The last week’s informal summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Yerevan was to answer some questions, which were of interest to member states and to the region in general. Many of the participants pinned great hopes on the meeting in Yerevan, among them President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who had come to make it up with the Russian President, and new President of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva, who had come to seek help.

Yerevan will be hosting Fruitfull Armenia winemaking forum on September 16-17. World-known oenologist Michel Rolland, invited as a special guest, as well as other participants, will be sampling the whole range of Armenian wines presented. A winner will be selected among 21 companies as a result of sampling. The forum to be opened by RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan aims at promoting Armenian wine-making industry, implementation of new production technologies and search for marketing outlets.

The internal political events during the past week focused on the forthcoming visit of Russian President and informal summit of CIS leaders. The oncoming visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Armenia suggests positive development of Armenian-Russian cooperation, stated Eduard Sharmazanov, secretary of the Republican Party of Armenia.

Olympiad: 14 Armenian sportsmen compete in 12 disciplines at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games which kicked off on August 14. Weightlifter Smbat Margaryan (56kg weight category) lifted 243 kg in snatch and clean & jerk to win bronze. Another weightlifter Gor Minasyan won silver, lifted 350 kg in the snatch and clean & jerk. Defeating a Venezuelan freestyle wrestler, Armenia’s Artak Hovhannisyan won a bronze medal. Archer Vasil Shahnazaryan finished 16th. Gymnast Vahan Vardanyan was the 8th in all-round events. Athlete Diana Khubeseryan came 5th. Swimmers Sergei Pevnev and Anahit Barseghyan were 32nd and 22nd respectively.

For dozens of centuries Armenians had been celebrating the New Year, Navasard, on August 11. Once a favorite popular holiday, it now became a topic of historians’ remarks or Armenian folklore only. “August 11 is the first day of the new year according to the ancient Armenian calendar. It was celebrated by all – the rich and the poor,” said ethnographer Gohar Vardumyan, senior fellow at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.

An Armenian singer won New Wave song contest for the first time in nine years of its existence. Armenia was represented by Sona Shahgeldyan this year, as she passed through a selection round in April 2010. People had been talking about wonderful vocal of Sona and her unusual timbre for a long time. However, almost all representatives of Armenia were notable for their powerful vocal at the contest. Jury was traditionally delighted with Armenian artists, but each time they lacked several or even one point to win the contest. This refers also to Razmik Amyan, who participated in the contest in 2006, when everyone was speaking with admiration about the singer’s unique voice, but a representative of the U.S. won the contest. Almost the same thing happened to Mher, who participated in New Wave in 2008. He received the People’s Choice Award, but has not won the contest.

GNC Alfa has completed the first stage of IP/MPLS network construction with 10Gbps network capacity. Networks in Yerevan and 16 Armenian towns have been put into operation. Coverage of 29 towns is envisaged till yearend. GNC-Alfa is a telecommunications network services operator in Armenia. The Company owns a fiber-optic network passing along the Armenia-Iran gas pipeline. GNC-Alfa network, built on technologies of American Juniper Networks, is designed to provide wholesale transport network services to fixed and mobile operators and ISPs, as well as transit services via Armenia.