Month: November 2006

ARMENIAN INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE PUBLISHED LIST OF 1000 LARGEST TAXPAYERS OF REPUBLIC
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 3 2006
The Armenian Internal Revenue Service has published a list of the
1000 largest taxpayers of the republic in Jan-Sep 2006.
The Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Complex whose payments to the budget
in Jan-Sep 2006 made up 22.737 bln AMD takes the 1st place on the
list. The “ArmenTel” CJSC ranks next – 13.004 bln AMD. The 3rd place
is taken by the “ArmRosgazprom” CJSC – 8.364 bln AMD. The “Flesh” oil
trading company is in the 4th place – 7.196 bln AMD. “K-Telecom”, the
second telecom provider in Armenia, paid 5.854 bln AMD and held the
6th position, leaving behind the “Electricity Networks of Armenia”
CJSC which held the 8th place – 4.453 bln AMD. The Armenian Nuclear
Power Station, the “International Airports of Armenia”, the “Yerevan
Brandy Factory”, the “Armenia-Lada” and “Karkomavto” are in the top
twenty.
This list changes the idea about competitive companies. For example,
the “Araratcement” company was always said to take lead over “Mika
Cement” by its outputs, but the amount of taxes paid changes this
picture. Thus, if the “Mika Cement” Company paid 271.4 mln AMD and
held the 117th place, the “Arararatcement” is in the 130th place with
247.5 mln AMD tax payments. The “Yerevan Beer” held the 28th place –
976 mln AMD, and the “Kotayk Beer Factory” is in the 58th place – 531
mln AMD. The “Ararat Cognac Wine Vodka Factory of Yerevan” held the
168th place – 188.4 mln AMD. It should be noted for comparison that
the Yerevan Brandy Factory is in 14th place – 1.8 bln AMD. The “Multi
Group Concern” which belongs to Gagik Tsarukyan, a famous
entrepreneur, is in the 247th place on the list and its taxes made up
only 133 mln AMD. The latter has left behind the Charitable Fund for
Micro-Entrepreneurship Development. “Mika Armenia Trading”, another
large Armenian concern has held the 21st place – 1.341 bln AMD.

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR AND KING OF SWEDEN EXCHANGED OPINIONS ON
COOPERATION PROSPECTS BETWEEN SCANDINAVIA AND SOUTH CAUCASUS
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 3 2006
Today, Ara Ayvazyan, Ambassador of Armenia to Sweden, handed over
his credentials to Carl Gustav XVI, King of Sweden.
Press service of Foreign Ministry of Armenia told Arminfo that after
the ceremony they discussed issues of Armenia-Sweden historical
relations and development of the bilateral relations. Armenian
Ambassador told Carl Gustav XVI about political and economic situation
in Armenia and its regions. The sides exchanged views on cooperation
prospects between Scandinavia and South Caucasus.

National Post (Canada)
November 3, 2006 Friday
National Edition
What’s good for Turkey is good for France
by Sumaira Shaikh, National Post
Yesterday, it was announced that an emergency meeting between Turkey
and the European Union had been canceled, dealing a fresh blow to
Turkey’s bid to join the EU. The problem in this case involved a
disagreement over Turkey’s relationship with Cyprus. But the setback
highlights the more general hostility toward Turkey exhibited by many
European nations. That hostility is rooted in the fact that Turkey’s
70 million people are mostly Muslim, while the EU is mostly
Christian.
The roots of this stubborn hostility were on display in October, when
the lower house of France’s legislature sought to criminalize denial
of the 1915-1917 Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks, a bill that
predictably caused an uproar in Turkey.
Turkey holds that the deaths of the Armenians were not the result of
an organized, premeditated slaughter. But French President Jacques
Chirac said Turkey must recognize the Armenian deaths as genocide
before it joins the EU. The campaign seems to be aimed at thwarting
Turkey’s membership in the EU for purely cynical reasons: If Turkey
gains entry, it will become the second most populous EU nation, after
Germany, with more power and leverage than France.
The Turkish parliament responded in kind, with a plan to criminalize
denial of the “Algerian genocide” by the French during 132 years of
colonization in Algeria. There was also heated talk of breaking trade
links with France. Turkey wisely abandoned these ideas: They only
would have exacerbated the dispute.
The French bill has had some benefit, though: It exposed European
double standards.
The reality is that both the Ottoman and French Empires did plenty of
bad things. Even modern-day France, for all the lectures it gives the
United States, is beset by racism and de-facto segregation of its
Arab population, problems that rose to the surface during last year’s
suburban Paris riots. If Europe doesn’t allow Turkey into the EU
because of Ankara’s attitude toward past human-rights abuses, then
everyone else should be expelled from the EU club as well. The
region’s history was a violent one, and all nations have blood on
their hands.
France’s government has its head deeper in the sand than most,
however. Last year, the French passed a law that required high-school
teachers to teach the “positive values” associated with colonialism,
and to emphasize the positive role of the French presence abroad,
especially in North Africa.
This created an uproar in former French colonies, leading Abdelaziz
Bouteflika, President of Algeria, to decline a planned friendship
treaty with France. While the offending legislation was repealed
earlier this year, the damage was done. In Canada, legislation like
this would never have even seen the light of day.
Among French politicians, the sense of history is highly selective.
You cannot have a double standard about what is history and what is
not.
The time has now come for France and its European friends to stop
bullying Turkey. They need to accept it into the EU without
hypocritical pre-conditions. No one is innocent in Europe. Everyone
has a part of history to be ashamed of, whether it is Turkey, Germany
or France.
We need to move on and be more constructive. The world is a bad
enough place, with genocides taking place right under our noses in
Darfur and elsewhere. We do little about them, perhaps because we are
too busy fighting over genocides of the past.
[email protected]
– Sumaira Shaikh is a Toronto-based writer.

Vimpelcom buys 90 pct stake in Armenian telecom operator for 381.9 mln eur
AFX International Focus
November 3, 2006 Friday 2:50 PM GMT
MOSCOW (AFX) – Vimpelcom said it has agreed to buy a 90 pct stake
in the Armenian telecom operator CJSC Armenia Telephone Company from
Greece’s Hellenic Telecommmunications (OTE) for 381.9 mln eur in cash
and debt.
Vimpelcom will pay 341.9 mln eur for the company and will assume an
additional 40 mln in debt, it said.
Armentel is a fixed-line and mobile operator in Armenia with around
600,000 fixed-line subscribers and 400,000 GSM subscribers, the
Russian mobile telecoms company said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 3, 2006 Friday
BAKU IS PUTTING COVERS ON ARTILLERY PIECES;
The Azerbaijani establishment is trying to wait it out
by Igor Plugatarev
NEW DETAILS OF THE AZERBAIJANI-ARMENIAN CONFRONTATION OVER
NAGORNO-KARABAKH; Azerbaijan is out to intimidate Armenia with its
economic and military might.
Addressing the national parliament when relations between Moscow and
Tbilisi reached their all-time low, President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev announced that “we need an aggressive policy, we must attack
again and again” to force Yerevan to pull back from the occupied
Azerbaijani territories.
Aliyev promoted this new policy when the Trans-Dniester region had
already convened the referendum (September 17) where an overwhelming
majority of the population voted for independence from Moldova and
for eventual membership in Russia. A similar referendum in South
Ossetia is scheduled for November 12, and its outcome is easily
predictable. Abkhazia convened a referendum like that several years
ago. Its President Sergei Bagapsh refers to its outcome and promises
to aspire for recognition of the runaway autonomy from the UN, OSCE,
Council of Europe, and European Union on the basis of the plebiscite.
As a matter of fact, Abkhazia has already forwarded the request for
recognition of its independence from Georgia to all international
structures.
In early October, on the eve of celebration of 15th anniversary of
the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, 77 US lawmakers sent a letter to
President George W. Bush urging him to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as
a sovereign state. Authors of the letter made a special emphasis on
“continued efforts aimed at development of democracy and
establishment of a sovereign state in Nagorno-Karabakh.” Moreover, it
was not the first such appeal to Bush.
No wonder all of that irritates Azerbaijan enormously. Particularly
since Nagorno-Karabakh keeps an eye on what is happening elsewhere in
the post-Soviet zone and openly supports Tiraspol, Sokhumi, and
Tskhinvali and their actions. Hence the calls for “aggressive policy”
and “attacks” from Baku.
Aliyev proceeded to announce that the attacks “were not an automatic
prelude to war which is of course the last resort.” “With all other
factors – economic, political, and otherwise – we will manage to put
Armenia under pressure,” the Azerbaijani leader said.
Generally speaking, official Baku is convinced that Azerbaijan holds
an advantage over Armenia. “If we take into account all these factors
along with rapid economic development of Azerbaijan, we will see
opportunities for resolution of the conflict,” Aliyev said. “If
Azerbaijan becomes 100 times stronger than Armenia, there will be no
need perhaps to try and use military force to solve the problem.”
This is what is new about the latest Azerbaijani rhetoric. Nothing
like that has ever been announced in Baku.
“Using these factors, we must launch an offensive,” Aliyev said. “We
have already launched an information attack, time for an economic
one. Armenia is unlikely to withdraw from the occupied territories
unless it is feels this pressure.” In other words, official Baku
decided not to oil its automatic rifles and uncover artillery pieces
for the time being. It will deploy “other means” to regain the lost
territories.
Aliyev’s order last year to intimidate Armenia with a dramatic
increase of arms spending is being carried out (in addition to the
expectations of the no less dramatic rate of economic development,
that is). The task he set was quite specific. “Our military budget
must equal the Armenian budget or even exceed it,” Aliyev said. The
2006 arms spending in Azerbaijan had been initially planned at a
level of $600 million but actual spending reached $700 million.
That’s more than two 2005 military budgets ($300 million) and four
times the 2004 military budget ($175 million). Reports from Baku
indicate in the meantime that next years military budget may amount
to $900 million.
All of that enabled the Azerbaijani leader to announce a while ago
(on a visit to Germany) that “unless the international community
begins to play a major role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
resolution, the events may take an unexpected turn because there is
no more parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan now.”
Stratfor experts say that the Armenian budget in 2005, amounted to
$930 million and Azerbaijani almost $3 billion. As for the Armenian
military budget, it amounted to $155 million in 2005.
Official Yerevan inevitably reacted to every “aggressive” statement
from Baku a year ago, but these days it does not rise to the bait.
Hardly the best tactic in the information war.
On the other hand, Yerevan probably believes that it may always count
on Russia no matter how hard the neighbor is flexing muscles and play
oil and gas cards. Indeed, Russia has a military base in Armenia
where 5,000 men serve. The base is being reinforced with merchandise
from the bases Russia is withdrawing from Georgia. Come to think of
it, the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization is also supposed
to come to Armenia’s help. Its General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha
told Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie this January, that should
Azerbaijan send its army to reacquire Nagorno-Karabakh, leaders of
the Organization would take it as an aggression (no need to dwell on
implications). Bordyuzha’s words impressed Baku then.
In the meantime, Azerbaijan has spared neither time nor effort to
advance its relations with Russia. Official Baku is certainly busy.
In any case, no progress at all has been made in the more than 12
years of Azerbaijani-Armenian negotiations since the truce made in
May 1994. Experts believe that the OSCE Minsk Group is but going
through the motions. The OSCE examined the front line between
Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in the middle of October. To quote
Aliyev, Azerbaijan is deploying a “tactic of patience” for the time
being.
Source: Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie, No 39, October 27 – November
2, 2006, p. 2
Translated by A. Ignatkin
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkey would make EU a ‘real global power’
by Deaglan de Breadun, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
The Irish Times
November 3, 2006 Friday
TURKEY: Having Turkey as a member would help the European Union to
become a “real global power”, the country’s chief negotiator for EU
accession, Ali Babacan, told the Forum on Europe yesterday.
“Turkey’s membership will help strengthen the EU’s role as a global
actor. If the EU wants to be one of the major players in the global
scene, a real global power, Turkey will help to achieve this,”
he said in a speech entitled Turkey’s case for membership of the
European Union.
Addressing a crowded forum session in Dublin, Mr Babacan stressed
Turkey’s strategic importance for the future of the EU. “As a key
regional actor and ally located in close proximity to many existing
and potential hotspots that are high on the European and international
agenda, Turkey can help enhance stability and promote welfare in the
Balkans, the Caucasus, central Asia and the Middle East.”
A total of 29 speakers from different parties and organisations
responded to Mr Babacan’s speech, many of them raising issues about
human rights – particularly the rights of women – and free speech in
Turkey, the position of the Kurdish population and the alleged genocide
committed against Armenians by Turkish forces from 1915 to 1917.
Minister of State for European Affairs Noel Treacy said the Government
was “disappointed” that progress in the negotiations with Turkey
“hasn’t been as fast as it might be” and he called on Ankara to lift
its current ban on Cypriot vessels and aircraft.
Fine Gael delegate Charles Flanagan criticised restrictions on freedom
of expression under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, but added:
“Our party, Fine Gael, firmly supports your application.”
Labour TD Joe Costello reminded Mr Babacan that Ireland “was left
waiting for 12 years” before joining the European Economic Community,
as it then was. He criticised the lack of trade union rights in Turkey.
Sinn Fein’s Daithí Doolan said the Turkish government had “an appalling
human rights record” and called for the “freezing” of accession talks
until there was clear evidence of an improvement.
Senator Martin Mansergh of Fianna Fail said: “It would be quite wrong
for a party that was closely associated with a paramilitary campaign
to be so vehemently lecturing from a height Turkey on the question
of human rights”.
Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said a section of European opinion
“do not want the EU to become another imperial power”. Expressing
concern that Turkish accession could weaken workers’ rights in the EU,
he said the Irish experience with Turkish firm Gama Construction had
been “incredibly disastrous”.
Green Party councillor Brian Meaney praised the efficiency of the
Turkish workers and management from Gama Construction in relation
to the Ennis bypass which was “going to be completed well ahead of
schedule and well within the budget”. Several speakers, including
Independent Senator Mary Henry and Fianna Fail delegate Una McGurk
raised the issue of women’s rights.
Responding at the end, Mr Babacan sharply criticised the Greek Cypriot
government, which he said had campaigned for a “No” vote in the
referendum on the Annan Plan for the reunification of Cyprus in 2004.
Greek Cypriot (Republic of Cyprus) vessels and aircraft could not enter
Turkish seaports and airports but there were also trade restrictions on
northern Cyprus as well as on Turkish trucks entering Austria, Italy
and Belgium. “Why don’t we lift all the restrictions at once?” On the
issue of free expression, he said that when Turkish prime minister
Racep Tayyip Erdogan was mayor of Istanbul, he was imprisoned for
four months because he had recited four lines from a poem on the
school syllabus.
Mr Babacan said he was not happy with the situation regarding
Article 301, but there was a separation of powers in Turkey and he
was “quite puzzled” when his government was asked to interfere in
judicial decisions.
Meanwhile, Finland’s European presidency yesterday cancelled a weekend
meeting between the Turkish and Cypriot foreign ministers scheduled
to take place in Helsinki on the issue of access to ports in Turkey
and trade restrictions on northern Cyprus.
–Boundary_(ID_xtLGsKn6657ngyOuAVHBDw)–

DJ VimpelCom to offer converged services in Armenia
Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
November 3, 2006 Friday 7:25 PM EET
OAO Vimpel Communications said Friday it will offer converged
fixed-to-mobile services in Armenia, where it just bought 90% of
Armentel, a company that provides both fixed and mobile services.
VimpelCom hasn’t offered converged services before.
“Armentel is too attractive of an asset; we couldn’t afford not
to buy it (even though it provides fixed-line services as well),”
VimpelCom spokeswoman Ekaterina Osadchaya said.
She said VimpelCom is “definitely not going to sell the fixed-line
business.”
VimpelCom said Friday it bought 90% of Armentel from Greece’s Hellenic
Telecommunications Organization, or OTE, for 341.9 million euro in
cash and 40 million euro in debt.

VimpelCom inks deal to buy Armenia’ ArmenTel for 342 mln euro
Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
November 3, 2006 Friday 6:50 PM EET
Russia’s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom has signed an
agreement to acquire a 90% stake in ArmenTel, the incumbent telecoms
operator in Armenia, from Greece’s Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization SA (OTE) for 341.9 million euros, VimpelCom said in a
press release Friday.
In addition, VimpelCom agreed to assume ArmenTel’s debt of
approximately 40 million euros, the Russian operator said.
The deal is subject to certain conditions, including approval by the
government of Armenia, VimpelCom said.
OTE earlier announced a tender for its 90% stake in ArmenTel.
Besides VimpelCom, Russian holding AFK Sistema, a consortium from
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) including telecom company Etisalat
and investment fund Istithmar, and a consortium of VTEL Holdings and
Knightsbridge Associates have participated in the tender.
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, Ukraine, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan and plans to launch services in Georgia soon.

Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan,
1 Nov 2006 p 3
PAPER REPORTS RIFT BETWEEN ARMENIAN FUND, KARABAKH LEADERSHIP
by Kristine Khanumyan’s
“The rift between the foundation and the NKR is widening”
The rift is widening between the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund [HAAF]
and the NKR [Nagornyy Karabakh Republic]. The reason is the low
quality of the North-South road [in Nagornyy Karabakh funded by the
HAAF]. Lots of complaints are coming from Karabakh. Both the HAAF and
the NKR authorities, which are responsible for the quality of the road,
point at each other. That is to say, both are trying to get away with
murder and leave the Karabakh residents face-to-face with the problem.
The HAAF is trying to hold the NKR authorities responsible for
everything. At a recent news conference, the executive director of the
HAAF [and former NKR foreign minister], Naira Melkumyan, said that they
were not responsible for the roads whose guarantee had expired. She
also made one more interesting statement. She said that before 2005
there was no word about the low quality of the North-South road
(although those sectors of the road were put into operation earlier)
but that statements were made later saying that the roads had been
in bad repair since 2004.
As a result, the problem was discussed at the trustees’ council after
which the president of the trustees’ council, [Armenian President]
Robert Kocharyan, said that the cases of the companies which carried
out low-quality work should be referred to the prosecutor’s office.
In brief, Kocharyan “gave his approval” for the sending of the cases
of several persons close to Gukasyan to the prosecutor’s office. But
until today no action has been taken against companies such as Vrezh or
Chanshin although their cases were sent to the prosecutor’s office in
May, but this could be predicted. A few days ago the HAAF was asked
to submit some clarifying papers.
This time round a tougher approach has been taken towards the
programmes implemented by the HAAF in Karabakh, in particular the
asphalting of the roads was considered to be of poor quality.
Melkumyan said that she did not agree with this assessment and asked
who could assess the quality of asphalt. We should tell the HAAF
leadership that the dean of the architecture department of the State
University of Architecture, Artur Tovmasyan, is the person.

ARMENIAN POLLS SHOW VARYING PUBLIC OPINION TO PRESSING ISSUES
Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Nov 3 2006
The results of an opinion poll carried out by the Baltic Surveys/
The Gallup Organization among 1,200 Armenian residents from 31 July
to 10 August on order of the US International Republican Institute
(IRI) were made public this week, Mediamax has said. The first opinion
poll was carried out by the Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization
in Armenia in May 2006. The aim of the opinion pools were to compare
their findings and determine differences in public opinion regarding
to foreign policy issues and the Karabakh conflict. The following is
an excerpt from report entitled “Foreign policy preferences of the
Armenian residents” in Russian, published by Armenian news agency
Mediamax; subheadings as published:
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
A total of 75 per cent of Armenians polled in August and 75 per cent
in May said they considered the swift settlement of the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem “very important”. This stability shows that despite
statements made in Armenia from time to time that the preservation
of the existing status-quo is in favour of Armenia, the overwhelming
majority of the country’s residents believe that the non-settlement
of the conflict dissembles a myriad of threats. Anyway, like in May,
only two per cent of the respondents said that a quick settlement of
the Karabakh problem was “not very important”.
There were no significant changes in the views of Armenia’s residents
on ways of settling the conflict. A total of 39 per cent of those
polled in August consider that Nagornyy Karabakh should be an ordinary
region of Armenia without the right to an autonomy. In May, 41 per
cent of those polled supported this opinion. Some 27 per cent of the
respondents of the second survey said that Nagornyy Karabakh should
become an autonomy under Armenia. In spring, 31 per cent of the polled
supported this option.
Thirty-three per cent of respondents polled in August consider that
Nagornyy Karabakh should become an independent state. In May, 27 per
cent supported this idea.
None of the respondents in the both surveys supported the idea of
Nagornyy Karabakh being part of Azerbaijan.
The overwhelming majority of Armenian residents believe that the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict should be resolved peacefully. In August,
82 per cent of the polled supported a peaceful settlement to the
conflict, in May, this totalled 85 per cent.
Relations with Russia
Over 90 per cent of the respondents in both opinion polls answered
positively to the question of “Do you think Russia is a reliable ally
of Armenia?”. In August, 46 per cent of the polled answered “yes”
to this question, in May 45 per cent. A total of 44 per cent of the
polled in August answered “probably, yes”. This was 42 per cent in May.
Answers of Armenia’s residents to the question of “Does the presence
of Russian military bases in Armenia have a positive or negative
influence on Armenia’s independence and stability in the country?”
was interesting.
Sixty-seven per cent of the polled in August consider this influence
positive, but this figure was 66 per cent in May. Two per cent of
those polled gave a negative assessment. Not least significance were
answers of those who found it difficult to give definite answers.
Some 15 per cent of those polled in August consider that the presence
of the Russian military bases in Armenia has neither positive nor
negative influence on Armenia’s independence (16 per cent in May),
and 12 per cent consider that the military bases have both positive
and negative influence (11 per cent in May)
Relations with NATO and European Union
The number of supporters of Armenia’s joining NATO have increased
by two per cent as compared to the survey carried out in May,
and amounted to 42 per cent. If in May, the number of supporters of
Armenia’s membership of NATO was 10 per cent of the polled, in August,
this number dropped and totalled 7 per cent. Instead, the number of
respondents who do not rule out the possibility of Armenia’s membership
of NATO in future increased from 30 to 35 per cent.
It is interesting that the number of strong opponents of Armenia’s
membership of the North Atlantic Alliance dropped considerably. In
May this number was 17 per cent but in August this number decreased
almost twice, and amounted to 9 per cent.
The number of supporters of Armenia’s joining the EU grow steadily.
In May 80 per cent of the polled were in favour of Armenia’s joining
the EU, in August, this number reached 84 per cent.
Iran’s nuclear programme
In May, 56 per cent of the polled in Armenia supported efforts of the
USA, the EU and Russia to prevent Iran from its aspiration to possess
nuclear weapons. In August, the number of those polled increased
by 65 per cent. In May, 11 per cent of the polled were against the
international efforts concerning Iran, in August, this number fell
7 per cent.