July 19 marked the beginning of negotiations on Associative Agreement between Armenia and the European Union. The beginning of negotiations clearly outlines the frames and format of the upcoming cooperation of Brussels with Yerevan, Tbilisi and Baku. Of course, it will seem strange to an average citizen that parallel with its recent and rather ambitious initiative of “Eastern Partnership” the EU suddenly decides to start another project in the region. However, the associative agreement never means that Europe opens up its gates and hurries to accept new members. Taking into account the post-recession condition in the EU member-states, Brussels alertly treats its eastern neighbors’ aspiration for joining the “European club”.

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.

Wrestling: on July 21, Armenia’s Greco-Roman wrestler Arthur Alexanyan (weight class 84kg) won the champion’s title at Junior World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Earlier, Armenia’s Alexan Mikaelyan (weight class 60kg) won bronze.