Month: November 2006

GAZPROM TO SUPPLY GAS TO ARMENIA IF NO CONTRACT WITH GEORGIA SIGNED
by Yelena Kargina, Maria Tatevosova
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
November 7, 2006 Tuesday 12:17 PM EST
Gas will be supplied only to Armenia if Russia signs no gas contract
with Georgia, Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told a Tuesday
press briefing.
“I would not call that a disconnection. This is a normal market
mechanism used in case of the absence of a contract,” he said.
“Georgia is able to pay for gas deliveries with assets.”
“The Gazprom price policy fully meets the regional prices.
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia should not experience any
discrimination or have any privileges,” he said.
Medvedev explained gas prices for Armenia with a contract signed last
year and Gazprom’s acquisition of Armenian energy assets. “Bearing
in mind these terms, gas charges on Armenia are compatible with those
on other South Caucasian countries,” he said.
All countries were offered to pay for gas with their energy assets,
but “we could accept only the terms offered by Armenia,” he said.
Medvedev said he hopes to reach a similar agreement with Belarus.
“There will be no more preferential gas charges,” he added.

ARMENIA ACCEPTS POLAND’S MEDIATION PROPOSAL
Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Nov 7 2006
Yerevan, 7 November: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in
Yerevan today that Armenia had positively responded to a proposal from
the Polish Foreign Ministry which said that it was ready to represent
Armenia’s interests in Turkey and Turkey’s interests in Armenia.
Answering a question from Mediamax in Yerevan today, Oskanyan said
that the Polish Foreign Ministry had put forward the proposal about
two months earlier. He also said that Turkey had not yet responded
to the Polish Foreign Ministry’s proposal.
The Armenian foreign minister recalled that Armenia is the only member
country of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSECO)
which has its representative office in Istanbul.
“We did it specially in order to have an Armenian diplomat in Turkey
through whom we could maintain contact,” Oskanyan noted.

TURKEY’S DIPLOMATIC TRIALS
by Jennifer Campbell, The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
November 8, 2006 Wednesday
Final Edition
Talk about a last-minute change of heart. Organizers of an academic
conference on Turkey scheduled for last Friday received word from the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade that morning
that the funding they’d been promised was being yanked.
The one-day conference went ahead anyway but the surprise announcement
left some wondering about the department’s motives.
Turkish Ambassador Aydemir Erman was typically diplomatic. He
admitted the department withdrew its support but added it still sent
a representative to the conference. Foreign Affairs director Peter
Lundy gave an overview about bilateral relations but wouldn’t speak
to the media.
Spokeswoman Catherine Gagnaire said the department had hoped the
conference would remain focused on Turkey and Canada.
“As controversies developed relating to Turkey’s differences with
other countries including Armenia and Cyprus, this shifted the focus
of the conference,” Ms. Gagnaire said in an e-mail. “Consequently,
the department withdrew its official sponsorship.”
The federal funding withdrawal came days after Foreign Affairs
Minister Peter MacKay showed up at a reception for the newly formed
Canada-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Group and spoke encouragingly
about Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposal to strike
a joint historical commission to examine facts about what the Turks
call the “Armenian tragedy” and what the Armenians prefer to label
a genocide.
In May, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the 1915 atrocities a
genocide, a move that led to the Turkish government calling Mr. Erman
home for high-level consultations.
It’s not clear whether Armenian protesters outside old city hall the
morning of the conference had anything to do with Foreign Affairs’
decision. They were handing out material discrediting scholar Guenter
Lewy, a professor from the University of Massachusetts who delivered
a paper titled “History as a Present Day Problem: The Ottoman Armenia
Question.”
Mr. Lewy says he’s met by Armenians wherever he goes.
CLIMATE-CHANGE POLICY and visas
RESULT IN CoolER relations
When it comes to Canada-European Union relations, the newly arrived
head of the European Commission delegation is already dealing with the
fallout of a diplomatic firestorm. Dorian Prince had been preparing
for the Canada-EU Summit scheduled for Nov. 27 in Finland but the
Prime Minister’s Office sent the delegation a terse letter last week
requesting the meeting be postponed.
The Europeans were set to talk about at least two touchy subjects:
the Kyoto protocol and the visa issue between the EU and Canada. Mr.
Harper has said Canada won’t be able to meet its earlier commitments
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Yesterday, Mr. Prince was gracious about the change of plans.
“Of course, it’s disappointing that the summit has had to be postponed
because of technical and timing issues on the part of the prime
minister,” Mr. Prince said. “But we look forward to hosting a summit
in the spring.”
In the meantime, the EU will plug away at the visa issue. On Monday
Franco Frattini, the European commissioner on justice and home affairs,
arrived in Canada for a two-day visit during which he planned to put
a little political pressure on his Canadian counterparts.
Canada and the first 15 EU member states had a visa-free relationship
but when the 10 new members joined in May 2004, there were seven to
which Canada didn’t extend that courtesy: Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia,
Poland, Lithuania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Canada did recently
agree to let Estonia join the visa-free club, something EU officials
take as encouraging.
“It has been discussed at the ministerial level in the past, and Canada
has written to us saying they intend to extend the visa suspension
to all member states so there are steps in the right direction,”
Mr. Prince said.
“So this visit is to show that it is important and to show that Europe
encourages a dialogue. I think Canada has accepted (the need for
reciprocity) in principle but it’s taking longer than we would like.”
Mr. Prince noted that the Eastern European states in question have
come a long way.
“I can understand that from a Canadian point of view they’ve had
problems in the past but what they have to realize is that the
situation has changed,” he said.
“The situation in the Czech Republic cannot be compared to the
situation 10 years ago after the fall of the Communist regime. Today,
the situation is stable, the economy is doing extremely well.”
SLOVENIAN EXCHANGE
The president of Slovenia’s national assembly led a delegation to
Canada over the weekend. France Cukjati and a group of parliamentarians
are visiting Ottawa and Toronto.
In Ottawa, they met Commons Speaker Peter Milliken and Senate Speaker
Noel Kinsella.
They also met Peter Van Loan, parliamentary secretary to the
minister of foreign affairs. They met the chair of the Canada-Europe
Parliamentary Association and the chair of the committee on foreign
affairs. In Toronto, the delegation visited members of the Slovenian
community and the legislative assembly and met with Mississauga Mayor
Hazel McCallion.
Slovenia doesn’t share the complaint expressed by many of its fellow
EU members that recently joined the organization: Unlike travellers
from those Eastern European states, its citizens don’t require a visa
to visit Canada.
Jennifer Campbell is a freelance writer and editor in Ottawa.

TURKISH SPEAKER MEETS ALGERIAN PREMIER, CRITICIZES FRANCE
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Nov 8 2006
Algiers, 8 November: Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc met
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem at Algerian Prime Ministry
Palace on Wednesday [8 November].
Belkhadem told reporters that Turkey, as it happened in Ottoman
period, should pursue an active and sound policy, adding that the
region needs Turkey.
Noting that Algeria does not think Turkey needs EU, Belkhadem said
that Turkey, alone, is a strong country, adding that the EU is not
sincere regarding Turkey’s membership.
Criticizing policy of France regarding so-called Armenian genocide,
Belkhadem said that Algeria, for long years, has been waiting for
France to accept that it committed massacres and made mistakes
in Algeria.
On the other hand, Arinc said, “it is a big contradiction for France
to make statements about so-called Armenian genocide. I saw one more
time in Algeria that France’s statements about freedom, justice and
equality are hollow.”
He added that France is applying double standards.

GOLDEN TELECOM SAYS NO PLANS TO BUY ARMENTEL’S FIXED-LINE BUSINESS
Prime-Tass Business News Agency, Russia
November 8, 2006 Wednesday 7:25 PM EET
U.S.-registered telecommunications operator Golden Telecom, which has
key operations in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS), does not plan to buy the fixed-line business of Armenia’s
ArmenTel from Russia’s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom,
Golden Telecom’s CEO Jean-Pierre Vandromme said during a conference
call Wednesday.
On November 3, VimpelCom said that it had signed an agreement
to acquire a 90% stake in fixed-line and mobile service provider
ArmenTel. ArmenTel’s subscriber base includes approximately 600,000
fixed-line subscribers and 400,000 GSM subscribers.
Following the deal’s announcement, market analysts suggested that
VimpelCom may sell ArmenTel’s fixed-line business to Golden Telecom.
Russia’s Altimo and Norway’s Telenor are key shareholders in both
VimpelCom and Golden Telecom.

ARMENIAN MINISTRY, NUKE PLANT, RUSSIA’S TVEL INK COOPERATION ACCORD
Prime-Tass Business News Agency, Russia
November 8, 2006 Wednesday
MOSCOW, Nov 8 (Prime-Tass) – The Ministry of Energy of Armenia, the
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant and Russian state-owned uranium producer
TVEL have signed an accord on cooperation, TVEL said Wednesday.
In particular, the power plant and TVEL plan to work together to
enhance nuclear fuel safety and extend the lifetime of the plant’s
second power-generating unit, TVEL said.
In addition, TVEL is expected to supply new generation nuclear fuel
for the power plant, Anton Badenkov, TVEL’s acting president, said.
The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant has been using Russian fuel since
its launch in 1980. TVEL has been the power plant’s supplier since
2001. In 2005, an agreement was signed that made TVEL the power
plant’s supplier of nuclear fuel for the rest of the plant’s lifetime.
In 2005, nuclear energy accounted for 42.7% of all energy produced
in Armenia. The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, the sole nuclear power
plant in the country, only operates its second power-generating unit.
The first unit was shut down in 1989 and is currently being dismantled.

MINISTER CONFIRMS ARMENIAN GOVT MAY SELL ARMENTEL STAKE TO VIMPELCOM
Prime-Tass Business News Agency, Russia
November 8, 2006 Wednesday
The Armenian government is ready to sell its 10% stake in ArmenTel,
the incumbent telecoms operator in Armenia, to Russia’s second largest
mobile operator VimpelCom, Transportation and Communications Minister
Andranik Manukyan said, ITAR-TASS reported Wednesday.
The government may sell its stake to VimpelCom if the Russian operator
agrees to give up ArmenTel’s current monopoly status on the fixed-line
market, the minister said without providing any price estimates for
the stake.
On November 3, VimpelCom said that it had signed an agreement
to acquire a 90% stake in ArmenTel from Greece’s Hellenic
Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE) for 341.9 million euros plus
assuming ArmenTel’s debt of about 40 million euros.
The Armenian government holds the remaining 10% stake in ArmenTel.
ArmenTel is a fixed-line and mobile operator in Armenia with licenses
in the GSM 900 and CDMA standards. ArmenTel’s subscriber base
includes approximately 600,000 fixed-line subscribers and 400,000
GSM subscribers.
Armenia’s population is about 3.2 million people.
VimpelCom operates in Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and
Uzbekistan and plans to launch services in Georgia soon.

DJ GAZPROM BUYS CONTROLLING STAKE IN ARMENIAN PIPE
Prime-Tass Business News Agency, Russia
November 8, 2006 Wednesday
Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom has bought a controlling stake in
a pipeline being constructed between Iran and Armenia, The Times
newspaper reports Wednesday.
Gazprom took a 45% stake in the project, called ArmRosGaz last year.
Gazprom raised its stake to 58% by buying $119 million in shares of
the company over the weekend, the U.K. newspaper said.
The pipeline is expected to be completed later this year.
Construction on the $220 million project began in 2004, and its first
section is set to be completed this year will have an initial capacity
of 1.7 billion cubic meters. There is also the possibility of a second
pipeline being built between the two countries.
It has also been suggested the pipeline could bring gas from Iran to
Europe. Iran has the world’s second largest gas reserves, after Russia.

PRESS: RUSSIA’S VIMPELCOM MAY GET 100% IN ARMENIA’S ARMENTEL
Prime-Tass Business News Agency, Russia
November 8, 2006 Wednesday
Russia’s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom may get full
control over ArmenTel, the incumbent telecoms operator in Armenia,
a source in the Armenian government said, Vedomosti business daily
reported Wednesday.
The government may sell its 10% stake in ArmenTel to VimpelCom if the
Russian operator agrees to give up ArmenTel’s current monopoly status
on the fixed-line market, the source said, the daily reported. A
spokesperson with VimpelCom said that the company was ready to
meet the condition and start talks with the Armenian government,
the daily reported.
On November 3, VimpelCom said that it had signed an agreement
to acquire a 90% stake in ArmenTel from Greece’s Hellenic
Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE) for 341.9 million euros plus
assuming ArmenTel’s debt of about 40 million euros.
The Armenian government holds the remaining 10% stake in ArmenTel.
ArmenTel is a fixed-line and mobile operator in Armenia with licenses
in the GSM 900 and CDMA standards. ArmenTel’s subscriber base
includes approximately 600,000 fixed-line subscribers and 400,000
GSM subscribers.
Armenia’s population is about 3.2 million people.
VimpelCom operates in Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and
Uzbekistan and plans to launch services in Georgia soon.

ARMENIA IS THE VASSAL OF RUSSIA: ARMENIAN POLITICIANS
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 7 2006
Armenia’s vassal policy has resulted in its full dependence on Russia,
says the member of the board of the Armenian National Movement party
Aram Manukyan.
He says that today Armenian-Russian relations are in real crisis.
True cooperation should be based on dignity rather than grovelling.
The leader of the Armenian Democratic Party, MP Aram Sargsyan says that
corrupt authorities cannot be independent. He notes that the Assets
Against Debts program – when Armenia gave 5 strategic facilities to
Russia – has made the country strongly dependent on the Russians.
If the Armenian authoirites are ready to give their strategic
facilities, why should Russia refuse to accept them? wonders MP,
political expert Hamayak Hovhannissyan. The Russians have a good
proverb: accept when you are given, run when you are beaten. Russia has
always been present in the South Caucasus, so it makes no sense talking
about its growing presence. The point is that though remitting $40
bln debts to third countries Russia has forced Armenia to pay its $100
mln debt to the last penny. This is the result of Armenia’s policy.