| Weekly Business News Digest |
|
|
|
|
The government presented statistical data, according to which migration from Armenia in the first half of this year has dwindled 32 times, compared with the first half of 2015. Negative migration was 75,464 people in 2015, 66,629 people in 2016, 37,625 people in 2017, 6,110 people in 2018 and 2,334 people in the first half of 2019.
|
|
|
|
|
Armenia’s economic activity index increased by 6.5% in January-June 2019 compared to January-June 2018. Industrial production volume increased by 6.9%, that of the construction – 4.7%, trade turnover – 8.9%, and the volume of services by 15.3%. The volume of gross agricultural output decreased by 7.4% in January-June 2019 compared to January-June 2018.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Budget revenue grows 24.7% in 1st Q 2019
|
|
|
Budget tax revenues grew 24.7% in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period a year earlier. AMD 713.4 billion (around US $1.5 billion) came to the budget as taxes and state duties in Jan-June 2019 against the AMD 571.8 billion (US $1.2 billion) in the same period a year before. The tax inflow intensified in the 1st Q 2019 mainly due to an increase in value added tax, income tax and profit tax receipts.
|
|
|
|
$47.6 m recovered thanks to economic investigations
|
|
|
The Armenian National Security Service’s investigations' division, sent AMD 22.6 billion ($47.6 million) to the government budget over a period between May 10, 2018 and June 14, 2019 as a result of investigations into economic offences. The Service opened 327 criminal cases over that period, of which 72 were economic offences that have inflicted damages in the amount of AMD 46.7 billion ($98 million) to the state.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A new 150-kilometer road will connect Kapan and Hadrut in 2020, Armenian National Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said in an interview. “Economic development and security of Artsakh are interrelated, and it is necessary to everything to make investments in strategic infrastructures effective either in terms of economic development or in terms of security,” he said.
|
|
|
|
|
Chairman of the Iran-Armenia Chamber of Commerce Hervik Yarijanian said that it is ‘likely’ that the two countries will exchange trade activities using local currencies. “We are following up necessary measures to do business with hard currencies of the two countries i.e. rials and drums, so that proposal of setting up a finance and credit institution beyond banking rules has been submitted to Iran”.
|
|
|
|
|
Argentina’s Minister of Interior Lic. Rogelio Frigerio was the guest of honor and keynote speaker at a luncheon hosted by the Argentina Armenia Chamber of Commerce. The event was held as part of the annual activities’ program. Other guests included Armenian ambassador to Argentina HE Esther Mkrtmyan, coordinator of Public Works
Mr. Subsec, Lic. Ricardo Delgado, young UIA Authorities, institutional representatives and associates.
|
|
|
|
|
“Great news to brighten up your week! Alexis Ohanian Sr., co-founder of Reddit and Initialized Capital, is going to moderate a panel discussion during WCIT2019. Alexis now helps pave the path for brand new startups with fresh ideas”, the WCIT 2019 said on Facebook. WCIT is the signature event of the World Information Technology & Services Alliance (WITSA), a consortium of ICT associations from 83 countries, representing 90% of the industry.
|
|
|
|
|
The 23rd World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT 2019) in Yerevan will host three sets of “Lightning Rounds,” open to all, showcasing flash-forward technologies from start-ups, big companies, universities, and more. The Lightning Rounds will provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists to present their ideas to international venture funds and world famous businessmen, in order to attract investments for their implementation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Former French PM Dominique de Villepin joins Armenian National Interests Fund
|
|
|
The Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) announced that former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has been appointed Member of the Board of Directors of ANIF. “Joining ANIF's Board of Directors begins an exciting new journey," Mr. De Villepin said, "Armenia has registered the fastest GDP growth rate, 7.1%, in Europe for the first quarter of 2019 and ANIF has both a bright future ahead of it and a responsibility in accelerating this growth even further."
|
|
|
|
France's Chamonix to establish deep friendly ties with Armenia's Dilijan
|
|
|
“Just a couple of days ago, I was informed that the Municipality of Chamonix wants to establish friendly relations with Dilijan. Of course, the first step was taken when the famous Summit of Minds in Chamonix now has its sister summit in Dilijan," President Sarkissian said. Governor of Tavush Province Hayk Chobanyan positioned Dilijan as a city of intelligentsia, quality life and tourism where the main topics will be education, culture, science and innovation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mher Margaryan has been elected as Vice-President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) from Eastern European States. ECOSOC, as one of the main organs of the United Nations, is responsible for coordinating the economic, social, environmental and related work of the specialized agencies, funds and programmes, the functional commissions and the regional commissions of the United Nations.
|
|
|
|
|
Cyprus has fully completed its internal procedure necessary for the ratification of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Program. Cyprus officially notified the EU Council on July 18. Armenia and the European Union signed the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels on November 24.
|
|
|
|
|
Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan received the World Bank Trade Promotion and Quality Infrastructure Project mission. Views were exchanged on potential changes in the structure of the Project, as well as the activities of competent state bodies supporting export promotion and investments.
|
|
|
|
|
Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan met with representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Raymond Yele. “The joint efforts for development of a strategy on agriculture serve as evidence of our close partnership. As the Food and Agriculture Organization, we are committed to assist the Government of Armenia in implementing the sector-specific reforms and in building capacities," Yele said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SRC gives Spayka a chance to continue operation
|
|
|
The State Revenue Committee of Armenia has separated the case related to the Spayka LLC to give the company a chance not to stop its operation. Asked whether the SRC plans to make concessions to the company, the SRC Chairman stated: “To concede means to act against the law which we are not going to do. Today we have a work to do, investigative operations are underway."
|
|
|
|
5 companies granted customs exemptions
|
|
|
The government approved the request of CJSC Nairian for exemption from customs duties to import technological equipment, components, raw materials and/or materials within the framework of its investments program in priority sectors. The government also provided similar incentives to I PLAST, Ard Global, IN-VI LLC companies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Close to 50 foreign and 150 local business people participated recently in the My Step for Shirak business forum. PM Pashinyan also attended the event and presented the conceptual provisions of the economic policy of the Government. He pointed out some important steps taken towards economic development such as the amendments to the tax code specifying a new business layer- microbusiness - etc.
|
|
|
|
|
"RusAl-ArmenAl" CJSC increased its assets for 2018 by 4% - to 48.4 billion drams or $ 100.1 million (against a growth of 2.6% in 2017). According to the published financial report of the company, the increase in assets was largely due to the growth of current assets by 12.3% - to 20.1 billion drams or $ 41.6 million (vs. 5.4% growth in 2017).
|
|
|
|
|
Ardshinbank leads in net profit for the second quarter of 2019 - more than 3 billion drams ($ 6.3 million), ensuring unprecedented growth. According to published financial reports, for the II quarter this figure increased by 34.6%, and in annual terms - by 2.2 times. For the first half of 2019, Ardshinbank's net profit exceeded 5.2 billion drams ($ 11 million, 2 position), having increased by 46.5% year on year.
|
|
|
|
|
The new thermal power unit of the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant ("Yerevan-2") will be in Armenia the first funded project on power plants with the production of environmentally clean electricity at extremely low prices, Head of the representative office of Siemens AG in Armenia said.
|
|
|
|
|
The online platform for government bonds trading-gp.minfin.am developed and introduced by the Armenian Stock Exchange (AMX) and the Ministry of Finance of Armenia, is becoming increasingly popular among investors. This year the number of transactions on gp.minfin.am has grown by 31%, while the trade volume shows an increase of 9.5% as compared to the 2018 January-May trade results
|
|
|
|
|
In the first quarter of 2019, only 0.5% of users in Armenia faced attempts of launch of malicious software on their computers designed to steal money through online access to bank accounts. During the same period, 0.7% of users in Azerbaijan and 0.6% of users in Georgia were attacked. In the first quarter of 2018, this figure was 1.4% each.
|
|
|
|
|
"Biomineral", a mixture of microorganisms and minerals, entirely produced in Armenia using local raw materials, makes animal farms odorless, eliminates unwanted humidity, helps avoid cleaning manure (which is degraded), even produces heat due to intensive growth of the microorganisms during cold seasons. The product along with local consumption is exported also to Russia.
|
|
|
|
|
Armenia is one of the four best places to invest in, Israeli-based Palestinian blogger Nas Daily, who has about 13 million followers, says in a new video. “There are many reasons not to invest in Armenia. I don’t even know what language they speak. But there is one big reason to invest in Armenia. It’s the people,” the blogger says. The video has gained over 1.4 million views in 7 days.
|
|
|
|
|
Yerevan is on CNN’s list of most beautiful cities with not as many tourists as there should be. “With a history going back more than 2,800 years, there’s a palpable sense of the past here, without the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds of regular tourist hotspots,” CNN writes. The list also includes Orange (France), Norwich (England), The Hague (Netherlands), Bern (Switzerland), Tbilisi (Georgia), Turin (Italy) and others.
|
|
|
|
|
ATN AT A GLANCE
ATN is the only cross-sectoral pan-Armenian business organization counting 17 associations in 13 countries. It aims to rebuild the centuries-old Armenian trade networks by promoting new linkages. ATN provides a platform for Armenian chambers of commerce and business associations to exchange knowledge and experiences, as well as promote the economic development agenda in Armenia.
Armenian American Business Council, Armenian American Chamber of Commerce, Artsakh Chamber of Commerce, Australian Armenian Chamber of Commerce, Belgian Armenian Chamber of Commerce, Cámara Argentino - Armenia, Canada-Armenia Business Council, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Armenia, Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Franco-Arménienne, Dutch Armenian Chamber of Commerce, Groupement Interprofessionnel International Arménien, Iran Armenia Chamber of Commerce, Lebanese Armenian Business Association, Romania Armenia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ROSARM Russia Armenia Business Alliance, Switzerland Armenia Chamber of Commerce, Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia
|
|
|
|
|
