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Telethon Trends: Shift In Charity Pledges Indicative Of Armenia-Dias

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  • Telethon Trends: Shift In Charity Pledges Indicative Of Armenia-Dias

    TELETHON TRENDS: SHIFT IN CHARITY PLEDGES INDICATIVE OF ARMENIA-DIASPORA RELATIONS

    SOCIETY | 28.11.12 | 12:32

    By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
    ArmeniaNow correspondent

    The results of the 15th annual telethon in support of the All-Armenian
    Hayastan Fund have reaffirmed the final shift in cooperation between
    Armenia and Karabakh, and the worldwide Armenian Diaspora.

    While only a few years ago most of the donations to the Fund,
    especially large ones, would come from Armenian Americans, then now
    the major contributors are Russian Armenians.

    The share of the pledges by Russian Armenians in 2012 made $12.1 of
    the total amount of donations that stood at about $21.4 after last
    Thursday's Thanksgiving Day Telethon broadcast from the United States.

    The largest donations were pledged by President of the RESO-Garantia
    company Sergei Sarkisov ($4 million plus $10,000 for school No. 1 of
    Stepanakert), chairman of the Sobesednik publishing house Levon
    Hayrapetyan ($2 million), president of the Tashir group of companies
    Samvel Karapetyan ($1.5 million), president of the Afina Pallada group
    of companies Hayk Magakelyan ($ 1 million), director-general of the
    Luding company Armen Shahazizyan ($600,000), head of the Union of
    Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan ($500,000).

    During the first ten telethons organized for the benefit of the
    Hayastan Fund the main "competing" parties in terms of the donated
    amounts were mainly prominent Armenian-American philanthropists, such
    as Louise Manoogian Simone, Albert Boyajian, the Hovnanian family. But
    now they mostly prefer staying away from the fundraiser. During the
    2011 telethon a sum of $11 million was donated by Argentine-Armenian
    magnate Eduardo Eurnekian, but this year he did not announce any
    donation.

    Experts link such changes to several factors. First of all, of course,
    the growing distrust among the Western part of the Armenian Diaspora
    to the authorities in Yerevan and Stepanakert that have ultimately
    "oligarchized" and monopolized the economy. It has been said time and
    again that the funds collected through such fundraisers are not used
    effectively and that the share of so-called "kickbacks" is high, a
    claim routinely discarded by the Fund management.

    Secondly, after the election of Bako Sahakyan as president of Karabakh
    ties between Stepanakert and the Western Diaspora almost came to a
    halt, while there was a boost in relations with Armenian entrepreneurs
    from Russia. With many of them Sahakyan is acquainted personally as
    for several years he represented Armenia in the KGB of Russia.

    President Sahakyan attended a Hayastan Fund charity dinner in Moscow
    on November 8 during which he enumerated the projects that have been
    implemented in Karabakh in the past several years and praised the
    "brothers and sisters" in Russia for their investments and
    contributions to the projects.

    While Armenia has declared a policy of European integration and is
    developing closer ties with Europe and the United States, Karabakh
    still clearly remains pro-Russian. There is already a growing body of
    opinion, however, that questions the possibility of Yerevan's European
    integration without Karabakh. Perhaps this is what the recent visit to
    Karabakh by a delegation of the Armenia-European Union parliamentary
    committee led by its co-chairman Samvel Farmanyan was connected with.

    During the visit the sides discussed the possibilities of establishing
    relations between the NKR and Europe. At present, these links exist
    only at the level of non-governmental organizations - it is already
    two years that the EU has allocated funds for grants to civic
    organizations in Karabakh.

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