Month: April 2007

ARMENTEL TO BUILD NEW TELEPHONE USERS SYSTEM IN GYUMRI

ARMENPRESS
Apr 27 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS: ArmenTel telephone operator said
yesterday it has launched construction of a modern telephone subscriber
system in Armenia’s second largest town of Gyumri in the northwestern
province of Shirak. The Russia-owned company described this project as
‘strategic,’ saying it will embrace over 20,000 fixed telephone users.

A press release by the company said the upgraded system will allow
city residents to make use of modern communications services. The
project will be accomplished in two stages-the first will end by the
end of this year with construction of the system and a year later a
modern Alcatel system will be commissioned to allow servicing 32,000
subscribers.

Russian Vimpelcom announced earlier this month the closing of
the transaction to acquire 10% of the shares of ArmenTel from the
government of Armenia to raise its equity holding in the company
to 100%.

The Russian firm paid approximately EUR38.6 million for the outstanding
shares, constituting one-ninth of the final price paid by Vimpelcom
for the other 90%, acquired in November 2006. In addition, the Russian
cellco will pay an amount representing 10% of the retained net profit
of ArmenTel for the interim period November 2006 – April 2007.

ArmenTel holds the exclusive right in fixed telephone services and
has also about 400,000 mobile phone subscribers.

EBRD FINANCES WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROJECT IN ARMENIA

Armenpress
Apr 27 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS: Residents of five municipalities
located near Lake Sevan in Central Armenia will benefit from improved
wastewater management services following a ~H7 million loan from
the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction (EBRD) to the
Republic of Armenia.

The funds will be on-lent to the state-owned Armenian Water and
Sewerage Company to finance three wastewater treatment plants and
network rehabilitation in the municipalities of Gavar, Vardenis,
Martuni, Sevan and Jermuk.

This will be EBRD’s first municipal and environmental infrastructure
project in Armenia. The loan provided by the Bank is complemented by a
~H5 million grant from the European Commission and the Early Transition
Countries Initiative Fund will provide technical co-operation grants
of ~H1.2 million for implementation support and advisory services.

Lake Sevan covers fifteen per cent of Armenia and is a place of natural
beauty and historic significance. The project will support efforts
to achieve compliance with Armenian and EU environmental standards
for wastewater treatment.

The agreement was signed in Yerevan on April 26. Alexander Auboeck,
EBRD Business Group Director for Infrastructure said by combining
a loan with a capital grant the project is a good example of how
the Bank can help make municipal investments affordable even when
commercial long term financing is not available.

Armenia is part of the EBRD’s Early Transition Countries Initiative,
which was launched in 2004 to stimulate market activity in the Bank’s
lowest-income countries of operation. To-date, the EBRD has invested
almost ~H120 million in more than 40 projects in Armenia.

The maturity period of the loan is 15 years with a three years of
grace period at LIBOR+1 interest rate.

SWING VOTERS MAKE 15 PERCENT IN YEREVAN AND 36 OUTSIDE IT

ARMENPRESS
Apr 27 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS: Findings of a latest public opinion
poll, designed to reveal voting intentions among Armenians ahead of
the May 12 parliamentary elections, say some 56 percent of eligible
voters plan a short trip to polling stations on that day to elect
members of their next National Assembly.

According to the survey’s results, conducted by Sociometer pollster
center, 13 percent of Armenians are ready to support the governing
Republican Party, almost three times less than it expects to garner
in next month’s parliamentary elections.

"Our meetings with voters across the country show that the majority of
our citizens are ready to vote for the Republican Party of Armenia,’
a spokesman for this party, Eduard Sharmazanov, told journalists
yesterday, adding that the party plans to get at least one third of
the vote.

The Prospers Armenia party of a millionaire businessmen Gagik
Tsarukian, who is reputed as the wealthiest Armenian, may rely on 11
percent voter support.

These figures, however, represent a striking difference with the
findings of an earlier opinion poll by the British Populus Opinion
Polling Center which surveyed 2,000 Armenians across the country
between April 3-7. Asked who they would vote for if the elections
were held next Sunday, 31 percent said they would cast their ballots
for the Republican Party and 27 percent would cast their ballots for
the Prosperous Armenia.

Unveiling the figures of his latest survey, the head of the Sociometer,
Aharon Adibekian, said what shocked the pollsters was the number of
swing voters in the capital city Yerevan, some 16 percent, who are
still undecided whether they should vote for the Prosperous Armenia
or not.

Adibekian, frequently criticized by opposition leaders for ‘executing
paid orders’, said the number of voters ready to cast ballots for the
Orinats Yerkir party of ex-parliament chairman Arthur Baghdasarian
has grown and those of the opposition National Unity has dwindled.

"Since the number of voters ready to support the Republican and
Prosperous Armenia parties does not, as matter of fact, change,
we can suppose that the Orinats Yerkir, the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation, the National Unity and the Zharangutyun (Heritage) will
be fighting to win over the undecided segment of voters," he concluded.

Adibekian said the majority of public servants and their family
members will vote for the Republican Party, the Prosperous Armenia
may expect the support of the unemployed, pensioners and owners of
small and medium sized businesses. He said 58 percent of people with
higher education in Yerevan will vote for the ARF, 42 percent for
the Heritage.

Also some 42 percent of respondents believe that the May 12 polls will
be marred with as much election fraud as the previous ones in 2003;
20 percent think they will be more transparent and fairer and only
8 believe they will actually meet international standards.

BUSH AGAIN AVOIDED SAYING "GENOCIDE"

AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2007

As it was expected, US President George W Bush once again avoided
saying "Genocide" in his yearly speech on April 24 dedicated to the
massacres of Armenians in Ottoman turkey. This year the President
used every expression in English suitable for description of such a
terrible crime: "one of the biggest tragedies in the 20th century",
"victims of mass deportation and massacre", etc, etc. Head of ANCA
Hrayr Hovnanian, expressing his disappointment about this fact, also
noted that Bush did not mention the name of Hrant Dink in his speech,
in despite of the demands of the Senate to revise the official policy
of the United States on the Armenian Genocide.

On the occasion of April 24 Prime Minister of Canada Stefan Harper
also made a statement, where the word "genocide" was used only as a
quote from a last year resolution of the Parliament of Canada.

ANKARA ALSO DISSATISFIED WITH US PRESIDENT
By H. Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2007

Although US President George Bush avoided saying "Genocide" in his
April 24 speech, he called the events of 1915 one of the greatest
tragedies of the 20th century and stated that 1,5 million Armenians
became victims of massacres.

George Bush said that the USA appreciate the efforts of the people
advocating reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey, noticing that
open and impartial research of the mass deportation and massacres of
Armenians in 1915 is an important condition for the reconciliation
process.

The speech of the US President rose irritation in Ankara. On April
25, as Turkish National Television reports, spokesman of Turkish
Foreign Ministry Levent Bilman made a statement in response to the
President’s speech.

Bilman’s message said that certain expressions of President Bush are
inappropriate and that the Turkish people are very cautious in the
question of "historically and juristically inconsistent statements". At
the same time Bilman emphasized the impartial approach to dubitable
historical issues.

The spokesman reminded that already on April 10, 2005 Turkey addressed
the Armenian scientist with a proposal to start joint researches of the
last years of the Ottoman Empire. He expressed solidarity with Bush’s
opinion that objective joint study of the matter of the genocide will
contribute the process of reconciliation and establishment of normal
relations between Armenia and Turkey. Bilman expressed a hope that
the USA will urge Armenia to accept the proposal.

The dissatisfaction of Turkey with George Bush’s April 24 speech is
natural. Bilman’s intention to halt the Armenian Genocide’s recognition
process by the means of international scientific discussion is
natural, too.

On the other hand, expecting the US authorities to urge Armenia to
start joint studies seems senseless – if Bilman considers that the
Armenians’ claims on the Genocide are "historically and juristically
inconsistent statements", "impartial study" of the events of 1915
will only serve to prove the Turkish policy of denial.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE – TIME TO DETERMINE
By A. Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2007

It is the second time that the US Department of State makes alterations
referring Armenia to the 2006 Human Rights Report. It seems like the
USA is not sure about its own position and under various circumstances
doubts between Armenia’s demand to correct the mistake and the
provocations of Azerbaijan.

Thus, the old drafting "Armenia continues to occupy the Azerbaijani
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani
territories" was marvelously restored.

In the meanwhile, OSCE Minsk Group American Co-Chairman Matthew
Bryza stated that the US Department of State had admitted the
inconsistency of the "Armenia continues to occupy the Azerbaijani
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani
territories" phrase and altered it to the following: "Armenian
armed forces hold considerable territories of Azerbaijan adjacent
to Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian officials state that Armenia ‘has not
occupied’ Nagorno-Karabakh".

Bryza also expressed his disappointment about Azerbaijan’s refusal
to take part in the consultations in Washington. He noted that
although alterations to US Department of State reports occur rather
seldom, the peculiarity of the present stage of negotiations on
Nagorno-Karabakh. it is to be regretted that our negligence caused
anxiety of our Azerbaijani friends, he said.

Eventually it seems like Mr. Bryza could not even imagine how swiftly
alterations are made to the reports of US Department of State.

In response, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov
hurried to express his satisfaction and state that the date of the
visit of the Azerbaijan’s delegation to Washington can be already
appointed. Moreover, (probably desiring to conceal sheer idleness)
he also declared that very soon Kelbajar and Lacin will be cleaned
from Armenian troops – "in accord with the schedule worked out by
the Armenian side".

In such circumstances Armenia has a word to say. Why can’t Armenia
suspend the negotiation process, if Azerbaijan is achieving its goals
to due blackmail and provocations and if the USA, Co-Chairing state of
the OSCE Minsk Group, is unable to make clear its position? It comes
out that the USA prefer to maintain god relations with azerbaijan
rather than advocating the truth.

The US Department of State has to determine its position on the
Karabakh conflict. Otherwise the USA cannot be considered an impartial
mediator in the process of settlement of the conflict. In that case
Armenia must refuse the mediation of the United States.

BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT VOTING FOR DECLARATION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By A. Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2007

On April 25 the National Assembly of Bulgaria started its session
with a minute of silence commemorating the victims of the Armenian
Genocide. The Foreign Ministry reports that parliamentarian Boyko Vatev
represented a draft declaration condemning the Armenian Genocide. At
present signatures of the Parliament deputies are being collected,
so as to determine whether it shall be submitted for discussion
and voting.

SOME OF THE OLIGARCHS PAY MORE TAXES THAN BEFORE, BUT SOME OF THEM – FEWER?
By Ara Martirosian

AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2007

Some changes are registered on the list of the first 300 taxpayers
of RA of the first quarter of this year. This time, the first
taxpayer is not the ‘Copper-molybdenum conglomerate of Zangezur’ but
‘Armrusgazprom’ with its 6.8 milliard paid taxes. In the second place
is ‘Armentel’ – 5.2 milliard drams, then comes the ‘Copper-molybdenum
conglomerate of Zangezur’ – 4.6 milliard drams, but it is worth to
mention that the conglomerate is the biggest corporation taxpayer in RA
– 2.7 milliard drams. ‘Armentel’s’ corporation tax is a little less –
2.6-milliard drams. In the fourth place is ‘Gh-telecom’ company -1.2
milliard corporate taxes out of a total of 2.9 milliard paid taxes. In
the fifth place appears ‘Salex group’ – 2.3 milliard drams, it’s one of
the companies created by the owner of ‘Yerevan-Sit’, ‘Gor’, ‘Lusastgh’
supermarkets, deputy of the National Assembly Samvel Aleksanian, who
has a monopoly on the import of sugar, and leadership on the import
of butter, alcohol and grain.

This company, like the others created by Samvel Aleksanian, does not
pay a corporate tax in general. Moreover, its paid taxes are not
even close to the real circulation indices of the company. In the
sixth place is ‘Flesh’, the biggest importer of petrol and diesel
fuel, with its 2.2-milliard drams paid taxes. The seventh is another
importer of fuel ‘Kaghpetrolservice’ – 2 milliard drams.

The biggest importer of tobacco ‘Pares Armenia’ paid 1.5 milliard
drams, ‘Electricity systems of Armenia’ – 1.1 milliard drams and the
ten concludes ‘The Armenian Atomic Power Station’ – 1.1 milliard
drams. Hrant Vardanians ‘Grand Tobacco’ (887 million drams) and
‘International Masis Tabac’ (878 million drams) companies are in
the 12th and 13th place. H. Vardanian’s other company ‘Grand Candy’
paid 337 million drams. A sharp growth has registered ‘Yerevan jur’
company – it is in the 21st place this year instead of the 83rd of
last year. Gagik Tsarukian’s ‘Araratcement’ also registered a growth
(273 million drams) and is in the 40th place instead of the 107th of
last year. We have always mentioned about the shady circulations of
‘Araratcement’ and even though the indices have changed a little this
year, they are far from being real.

Another oligarch Michail Baghdasarov’s ‘Mika cement’ company is not
even in this list, what about his company ‘Mika Armenia Traiding’, it
paid 280 million drams and is in the 37th place. Michail Baghdasarov’s
‘Armavia airlines’ company is only in the 194th place with its 62
million drams paid tax. In 2006 it was in the 136th place. According
to these indices, we can conclude that either Michail Baghdasarov’s
business does not have a success, or his status has changed, which
let him pay fewer taxes. It’s not difficult to understand that the
last is the truth.

‘Derjava -S’ (food) and ‘Metex’ (iron) companies also pay ridiculous
taxes – 9,5 million drams and 8,5 million drams. The same we can
say about the importer of electronics ‘Zigzag’, which paid only 6.8
million drams of corporation taxes.

Food and clothes fairs also pay little taxes, i.e. Malatia fair, which
is ‘Rafael-Tatev’ company, paid 118 million drams, ‘Hrazdan rental
corporation’ – 100 million drams, ‘Petak’ is in the 295th place – 42
million drams and ‘Hayastan trade center, Hayrapetian brothers’ in the
300th place – 41 million drams. For comparison we can see that State
Economic University of Armenia also paid 42 million drams and is in the
296th place side-by-side with the above-mentioned companies. These are
facts about the shadow circulations of the system of trade in Armenia.

WHICH IS THE OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT AND WHICH IS THE REAL ONE?
By Ara Martirosian

AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2007

‘Azg’ daily received an e-message from our reader Sergey Karayan living
in USA. He wonders about the differences of the information announced
by the National Statistic Service: in one issue the percentage
of unemployment by December 2005 is 7%, and in another one it is
30%. Let’s clarify the above-mentioned contradictions in these issues.

The 7 per cent are those who applied and were given an unemployment
status by the Employment State Service of the Ministry of Labor and
Social Issues.

It means that they are officially unemployed. And what about the 30
per cent, it’s the real index of unemployment in Armenia according
to the statistical analyses of the households made by the National
Statistic Service. These are the people, who did not apply to the
Employment State Service of the Ministry of Labor and Social Issues,
but tried to find jobs by the private employment offices, relatives
or put their ads on the newspapers. They don’t have jobs but they are
ready to work. It means, that according to the International Labor
Organization’s methods they are considered to be unemployed.

NEW ARRIVALS TERMINAL TO BE READY BY MAY 2007
By A. Haroutiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2007

A new arrivals terminal of the Zvartnots international airport,
Armenia, will be opened in late May 2007. Artiom Movsisian, head
of the Civil Aviation Department, also informed that in early June
the project of construction of the second complex of the Zvartnots
airport will be started.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress