Last week's central event was the historical visit of the Turkish President to Moscow. The visit was expected still back in August 2008, when because of the 'feats' of Georgia and South Ossetia Caucasus hardly avoided a war that threatened to spread into Russia and the Near East. The Russian-Turkish relations have never been strained, even at the time of the USSR when Turkey, being a NATO member, was on active trading terms with the Soviet Union.

Since January 1, 2009 the position of the Managing Director of the Yerevan Brandy Company has been taken by Mr. Ara Grigoryan, who had been the Managing Director of Pernod Ricard Ukraine and Pernod Ricard Minsk since January 2001.
Mr. Grigoryan will combine the position of YBC Managing Director with the position of the Pernod Ricard Minsk Managing Director.

The year of 2008 was also a time of reformatting the South Caucasus Region. After the «five-day» war of Georgia against South Ossetia it became clear that new division lines were to be outlined in the region. No doubt unwilling to do it himself, President of Georgia made a «regal» present to RF that had long been waiting for an opportunity to gain revenge against the USA for the too profound an interference it had in the solution of Caucasus problems. The result was a much more chaotic bedlam in which even the most «skillful» states were unable to "catch a fish".