The Civilitas Foundation

Armenia's 2010 State Budget

Friday, 05 February 2010 13:51 |

Armenia’s residents know how the government collects taxes, but few know how those revenues are spent. For that reason, the Civilitas annual report Armenia in 2009: Promise and Reality, prepared a well-researched and detailed poster providing a visual explanation of Armenia’s 2010 budget.

The budget is divided into 11 fundamental categories:

Social security – 649 mln USD
General Public Services – 371 mln USD
Defense – 360 mln USD
Support to Different Economic Spheres – 300 mln USD
Education- 265 mln USD
Public Order, Security and Justice- 150 mln USD
Health – 147 mln USD
Housing and Utilities -123 mln USD
Reserve Funds – 58 mln USD
Sport and Culture – 43 mln USD
Environmental Protection 16 mln USD

Those eleven categories (with the exception of the Reserve Funds) are divided into the relevant sub-categories. A careful study of the budget shows for example that the reserved funds are equal to the total funds the government intends to spend on sports, culture and the environment.

Oskanian's interview with Tert.am

Friday, 29 January 2010 13:21 |

Spotlight / Interviews

www.tert.am: Mr. Oskanian what is your opinion about recent developments in the Armenia-Turkey process?

Vartan Oskanian: My opinion is the same as it was at the start of this process. These documents are the product of miscalculations on both sides.

The Armenian side miscalculated, convinced that:
1.   the Armenia-Turkey border opening is of existential importance for Armenia’s domestic stability and economic development;
2.   it will be easy for Turkey to go counter to Azerbaijan‘s interests
3.   If the document does not contain the words “Treaty of Kars,” “genocide” or “Nagorno Karabakh,” then by utilizing state propaganda mechanisms, it will be possible to convince the Armenian people that the formulations that indeed address those matters are harmless.

Now you remembered?

Sunday, 24 January 2010 07:45 | Yossi Sarid |

Yossi Sarid, Israel

Yossi Sarid is a member of the Honorary Board of the Civilitas Foundation.

Haaretz.com -- The defense minister paid a visit to Turkey this week. They say it was a success. If so, it is possible to renew the conspiracy of silence and the silencing.

This is what happened a few months ago after Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again poured bitter words upon us. An important Israeli personality telephoned me and said the following: "Now you have to hit back at the Turks, to denounce them for the crimes they committed against the Armenians. You, Yossi, have the right to do so. Today you are a private citizen, but even when you were a public figure you did not hold yourself back. You expressed yourself often, in writing and orally, against the way they shirked responsibility for the genocide."

I was filled with revulsion and my soul wanted to puke. The person who telephoned me was an example of the ugly Israeli who had disgracefully been at the forefront of those who denied the Armenian Holocaust.

What Do You Think

Do you believe that free elections (one where even an incumbent can be defeated) can change a country?

	Yes
	No
	I don't know

Our previous question was, "do you see the future of your children in Armenia?" 84 of those who participated in the poll said "No", 67 said "Yes". We also had a similar discussion on our Facebook Generation Center page. Some of the participants said "Yes", some said "No", but it seems like most agree that Armenia we have now, no matter how patriotic we are, no matter how much we love our country

Read the analysis

Civilitas Connects

Sara Anjargolian, Los Angeles-based attorney and photographer, is working on a project to document nine separated Armenian families living between Los Angeles and Yerevan.
Read more

Civilitas Spotlight

January 22, 2010: Vartan Oskanian responds to A1+ television's questions on regional and domestic issues.

Our Projects

LIBRARIES AS CENTERS OF CIVIL SOCIETY

The main objective of the project is to support and strengthen the public libraries in a number of rural and urban communities in Armenia, away from the capital, in order to transform them into true centers of community life providing a number of services to the population.