By Vestnik Kavkaza
According to the Armenian newspaper "Business Express", while in Yerevan the secretary general of the organization "European Friends of Armenia" (EuFoA), Michael Comeback, said the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union and the Agreement on the establishment of a deep and comprehensive free trade area will allow Armenia to get out of the difficult economic situation in which it found herself. However, he completely rejected the view that the signing of the Association Agreement could negatively affect Armenia's relations with its partners, or in any way affect the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Meanwhile, the newspapers "Voice of Armenia" and "Modern Times" informed that President Serzh Sargsyan recently attended a summit of the Eastern Partnership of the European People's Party, during which issues related to the preparation for a summit in Vilnius were discussed. The Armenian President made a speech in which spoke of Armenia's cooperation in the framework of the Eastern Partnership and the implementation of Armenia's obligations within the membership, as well as reforms in the country.
The President of Armenia said in particular: "In our perception the Eastern Partnership program is essentially aimed at co-operation and is not an initiative to create controversy, it is not directed against any state or group of states. This partnership is aimed at finally overcoming the dividing lines. In the framework of the Eastern Partnership, Armenia attaches special importance to putting an end to the practice of closed borders. The agreement on the deep and comprehensive free trade area which is currently being negotiated with the EU cannot fully operate while the border between Armenia and Turkey remains closed, as it is now. We believe that the EU should pay serious attention to the problem of closed borders, because in such a situation trade within the Customs Union of the EU cannot be effective. "
Commenting on this statement, the Armenian newspaper "Yerkir" notes that this is not the first time the president has voiced this thesis and actually speaks the language of preconditions, i.e. if the Armenian-Turkish border is not opened, Armenia may refuse to sign this contract. Thus, not to spoil relations with Russia, which, in the opinion of the newspaper, to put it mildly, does not welcome the conclusion of such agreements with the EU, the president makes two very interesting tactical moves. They are by and large designed, first, to separate the agreement from the other ones within the Eastern Partnership, and secondly, to delay its signing for the time to win more time to manoeuvre. As it is explained by the publication, he does so by using the current tensions between the European Union and Turkey, and the obvious reality that the EU is still not able to persuade Turkey to open the border. And if that happens, the government may declare that it has won a major diplomatic victory, managing to achieve the opening of borders with Turkey without making any concessions.
However, contrary to what has been said by Comeback, the publication recognizes that the last scenario cannot be a desirable option for the president, because if the EU is able to fulfil this condition the authorities in Yerevan are unlikely to find a reason for refusing to sign the agreement, so as not to cause serious harm to Armenian-Russian relations. Thus, the paper concludes, the president is indirectly proposing to Brussels to understand the situation and to postpone the signing of the contract.
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The newspaper "Kabardino-Balkarian Pravda" informs that within the framework of the federal target program "South of Russia" in the Elbrus area plumbing of total length of 13.5 km is under construction. Drinking water for the residents of Terskol, Baydaevka, Tegenekli, Elbrus and Neitrino would come from the source of Garabashi, located on the slopes of Mount Elbrus at an altitude of 3000 m above sea level. The settlements of the Elbrus area are today provided by gravity water supply, but, as was explained by the head of the village administration of Elbrus, Uzeyir Kurdanov, the need for the construction of a new water supply system is connected with the development of infrastructure for tourism and recreation.
The chief engineer of the contractor, Hassan Mattayev, said that intakes are designed to extract water from underground sources from the earth's surface. Groundwater flows in the form of a powerful centered output of the Garabashi. According to the paper, the construction work began in 2011, the total funding of the construction is 377 million 423 thousand rubles, of which the federal budget funds are 328,777,000 rubles, the republican funds are 48 million 646 thousand rubles, and completion of the water supply is scheduled for December.
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Azerbaijan media cover a report by "Transparency International", based on household surveys, which indicates that the level of corruption in the country has fallen. In particular, compared to 2010, today more local people believe that the police, government and education officials reject bribery. The newspaper "Bizim Yol" published an interview with the head of department for work with law enforcement agencies of the Presidential Administration, Fuad Aleskerov, where he commented on the results of a survey by international organization. He said the study confirmed significant progress in the fight against corruption in Azerbaijan, and mentioned in this regard two statistical indicators from the report. Thus, 68% of respondents in Azerbaijan consider the measures taken to combat corruption in the country to be effective. This rate is three times higher than the average for other countries, which is equal to 22%. Another example concerns the level of corruption in the world. More than 50% of respondents across the world believe that the level of corruption in the last year has doubled. In Azerbaijan, 73% of respondents believe that the level of corruption in the country has not grown. According to the report, Aleskerov said, almost all areas managed to reduce the level of corruption, and it was quite an expected result, as a consequence of the integrated and coherent policy in this sphere carried out in the country.
He noted that the implementation of national anti-corruption action plans to promote open government approved by the President of Azerbaijan provides for the functioning of government based on the principles of transparency, as well as the creation of a management environment eliminating corruption. These measures, in particular, include the expansion of e-services and e-government development. For example, since the establishment of the State Agency for the provision of services to citizens and social innovation under the president "ASAN Xidmet" this year, the service centers of which can be accessed both directly and via the Internet or telephone, they considered more than 200 thousand applications, and 98% of them were met. In addition, to improve the effectiveness of the Office for Combating Corruption under the General Prosecutor's Office, a "hot line" for telephone calls has been installed and is fully operational. Ongoing reforms to the police, in particular, such as increasing transparency in the traffic police and the installation of the "Safe City" system, have also influenced the situation.
In turn, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Vasif Movsumov, noted in the local newspaper "Echo" that a positive trend in combating corruption in Azerbaijan was already apparent in 2011. To do this, appropriate measures were taken, including laws, regulations, and in particular, the "National Plan of Action against Corruption for 2012-2015." Today the resistance of the population has increased, and people are more responsive to extortion in various fields.
However, the newspaper "Yeni Musavat" cites the opinion of the head of the Republican Center for Civic Initiatives, Gubad Ibadoglu, which draws its reader's attention to the fact that the report of "Transparency İnternational", along with a reduction of corruption in the public sector, notes its growth in the private sector, religious organizations and the media. According to the Director of the Centre, the growth of corruption in the private sector is directly related to its growth in the government. In addition, he said that the country has not complied with the principle of transparency in adopting the state budget, which creates conditions for embezzlement of public funds, and government officials do not always declare their income.
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Continuing the theme of providing electronic public services, the "Mirror" newspaper published in Baku quoted the Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan, Elmir Velizade, who said that the process of forming an e-government is going on, and progress has been made. "Services presented on the website of e-government are used by more than 50 thousand people a month. Of the 417 services from the list approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the country, 225 have already been integrated into the portals of the e-government and relevant public authorities,” the deputy minister said.
Velizade named 10 government agencies the services of which take first position in popularity among users. He said that the services of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the State Fund of Social Protection, the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, taxes, education, labor and social welfare, healthcare, the State Customs Committee and the Public Service Commission under the President of Azerbaijan are of greatest interest to citizens.
One important institutional step in this direction is, according to him, the creation of the State Agency for the provision of services to citizens and social innovations, ASAN Xidmet, which provides for implementation of measures by 43 state agencies, which will focus on the development and expansion of scope of e-services, electronization of existing processes in state agencies, the development of mobile e-signatures. More than a third of these activities are focused on the development and application of solutions in the field of e-government.
The head of the agency, Inam Kerimov, said that at present the services of agencies represented in the ASAN Xidmet were used by over 250 thousand people. In addition, there are mobile offices that serve the population of areas where there are currently no service centers of ASAN Xidmet. "Our mobile offices for the last month and a half have served 16 thousand citizens of six regions of the country,” Kerimov said. Through this mobile service by the end of this year, the entire country will be covered by the services of ASAN. Moreover, by the end of August, according to Kerimov, It is planned to open two service centers of ASAN Xidmet – in the Yasamal district of Baku and in Ganja, which will serve people from the surrounding areas.
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Italian businessmen are interested in cooperation with the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District, the Chechen newspaper "Republic News” reports. Deputy presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District Maxim Bystrov met with Italian businessmen, who came to the district on a business mission.
They have already held talks with potential partners, inspected operating businesses created with the participation of Italian investors and outlined ways in which bilateral cooperation can be expanded.
In particular, one point is the opening of regular direct flights to Italy from the Mineral Waters airport. According to the head of the Italian delegation, Pierpaolo Lodigiani, Italy today is in first place among European countries in terms of cooperation with the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District. In Kabardino-Balkaria and Stavropol Territory several projects in energy, industry and agriculture are being implemented. One of the most striking projects is the experience of the company with Italian capital "Enel OGK-5", which confirms the possibility of running a successful business in the North Caucasus.
According to Bystrov, today the county has several branches, where the participation of investors from the Apennines will be particularly relevant. The first is the development of ski resorts. Big potential lies in cooperation with JSC “North Caucasus Resorts". "We look forward to seeing you at our resorts both as guests and as investors or suppliers of equipment," the deputy ambassador appealed to the entrepreneurs.
In this regard, the general director of JSC “North Caucasus Development Corporation", Anton Pak, spoke about the imminent launch of one of the most important joint projects in tourism - a ski hotel at an altitude of 4000 meters, which will be opened on the highest point of Europe - Mount Elbrus. A team of Italian experts is now completing the installation of the equipment, and then the unique hotel will welcome its first guests.
