Author: Badalian Vardan

30 REPATRIATES GO TO ISRAEL FROM ARMENIA EACH YEAR
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22. ARMINFO. The outflow of Jewish repatriates from
Armenia to Israel has decreased in the last years, says the head of
the Jewish community of Armenia Rimma Varzhapetyan.
If earlier an average of 100 Jewish repatriates left Armenia each year
(except for the 90s when the outflow was at its peak) now this figure
is 30 people a year. 5 families are getting ready for repatriation
now. 800-1,000 people having repatriation right live in Armenia at
present but not all of them are ethnic Jews. Varzhapetyan explains
that repatriation right is given to people who are Jews in the fourth
paternal generation and in all maternal generations. There are also
special educational programs for schoolchildren and students.
Commenting on the decision of Sohnut to slash 1/3 of the budgets of
its CIS offices because of sharp decline in repatriation from the
former USSR Varzhapetyan says that this decision will hardly concern
Armenia. The question is about big offices.
To remind, over 200,000 Jewish repatriates went to Israel from the
former Soviet Union in the 90s against only 11,000 ones in 2004.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Jan 21 2005
New UNICEF representative takes over in Armenia
Flu illnesses cases not registered in Armenia in Jan 2005
2005 to be a year of resistance to external challenges for Armenia –
RA NA Deputy
S.Chzmachian: 2004 was unexampled successful for RA banking system
*********************************************************************
NEW UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE TAKES OVER IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, January 21. /ARKA/. Mr. Sheldon Yett, a U.S. citizen is
appointed new UNICEF Representative in Armenia, according to the
UNICEF Office in Armenia. The new UNICEF Representative has a 12-year
experience in the field of international development and has been
working iwith UNICEF headquarters in New York as a coordinator of
humanitarian issues and has also served in Somalia, Burundi and
Kosovo, as well as in other field duty stations.
The new UNICEF representative in Armenia has already met with the RA
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, and looks forward to working with
the Government of Armenia and other counterparts. L.V.-0–
*********************************************************************
FLU ILLNESSES CASES NOT REGISTERED IN ARMENIA IN JAN 2005
YEREVAN, January 21. /ARKA/. Flu illnesses cases were not registered
in Armenia in Jan 2005, Chief Doctor of Infection Clinics `Nork’ Ara
Asoyan stated today. According to him, at the moment 32 people are at
the hospital with respiratory diseases, however none of them has flu.
He added that there were no registered cases of botulism in 2005.
L.D. -0 –
*********************************************************************
2005 TO BE A YEAR OF RESISTANCE TO EXTERNAL CHALLENGES FOR ARMENIA –
RA NA DEPUTY
YEREVAN, January 21. /ARKA/. 2005 will be a year of resistance to
numerous external challenges for Armenia, as stated historian Hamlet
Harutunyan, the RA NA deputy in the National Press Club today.
According to him, the political forces of the country should
consolidate around the national problems, in particular, the Karabakh
issue. The statement of the US Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth
Jones, he considers in the context of USA testing the interpolitical
stability in the country. Such checkups, according to him, can be
expected on the part of Russia as well. `They cannot thrust the
unfavorable settlement of the Karabakh conflict on us, if we come out
as one’, noted the deputy. At that, Harutunyan added that the problem
of change of power will not be pressing this year, as the opposition
has missed the opportunity which could be carried out in 2004. L.V.
-0 –
*********************************************************************
S.CHZMACHIAN: 2004 WAS UNEXAMPLED SUCCESSFUL FOR RA BANKING SYSTEM
Exclusive Interview of Samvel CHZMACHIAN, the Chairman Armenian Banks
Union to ARKA News Agency
ARKA – What was 2004 for RA banking system?
S.Chzmachian – 2004 was unexampled successful for RA banking system.
Thus, the assets of the system grew by 27.1% and achieved 365 billion
AMD and it is very good indicator. The credits grew by 39.6% and made
more than 130 billion AMD, total authorized capital grew by 6.7% and
stood at 39.2 billion AMD. Total capital of the banks grew by 26.5%
and achieved more than 63 billion AMD. Profit of the banks exceeded
10 billion AMD, having increased by 58.6%. Unfortunately not all the
banks can independentely overcome normative level on total capital in
$5 million by July 1, 2005. They now conduct negotiations with
investors and in favourable result they will be able to attract new
shareholders and remain in banking field.
ARKA – How do you estimate CB decision to increase the normative on
total capital for newly creating banks from $5 million to $10
million? What do you think, will the given normative change for
acting banks?
S.Chzmachian – Using the opportunity, I ask CB not to change the
demand to the capital for acting banks in near 5 years. According to
the information I poses, neither one country in Europe and Asia and
even in America, besides Kazakhstan, has the demands on capital more
than $5 million. I think, in this issue we should try to present
ourselves as bigger Catholics than Rome Pope, because it can lead to
losing of investors’ interest to banking activity in our country. The
banks themselves understand that it is necessary to increase the
capital and competition will lead to it without pressure by CB. CB
has made much for the banking system in the whole, however I think
that negative conditions that occurred in banking system in last 2-3
years, namely bankrupt Ardshinbank and Credit-Yerevan Bank, should
frighten our main bank, so much that it made such a decisions.
Armenian Banks Union asks CBA not to make decision when either the
sum of the capital is decreasing, or minimal demands to it are
growing.
ARKA – What risks expect banking system in 2005?
S.Chzmachian – We must be maximally careful in the issue of
crediting, must correspond to new demands on foreign exchange
position. The banks must be very attentive in fulfillment of demands
of new law on fight against money laundry and financing of terrorism,
because even one mistake committed by one bank can have significantly
negative influence on the whole banking system of Armenia. The banks
must be careful in hiring people. I would like to mention that
corporate management implemented by CB should not envisage full
depersonalization of people. L.D. -0 –

Armenian group stages demo over editorial on US official’s remarks
Noyan Tapan news agency
21 Jan 05
YEREVAN
The Stability public movement staged a protest outside the editorial
office of Armenia’s Aravot newspaper in the Press House on 21
January. They demanded that either the newspaper publish a denial of
an editorial in its latest issue or the editor-in-chief of the
newspaper leave the country as a “traitor”.
The editorial said the following: “In the opinion of some observers,
the statement of US Assistant State Secretary for European and
Eurasian Affairs Elizabeth Jones that the Nagornyy Karabakh
authorities are ‘corrupt’ and ‘criminal’ is absolutely slanderous, for
the ‘corrupt’ and ‘criminal’ elements of Karabakh have long moved to
Armenia.”
Burning the 20 January issue of Aravot, members of the movement said
that the protest is directed against the bias of the newspaper, not
against freedom of conscience or democracy. In their view, the article
was “reprinted from the Turkish press and is in line with the way of
thinking of the Turkish rabble”. The protesters carried slogans
“Aravot is a traitor”.
The newspaper has no intention of refuting its opinion and does not
take seriously the opinion of these “young people”, the
editor-in-chief of Aravot, Aram Abramyan, told Noyan Tapan news
agency. He said that the protesters may express their indignation on
the pages of Aravot.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
POLITICAL AND CHURCH LEADERS IN ANTELIAS
Antelias, Lebanon – The last week was also marked by the visits of
political, diplomatic and religious leaders to Antelias. Among the visitors
were the former president of Lebanon, cabinet ministers, deputies,
ambassadors, Moslem and Christian community leaders.
The discussion of the dignitaries with His Holiness Aram I covered the
internal situation in Lebanon, in light of growing opposition and
forthcoming elections, situation in Iraq, the actual state of peace process,
Christian-Moslem dialogue, and the Ecumenical witness of the Armenian
Catholicosate on regional and international levels.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Xinhua General News Service
January 19, 2005 Wednesday 2:30 PM EST
AL urges US to adopt “new policy” in Middle East
CAIRO
Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa on Wednesday urged the United
States to adopt a “new policy” toward conflicts in the Middle East,
especially the Palestinian-Israeli issue, Egypt’s official MENA news
agency reported.
Condoleezza Rice, designated US secretary of state, used “new
language” when talking about the US Mideast policy at Tuesday’s
confirmation hearing in the Senate, Moussa was quoted as telling
visiting Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.
“We hope the new language used by Rice can be turned into new
actions,” Moussa said, adding the United States should act as a ”
true mediator” on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
He also blasted Israel for its “aggressions against the Palestinian
people,” saying the current Israeli policy would only exacerbate the
situation in the region.
On the Iraqi file, Moussa warned against sectarian conflicts between
majority Shiite Muslims and minority Sunni Muslims in the country.
“Iraq should not be divided on a sectarian basis,” he said.
He said that the Iraqi parliamentarian elections slated for Jan. 30
were an important part of the political process in the country, and
urged all Iraqis to vote.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Jan 18 2005
Putin, Bush to discuss Garabagh conflict in Bratislava

US and Russian presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin will discuss
ways of settling the Upper Garabagh conflict in Bratislava in
February, along with other issues, says US Assistant Secretary for
European and Eurasian Affairs Elizabeth Jones.
The two presidents will call for stepping up activity in the area of
resolving conflicts in the former Soviet Union countries, including
the Garabagh conflict, she said.
Jones also indicated that the Bush administration is concerned over
the lack of influence on part of Moscow in settling the conflict.
`We believe that Russia should be interested in the resolution of
conflicts over Upper Garabagh, North Ossetia, Abkhazia and Dnestr.’

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
January 13, 2005 Thursday 10:18 AM Eastern Time
Azerbaijan-Armenia talks in Prague yield no results – diplomat
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva and Viktor Shulman
BAKU
The talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in
Prague on January 11 have not yielded any concrete results, said
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, who is also
presidential special envoy for the talks on Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Azimov said, “There are
many disagreements. The talks are being held in a difficult
atmosphere.” At the same time, he noted that both sides are
interested in reaching concrete agreements.
“Azerbaijan favours the peaceful settlement of the conflict in
compliance with the norms of international law in order to preserve
the country’s territorial integrity,” the Azerbaijani diplomat
stressed.
The restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is one of the
key problems in ensuring peace in the region, but this will not solve
the problem in full, he added. One of the major purposes is to
convince the Azerbaijani and Armenian population to live in peace,
but “now it’s early to talk about it,” the diplomat pointed out.
Commenting on possible compromises, Azimov said it is possible to
reach any compromise if both sides succeed in bringing their
positions closer.
“The frozen situation will not give any results,” the diplomat said.
Azerbaijan seeks to discuss the problem related to freeing seven
occupied regions of the country that may help restore traffic and
restore economic cooperation with Armenia, Azimov said.
The next round of talks may be held at the end of February. In his
words, the U.N. special mission is expected to visit the region on
January 28. It includes representatives of the countries co-chairing
in the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh – Russia, the U.S. and
France, as well as members of the Minsk Group – Finland, Italy,
Sweden and Germany.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone 212.319.6383 x.118
Fax 212.319.6507
Email [email protected]
Website
PRESS RELEASE
Monday, January 3, 2005
AGBU YOUNG PROFESSIONALS RAISE $3,000 FOR AGBU CHILDREN’S CENTERS IN
ARMENIA! AGBU-YPNC TO HOST 6th ANNUAL “WINTER GALA GETAWAY WEEKEND”
ON JANUARY 28-30, 2005 IN DOWNTOWN SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco, CA – In anticipation of the sixth annual “Winter Gala
Getaway Weekend” from January 28-30th in downtown San Francisco, AGBU
Young Professionals of Northern California got a head start on
November 12th. A successful fundraiser was held at a new lounge in San
Francisco and raised $3,000 for the AGBU Children’s Centers in
Armenia.
Armenians and their friends came out to “Blend,” a new trendy hotspot
in the heart of San Francisco’s North Beach. Guests arrived throughout
the evening and were greeted with a great mix of people and live
music. Along with funds raised for the AGBU Children’s Centers, the
evening was an opportunity to offer the details of the highly
anticipated “Winter Gala Getaway Weekend” set for January 28-30, 2005.
This three-day weekend extravaganza will kick off on Friday January
28th at Schroeder’s with a live DJ for guests to meet, mingle and
dance. During the day on Saturday guests will have the opportunity to
walk around beautiful San Francisco, shop, ride cable cars or visit
Fisherman’s Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge. Saturday night’s Winter
Gala will take place at The Lodge in the Regency Building. The evening
begins with a cocktail hour, followed by a gourmet dinner and then
dancing to George Baghdoyan’s band. The festivities conclude on Sunday
with a farewell brunch. Stay tuned for more detailed information.
Guests will stay at Hotel Nikko on Union Square where they will enjoy
the finest in luxury accommodations. To reserve your room, call
reservations at 1-800-645-5687 or 415-394-111 and mention code:
AGBU. The special room rate of $155+tax, is available until December
24th and while rooms remain! Reserve your rooms now so you don’t miss
out on this unique opportunity to stay in one of San Francisco’s top
hotels.
For more information about the weekend, please contact Sako
Soghomonian at [email protected] or (510) 259-7737, or visit
our website

news.com.au
January 1, 2005
Yushchenko rings in New Year
>From correspondents in Kiev, Ukraine
January 1, 2005
UKRAINE opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko rang in the New Year with
Georgia’s leader today in central Kiev, hours after Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovich resigned and all but admitted losing a presidential rerun vote.
In an appearance sure to irritate Russia, Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili joined Mr Yushchenko in hailing Ukraine’s “orange revolution”,
which followed Tbilisi’s “rose” uprising last year.
“This is a triumph of good over evil,” a beaming Mr Saakashvili said in
Ukrainian to some 100,000 people gathered in Kiev’s central Independence
Square, the epicentre of the “orange” protests which he fervently supported,
albeit in private.
“I am a president and because of my official position I couldn’t come here,
but my heart was on Khreshchatik (Kiev’s main thoroughfare)… I must say
that these last few days I have felt like a native of Kiev,” said Mr
Saakashvili, who attended university in the city.
“I wish you a happy new year with your new president,” he said. “You have a
super president, he is a good friend of mine and a great politician.”
For his part Mr Yushchenko said: “Ukrainians have been independent for 13
years but now they are free,” a few moments before midnight when fireworks
exploded over the Kiev sky.
The celebration came hours after Mr Yushchenko’s pro-Russia electoral rival
Mr Yanukovich resigned from his post and said that his appeals over the
historic December 26 vote were unlikely to be granted.
“I have made a decision and am formally submitting my resignation,”
Yanukovich said in a televised address. “I find it impossible to occupy any
post in a government headed by these authorities.”
But Mr Yanukovich stopped short of conceding defeat in the poll, which would
have brought Ukraine’s six-week election saga to an end.
“Concerning the election results, we are keeping up the fight but I don’t
have much hope for a just decision from the central election commission and
the supreme court,” he said.
Mr Yanukovich repeated his assertion that “external forces” were responsible
for his defeat in the December 26 vote.
But he got no support from Ukraine’s outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, who
called on the nation during his New Year address to “accept the democratic
choice” made in the presidential poll.
Ukraine’s “orange revolution” marked the second year in a row that peaceful
protests headed by a Western-leaning leader swept out a Russia-friendly
regime in an ex-Soviet nation.
Moscow has accused the United States of fomenting the unrest in order to
install allies in its strategic backyard, charges that Washington has
denied.
But opposition movements in authoritarian-leaning former Soviet republics
and Russia have hailed the peaceful uprisings and in the heat of the
“orange” demonstrations, Belarussians, Armenians, Azeris and Russians
mingled with Ukrainian protesters in central Kiev.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Saakashvili was mobbed by hundreds of wildly cheering
opposition supporters as he walked through a tent city in central Kiev set
up in Mr Yushchenko’s support after he refused to concede defeat to Mr
Yanukovich in a November 21 runoff because of fraud.
Mass opposition demonstrations led to the annulment of the runoff election
due to massive fraud, remade Ukraine into a de facto parliamentary republic
and led to a historic rerun vote on December 26, which Mr Yushchenko won by
more than 2.2 million votes.
Agence France-Presse

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian International Policy Research Group
P.O. Box 28179
Washington, DC 20038-9998
USA
Phone: (202) 623-8605, (202) 458-2589
Fax: (202) 478-0934
E-mail: [email protected]
Yerevan Office
40 Baghramian Ave.
Yerevan, Armenia 375 019
Phone: (3741) 512-670
Fax: (3741) 512-679
Third Annual AIPRG International Conference on Armenia
Income Distribution and Social Safety Nets
January 15-16, 2005
The World Bank
For online registration, go to:
Conference Program
Day 1: Saturday, January 15
7:30 AM Registration and Coffee
8:30 AM Introduction and Welcoming Remarks
Introductory Remarks: AIPRG Co-Chairs
Welcoming Remarks: H.E. Arman Kirakossian, Ambassador of Armenia in the U.S.
Keynote Opening Address: Vahram Nercissiantz, Chief Economic Adviser to the
President of Armenia and AIPRG Advisory Board
Conference Thematic Address: Haroutone Armenian, President of American
University of Armenia and AIPRG Advisory Board
Session I – Growth and Development
Chair: Mohsin S. Khan, Director, Middle East and Central Asia
Department, IMF*
9:30 AM Julian Karaguesian, Ministry of Finance, Canada
Reversing Armenia’s De-Industrialization: the Role of Strong Governance and
Solid Institutions
Discussant: Saumya Mitra, Lead Economist, The World Bank
10:15 AM Bryan Roberts, BearingPoint, USA
Armenia’s Remittances: Economic Impact and Optimizing Strategy
Discussant: Ralph Chami, Deputy Division Chief, International Monetary Fund
11:00 AM Coffee Break
Session II – Macroeconomic Policies
Chair: Padreep Mitra, Chief Economist, Europe and Central Asia Region,
The World Bank *
11:30 AM Bagrat Tunyan, The World Bank Armenia Office
The Shadow Part of the Armenian Economy: Size, Causes, and Consequences
Discussant: Professor Jeffrey Miller, University of Delaware
12:15 PM Grigor Sargsyan, Central Bank of Armenia
Inflation and Output in Armenia: the Threshold Effect Revisited
Discussant: Levon Barseghyan, Assistant Professor, Cornell
University and AIPRG
1:00 PM Lunch (World Bank Executive Dinning Room)
Keynote Luncheon Speaker: Professor William Easterly, New York
University, Department of Economics*
Session III – Poverty and Income Distribution
Chair: Ad Melkert, Executive Director, The World Bank, and AIPRG
Advisory Board
2:30 PM Gohar Minasyan, IMF Armenia Office
Aghassi Lazarian, UNDP Armenia Office
Factors Behind Rural Poverty in Armenia
Discussant: Martin Ravallion, Research Manager, The World Bank*
3:15 PM Astghik Minasyan, Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, Armenia
Hasmik Ghukasyan, USAID/PADCO Armenia Office
Targeting State Social Assistance to the Most Needy: the
Armenian Experience
Discussant: Professor Ara Khanjian, Ventura College and AIPRG
4:00 PM Coffee Break
4:30 PM Discussion Session IV – Reforms in Health and Social Services
Chair: Carolann Najarian, President, Armenian Health Alliance
Panelists: Sergey Khachatryan and Lusine Aydinyan, Health Project
Implement. Unit, Arm.
Beneficiary Assessment of the First Stage of Armenian Health Sector
Optimization
Marine Adamyan, World Vision Armenia Office
Integrated Approaches to Well-Being and Quality of Life
Improvement
Hilda Grigorian, Grigorian Business Consultants, USA
Trafficking of Women and Young Girls in Armenia: Reality or
Myth?
8:00 PM Reception at the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Hosted by H.E. Ambassador Arman Kirakossian
Location: Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Day 2: Sunday, January 16
Session I – Governance and Civil Society
Chair: E.J. Dionne, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution*
9:00 AM Arman Khachaturyan and Mark Airaudo, Centre for European Policy
Studies, Belg.
The Political Economy of Transition in Armenia: Quo Vadis?
Discussant: Phil Uhlmann, Assistant Professor, Bentley College and
Fletcher School of Diplomacy, Tufts University
9:45 AM Anna Ohanyan, Simmons College and University of Massachusetts,
USA
Civilizing Civil Society: Framework for Tri-Sectoral Civil
Society Engagement
and Negotiation Culture in Armenia
Discussant: Professor William Ascher, Vice President and Dean of the
Faculty,
Claremont McKenna College and AIPRG Advisory Board
10:30 AM Coffee Break
Session II – Public and Private Services Provision
Chair: Michael Blackman, Deputy Director, Office of Economic
Restructuring and Energy,
US Agency for International Development, Mission to Armenia
11:00 AM Paul Holden and Vahe Sahakyan, The Enterprise Research
Institute, USA
Issues Related to Promoting Competitive Business Environment in
Armenia
Discussant: Professor Richard Beilock, University of Florida and
AIPRG
11:45 AM Audrey Selian, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, USA
The Use of IC Technologies in the Armenian Government
Discussant: Greg Aftandilian, Independent Consultant
12:30 PM Lunch (Lobby of the Main Complex, The World Bank)
Keynote Luncheon Speaker: Vahan Zanoyan, President and CEO,
PFC Energy Corporation
2:00 PM Discussion Session III – Trade and Geopolitics
Chair: Hratch Tchilingirian, Associate Director, Eurasia Program, Judge
Institute of
Management, University of Cambridge, UK
Panelists: Karine Torosyan, Department of Economics, Oregon State
University, USA
Armenia’s Trade Structure in Comparative Prospective
Asbed Kotchikian, Boston University, USA
Border Politics: the Political and Geopolitical Implications of
Opening of
Turkish-Armenian Border
Richard Giragosian, Abt Associates and AIPRG
Toward a New Concept of Armenian National Security
4:00 PM Discussion Session IV – Diaspora-Armenia Economic Link
Chair: Noubar Afeyan, Managing Partner and CEO, Flagship Ventures
and Senior Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Panelists: Berge Ayvazian, Armenian High Tech Council of America and AIPRG
Strategic Direction’s of the Diaspora in Armenia’s Economic
Development
Aaron Shirinian, U.S. Embassy in Armenia
On Donor Aid Coordination and Its Relevance for the Diaspora
Assistance
Kaia Miller, Aslan Global and Armenia2020
The Essential Element in Effective Diaspora-Homeland Partnerships: A
Discussion of Views from Armenia and Its Diaspora
* – invited.