Month: June 2005

FULL-SCALE INTRODUCTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS PROJECT TO ARMENIAN
PEOPLE TO ENSURE SUCCESS TO THE REFERENDUM
YEREVAN, June 29. /ARKA/. Full-scale introduction of constitutional
reforms project to Armenian people will ensure success to the
referendum, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said Tuesday during
his meeting with Roland Wegener, the head of the Ministerial Committee
of the Council of Europe, Ago Group and German Ambassador to the
CE. Kocharyan said Armenia passed a long road of reforms that derive
from Armenia’s commitments toward the CE and intends to summarize
what has been done by the end of the year.
Wegener, in turn, noted that Armenia has accomplished a great deal in
fulfillment of its CE commitments. In his words, considerable progress
is seen in constitutional reforms implementation. He attached great
importance to creating climate of mutual understanding over the
worked-out document. M.V. -0–

DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTERS OF ARMENIA AND SYRIA DISCUSS STANCES OF THE
TWO COUNTRIES CONCERNING ISSUES OF MUTUAL INTEREST
YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. Deputy Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Syria
Gegham Garibjanyan and Ahmad Arnus today discussed the stances of the
two countries concerning issues of mutual interest. As the Information
and Press Department of RA Foreign Ministry told ARKA News Agency,
the participants of the meeting also considered the perspectives for
cooperation in international organizations and the problems of Middle
Eastern and South Caucasian regions. Special attention was paid to
expansion of contractual basis and perspectives of trade-economic
relations development between the two countries. L.V.-0–

FIRST JOINT MEETING OF LEADERS OF ARMENIAN PARTIES OF CENTRE-LEFTIST
FORCES UNION TO BE HELD JUNE 30
YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. First joint meeting of leaders of Armenian
parties of Centre-Leftist Forces Union will be held June 30 in the
office of United Communist Party (UCP). According to the source
in UCP, the participants of the meeting will determine the date of
Centre-Leftist Forces Union congress, its format and the membership
of foreign guests. The meeting will be held behind closed doors,
media is not permitted.
The Centre-Leftist Forces Union of Armenia was formed on the initiative
of the Progressive Party of Armenia and pursues the aim of uniting
broad masses of the Armenian community around ideas like stability
and reforms. L.V.-0–

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO ITALY PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO ITALIAN PRESIDENT
YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. RA Ambassador to Italy Ruben Shugaryan has
presented his credentials to Italian President Adzelio Champi. The
press and information department, RA Foreign Office, reports that
the sides discussed the execution of agreements reached during
RA President Robert Kocharyan’s visit to Italy this January. The
sides also discussed Armenia’s European integration under the New
Neighborhood program, as well as the present stage of negotiations
over Armenian-Turkish relations and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The
sides also pointed out the importance of Days of Armenian-Italian
friendship that are to be held in Armenia this autumn. P.T. -0–

VIVACELL, THE SECOND MOBILE COMMUNICATION OPERATOR IN ARMENIA,
ANNOUNCES CONSUMER PRICES OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION
YEREVAN, June 29. /ARKA/. VivaCell, the second mobile communication
operator in Armenia, has already set up consumer prices of mobile
communication. Difference in prices is due to hours when a call is
made. Rush-hour calls are those made over a period between 7:00 and
23:00, and common hours are between 23:00 and 7:00. Alo preliminary
payment card costs AMD 7thnd. AMD 3.7thnd of free conversation of
a 60-day validity (all the prices are presented with taking into
account 20-percent VAT).
A number of services such as conveying brief SMS messages, voice
mail, international porting, multi-customer communication, coming
calls identification, calls readdressing are to be rendered to those
possessing Alo cards without preliminary payment and with monthly
payment.
For Alo card users, rush-our calls within VivaCell customer network
will cost AMD 90 per a minute, while per-minute price at the rest time
of day is set at AMD 80. Price for calls to ArmenTel, Karabakh-Telecom
(NKR) and Nagorno-Karabakh cable phone communication customers at
rush hours is AMD 110, and over the rest time – AMD 90.
Prices for Alo cards of reloading are AMD 2thnd (20 days), AMD 4.5thnd
(55 days), AMD 7thnd (100 days), AMD 9.5thnd (150 days) and AMD 18thnd
(300 days). Alo cards will be on sale in Armpost, Ardshininvestbank,
Converse Bank and other centers.
Payment for attaching Classic customer card to the network is set at
AMD 4.5thnd and monthly customer payment is AMD 4thnd. Prices for calls
to VivaCell other customers and Armenian cable phone communication
customers are AMD 48 at rush hours and AMD 44 at the rest time. Calls
to ArmenTel and Karabakh-Telecom (NKR) cellular customers are AMD 55
and AMD 48 accordingly. Free services are also envisaged for Classic
card users. Calls identification, regime of waiting, call readdressing,
SMS messages sending, voice mail, multi-customer communication and
international porting are among them. New paid services such as data
conveying, bill detailing, phone number concealing in case of sending
SMS massages, calls blocking, double SIM-card and international roaming
are also included in the list of the services to be rendered by the
company. Alassic cards will be on sale in the company’s offices in
Yerevan. Their addresses: Kievyan Str.11/1, Argishti Str. 4/1 and
Erebuni Str. 18.
VivaCell also offers corporative Business, Business+ and Optima cards
intended for 5 to 20, 21 to 100 and 100 and more lines accordingly.
Prices for calls within the corporative network will make AMD 40, 38
and 36 accordingly. Calls to other VivaCell’s customers and to cable
phones in Armenia will cost accordingly AMD 46, 44 and 42 at rush
hours and AMD 42, 42 and 40 at the rest time. Prices for rush-hour
calls to ArmenTel and Karabakh-Telecom (NKR) mobile customers as well
as Nagorno-Karabakh cable phones make AMD 52, 50 and 50 accordingly
and at the remaining time AMD 48.
International calls for Alo, Classic cards and corporative packages
users to Russia and Georgia will cost AMD 235 and 165 (rush-hour and
not), to other CIS countries AMD 285 and 200, to the U.S.A., Canada,
Europe, Australia – AMD 430 and 300 and to the Middle East countries
AMD 350 and 245. VivaCell’s all customers will be able to send local
SMS messages at AMD 20 and international ones at AMD 55. The company
also announced that Sunday calls within VIvaCell and cable networks
will make AMD 44. The company’s free hot line number is 111. ($1 =
AMD 442.85). M.V. –0-

AGREEMENT FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DUAL TAXATION SIGNED BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF ARMENIA AND SYRIA
YEREVAN, June 29. /ARKA/. An agreement for the avoidance of dual
taxation was signed between the governments of Armenia and Syria by
Deputy Ministers of Finance of two countries Tigran Khachatryan and
Mohamad Hader Alseid Ahmad. The agreement aims at exclusion of dual
taxation of income and tax discrimination between the sides, which is
a necessary condition for compliance with other economic agreements and
reached understanding. According to Syrian Deputy Minister of Finance,
the agreement testifies to the intensive development of relations
between the countries. He added that the agreement consisting of
29 articles, regulates tax field and refers to tax on profit and
income-tax. Hamad expressed his belief that the agreement will become
the stimulus for the Armenian and Syrian investors and businessmen
to make investments in two countries. He added that the parliament
of Syria will ratify the document in the shortest possible time period.
In his turn Khachatryan noted that the agreement will become one
more step on the way to economic cooperation. According to him,
the document specifies the work environment for the households,
and in separate cases it provides for softer terms of taxation than
local legislations provide for. “Signing of the agreement will give
stimulus to households of two countries, and after it comes in force
it will yield the results already next year”, he said. Khachatryan
expressed his belief that the agreement will be ratified by the
Armenian parliament already in autumn 2005. A.H.-0–

RA AMBASSADOR TO ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT HANDS HIS CREDENTIALS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNTRY
YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. RA Ambassador to Arab Republic of Egypt
Rouben Karapetyan handed his credentials to the President of Egypt
Hosni Mubarak. According to RA MFA Press Service, during the official
ceremony of handing credentials Karapetyan conveyed the greetings
and best wishes of RA President Robert Kocharyan to the Egyptian
President. The Ambassador assured that he would apply all the efforts
for the further development and strengthening of mutually advantageous
Armenian-Egyptian relations.
In his turn Mubarak sent his greetings to RA President and wished
the newly appointed RA Ambassador good luck in his mission. A.H. –0–

GYUMRI AMERICAN CORNER OPENING
A1plus
| 17:30:32 | 28-06-2005 | Culture |
On Tuesday, June 28 the official opening of the second American Corner
in Armenia was held at the Gyumri branch of the Armenian Center for
Scientific and Technological Information. U.S. Embassy Public Affairs
Officer Kimberly Hargan opened the ceremony.
American Corners are small, American-style libraries that are funded
by the U.S. Department of State. These libraries help increase mutual
understanding between Armenia and the United States by providing
information about America in various electronic and print sources. Each
American Corner features a diverse collection of English language
books, reference materials about the United States, computers with
Internet and access to online databases, CDs, and videos.
Through this program, the U.S. embassy provided the American Corner
in Gyumri with three computers, approximately 300 books, and a wide
variety of electronic and print resources. The American Corner in
Gyumri is open to the general public, free of charge, Monday through
Friday from 09:00 to 17:00. In addition to a being full multi-media
reference resource, the American Corner will host regular programming,
including lectures, workshops, and video series.
The U.S. Embassy opened its first American Corner in April of this
year at the Yerevan City Isahakian Central Library. The U.S. Embassy
plans to create a network of American Corners throughout Armenia in
the coming years.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES NEW-ELECTED IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
ARKA News Agency
June 28 2005
YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan sent
a message to newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
congratulating him on his election, Armenian Presidential Press
service says. “Congratulate you on behalf of Armenian people and
personally on your election to the post of the President of friendly
country”. Armenians attach a great importance to relations with Islamic
Republic of Iran, Kocharyan said in his message. “I hope for further
development of the relations between our countries for the sake of
our nations”, the massage says. Armenian President also wished sound
health and good luck to his Iranian counterpart as well as peace and
prosperity to Iranian people. M.V. -0–

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES NEW-ELECTED IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan sent
a message to newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
congratulating him on his election, Armenian Presidential Press
service says. “Congratulate you on behalf of Armenian people and
personally on your election to the post of the President of friendly
country”. Armenians attach a great importance to relations with Islamic
Republic of Iran, Kocharyan said in his message. “I hope for further
development of the relations between our countries for the sake of
our nations”, the massage says. Armenian President also wished sound
health and good luck to his Iranian counterpart as well as peace and
prosperity to Iranian people. M.V. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress