because products manufactured due to Armenian investments, but not in Armenia, could reach Russia from Iran through Azerbaijan duty-free.

Mr Sargsyan, a new Russian-Iranian-Azerbaijani meeting took place in Baku yesterday. What is Armenia’s role? Will it not remain outside regional projects again?

In this respect, Armenia’s opportunities are restricted. We are not involved in certain regional projects for a number of subjective and objective reasons. First, our geopolitical situation is not favorable for Armenia to be a transit country for energy carriers and means of transportation. We have no outlet to the sea or open borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, which prevents us from being properly involved in regional transport of energy projects. The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is the only regional project we are involved in, and this is the reason for Azerbaijan not joining the EEU. If Armenia had a common border with the EEU or Georgia joined the EEU, Armenia would easily become a transit country connecting Iran and Russia. The Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia format could be an alternative. If Russian-Georgian relations improve and we can play a mediatory role, Georgia would also be interested in the quadripartite format because it remained outside the trilateral format. The Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia cooperation could be an alternative to the newly created trilateral format. Such an initiative is quite to the point and the scenario is a viable one. With the trilateral format in effect, Armenia should intensify cooperation with Iran because products manufactured due to Armenian investments, but not in Armenia, could reach Russia from Iran through Azerbaijan duty-free. And our business should be flexible and take the opportunity.

In your opinion, which of the states proposed the Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran format?

First of all, it is clear that the Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan format was Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s idea. It is also clear that the new format will be permanent, and the idea is based not only on economic, but also on geopolitical factors. As to Iran, international sanctions have been lifted, which implies that state is going to be a great regional power soon. In this respect, Russia and Azerbaijan have taken the right course, relying on this state of affairs. Of interest is the fact that this format was proposed along with Russia-Turkey reconciliation process. That is, Azerbaijan has proposed its idea to the world only after the two regional superpowers started a reconciliation process.

What is Russia’s benefit from this cooperation?

First, Russia cannot remain outside the regional process. Moreover, President Vladimir Putin has presented his ideas of the trilateral format’s agenda – at least in terms of Russia’s expectations. According to Mr Putin, the Three should be able to properly distribute the Caspian energy resources, give impetus to the development of trade relations between the three states. Of paramount importance are also joint efforts to combat drug trafficking and international terrorism. It is a highly important wording as all the three states have become transit states for Islamists. We should not forget that ethnic Azerbaijanis constitute a large number of Islamic State gunmen, according to Russian media. By and large, however beneficial the format could be to Russia in economic terms, EEU development and expansion remains Russia’s priority. It is no coincidence at all that, in an interview a couple of days ago, the Russian president stressed that Iran could become the EEU’s major partner, and a new Iran-EEU cooperation agreement was most likely to be signed in the near future.

Turkey your friand today your enemy tomorow, Putin to normalize trade ties with Turkey

June 29, 2016 By administrator

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to start the process of normalizing trade ties with Turkey, seven months after Ankara-Moscow relations went into a downward spiral following Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian jet last year.

“I ask that the Russian government begins the process of normalizing general trade and economic ties with Turkey,” Putin said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, following a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Putin said that Russia has also decided to lift travel restrictions against Turkey in the tourism sector.

“I want to start with the question of tourism… We are lifting the administrative restrictions in this area,” the Russian president said.

Moscow-Ankara relations became strained last November after Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft with two pilots aboard, claiming the fighter jet had repeatedly violated Turkish airspace.

Ankara argued that the Russian plane strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russia, however, insisted the aircraft did not cross the border and accused Ankara of “planned provocation.”

Moscow said the plane was brought down in Syrian airspace, where Russia has been conducting combat sorties against Takfiri terrorists since late September 2015 upon a request by the Damascus government.

Of the two pilots aboard the warplane, one was rescued with the help of the Syrian army, but the other was killed by militants fighting the Syrian government.

Following the incident, Russia imposed a raft of sanctions against Ankara, including import restriction on Turkish foods, a ban on tourist travel to Turkey, an embargo on hiring Turkish citizens in Russia, and a ban on Turkish organizations’ activities in Russia.

Moscow also suspended all military deals with Ankara.

On Monday, the Kremlin said that the Turkish president apologized to Putin over Ankara’s shooting down of the Russian jet.

Turkey, however, said later it had only expressed regret to Russia, denying reports of an apology, and retracting a compensation pledge.

The Wednesday phone call between the Russian and the Turkish leader came after Putin expressed sympathy for the victims of the Tuesday night gun and bomb attacks at Istanbul’s Ataturk international airport, which claimed the lives of 41 people and injured 239 others.

Meanwhile, a Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the Turkish leader is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the forthcoming G20 summit in China in September.

The meeting between the two presidents would be their first face-to-face talks for months, following the diplomatic row.

Trade between Iran and Armenia booming

January 28, 2016 By administrator

arton121469-480x270 Trade with its neighbor Armenia, Iran, will increase following the lifting of international economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic, proclaimed yesterday the Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielian.

Gabrielian said that governments and business communities of both countries are already exploring new economic opportunities arising from the important international agreement of last year on Iran’s nuclear program.

“But we are still in the initial phase of this work, he said. I can not cite agreements at the moment, but there are many Iranian businessmen to visit Armenia and many of our businessmen have gone there. “

Gabrielian noted in this regard the importance of the delegation of Armenian entrepreneurs who visited Tehran late last year on a trip organized by the Armenian Ministry of Economy.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia (NSS), the total volume of Armenian-Iranian trade fell by more than 5% to $ 250 million between January and November 2015. This figure represents less than 6% the overall foreign trade of Armenia.

The data service of Armenian customs show, in turn, that bilateral trade mainly to the gas and electricity.

Electricity exports are expected to increase dramatically after the construction of a third and most powerful transmission line connecting the power grids of the two countries.

Armenian and Iranian governments the signed final agreement on the construction of the power line in August, a month after Iran signed the nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers. Its construction should be completed by 2018.

Armenian officials also hope that the easing of sanctions will allow Tehran to finance the proposed construction of a large hydroelectric plant on the Armenian-Iranian border.

The Armenian Minister of Transport Gagik Beglaryan, visited Iran and met his first vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri last week for talks that would have affected the transit of goods between the two countries.

In a phone call this weekend with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan, Iranian President Hassan Rohani said the two countries should “spare no effort to connect the ports of the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf.”