Author: Andres-Papazian

ISOLATION WARDS AND BATTALION OF ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY MONITORED

ArmInfo
2010-07-20 14:22:00

ArmInfo. The isolation wards and the disciplinary battalion under
jurisdiction of the Armenian Defense Ministry have been monitored. The
results of the monitoring conducted by the Civil Society Institute
with the support of the OSCE Yerevan Office were presented on Tuesday.

The monitoring was held in 2009. The monitoring consisted of two
parts: incarceration conditions and legislative aspect. Thus, 7 of 11
isolation wards have been repaired and the incarceration conditions
were generally satisfactory. Especially poor conditions were observed
in the isolation wards in Vedi, Gyumri and Etchmiadzin where most
cells had even no water and windows.

Monitoring also revealed a number of system problems connected with
application of isolation as a disciplinary punishment. In particular,
such punishment is often applied without relevant investigation and
irrespective of the offence. Monitoring revealed that application of
such punishment does not meet international standards. In addition,
even the existing imperfect procedures are often violated in practice.

As regards the disciplinary battalion, the monitoring showed that
improvement of housing conditions is still the prior task.

Nevertheless, the situation in the battalion was the best among the
monitored institutions.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN PASSED ABOUT FREQUENT SUICIDES AT NUBARASHEN PENITENTIARY

ArmInfo
2010-07-20 14:27:00

ArmInfo. Tuesday on July 20 Armenian Ombudsman Armen Haroutiunyan
applied to Armenian Justice Minister Gevorg Danielyan for
explanations concerning frequent suicides and deaths of defendants
from misadventures at the Nubarashen penitentiary.

The application disseminated by the Ombudsman’s Office says that
defendants Suren Avetisyan (on April 30) and Varuzhan Hovhannissyan
(on June 9) hanged themselves. Later on July 16 Aram Hakobyan died from
electric shock. “Governed by Article 12 of the Law On Human Rights
Defender, I ask for explanations concerning the given situation and
demand necessary measures to prevent such cases. Please, inform me
of the results,” the application says.

From: A. Papazian

THE KEY FINDINGS OF THE 2009 CORRUPTION SURVEYS OF HOUSEHOLDS AND ENTERPRISES PRESENTED TO THE MEDIA

ArmInfo
2010-07-20 18:05:00

ArmInfo Caucasus Research Resource Centers-Armenia, a program of the
Eurasia Partnership Foundation in Armenia, presented to the media
today the key findings of the 2009 Corruption Surveys of Households
and Enterprises; the surveys are part of the USAID Mobilizing Action
Against Corruption (MAAC) Activity survey program.

The press service of the CRRC reports that the presentation took place
in “Golden Tulip” hotel, Yerevan, Armenia; the main presenters were
Heghine Manasyan and Yevgenya Paturyan. The findings suggest that
corruption is considered to be a major problem, and the situation
has not improved during the last year. On the other hand, most survey
respondents said they would abstain from taking a bribe.

A vast majority of the household survey respondents (84%) considers
corruption to be a major problem facing Armenia. The enterprise survey
respondents are even more concerned about corruption than the general
public, with fully 90% naming corruption as either a “somewhat” or a
“very” serious problem. Armenians consider corruption as “a fact of
life”: 59% of the 2009 household survey respondents agree with this
statement, compared with 73% of the enterprise survey respondents.

Thus, both the assessment of the seriousness of corruption as a problem
and its entrenchment in daily life are starker among business leaders
than among the public.

In both surveys, the majority of respondents said that they would
pay a bribe if asked to do so. The main reason for paying the bribe,
according to the respondents, is that there is no other way to
obtain the service required or to “get things done”. However, if
offered a bribe, most respondents (72% for both the household and
enterprise surveys) claim they would not take it because the idea is
“unacceptable” to them.

A clear majority of the respondents think that corruption can be
reduced only to a certain degree or not at all, a result that gives a
somewhat discouraging outlook on the future. They do not see themselves
as contributors to anti- corruption efforts, as many (60% and 49%
of the household and enterprise survey respondents, respectively)
say there is nothing they can do to reduce corruption in Armenia.

In addition, monopolies are thought to be the biggest hindrance for
business development, as 75% of the enterprise survey respondents
describe it as either a “serious” or a “very serious” obstacle.

Corruption and the financial crisis come next in the list of
impediments, with nearly 70% of respondents mentioning these as either
serious or very serious.

Corruption Surveys of Households and Enterprises are part of MAAC
Survey program; Household Surveys are conducted annually, and
Enterprises Surveys are conducted bi-annually. The Household Survey
sample in 2009 included 1 515 adults from all over the country,
and the Enterprises Survey sample included 400 enterprises from all
regions and representing a wide range of sectors. The Survey findings
are available on-line to all for further research and analysis.

Corruption – the abuse of public power for private gain – is a
major problem in many countries, and Armenia is no exception. The
corruption surveys provide valuable insight into the corruption-related
perceptions and personal experiences of the Armenian society.

They also empower public deliberation and informed action, and shed
light on the trends, patterns and changes compared with 2008, when
a similar household survey was conducted.

CRRC is a network of resource and training centers established in
2003, in the capital cities of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia with
the goal of strengthening social science research and public policy
analysis in the South Caucasus. A partnership between the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, the Eurasia Partnership Foundation, and local
universities the CRRC network offers scholars and practitioners stable
opportunities for integrated research, training and collaboration.

Launched in July 2007 as a comprehensive anti-corruption initiative
aimed at reducing corruption on both ground and system levels, MAAC
provides support to anticorruption activities of the Government of
Armenia and civil society by establishing a mechanism to address
grievances and effect systems-level and procedural reforms, designing
and implementing anticorruption initiatives with targeted government
agencies, supporting civil society organizations in developing
innovative approaches to mobilize action against corruption, and
increasing awareness among youth and adults against corruption.

From: A. Papazian

CONSTRUCTION OF WATER POWER PLANT ON ARGICHI RIVER CONTINUED

ArmInfo
2010-07-20 18:06:00

ArmInfo. The situation over the change of the bed of Argichi river
for the sake of a new water power plant is getting increasingly
controversial, the head of Aarhus Center of Gavar Liana Asoyan said
during a press-conference today.

She said that the construction of the plant is continued despite the
assurances of the Ecological Inspection that it is not.

Construction work is well underway in Vayots Dzor region, where the
waters of the diverted river will be sent.

The Ecology Ministry has refuted this information. The press service
of the Ministry says that the project was suspended in June.

Earlier, in its letter to the head of EcoLut NGO Inga Zarafyan, the
Ministry said that the project was illegal as they had permitted to
build a WPP on Yeghgis tributary rather than Argichi, the biggest
river flowing into Lake Sevan.

Meanwhile, in its address to the Ministry, the Sevan Commission refers
to a document permitting the irrigation of Aghnjadzor community in
Vayots Dzor.

The situation is very unclear but its outcome is clear: almost
30,000 residents of five communities in Gegharkunik region may be
left without irrigation war.

According to the official information, the executor of the Argichi
project is Zangezour EKSIP LLC.

The future of this illegal undertaking is yet unknown – the Ministry
promises to decide it after inspecting the site.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN MINISTRY OF NATURE PROTECTION IS UNAWARE OF CONSTRUCTION OF NEW NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY

ArmInfo
2010-07-20 18:07:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian Ministry of Nature Protection has received no
documents related to holding of the prospecting work on drawing up the
ground map of placement of radioactive and dangerous chemical waste,
says the Ministry’s official letter, EcoLur NGO told ArmInfo.

The letter also says that all the actions on the given governmental
decision are determined by the Ministry of Energy and Natural
Resources. A problem arises how the provisions of the Aarhus
Convention and the Armenian Law “On expert examination of influence on
environment” can be implemented if one ministry does not even inform
the other ministry of the environmentally important decisions at the
planning stage, particularly, when the decisions concern placement
of objects endangering health and environment.

To recall, the prospecting work on choice of the place for the nuclear
waster repository near the villages of Zangakatun and Urtsalanj
raised a real wave of protest among the local residents. The drilling
operations on the administrative lands of Zangakatun were launched
in April without warning the residents and the rural administration;
as a result, the residents shut off the road and drove the drillers off
their territory. The Prospecting Center of the Yerevan State University
states that the repository will be located in the territories that
are ineligible for agricultural work and cattle grazing, while the
residents state that the chosen place is in the center of croplands
of the community. Moreover, the water conduits of irrigation system
of three villages – Paruyr Sevak, Tigranashen and Yerehas are only
200 meters away from the chosen place.

From: A. Papazian

ACMC SUMMARIZES THE INTERIM RESULTS OF ANTI-CRISIS IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM

ArmInfo
2010-07-20 12:29:00

ArmInfo. Agarac Copper-Molybdenum Combine summarized the interim
results of implementation of anti-crisis investment programs under
the Government of Armenia’s stabilization loan of $ 14 million

Let’s recall that, in connection with last year’s severe crises in
the mining sphere of Armenia, which suffered from a sharp decline
in raw material prices in the international market, the Government
of Armenia in June 2009, in order to stimulate the development of
the mining industry has taken the decision (according to Government
Decision Ñ~L 719-A) for providing a budget loan to 3 largest mining
companies “Zangezur Mining”, “Armenian Molybdenum Production” and
“Agarak Copper-Molybdenum Combine”.

ACMC was granted a loan of $ 14 million with a payment term of 4 years
at a rate of LIBOR +8%, under a program aimed at reducing costs and
improving competitiveness of production.

According to the press service of GeoProMining in Armenia, which owns
ACMC, the program involves a systematic approach, including capital
investments to modernize production and improve the skills of middle
management staff, as well as changes in organizational structure.

The investment project includes modernization of the deposit and the
reconstruction of the plant.

Since autumn 2009 five BelAZ dump trucks of 55 ton capacity were
brought into Armenia, which were put into operation at the open pit.

Were obtained also wheel loader BelAZ, two wheeled tractors TK and
one tractor with bulldozer and loosening equipments. The plant also
acquired excavator Caterpiller 345 CL, which is in the process of
arrival. Purchase of mining equipment is part of the anti-recessionary
program, aimed at increasing production and promoting efficient
operation of the mine.

Under the program, informed the press service, in November 2009, the
company acquired a new flotation equipment of European manufacturer
Metso Minerals, which meets all the necessary technical requirements.

Flotation park will be installed in the new-built complex, which will
add additional capacity to ensure increased productivity.

In August 2009, the Group GeoProMining commissioned the
international company “Mekhanobr” to prepare a feasibility study
(FS) of the reconstruction of the plant. The project itself on the
reconstruction will be ready in December 2010. The project is an
integrated approach to designing new and upgrading existing plant,
including the development of efficient technologies, modern design
solutions and use in projects of technological equipment with high
technical and economic indicators.

The designer offered his know-how, implementation of which will reduce
production costs and increase the yield of the concentrate. As a
result, increase of production: increase of the concentrate by 2-3%
and at least 10% planned to reduce production costs.

In turn, the Institute ‘Mechanobr’ signed a contract with a mining
and metallurgical Institute of Armenia for joint cooperation in the
project. Along with that, in June 2010 ACMC started a program for
the exploration, which will result in grow of ore reserves at the
deposit to 160 million tons.

During the first half of 2010 the company fulfilled the program of
stripping in the record volumes for the last 20 years. It is planned
to implement the stripping work at 2.2 million cubic meters, which
will increase the effectiveness of mine operation.

The company began repairing and construction work as the facade and
internal nature. For the 6 months of 2010 JSC “Agarak Copper-Molybdenum
Combine (ACMC), compared with the volumes of production for the second
half of 2009 increased the production of copper concentrate at 12.29%
and molybdenum concentrate at 2.4%.

Production volumes totaled 15 159 tons of copper and 254 tons of
molybdenum concentrate.

Currently, the company continues to the stages of investment program
processes. Since December 2009 the company started to make payments
on the loan. Total loan amount will be used in 2010. Reconstruction
project suggests additional investment.

Recall that a group of companies GeoProMining acquired the shares
of Agarak Copper- molybdenum Combine” in December 2007. GeoProMining
specializes in extraction, enrichment of polymetallic ores (copper,
olybdenum, antimony) and precious metals (gold, silver). Deposits and
ore-processing plants of the company are located in Armenia, Georgia,
Russia and Vietnam.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT SPEAKERS MEET

ArmInfo
2010-07-20 10:17:00

ArmInfo. Armenian parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamyan took part in the
3rd World Conference of Parliament Speakers in Geneva on July 19. As
Armenian NA press service reports, H. Abrahamyan met with Azerbaijani
parliament speaker Ogtay Asadov within the frames of the Conference.

The parties discussed the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process,
as well as the opportunities of establishing bilateral cooperation.

H. Abrahamyan also met with Head of the Cyprian House of
Representatives Marios Garoyan. H. Abrahamyan thinks that traditional
friendly relations between our countries are an important background
for further tightening of cooperation. He also offered to organize
business-forums for activation of economic contacts. In his turn, M.

Garoyan attached importance to tightening of interparliamentary
relations and invited H. Abrahamyan to pay an official visit to Cyprus.

From: A. Papazian

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UNDER FROZEN CONFLICT: IS KARABAKH TO BLAME FOR ARMENIA’S WOES?
By Naira Hayrumyan

ArmeniaNow
20.07.10 | 16:05

Analysis

Ter-Petrosyan says compromises in the Karabakh settlement are
inevitable.

“The unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and unsettled
Armenian-Turkish relations hinder the development of Armenia,” such
an argument has been causing debate in Armenia for many years.

Discussions have gained fresh impetus after the speech by the
country’s first president, now leader of the opposition Armenian
National Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan at last weekend’s 16th
congress of the Armenian National Movement, a former ruling party
that now is a key member in the Ter-Petrosyan-led political alliance.

Ter-Petrosyan said that without the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict and Armenian-Turkish relations, the security, economic and
democratic development of Armenia will remain open to question. The
result of the lack of appreciation of this truth, according to him,
has been the emigration from Armenia and Karabakh, which may take
disastrous proportions. The opposition leader criticized the belief
expressed by his successor as president, Robert Kocharyan, that
Armenia may develop still for a hundred years in conditions of a
blockade. He pointed out that in that case there will be no Armenian
left in Armenia. Ter-Petrosyan said that the “question of questions”
is demography and that advocates of the status quo cannot answer the
question of how to stop the emigration. At the same time, he said
that compromises in the Karabakh settlement are inevitable.

Ter-Petrosyan did not specify what specifically and in return for what
would have to be conceded. Nor there is an answer to the question of
how to redress the demographic situation in Armenia and Karabakh if
the offer of compromise is taken.

Television companies have chosen not to highlight these issues as
topics of public debate. But this speech by the former president has
elicited much debate in the press, the internet and in Yerevan cafes.

Some citizens, including many supporters of Ter-Petrosyan, believe
that the Karabakh conflict does not at all account for the problems
that Armenia has experienced and which have contributed to emigration.

What is to blame is rigged elections, fusion of business and power,
lack of independent judiciary, lack of respect for law and rights and
a number of other ‘systemic failures’. Journalists remember that still
in September 2007, when Ter-Petrosyan made his first public speech
in nearly a decade, signaling his comeback from political obscurity,
he said that the Karabakh problem can be solved if constitutional
order and rule of law were restored in the country.

Online newspaper Lragir points out that whereas earlier the Karabakh
issue was an excuse for the authorities for inaction and even criminal
activities, now it is the opposition that is trying to use it to
justify its actions.

Not all ANC members and supporters share the viewpoint of their
leader. For instance, the initiative called “In Defense of Liberated
Territories” which shares ANC’s approaches on domestic issues,
opposes a compromise-based solution to the Karabakh problem. One
of the leaders of the pressure group, ex-combatant Zhirayr Sefilyan
believes that nothing prevents the opposition from overthrowing the
“criminal regime” and to establish constitutional order.

However, ANC coordinator Levon Zurabyan says one cannot take to
revolutionary methods in a difficult foreign-policy situation that
Armenia is currently going through, partly because of the unresolved
Karabakh conflict. Zurabyan thinks that destabilization in Armenia
may increase the temptations of Azerbaijan and Turkey and they may
undertake a new assault on Karabakh.

Some people call Ter-Petrosyan’s approaches pragmatic, accusing the
others of excessive romanticism. The “Romantics” say that it wasn’t
pragmatism that set the Karabakh movement going back in 1988. And
the fact that the 140,000-strong population of Karabakh managed to
withstand the aggression of seven-million-strong Azerbaijan doesn’t
have a pragmatic explanation either. But those for pragmatic approaches
continue to assert that Armenia will remain in total isolation until
at least a part of Karabakh is ceded. The debate goes on.

From: A. Papazian

FAREWELL LETTER: ARDENT OPPOSITIONIST ACCUSES HIS PARTY OF “FALSE ELECTIONS” AND RESIGNS
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan

ArmeniaNow
20.07.10 | 16:10

News

Discords continued within the opposition Armenian National Movement
(HHSh) as Karapet Rubinyan, a prominent HHSh member, spread an open
letter on Facebook social network on Monday, announcing that he could
not tolerate the recent rigged election of the HHSh board chairman.

“According to my observations and the information that I possess,
the recent elections of HHSh board chairman and members at the
July 17 party congress were rigged. This is a very strange and sad
event because it took place in a party, which has liberal-democratic
principles; a party, which being part of the Armenian National Congress
[ANC] is complaining about and struggling against unfair and rigged
elections in 2008 for more than two years,” wrote Rubinyan, who is a
co-founder of the Committee for the Protection of Political Prisoners
and Persecuted in Armenia and himself was kept in jail for 71 days
after the March 1 post-election clashes in 2008.

At the same time, Karen Karapetyan, head of the HHSh news service, also
resigned, reasoning that the head of the HHSh news service must be one
of the HHSh administration members, whereas his candidacy has not been
nominated for being or not being included in the administration staff.

The HHSh congress was preceded by the resignations of vice-chairman
of the party Khachatur Kokobelyan and later party chairman Ararat
Zurabyan. The speculation was that they were holding negotiations
with authorities.

Rubinyan is especially irritated by the fact that at the congress
the leader of the opposition (Levon Ter-Petrosyan), referring to the
Karabakh issue, instead of speaking about further plans of the struggle
spoke about the baseless nature of the struggle: “It is all the same,
if there is no concession, nothing would come out.”

Both persons who resigned told ArmeniaNow that they have received no
response from HHSh yet.

“I posted my open letter on the website [Facebook] late last
night, and I will refrain from comments for a week,” Rubinyan told
ArmeniaNow. Karapetyan says that he remains a rank-and-file HHSh
member.

From: A. Papazian

LAST RESORT?: GEGHARKUNIK RESIDENTS TURN INTO LIVE SHIELD TO PROTECT THEIR RIVER
By Karine Ionesyan

ArmeniaNow
Photo:
20.07.10 | 16:26

River Argitchi

A live shield appeared yesterday, July 19, on the Yerevan-Sevan
highway, when the residents of the Gegharkunik province blocked the
road to express their protest against the construction of a hydropower
plant on the Gayladzor stream of the Argitchi River.

Since the morning about 500 residents from six villages blocked the
Yerevan-Martouni section of the Sevan highway for about five hours
paralyzing traffic for more than 1,000 cars. Later on, Gegharkunik
marzpetaran (local administration body) employees arrived, and asked
for ten days to settle the issue.

“Residents turned to all competent government bodies, and they had
nothing else left to do in this respect. They are ready to repeat the
same step in ten days unless something is changed for the better,”
Lianna Asoyan, coordinator of the Aarhus Center in Armenia’s
Gegharkunik province, told ArmeniaNow.

The river Argitchi is the biggest among 28 rivers flowing into Lake
Sevan. It secures 12 centimeters for the rise of the lake level
annually. The river provides irrigation water for more than 30,000
residents of six villages in Gegharkounik province. If the project
of changing the course of the Gayladzor stream flowing to the river
Argitchi is implemented, about 40 percent of Argirchi water will be
directed to Vayots Dzor province, which is in the opposite side of
Lake Sevan.

Asoyan says that Zangezour Eximp LLC is illegally conducting the
construction of a small hydropower plant on the Argitchi River though
the permit issued to this company says it is entitled to carry out
construction only on the tributary of the Eghegis River in Kapuyt Berd,
while construction works on the river Argitchi are illegal.

Environmentalists are sure that by means of changing the course of
the river, the level of Lake Sevan – the largest sweet water basin in
Armenia – will be dropped. The rise of Lake Sevan’s level influenced
the lucrative businesses founded along the lakeshore during recent
years. Besides, the abrupt rise of Lake Sevan’s level is considered
to be one of the most important environmental issues for Armenia,
where Lake Sevan is the main element of the whole ecosystem.

The RA Law on Lake Sevan, which prohibits the use of the lake’s basin
water for other purposes, be it a hydro-power plant, irrigation or
some other purpose, is being violated because of the construction
of the hydropower plant. Besides, it is also dangerous for fish,
especially trout, since they spawn at the source of the river Argitchi.

From: A. Papazian