Month: November 2006

ARMENIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER TO VOTE AGAINST ELECTION CODE DESPITE OF “POSITIVE ELEMENTS”
Panorama.am
14:46 31/10/06
Shavarsh Kocharyan, leader of Armenian Democratic Party and a deputy
of National Assembly, said the Election Code is a necessary but not
sufficient condition for free and fair elections. He said in 1991
we had the fairest elections under the conditions of the worst
election code. He also said the present Election Code “has many
positive elements,” but he is going to vote “against” because of
its shortcomings.
Kocharyan believes that by keeping to majoritarian vote we render our
support to authoritarian system. He said countries like Azerbaijan
prefer majoritarian systems. The deputy also sees problems in formation
of committees. Kocharyan supports 50/50 rate, i.e., if the chairman
is pro-government representative, the secretary and the deputy must
be from opposition.
Kocharyan thinks using envelopes is a good idea but he says the law
does not provide all the details of its use. He said the law does not
require not to make notes on the envelopes, so the voters can make
notes and the envelope will not be considered invalid.

GAS SUPPLIER COMPANY PROPOSES NEW TARIFFS
Panorama.am
15:11 31/10/06
Hayrusgazard closed joint stock company has applied to the public
services regulatory committee with a request to reconsider the gas
tariffs, Karen Karapetyan, company director, told reporters today
saying Hayrusgazard is not satisfied with the current tariffs.
He said tariffs must be raised so that people, who have no gas yet,
will also have the chance to have it.
He said we will never develop if the price of gas, electricity,
vodka and trousers do not go up.
Karapetyan refused to announce what rate they have proposed
to the committee but said that tariffs will not be raised for
resident-customers.

GAS SUPPLIER TO MAKE LITTLE LESS THAN $4 MILLION IN PROFIT
Panorama.am
15:53 31/10/06
Karen Karapetyan, general director of Hayrusgazard closed joint stock
company, supplier of gas in Armenia, said 84 % of area is supplied
with gas as against 22.2% in 2001. Karapetyan said the population
saves $160-180 million by using gas instead of electricity whereas
the users of gas instead of petroleum save $100 million.
Karapetyan said the company owns $283 million capital and has
made $83 million investment in the course of last 5 years. By the
end of this year, the company will have $ 3 million 750,000 in
profit.

SITTING OF BSEC COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS TO BE HELD IN MOSCOW
ArmRadio.am
01.11.2006 10:21
The 15th sitting of the Foreign Ministers Council of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation Organization (BSECO) member states will be held
in Moscow today.
Armenia will be represented by Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. The
meeting will be chaired by RF Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey
Lavrov. Participants of the sitting will sum up the results of Russia’s
presidency over BSECO, particularly the results of meetings of the
Ministers of Emergency, Energy, Transport, Information Technologies
and Communications.
The Foreign Ministers will be presented information about the activity
of BSEC structures – BSEC Parliamentary Assembly, BSEC Council of
Foreign Ministers, Black Sea Bank for Trade and Development, the
International Center for Black Sea Research.
Georgia and Russia have agreed to arrange the meeting of the Foreign
Ministers of the two countries.

MONUMENT TO ARAM KHACHATRYAN OPENED IN MOSCOW
ArmRadio.am
01.11.2006 10:53
A monument to world famous composer Aram Khachaturian was opened
in the center of Moscow, not far from the House of Composers. The
festive ceremony was attended by RA President Robert Kocharyan, the
Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, and the First Lady of Russia Lyudmila
Putina. The bronze statue was installed not far from the house,
where the composer lived and worked. Sculptor Georgy Frangulyan
and architect Igor Voskresenski pictured the maestro surrounded with
musical instruments. “It is very symbolic that the monument was placed
in this area, not far from the House of Composers,” Lyudmila Putina
said during the opening ceremony.

EU READY TO EASE SHENGEN VISA PROCEDURES
Panorama.am
16:03 31/10/06
“Recently citizens of Armenia, particularly the business community,
have problems with the permission to cross the border of Shengen
countries,” Karen Tchshmarityan, minister of finance and economy,
told a press conference today.
In his words, the Armenian side pinpointed to this problem at the
7th gathering of Armenia -European Union Cooperation Committee which
was held on October 25 in Brussels. The delegation of the European
side assured that the issue will be discussed with the respective
department of the international unit.
Tchshmarityan noted that Broader Europe: New Neighborhood project
promises lighter visa procedures in Shengen countries but the current
situation does not comply with that policy.

ANDRE TO PERFORM LIVE DURING TELETHON 2006
ArmRadio.am
01.11.2006 14:43
One of the most popular Armenian singers, Andre, will be performing
at its 9th Annual International Telethon to be aired worldwide on
Thanksgiving Day, November 23, Armenia Fund informs.
In May of this year Andre won 8th place in Greece for representing
Armenia at Eurovision song contest competing against contenders from
23 other nations.
Armenia was competing at the Eurovision song content for the first
time in 2006.
As part of the Rebirth of Artsakh project, proceeds from the live
12-hour program will benefit the regional development of Hadrut,
Nagorno Karabakh. The funds will go towards building new drinking water
pipelines as well as reconstructing healthcare facilities and schools
that fell victim to the devastating war. In an effort to eradicate
poverty in this war ravaged border region, Armenia Fund will also
implement a comprehensive agricultural development project to impact
1,000 farmers in 8 Hadrut villages. A similar regional development
program is currently underway in the northern Martakert region using
the funds raised during last year’s Telethon 2005.

RA FOREIGN MINISTER MET WITH HIS GEORGIAN COUNTERPART
ArmRadio.am
01.11.2006 15:00
November 1 RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, who is participating
in the 15th sitting of BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers, met with
his Georgian counterpart Gela Bezhuashvili.
The Foreign Ministers discussed Armenia-Georgia bilateral relations,
the impact of Russian-Georgian relations on the region and the
opportunities of reducing the tension.
Turning to the relations of the two countries with the EU, the
Ministers highly assessed the adoption of the Action Plans with South
Caucasian countries and expressed confidence that it will enable
Armenia and Georgia to deepen bilateral cooperation in the direction
of European integration.
The parties exchanged views on the peaceful settlement of the conflicts
existing in the region, and the opportunities of elimination of the
possible consequences of the GUAM initiative in the UN.

GDP OF ARMENIA EXPERIENCED 12.5% GROWTH
ArmRadio.am
01.11.2006 15:46
During January-September 2006 the GDP of Armenia grew with 12.5% as
compared with the same period of 2005, reaching 172 billion drams in
market prices.
RA National Statistical Service told ArmInfo that in September the
index increased with 26.3% as compared with August. The GDP growth
is associated with about annual 40% increase of construction volume,
20% rise of the population’s incomes, and 11% increase of retail sale.
During January-September 2006 the average interest rate of RA Central
Bank was 1 USD=430.4 drams.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ELECTIONS WITH OWN PLATFORM
ArmRadio.am
01.11.2006 16:04
The Democratic Party of Armenia is an independent political force
and will go for the parliamentary elections with its own platform,
President of the Democratic Party of Armenia, NA Deputy Aram
G. Sargsyan said in a press conference today. He added that the
political force is ready to cooperate with those parties, whose
programs will coincide with those of the Democratic Party.
According to Aram Sargsyan, the Democratic Party of Armenia aspires
to form a third force in the new Parliament, a candidate of which may
run for President in 2008. In his words, the first two parliamentary
forces will be the Republican Party of Armenia and the “Thriving
Armenia” Party.