Author: Arbi Tashjian

Thai Press Reports, Thailand
August 9, 2004
K-TECH TARGETS INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
Section: Corporate News – K-Tech Construction Plc (K-Tech), one of
the country’s leading private sector contractors, said over the
weekend that it was now looking to bid for several government
infrastructure projects estimated to be worth two trillion baht.
Owned by Armenian born Bob Kevorkian, pictured right, K-Tech said the
company’s experience in building high quality offices and malls would
give it the credibility to take on its larger peers in infrastructure
building. Among them are Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD), Ch
Karnchang Plc (CK) and Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc
(STECON).
“We are confident about our chances since our staff is skilled. I
think this will make us competitive with regards to securing
government infrastructure projects,” the company’s chairman and
managing director told Business Day.
The government recently revealed details on several infrastructure
projects planned for next year. These include an extension of the
271-km subway project, which will require a budget of 500 billion
baht. The bidding process is expected to be concluded by the end of
the year and construction should begin in early 2005, with completion
scheduled in 2010.
Although K-Tech said it will participate in the bidding, it did not
give a projection of what its share will be.
“We will try our best to win part of the project,” he said.
Other local bidders will include ITD, CK and STECON.
Other infrastructure projects that K-Tech is aiming for are those
involving power plants and water treatment facilities.
K-Tech, whose major achievements include the building of Central Rama
II and the ongoing Central World Plaza office complex, said it was
also involved in the construction of malls.
Kevorkian said that he still sees a potential for high-rise office
buildings in Bangkok, since economic expansion has helped boost
demand for office space.
“No new office building has been built in the past six years, so I
think there is demand from both local and international firms,” he
added.
He noted that most of the construction focuses on high-rise
residential buildings.
Thailand’s condominium market has reached a saturation point as
companies such as Sansiri Plc and LPN Development Plc have been
building several of these in the last few years.
K-Tech, he said, will also continue to maintain its market share in
the single-detached houses segment where demand is still strong.
K-Tech’s clients include Carrefour, Central Pattana Plc, Quality
House Plc, Tesco Lotus and Royal Phuket Marina. Close to 60 percent
of its projects involve previous clients.
The company expects to achieve total revenues of 4.5 billion baht
this year, almost double from 2.6 billion baht last year, with gross
margins forecast at 7-8 percent.
It currently has 20 projects on hand, of which 60 percent of revenues
will come from those located in Bangkok.
Some of these large-scale projects include the two-billion baht
Phuket Marina Hotel, Crown Plaza Hotel and Majestic Hotel on
Sukhumvit road.
K-Tech’s backlog this year stands at around 7.8 billion baht.
The company was founded in 1997 during the start of the economic
crisis.
Kevorkian said that it was the 1.2 billion baht project awarded by
SafeSkin in Had Yai, and other projects such as Garden Hotel on Rama
IX Road and two Carrefour stores, that helped the company survive the
crisis.
Today, K-Tech has a registered capital of 185 million baht. After the
sale of IPO shares on August 23-24, it will rise to 239 million baht.
Of this amount, 50 million baht will come from the IPO share sale. It
also recently raised four million baht from the sale of four million
units of warrant sales with a maturity period of two years.
The company has about 500 managers and engineers and another 10,000
construction workers.
At the end of June 2004, K-Tech had assets of 1.6 billion baht and a
debt to equity (D/E) ratio of 3.12 times, which will fall to 1.5
times after the IPO share sale.
K-Tech has appointed Ploenchit Advisory as its financial adviser,
while lead underwriters for the sale will be Ayudhya Securities and
SCIB Securities, and eight other securities firms.
IPO shares will be priced at six to eight baht each with a par value
of one baht. Proceeds from the sale will be used as working capital
and for debt payments.
Total funds raised from the issuance are expected to reach 300-400
million baht.
The Kevorkian family holds a 44.55 percent stake in K-Tech. Other
major shareholders include Suprangporn Thumsujrit (18.92 percent),
Thailand Equity Fund (18.92 percent), Adul Amatavivadhan (5.14
percent) and Payap Shinawatra (2.16 percent).
After the IPO share sale, the Kevorkian family’ stake will be diluted
to 35 percent.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russian 201st division in Tajikistan gets new commander
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
31 Jul 04
Dushanbe, 31 July: Col Sergey Yudin has started his duties as the new
commander of the 201st Russian Motor-Rifle Division, based in
Tajikistan.
He has replaced the former commander of the division, Maj-Gen Yuriy
Perminov, who was appointed deputy commander of the army in the
Siberian Military District.
The new commander was presented to personnel by a deputy commander of
the forces in the Privolzhsko-Uralskiy Military District, Lt-Gen
Nikolay Yershov, who also conducted a regular inspection of combat
readiness at the division’s sub-units.
One of the battalions of the 201st division is a part of the
collective rapid-deployment forces of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization Collective Security Treaty Organization; members are
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia . The
division’s tactical groups are also closely interacting with Russian
border forces in Tajikistan by backing up the Moskva and Panj border
detachments both on the Tajik-Afghan border with their heavy armament.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SIX PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES REGISTERED IN ELECTORAL DISTRICT N44
YEREVAN, July 26 (Noyan Tapan). Electoral district commission N44 of
the Kotayk region registered six parliamentary candidates nominated on
the majoritarian system during the July 25 sitting. Grigor Arshakian,
Chairman of the Commission, told NT’s correspondent that members of
the commission or proxies of the candidates present at the sitting had
no objections and remarks about the registration. The pre-election
campaign of the candidates (non-partisans Aghasi Gasparian, Babken
Margarian, Galust Navasardian, Araik Hairapetian, Kachatur Simonian
and member of “Orinats Yerkir” (“Country of Law”) party Artak
Sargsian) will start on July 26. By-elections on the majoritarian
system will be held in district commission N44 on August 29. According
to the RA Electoral Code, the candidates may take advantage of the
right to self-withdrawal no later than ten days before the vote.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri leader, OSCE mission head discuss ties
525 Qazet, Baku
24 Jul 04
Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper 525 Qazet on 24
July headlined “Azerbaijan will continue its integration into the
European family, President Aliyev tells the head of the OSCE’s Baku
office”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Maurizio Pavesi, head of
the OSCE mission in Baku, on 23 July. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan is
an active member of the OSCE and is constantly taking part in the
organization’s events. Azerbaijan attaches great significance to
cooperation with the OSCE, he said.
Talking about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagornyy
Karabakh, Aliyev noted that the OSCE Minsk Group’s efforts to resolve
the conflict have yielded no results yet. He stressed the importance
of settling the conflict in line with international legal norms and
principles.
As for the country’s ties with international organizations, Aliyev
said that over the three years of its membership of the Council of
Europe, Azerbaijan has fulfilled all its commitments before the
organization. Azerbaijan will continue its integration into the
European structures and the European family.
In turn, Maurizio Pavesi said that the OSCE is keeping to the
principles of cooperation in Europe and that cooperation between
Azerbaijan and the OSCE is successfully developing. He voiced his
confidence that cooperation will continue in the future and said that
he will work to strengthen the OSCE’s ties with Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

London Free Press, Canada
July 19 2004
‘No place to go’
An immigration official says political changes in Iraq reduce the
risk to the Christian couple.
TEVIAH MORO, Free Press Reporter
2004-07-19 03:31:17

An Iraqi couple that has called London home for a decade must return
to their turbulent war-torn country, Immigration Canada says. After
10 years of red tape, immigration officials have told Krikor Stephan,
68, and his wife, Sagheek Alexanian, 65, they must return to Iraq.
But as Armenian Christians, the married couple faces certain
persecution in Iraq, said son-in-law Tom Sada.
“The Christians, now they are more in danger than when it was Saddam
in power,” Sada said.
Sada, 38, an Assyrian Christian, fled Iraq in 1980 during the
Iran-Iraq war at the age of 14, and entered Canada as a refugee in
1985.
His wife Sylva Sada, 33, joined him in Canada in 1990, while her
parents fled Saddam Hussein’s regime in 1994, hoping Immigration
Canada would grant them refugee status, Sada said.
Since then, Stephan and Alexanian have made three applications to
Immigration Canada and been rejected all three times, he said.
After about $6,000 in legal fees and application costs, the last
rejection came three weeks ago. Sada is waiting for another letter to
find out when Stephan and Alexanian will have to pack up and go.
“We will receive a letter from immigration to prepare,” he said.
Sada, whose in-laws have helped raised his four children aged six to
12, said they have nowhere to go in Iraq.
Alexanian’s brother, who lives in a town about 50 kilometres south of
Baghdad, faces persecution as a Christian, he said.
Three weeks ago, Alexanian tried to call him, but there was no
answer. A contact in Baghdad told her Christians had been driven out
of town by insurgents, Sada said.
“They sent flyers to their houses, saying all Christians must leave
this town and if you don’t leave, you’ll be beheaded,” he said.
Stephan’s niece, Ashhik Varojan, was one of four Christian women
killed by masked gunmen in January, Sada said.
“The reason why they are killing them is that they’re blaming the
Americans for invading Iraq and in their mind, Americans are
Christians because they are Western,” Sada said.
Ironically, the couple’s son was able to stay in Canada five years
ago as a refugee.
But, according to research conducted by a pre-removal risk assessment
officer with Immigration Canada dated Feb. 4, 2004, there was
insufficient evidence Stephan and Alexanian would face personal risk
in Iraq.
“My research of trustworthy sources shows that since the applicant
and his wife left Iraq in 1994, the political situation has changed,”
the officer wrote.
Representing the couple is Toronto-based immigration lawyer Cecil
Rotenberg, who says Immigration Canada has been blind to their
plight.
Rotenberg said he will try to convince the government Stephan and
Alexanian should stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds —
but that’s a claim that has already been rejected.
Now senior citizens with little money, they have few options in their
homeland.
“There’s no place for them to go. How the hell is that not
humanitarian and compassionate?”
Rotenberg, who has never heard of Iraqis being deported under similar
circumstances, said he is confident Immigration Canada, now led by MP
Judy Sgro (L — York West), will reconsider the couple’s case.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th Street NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP ATTACKS SCHIFF AMENDMENT
— Speaker, Majority Leader and Majority Whip Seek to
Reverse Legislation Barring Turkey from using U.S. Foreign
Aid to Lobby Against the Genocide Resolution
WASHINGTON, DC – In a front-page statement posted today on the web-
page of the Speaker of the U.S. House, Congressional Republican
leaders, who have for the past eighteen months blocked the progress
of legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, attacked the
adoption, yesterday, of the Schiff Amendment by the full U.S.
House, reported the Armenian National Committee (ANCA). The
amendment restricts the Turkish government from using U.S. foreign
aid dollars to finance its campaign to defeat the Genocide
Resolution, H.Res.193.
The statement issued by House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL),
Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX) and Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO)
states that, “we are strongly opposed to the Schiff Amendment to
the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, and we will insist that
conferees drop that provision in conference. . . Turkey has been a
reliable ally of the United States for decades, and the deep
foundation upon which our mutual economic and security relationship
rests should not be disrupted by this amendment.”
The full text of the statement is provided at the end of the
release. Armenian Americans have the opportunity to express their
disappointment to the authors of this statement by visiting the
ANCA website:
“Speaker Hastert and his colleagues in the House leadership –
having spent the past year and a half trying to kill the Genocide
Resolution – are now trying to subvert the clear will of an
overwhelming bi-partisan majority in support of this human rights
measure,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We find it
deeply offensive that these officials would allow a foreign nation
– particularly one that so blatantly disdains the democratic values
of the American people – to impose its dictates on our Congress.”
Yesterday evening, the U.S. House voted to approve the amendment,
introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). The measure was passed by a
voice vote and added to the fiscal year 2005 foreign aid bill,
H.R.4818.
The Genocide Resolution, H.Res.193, reaffirms U.S. support for the
Genocide Convention and cites the importance of remembering past
crimes against humanity, including the Armenian Genocide,
Holocaust, Cambodian and Rwandan genocides, in an effort to stop
future atrocities. It faces intense opposition from the Turkish
government, which has enlisted the backing of the White House in
its efforts to press Congressional leaders to block this measure
from being scheduled for a vote of the full House.
#####
Statement of Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Tom DeLay
and Majority Whip Roy Blunt Regarding the Schiff Amendment to the
Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill
(Washington D.C.) Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay and House Majority Whip Roy Blunt
released the following statement regarding House adoption of the
Schiff Amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.
“We are strongly opposed to the Schiff Amendment to the Foreign
Operations Appropriations bill, and we will insist that conferees
drop that provision in conference. We have contacted the Bush
Administration, and they have indicated their strong opposition to
the amendment. We have also conveyed our opposition to Chairman
Kolbe and he has assured us that he will insist on it being dropped
in the conference committee.”
“Turkey has been a reliable ally of the United States for decades,
and the deep foundation upon which our mutual economic and security
relationship rests should not be disrupted by this amendment.”
“On its face, the amendment is meaningless. Current U.S. law
already prohibits foreign governments from using American foreign
aid to lobby. But we understand the political motivation behind the
amendment, and for that reason, we will insist that it be dropped.”
“Our relationship with Turkey is too important to us to allow it to
be in any way damaged by a poorly crafted and ultimately
meaningless amendment.”
“Furthermore, we have no intention of scheduling H.Res. 193, as
reported out of the Judiciary Committee in April, during the
remainder of this Congress.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
July 6, 2004 Tuesday 3:38 PM Eastern Time
Armenia is main strategic partner of Russia – MP Kokoshin
By Susanna Adamyants, Alexandra Urusova
MOSCOW
Armenia “is our main strategic ally with which we have no problems,”
Chairman of the Duma Committee for CIS Affairs and Relations with
Compatriots Andrei Kokoshin said after negotiations with Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan.
“The regional situation requires coordinated security efforts in the
Caucasus, the South Caucasus in the first turn,” he said.
“Negotiations between Vartan Oskanyan and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov, and Oskanyan’s meeting with Russian parliamentarians
displayed identical opinions about all items on the agenda. Russian
deputies said they were ready to contribute to the development of
bilateral relations,” Kokoshin said.
“A number of conceptual issues need a closer discussion,” Oskanyan
said. “Many conflicts in the world and the region require close
cooperation between Moscow and Yerevan.”
Parties to the negotiations at the Russian Foreign Ministry said
“there is no alternative to peace settlement of regional conflicts,
including the one in Nagorno-Karabakh.” Armenia “is a prime partner
of Russia, an ally in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in
Europe, and a country with which Russia has lasting friendly
relations. In fact, we are one and the same people,” Lavrov said
referring to his Armenian blood.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress