Month: November 2006

NEW COMPANY GAINS DOMINANCE IN LOCAL SUGAR MARKET
Armenpress
Nov 08 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s state commission for
protection of economic cooperation has declared today the emergence of
a new company that has gained the dominating position in the country’s
sugar market.
The commission said Salex Group has replaced Flitfood company of
a parliament member Samvel Alexanian that accounted for almost 92
percent of sugar imports in 2005. The commission said the share of
Flitfood has dropped to 7 percent this year while Salex Group has
gained 91.4 percent of the market .
The commission chairman Ashot Shahnazarian said in the first six
months of 2006 there were 24 registered companies dealing with sugar
imports and production which altogether brought to Armenia 34,000
tons of sugar. Some 600 tons of sugar was produced in Armenia itself
and overall sales in the reported time amounted to 29,200 tons.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CHIEF PROSECUTOR DECLINES INTENTIONS TO ENGAGE IN POLITICS
Armenpress
Nov 08 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s chief prosecutor Aghvan
Hovsepian declined today persistent media speculations that he was
going to engage in active politics. The prosecutor, Aghvan Hovsepian,
argued that some political forces were trying to drag the office of
prosecutor general’s into what he called ‘settling of scores.”
He said prosecutor general’s office was not going to respond to
ungrounded political statement. Speaking to reporters after a recurrent
session of the prosecutor’s office’s council, he said as long as he
remained the country’s prosecutor general none of his subordinates
would be dragged into political activity.
“So far I have been successful in keeping my subordinates away from
politics. Not a party has chapters in our office and none of my
subordinates boats membership with a political party,” Hovsepian said.
Hovsepian also denied rumors about his soonest resignation saying
he had no intention to take up any other job. “I shall work as
a prosecutor even if I am sent to the remotest region in Syunik
province,” he said.
He also said he was against his brother’s decision to run for the
position of prefect of a Yerevan district. “Though being a brother of
prosecutor general is not a special status, the brother of prosecutor
general is eligible to hold any position and do any job,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

U.S. ELECTION NOT TO AFFECT WASHINGTON’S POLICY IN ARMENIA
Armenpress
Nov 08 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Anthony F. Godfrey, Deputy Chief
of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Armenia said today the outcome of
Tuesday Congressional and Senate elections in his country will have
no impact on Washington’s Armenian policy.
He said the U.S. government will continue to support Armenia’s
democratic advance and reforms.
According to the latest news, Democrats swept Republicans from power in
the U.S. House of Representatives and moved to the brink of capturing
the Senate, where their final victory could be delayed for weeks by
a possible recount in Virginia.
Democrats rolled up gains of about 30 seats in the House in Tuesday’s
elections. Democrats picked up four of the six Senate seats they needed
for a majority and led in the race for the other two in Montana and
Virginia, threatening to take control of both chambers of Congress
for the first time in 12 years. An expected recount and possible
legal challenges in Virginia could delay a final result. Democratic
control of the House will make outspoken liberal Rep. Nancy Pelosi
the first female Speaker.
Mr. Godfrey said in Yerevan the new Congress will not seek to force
president Bush to step down. He said when the House is under the
command of Democrats and the White House is controlled by Republicans
the USA moves steadily ahead.” Mr. Godfrey said Richard Hoagland
is the sole designate ambassador to take up the embassy in Yerevan
after former ambassador John Evans was recalled before the end of
his official tenure in office.
It also emerged that Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger won a
spectacular election sequel in California where thousands of Armenians
cast their ballots in his favor. California governor was returned to
office after routing Democrat rival Phil Angelides, with projected
figures handing the Austrian-born former bodybuilder around 63 percent
of the vote.

DEMOCRATS SEEM TO SCORE VICTORY IN U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.11.2006 14:51 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The outcomes of the election to the U.S Congress will
not change the U.S. policy towards Armenia, U.S. Charge d’Affaires
Anthony Godfrey told reporters on Wednesday. “I do not think that
the policy will change after the election,” he said.
At the same time Mr Godfrey said changes are expected in the
U.S. policy on Iraq, since it was the key factor during the election
campaign.
The year-off election was held in the United States November 7. All
435 members of House, 33 Senate members and Governors of 36 States
were elected.
According to preliminary data, the democrats are likely to win majority
in the House of Representatives, reports newsarmenia.ru.

RA GOVERNMENT GOING TO SELL ITS 10% ARMENTEL STOCKS
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.11.2006 17:35 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Minister of Transport and Communications
Andranik Manukian does not rule out that the RA government can sell its
10% of ArmenTel’s stocks to VympelCom Russian company. The Minister
remarked that one of the terms of the bargain will be VympelCom’s
refusal from monopoly rights. In Manukian’s words, VympelCom showed
a positive attitude about the proposal of the Armenian side. To
remind, November 3 VympelCom announced that it reached consent with
OTE Greek company on the purchase of ArmenTel’s package, reports
Mediamax news agency.

GEORGIAN MINISTER DENIES OPPOSITION CLAIMS HE IS GAZPROM’S “EMISSARY”
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi,
8 Nov 06
Georgia’s State Minister for Economic Reforms, Kakha Bendukidze,
has hit back at opposition claims that he is lobbying on behalf of
Russia’s state-owned gas company, Gazprom.
The opposition was referring to a statement made by Bendukidze in
March 2006 in saying that his “personal” view was that there was no
danger in selling Gazprom the trunk gas pipeline which carries gas
from Russia to Georgia and Armenia. On 7 November the deputy chairman
of Gazprom’s board, Aleksandr Medvedev, said that the company might
sell Georgia gas at a lower price in exchange for assets.
Speaking in parliament on 8 November, opposition Republican MP Davit
Berdzenishvili described Bendukidze as Gazprom’s “emissary”.
“Russia’s state-owned company Gazprom has an economic business
partner and political emissary in the Georgian government – Kakha
Bendukidze. The position of most members of parliament, whether they
are in the majority or opposition, will not be defined until we hear
a clear statement on what the Georgian government is going to do.
Today we are in a position when the supplier of gas is the
Russian state while the recipient here is also the Russian state
[through Russian-owned companies]. Bendukidze is encouraging this,”
Berdzenishvili said in remarks broadcast by Imedi TV.
Bendukidze flatly denied that he was supporting the sale of the trunk
gas pipeline to Gazprom.
“No assets will be exchanged for a gas price. This will not happen
under any circumstances. Besides, as I have already told you, under
blackmail it makes absolutely no sense to sign any significant contract
on exchanging assets or anything else. Of course we must not agree
to that. Eventually, we will secure several sources of gas supplies,
and that will be it,” Bendukidze told Rustavi-2 TV’s Business Kurieri
programme.
Speaking at a news briefing a little earlier, Bendukidze also condemned
opposition suggestions that companies in the hands of Russian investors
should be nationalized: “As regards the opposition, they are shameless
people, as you know. They are now developing some new ideas, gradually
drifting towards leftist politics, far-leftist politics. I have read
several interesting articles by members of our opposition and by
people on their election lists. They are laughable, these articles
are written in a clear communist style. It would be better for them
to be called Georgia’s Communist-Bolshevik party instead of New Right
and Republicans. That would better reflect their actions and level
of development than their current names,” Bendukidze said.

TURKEY RISKS EU NEGOTIATIONS IF CYPRUS NOT RECOGNISED: FRANCE
Agence France Presse — English
November 8, 2006 Wednesday 3:25 PM GMT
France called Wednesday for the timetable governing Turkey’s talks
to join the European Union to be revised if Ankara does not change
its defiant stance on the divided island state of Cyprus by the end
of the year.
“If by the end of the year Turkey still does not recognise the 25
(EU) member states, including obviously Cyprus, then it seems to
me necessary to review the membership timetable for Turkey into
the European Union,” Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told
parliament.
Earlier, the European Commission issued a report warning Turkey
to meet its obligations, in particular toward Cyprus, or else its
“overall progress” in EU membership talks would be affected.
The report said there was no resolution in sight over Cyprus, which
is divided between an internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot
administration in the south and a northern self-declared statelet
under Turkish patronage.
Although Turkey is keen to join the European Union, it has not modified
its stance on Cyprus, which it invaded in 1974 in response to a Greek
Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
“Today, it has to be noted that Turkey still does not accept opening
its ports and airports to ships and planes, not only (southern)
Cypriot ones, but also those that come from (southern) Cyprus. It
is therefore evident today that Turkey is not responding to its
obligations,” Douste-Blazy said.
The minister said current EU president Finland was doing everything
to resolve that and other outstanding issues with Turkey by the end
of the year.
But he stressed that the European Commission report said that Turkey’s
EU negotiations were “accumulating delays” because of Ankara’s lagging
reform in the areas of freedom of expression, religious freedom and
minority rights.
Although French President Jacques Chirac has said he was in favour
of Turkey one day joining the European Union, relations with France
and Turkey have frequently been strained over the issue.
In the latest row, Turkey last month expressed fury at a French
parliamentary bill which would make it a crime in France to deny that
the World War I massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks constituted
genocide.

IRAN’S CONSTRUCTION EXHIBITION OPENS IN YEREVAN
Asia Pulse, Hong Kong
November 8, 2006 Wednesday 3:32 PM EST
Iran opened its 7th Solo Exhibition on Construction Materials in
Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on Monday, a daily wrote on Tuesday.
According to the English-language ‘Tehran Times’, the exhibition,
running for a week, is displaying construction materials and urban
development equipment presented by over 20 Iranian firms.
At the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition, Iran ambassador to
Armenia, Alireza Haqiqian said that Tehran and Yerevan have managed
to expand trade ties, thanks to efforts by economic activists.
He added that Iranian and Armenian private sectors and owners of
industries play crucial role in expansion of bilateral ties while
enjoying the support of their respective governments.
Also addressing the ceremony, Armenian Energy Minister, Armen
Movsesian, said bilateral economic ties have significantly grown
during the previous year.
Movsesian, who is also the chairman of Iran-Armenia Economic
Cooperation Commission, noted that the commission intends to facilitate
bilateral cooperation and help develop trade and economic ties between
the two countries.

SOME 380,000 TOURISTS EXPECTED TO VISIT ARMENIA IN 2006
Armenpress
Nov 08 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Deputy trade and economic development
minister Ara Petrosian said yesterday $400,000 released by the
government to pay the CNN for advertising Armenia would be recompensed
if the reels prompted some 400 more tourists to come to Armenia as
an average foreign tourist spends around $1000 to come to Armenia
and spend here a week.
The deputy minister said the efficiency of Armenia’s advertisement
on CNN could be assessed clearly only in 1-3 years. Petrosian said
approximate estimates put the number of tourists who will have visited
Armenia this year at 380,000.
In a related development owners of Armenian hotels convened yesterday
to set up the Union of Armenian Hotels. Hakob Hakobian, the chairman
of the Union, said they hope to join efforts to seek solutions to a
set of problems Armenian hotels still face. He said the focus will
be on training skilled personnel and advertising Armenian hotels
beyond Armenia.

WILL RUSSIA ATTACK GEORGIA?
A1+
[02:30 pm] 08 November, 2006
“Georgia fears a military attack from Russia”, announced Foreign
Minister of Georgia Gela Bezhuashvili who is in France on official
visit.
“There is a danger of attack. That’s why I am in Paris; that’s why
I visit other European cities in order to join efforts to explain
Russia that they must not do it”, he said in answer to the questions
of the journalists.
The Georgian Foreign Minister also hinted that Moscow has a negative
influence on the settlement of the conflicts with Abkhazia and South
Ossetia.