Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

GAZPROM INCREASES ITS SHARE IN ARMROSGAZPROM UP TO 80%

Regnum, Russia
Feb 21 2007

Gazprom intends to increase its share in ArmRosgazprom (Armenia) up
to 80%. As a REGNUM correspondent is told at Gazprom’s press office,
at present moment Gazprom owns 57.6% of ArmRosgazprom shares.

The increase will take place in connection with an agreement of
March 31, 2006 that defines strategic principals of cooperation in
gas and energy projects in the Armenian territory. Gazprom intends
to extend its share at the expense of buying bonds of the company
issued additionally.

ArmRosgazprom is Armenia’s only natural gas supplier.Earlier, the
Armenian government owned 45% shares worth $126 mln, Gazprom had 45%
and Itera had 10% ($28 mln). The company’s authorized capital stock
was $280 mln. After Gazprom bought excess shares last year worth $118.8
mln, ArmRosgazprom’s authorized capital stock totaled $398.8 mln.
From: Baghdasarian

CAN CYPRUS PLAY THE OIL GAME?

Printed from: 59
21/02/2007

Now that the whole ‘striking oil’ fuss has died down and the experts
prepare to begin their preliminary work to see if there are any
sizeable natural gas or oil reserves, let alone if it is worth to
dig costly deepwater wells and pump the crude out, our politicians
should decide which game they want to play.

Playing with oil is like playing with fire, literally speaking.

Turkey has already made its hostile intentions well known, not just to
us, but to all countries that might operate potential oil exploration
companies.

Cyprus has no navy to protect its waters or its offshore resources and
Greece will not come to our aid as the government in Athens already
has its hands full with threats from Turkey of further conflicts and
minor skirmishes in the Aegean.

Turkey will continue to create tension in the area and will remain
on the offensive as long as this distracts world public opinion and
prevents it from abiding to any demands from Europe as regards human
rights, freedom of minorities and religious properties, the Kurdish
and Armenian problems, and of course Cyprus.

If the Cyprus problem were to be solved any time soon, or at least
seem to be on that path, then the dark clouds from the north could
disappear. But until then, we should know that we are on our own.

As long as the Cyprus problem has no hopes of being resolved and
Turkish threats continue to loom overhead, one easy solution would
be taking our time to review the bids. This could be delayed as any
Cyprus reserves will surely be smaller than discoveries further south
from our shores and international oil exploration companies would
not be in a rush to start digging off Cyprus.

On the other hand, Cyprus will also have to decide if it wants to
allocate exploration and then the potential exploitation contracts to
North American companies (with the hope of warming up to Washington),
to European companies (as all EU members would prefer us to do), or
to newcomers such as Egypt, which has a huge burden with the supply
contracts for natural gas that it will not be able to fulfill and
seeks to find new sources of energy supply.

Egypt, just like Turkey, is a growing country with its population
approaching 70-80 mln very soon. It is supposed to be the main supplier
of the Arab Gas Pipeline that ends on Syria’s border with Turkey,
while its own needs are growing rapidly inasmuch as its own crude
supplies will soon not be enough. The government in Cairo has even
resorted to alternative sources of energy with wind-generated power
plants now on the increase.

If we ignore the fact that the announcement of the winning bidders for
the 11 blocks off Cyprus has been suitably planned to coincide with
the final days of the presidential elections, the government should
get serious and decide who it wants as its ally – the Americans,
the French (who have a bone to pick with Turkey), or with Egypt.

The same mistake should not be made when the now-troubled state
carrier was contemplating buying new aircraft and the state, as its
main shareholder, could not decide whether to buy Boeings (and be
friendly with Washington) or Airbus (and be friendly with France
and Germany). As a result of dragging our feet and opting for both,
we owe favours to neither group on either side of the Atlantic.
From: Baghdasarian

THE WASHINGTON TIMES: CONGRESS HAS "MORE IMPORTANT PRIORITIES" THAN REVISITING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.02.2007 15:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U. S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled
a vote in April on the Armenian Genocide resolution. The Washington
Times reports, with the United States currently fighting a war for its
very survival against radical Islamists, Congress should have much
more important priorities than revisiting events that occurred more
than 80 years ago-particularly when doing so has the potential to
do serious damage to U.S. relations with Turkey, whose cooperation
will be critical to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq. "The reality
is that Armenian and Greek lobbying organizations hostile to Turkey
command far more power in Washington than do pro-Turkish groups. And
in their effort to settle old scores dating back to World War I, they
have the potential to damage our current ability to maintain Turkey’s
cooperation in stabilizing Iraq. At such a dangerous time, the United
States needs to be working more closely with both our Kurdish friends
in Iraq and our Turkish allies. But Mrs. Pelosi seems more interested
in playing ethnic politics in order to score some cheap political
points and win additional votes," The Washington Times reports.
From: Baghdasarian

GERMAN FM SEES SOME SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

ArmRadio.am
20.02.2007 17:58

Armenia has been repeatedly stating that it is ready to discuss any
question with Turkey on the level of governments if there are normal
diplomatic relations and open borders between the two countries. RA
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated during today’s joint press
conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier that
"the question is clear for us: Armenia has no preconditions in
establishing normal diplomatic relations with Turkey."

Noting that unsolved questions exist in Armenian-Turkish relations,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier emphasized the importance of normalizing
these relations.

According to him, there is some progress: representatives of Armenia
attended the funeral of the editor-in-chief of the Agos daily Hrant
Dink. He expressed hope that these signs will promote the improvement
of relations between the two countries.
From: Baghdasarian

MORE DETAILS ON INCIDENT IN RELAX

Panorama.am
19:26 19/02/2007

Armenian general prosecutor’s office web site says that the details
of the murder of M. Poghosyan and A. Hambarzumyan in Relax disco-club
on February 15 have been disclosed. The preliminary investigation is
under the charge of Kentron and Nork-Marash community courts.

According to information collected during the investigation,
V. Gevorgyan had an argument with M. Poghosyan and A. Hambarzumyan
at 03:45 on 15.02.2007 at Relax club.

V. Gevorgyan made a gun shot from Viking type gun, which he owned
legally, on M. Poghosyan and A. Hambarzumyan at their heads and chests
– vital organs of human body. After the murder, Gevorgyan escaped.

Based on the proofs, it was decided to propose several articles
of criminal code against V. Gevorgyan and announce him in
search. Preliminary investigation continues.
From: Baghdasarian

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON WORLD FINANCIAL MARKETS AND FOREIGN BUSINESS FINANCING EXPERIENCE IS HELD IN YEREVAN

Arminfo
2007-02-19 12:42:00

An International Seminar "World Financial Markets and Foreign Business
Financing Experience" is held in Yerevan and will last till February
20.

As the Executive Director of the First Mortgage Company universal
credit organization David Atanessyan, told ArmInfo, the are the Society
of International Business Fellows (SIBF), Sasakawa Peace Foundation
(Japan), Central Eurasia Leadership Academy and Global Network
Foundation. Attending the seminar will be about 55 representatives of
the financial markets of the UK, the US, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The head of the
Methodology Department of the Central Bank of Armenia David Sargsyan
has made a report about the financial market of Armenia. SIBF
representatives Meade Sutterfield has introduced the Problems of
business financing in the US to the Seminar participants.

A representative of SIBF Marry Madden will report about the competitive
strategy of the Company. SIBF and Cascade Investment company will
present their experience of different countries in developing capital
and securities markets. Representative of HSBC Bank Armenia will tell
how Armenian banks finance companies. IFC, EBRD, ABN AMRO and HSBC
Bank Armenia will present their project in different countries. During
the Seminar, the participants will also discuss a subject concerning
the risk management of initial business-projects.

To remind, Armenia has 21 commercial banks and 17 credit organizations
(1 credit union and 2 leasing companies). In 2006 the capital of
the banking system of Armenia toted $330.3mln, assets – $1.5bln,
credits – $700mln, profit – $47mln. In 2006 the aggregate capital of
17 credit organizations totaled $23.3mln, assets – $56.6mln, credits
– $45mln. According to the Agency of Rating, Marketing Information
(ArmInfo), First Mortgage Company is in the top ten in capital,
assets and crediting and in top five in profit.
From: Baghdasarian

Jurnalo, Germany
Feb 16 2007

Dispute over Jewish art looted by Nazis turns sour

Friday 16 February 2007 17:08

What started out as a gesture by the Dutch state aimed at righting a
60-year-old wrong and restoring a valuable art collection to the
descendents of its Jewish owner has degenerated into an unseemly
court wrangle over legal fees.Culture Secretary Medy van der Laan
decided in February last year to hand over 202 paintings, many of
them from the "golden" 17th Century of Dutch art, to a descendent of
Jacques Goudstikker, an art dealer who died fleeing the Nazis in
1940.

That descendant, Marei von Saher, was hauled before a court in The
Hague by one of the lawyers who had advised her in her quest to have
the paintings returned.

Roelof van Holthe tot Echten rejected the 1.3 million euros (17
million dollars) offered him and demanded 12 million euros instead.

This was precisely the kind of dispute that the Dutch authorities had
sought to avoid at all costs.

Van der Laan made her decision on moral and political grounds,
complying with the recommendation of a Restitution Commission set up
in 2002 specifically to look into art looted by the Nazis.

Dutch legal experts expressed the opinion that the legal case for
returning the paintings to Von Saher, the widow of Goudstikker’s son
Edo, was at best flimsy.

This was overshadowed by the deep sense that the wrongs done to the
substantial Jewish community during the years of the Nazi occupation
had to be set right, where possible.

Earlier settlements had been made with Goudstikker’s widow Desi,
dating back to 1952 and last revisited in 1999.

But the value of the collection, which includes a couple of
Rembrandts and a particularly notable work by Salomon Ruysdael, has
soared since the years of post-war austerity.

Directors of the art galleries, which held the works in trust and
displayed them to the public, were far from unanimously in favour of
Van der Laan’s decision.

Alexander van Grevenstein of the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht,
which had to surrender more than 30 works, spoke at the time of a
"serious haemorrhage of Dutch cultural heritage. "

Ahead of Friday’s court ruling compelling Von Saher to pay Van Holthe
tot Echten 8 million euros, one commentator said this was not so much
restitution as lucrative business for "an industry of lawyers,
advisers and art dealers. "

Writing in the NRC Handelsblad, Maarten Huygen queried both the
legality and legitimacy of decisions taken so long after the events
in question.

There were many other victims of war and genocide – Armenians,
Palestinians, descendents of slaves – he noted. Were they to be
compensated too?

"The legal merry-go-round in The Hague merely demonstrates the
senselessness of it all," Huygen said. dpa rpm bve sc

=18380
From: Baghdasarian

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Feb 16 2007

ARMENIAN BANKS PROVIDE 10,753 LOANS FOR AMD 24.6BLN UNDER GAF PROGRAM
IN 2006

YEREVAN. February 16. /ARKA/. Authorized Armenian banks provided
10,753 loans for crediting small and medium size enterprises for AMD
24,634.4mln (EUR 42,599) under the German Armenian Fund (GAF) program
in 2006. In 2005, the number of loans provided was 11,633 for amd
30,326.7mln (EUR 53,168.3ths). According to the Fund’s report, the
number of loans provided to the Armenian private business was 7.56%
lower than the level of 2005, and 18.77% lower (in AMD, and 19.9% in
EUR) in terms of the amount.
In December 2006, under the GAF program the banks provided 1368 loans
for AMD 2,411.3mln (EUR 5,036.8ths) against 889 loans for AMD
2,807.3mln in December 2005. Of the total number of loans provided in
December, those for the sector of commerce amounted to 35.3% – 483
loans for a total of EUR 2,233.9ths (44.35% of the total amount). The
production’s share amounted to 2.63% of the total number of loans,
that is 36 loans for EUR 542.8ths or 10.78% of the total amount of
loans provided in December.
The service sector received 27.4% of the total number of loans – 375
loans for EUR 1,497ths (29.7%). The agricultural sector was provided
with 472 loans (34.5%) for EUR 674.7ths (13.4%), and the construction
sector received two loans for EUR 88.4ths.
The geography of the loan provision in December looks in the
following way. In Yerevan, 303 loans for EUR 1,882.8ths were
provided, that is 37% of the total amount of loans provided in
December 2006. In Echmiadzin 111 loans for EUR 682.3ths were
provided, that is 14% of the total amount of loans provided in
December 2006.
Artashat received 498 loans for EUR 654.5ths or 13% of the total
amount, Abovyan received 115 loans for EUR 542.6ths or 11%. Vanadzor
received 52 loans for EUR 236.5ths or 5%. In Syunik 42 loans for EUR
226ths or 4% were provided, in Gavar – 81 loans for EUR 222ths or 4%,
in Gyumri – 82 loans for EUR 175.9ths, in Yeghegnadzor – 22 loans for
EUR 145.7ths, in Ashtarak – 37 loans for EUR 139.6ths, and in Tavush
– 25 loans for EUR 128.7ths.
Over the period of GAF activity in Armenia (since May 1999) 41,423
loans for a total of AMD 116,989mln have been provided, and the total
credit portfolio made up AMD 20,393.4mln or EUR 42,599ths as of
January 2007.
GAF was founded in 1998 under the Armenian-German intergovernmental
agreement on financial cooperation in support of small business in
Armenia. Five banks operate within the Fund: ACBA Credit Agricole,
Anelik Bank, Armeconombank, Converse Bank, and Inecobank. ($1 – AMD
357.17). R.O. -0–
From: Baghdasarian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 16 2007

Business group urges US congress on Armenian issue
In a letter sent to members of the US House of Representatives, the
American Business Forum in Turkey (ABFT) urged Congressional
representatives to reconsider the Armenian genocide resolution and
work toward reconciliation efforts between Turkish and Armenian
communities.
The ABFT, which represents about 70 US firms operating in Turkey,
said that the resolution was counterproductive and could set back
recent progress toward reconciliation between Armenians and Turks.
ABFT noted that the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
last month brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets in
sympathy and protest, and has compelled communities to work even
harder to achieve reconciliation based on inter-communal dialogue.
"The murder of Hrant Dink was tragic and great loss for Turkey," said
Galip Sukaya, ABFT chairman. "It has also renewed efforts between the
communities to achieve peaceful reconciliation. The path of dialogue
is the one to walk down, not judgment."
ABFT, which serves as an American Chamber of Commerce, also cited
the potential harm to investments and commercial relations between
the US and Turkey. "US companies invested $4 billion in Turkey just
last year. Trade between the US and Turkey shot up by 18 percent
last year to a record $12 billion. American companies are helping to
power the growth of the Turkish economy, which is rapidly raising
standards of living here."
From: Baghdasarian

OPPOSITION LEADERS TO AGAIN SHUN INDIVIDUAL PARLIAMENT SEATS
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 12 2007

Two top leaders of the Armenian opposition have reaffirmed their lack
of interest in nearly one third of the parliament seats that will be
contested on an individual basis in the elections slated for May 12.

Under Armenian law, the so-called "majoritarian" seats will be
distributed in 41 single-mandate constituencies across the country.

The other 90 parliament seats will be up for grabs under the system of
proportional representation whereby voters choose parties or alliances,
as opposed to individual candidates.

Opposition candidates have fared extremely poorly in the majoritarian
races that are increasingly characterized by vote buying and
voter intimidation. The bulk of the individuals elected to the
National Assembly from the single-mandate districts are wealthy
government-connected businessmen that hold sway in a particular part
of Yerevan and the country.

Consequently, the most prominent opposition figures did not run for
parliament on an individual basis in the previous elections held in May
2003, making it easier for the government camp to retain control of the
131-seat National Assembly. Armenia’s most radical opposition party,
Hanrapetutyun (Republic), suggested late last year that each of them
stand in one of the 41 districts and work together in trying to win
as many majoritarian seats as possible. Hanrapetutyun’s outspoken
leader, Aram Sarkisian, has already expressed such an intention,
as has another radical oppositionist, Aram Karapetian.

"If famous opposition politicians join the fray, they will help to
make the public more active and foil government plans," argued Suren
Sureniants, a senior member of Hanrapetutyun. "This is the logic behind
our proposal. We propose to open a new front [against the government]
that would be led by party leaders."

"By running in concrete electoral districts, the leaders must protect
the people against possible inroads by criminal elements," Sureniants
told RFE/RL. "Only respected politicians can do that."

The idea has been approved in principle by the leaders of other,
larger opposition groups, but they do not seem in any rush to open
negotiations on ways of putting it into practice. The two men who were
President Robert Kocharian’s main challengers in the 2003 presidential
election told RFE/RL on Monday that they themselves will not field
their candidacies in any electoral district and will only top the
proportional representation lists of their respective parties instead.

"It would be illogical for a leader with nationwide ambitions to
compete in a single district," said Artashes Geghamian of the National
Unity Party (AMK). "Everyone would agree that an army commander
should lead the entire front, rather than one of its sections, no
matter how important."

"The leaders of large parties should concentrate on their proportional
representation lists and strive for the victory of their parties,"
agreed Stepan Demirchian of the People’s Party of Armenia (HZhK). He
said although the HZhK has not yet made a final decision on the issue,
it "will put the emphasis on the party list in any case."

Another opposition heavyweight, former parliament speaker Artur
Baghdasarian, said late last week that his Orinats Yerkir Party is
still weighing up its options. Also undecided is Raffi Hovannisian,
the popular leader of the Zharangutyun party.
From: Baghdasarian