IranMania
March 11 2004
Armenia seeks broader cooperation

MOSCOW, March 10 (Iran Daily) — The Head of Armenia’s Presidential
Office and Chairman of Iran-Armenia Economic Commission Artashes
Toumanian reiterated the need to bolster cooperation between the two
states, IRNA reported.
Speaking to the visiting Governor General of Ardebil province Javad
Najafi-Azar and his delegation in Yerevan, Toumanian called for
closer ties in various fields, particularly agriculture and
industries.
Turning to the role of the joint economic commission in broadening
ties, he noted that Armenia’s president and other high-ranking
Iranian and Armenian officials have focused on developing economic
collaboration, in particular at the provincial level.
“Given the significance of expanding ties to both sides, it is
inevitable for Iran and Armenia to undertake joint projects in
various sectors including industries, agriculture, trade, foodstuff,
engineering services and tap existing potentials for the purpose,” he
added.
Toumanian also called for broader cooperation between Armenia and
Ardebil province, given the latter’s diversity of industrial and
trade potentials.
For his part, Najafi-Azar referred to the potentials of Ardebil
province and called for bolstering bilateral relations, given the
capabilities available in industrial, commercial, tourist,
agricultural sectors as well as exchange of technical and scientific
expertise.

Russia Journal, Russia
March 11 2004
Gazprom following Kremlin’s instructions

MOSCOW – Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller has received instructions from his
friends in the Kremlin and has acted accordingly. This appears to be
the only plausible explanation for the steps taken by the Russian gas
giant this week.
Sibur, Gazprom’s largest petrochemical concern, on Wednesday inked a
deal with Beltransgas, the Belarussian state pipeline company, to
supply gas to Belarus. In line with the agreement Sibur will ship 1
billion cubic metres of gas to Belarus by the end of this year,
including 200 million cubic metres to be delivered in March. However,
the volume of 200 million cubic metres is unlikely to cover Minsk’s
monthly demand.
Gazprom holds a 90 per cent stake in Sibur, the Siberian-Urals
petrochemical company. Sibur runs Gazprom’s petrochemical plants in
the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia.
Gazprom halted supplies of its own gas to Belarus on 1 January 2004
amid a dispute over prices. The gas concern insists Belarus should
pay for Russian gas at international prices. On 18 February this year
Gazprom stopped gas deliveries to Minsk altogether and also halted
transit shipments to Europe via Belarus. The company said it wanted
to raise the price Belarus pays by 56 per cent to $50 per 1,000 cubic
metres and to receive payment for gas already supplied. In the
meantime, Belarus is receiving Russian gas from Russian suppliers
Trans Nafta and Itera.
Another 230 million cubic metres will be delivered to Belarus in
March by Trans Nafta, Russian media reports said on Thursday.
According to Gazprom’s press-service, the gas concern will only
provide the transit pipeline.
A Sibur official optimistically said that the price at which gas will
be supplied to Belarus is comparable to that of Nafta. However,
Belarus still has not repaid its debt to Trans Nafta for the volumes
already supplied in 2004.
The decision to supply gas via Sibur seems strange. The company has
never been involved in gas deliveries before. Moreover, unlike Itera,
a company formally independent of Gazprom, Sibur is fully controlled
by the concern.
Gazprom has also voiced its intention to halve its gas supplies to
Georgia as of 15 March 2004 because of debts owed by Tbilisi to
Gazexport, Gazprom’s export subsidiary. According to Gazexport,
Tbilisi’s debt now stands at $7.4 million. Russia also supplies gas
via Georgian territory to Armenia, where there are also problems with
payments.
Gazprom has been supplying gas to Georgia since 1 October 2003 via
Gazexport. Before that Itera was the sole supplier of Russian gas to
Georgia. Last year Gazprom also began to deliver gas to Azerbaijan.
Alexandra Vertlyugina, an analyst with AVK, believes it is possible
to assume that following Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller’s meeting with the
country’s top leadership Gazprom was given certain political
instructions concerning Belarus and the Transcaucasian countries,
through which the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline runs – an alternative
route to Russian pipelines – and began to incorporate them in the
company’s economic policy.

ABS CBN News, Philippines
March 12 2004
Timman pulls off surprise in Reykjavik Open
By MANNY BENITEZ
TODAY Chess Columnist
Veteran Dutch Grandmaster Jan Timman, one of the world’s superstars
30 years ago, showed he still has got what it takes when he caught
Ukrainian GM Ruslan Pogorelov, one of his early coleaders, by
surprise in the third round of the Reykjavik Open chess tournament.
With his third straight win for a perfect score, Timman took the solo
lead, followed by 13 others with 2.5, including the top seed, Alexey
Dreev of Russia, teenage GM Bu Xiangzhi of China, and Ian Rogers of
Australia.
Behind them were 76 others with 1.5 each as the open tournament,
which serves as a qualifier for the forthcoming Reykjavik Rapid,
entered the fourth round.
Former Manila visitor Michal Krasenkow of Poland, one of the 13 first
runners-up, played the most instructive endgame, as follows:
After 25…Rxc5??
Best was 25…Rd5, with equal chances.
26 Rxc5! Qxc5 27 Rc1 Rc4 28 Qd8+ Kg7 29 Rd1! 1-0.
White wins in all variations, e.g., 29…Qc8 30 Qf6+ Kg8 31 Rd8+!
In Armenia, Latvian GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, whose name has been
immortalized in a popular Sicilian variation, kept the lead with 2.0
points after two rounds of the Petrosian Memorial, followed by two
Armenian GMs, Ashot Anastasian and Karen Asrian with 1.5 each.
Meanwhile, Mila Emperador of Milo Checkmate announced that the Young
Knights Invitational Chess Cup has been reset for April 2-4 and the
Metropolitan Chess Club’s Intercommercial Team tournament for April
17-18.
The Young Knights will comprise those who have taken the Milo
Checkmate course. Among the better known players are Southeast Asian
Games triple gold medallist Mark Paragua, SEAG female team gold
medallist Sheerie Joy Lomibao, zonal champion Ronald Dableo, two-time
national junior champion John Paul Gomez, and columnist Marlon
Bernardino.
The P70,000 Intercommercial Team event is open to all bonafide
company employees and varsity players. Each team is entitled to one
master to play on top board.

Georgian Times, Tbilisi
March 11 2004
President Saakashvili to visit Armenia
(GT News) On March 12-13, President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili
will go for an official visit to Armenia.
Within the frames of visit, President Saakashvili will meet the
representatives of the Armenian government and discuss the wide
spectrum of questions including the two sides’ cooperation.
The key issue of the discussion will be the current transit tariff
imposed on the Armenian cargo.

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
March 10 2004
PRESIDENT GHUKASSIAN RECEIVED RA MINISTER OF EDUCATION
On March 8 the president of the Republic of Nagorni Karabakh Arkady
Ghukassian received the delegation of the Ministry of Education and
Culture of Armenia headed by Sergo Yeritsian. The director of the
National Institute of Education of Armenia Victor Martirossian was
also in the delegation. During the meeting the minister told that the
aim of his visit to Nagorni Karabakh is to get closely acquainted
with the problems in the sphere of education in NKR. In this
reference he said that the ministry is willing to provide their
assistance to the further development of the sphere in Artsakh. The
participants of the meeting touched upon several aspects of the
program of bringing the new system of education to NKR, which
provides a wide use of computer technologies, and requires retraining
of school and university teachers. The minister of education of
Armenia promised to provide about 600 computers to the schools of
Nagorni Karabakh and mentioned that the possibilities of his ministry
will be used to solve the problems that will occur during the
implementation of the new educational program. Speaking about the
prospects of development of the educational system in NKR Mr.
Yeritsian emphasized the importance of promoting relationships
between the universities of Armenia and Nagorni Karabakh. During the
meeting it was mentioned that due to the efforts of the corresponding
ministries of the two Armenian republics the representation of the
National Institute of Education of Armenia was opened in NKR. The NKR
president expressed his confidence that daily cooperation between the
ministries of Armenia and Nagorni Karabakh, the implementation of
joint programs may influence positively the promotion of the sphere
of education in Artsakh.
AA

ArmenPress
March 10 2004
NO ARMENIANS KILLED IN MADRID EXPLOSIONS
MADRID, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS: A clergyman of the Armenian Church,
Father Masis, dispatched to Madrid to help local Armenian community
to resolve their organizational issues, was quoted by RFE/RL as
saying that no Armenians were identified among 173 people, killed
today morning in a series of explosions hat ripped through crowded
passenger trains during the rush-hour.
Official sources had earlier confirmed that around 130 people were
killed.
Authorities blamed the attacks on Basque separatist group ETA,
which is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the
European Union. According to some estimates, some 45,000 Armenians
live in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

ArmenPress
March 10 2004
COCA COLA BOTTLERS ARMENIA SAYS ITS DRINKS SAFE
YEREVAN, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS: A senior representative of
Coca-Cola Bottlers Armenia brushed aside fears that locally produced
soft drink may be dangerous to public health. Fears appeared after
reports that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in India sold soft drinks
containing pesticides harmful to human health and misled India’s 1
billion people over claims that their products were safe for human
consumption. Tests by campaigners showed Pepsi’s soft drinks had 36
times the level of pesticide residues permitted under EU regulations
and Coca-Cola’s had 30 times the level.
Coca-Cola Bottlers Armenia representative said the concentrates
used for manufacturing Indian and Armenian DRINKS are different.
“Armenian Coca-Cola is safe for consumption,” he said, adding that
Coca- Cola Armenia, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Hellenic Holding,
receives the concentrate, like its 25 other subsidiaries in Europe,
from France, which meets all EU regulations and is regularly tested
by an Armenian laboratory and a centralized laboratory in Brussels.

ArmenPress
March 10 2004
ARMENIAN NAVY BAND TO PERFORM IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian Navy Band of Arto
Tuncboyacian, founded by the percussionist and vocalist of Armenian
descent, has again come to Armenia to celebrate here on March 13 the
opening of Avant-garde Folk Music Club and present their latest CD
called The Voice of Our Life.
Arto Tuncboyacian, percussionist and singer, was born in Turkey in
1957 of Armenian descent. One of his greatest influences of music and
life was his brother Onno, musician himself, who encouraged Arto to
develop his character not just as a brother but as a friend and as a
musician.
At the age of 11, he began his career playing and recording
traditional music with his brother establishing himself as a
professional musician throughout Turkey and Europe. In 1981 Arto
moved to United States to explore new creative influences and to add
a new dimension to his own vision of life. Since then, he has given
solo concerts of his own music throughout the world.
The group has performed very successful for the first time in
Europe in February/March 2000 in Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain
and during the second tour in October/November 2000 in Sardinia,
France, Brussels and Holland, after a stay in Istanbul for the
recording of the new album to be released in January 2001 for the
Turkish label Imaj Muzik.
The group is composed of twelve young Armenian musicians. The
compositions are all original of Arto Tuncboyacian which – using his
words – “have the sound of my life”; this music is pervaded by
sonorities taken from the Armenian and Anatolian tradition fused with
elements coming from different musical experiences, such as jazz,
among them. The Armenian Navy Band will stay in Armenia until April
10 to perform at the club.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
March 11, 2004
___________________
ARCHBISHOP MEETS WITH RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church
of America (Eastern), focused on the Diocese’s ecumenical work this week,
through a series of meetings with religious leaders from around the New York
City area.
On Monday, March 8, 2004, the Primate, along with Fr. Mardiros Chevian, dean
of St. Vartan Cathedral, met with Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, the recently
installed head of the Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn.
The Primate knew Bishop DiMarzio from the many years he had been involved in
the Newark, NJ, Diocese. The Primate and Fr. Chevian congratulated Bishop
DiMarzio on his recent appointment to head the Brooklyn Diocese — which has
290 parishes and 135 schools — and presented him with an icon from the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
On Wednesday, March 10, the Primate had a lunchtime meeting with Bishop Mark
Sisk, head of the Episcopal Church in New York City. The discussion covered
a variety of topics of concern to both denominations.
Next week, the Archbishop Barsamian will attend a series of meetings and
events with All His Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of the
Orthodox Church, who is visiting New York City and delivering a public
lecture on Thursday, March 18, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
City, which has an exhibition on Byzantium art.
“It is important to meet with other religious leaders, to educate them about
the vital Armenian Church and to learn from their experiences,” the Primate
said. “By working together we can further our individual relationships with
God.”
— 3/11/04
E-mail photos available on request.
PHOTO CAPTION (1): Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of
the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), presents Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio,
head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, NY, with an icon from the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin during a meeting on March 8, 2004.
# # #
Submitted by Janoyan Ana

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
March 11 2004
Briefly
Brown to be guest on Zarian show
GLENDALE – Former Glendale Unified School District Supt. Jim Brown
will be tonight’s guest on “The Larry Zarian Forum.”
Brown, who retired in January, will discuss his accomplishments
during his tenure with the district, his plans for the future and his
community involvement in Glendale.
The show airs at 7 p.m. on Charter Communications Channel 26. To ask
questions during the show, call 547-3668.
Josh Kleinbaum
Science Olympiad deadline is Monday
GLENDALE – The Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America will have
its third annual Science Olympiad on March 28 at the Ribet Academy,
2911 San Fernando Road, Los Angeles.
Glendale students who want to enter the event must submit
applications by the Monday registration deadline. Glendale students
who want to participate must be of Armenian descent and enrolled in
grades six through 12.
Participating students have to submit science projects that fall into
the categories of engineering, physics and biological sciences.
Applications for the science fair can be downloaded online at
or by e-mailing aesa_olympiad2004 @yahoo.com. For
more information, call 662-0264.
Gary Moskowitz