Author: Boshkezenian Garik

Russian Supreme Court delays deliberation of senator’s issue
ITAR-TASS News Agency
August 18, 2006 Friday 05:45 AM EST
MOSCOW, August 18 — Russia’s Supreme Court on Friday again postponed
deliberation of the issue of whether there were hallmarks of crime in
actions by Federation Council senator from Kalmykia Levon Chakhmachian.
“The Court’s session cannot take place without the presence of
my client, who remains in hospital,” Chakhmachian’s lawyer Boris
Kuznetsov told Itar-Tass.
The senator’s condition has worsened. “Due to deteriorating health,
he is likely to be connected to an artificial kidney,” Kuznetsov said.
On June 6, the Prosecutor General’s Office asked the Court to give
a qualification of Chakhmachian’s actions which may be covered by
Part 4 of Article 159 of Russia’s Criminal Code /fraud committed by
an organized group or grand fraud/.
Chief accountant of the Association of Russo-Armenian business
cooperation Igor Arushanov and assistant auditor of the Audit Chamber
Armen Oganesyan were detained in Moscow on June 2 on suspicion of
taking a large bribe.
According to investigators, they demanded 1.5 million dollars from
a businessman for taking out negative information from an audit report.
Levon Chakhmachian happened to be in their office when detectives
seized 300,000 of marked dollar bills.
However, as a FC member, he enjoys immunity, so no procedures were
instituted against him. Arushanov and Oganesyan were arrested.
In accordance with the Criminal Code, judges will meet behind closed
doors to consider the Chakhmachian issue.
Chakhmakhchian was elected senator of the Federation Council from
Kalmykia in 2004. He occupied the post of Deputy Chairman of the
Committee for problems of local governments.
On June 23, 2006, the Kalmyk parliament, on a presentation by Speaker
of the Federation Council upper house of the Russian parliament Sergei
Mironov, voted for early termination of Chakhmachian’s powers.

AZERBAIJAN TRANSFERS TO ATTACK TACTICS IN INFORMATION WAR WITH ARMENIA – HEAD OF SCWALA
Author: A.Mammadova
TREND, Azerbaijan
Aug. 17, 2006
According to the order of the president, Azerbaijan transfers to the
tactics of attack in the information war with Armenia, the chairman of
the State Committee for Work with Azerbaijanis Living Abroad (SCWALA)
Nazim Ibrahimov told on August 17, Trend reports.
He stressed that a forum of Azerbaijanis working in foreign mass
media will be held in 2007. It will be one of the works directed
towards bringing the realities of Azerbaijan to the attention of the
world public.
Besides, Ibrahimov noted that it is planned to hold the forum
of scientific workers so that they assist in the information
war. After the next conference of the heads of Azerbaijani diplomatic
representations, the diaspora of Azerbaijan, together with the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, will strengthen its activities.

MONEY TRANSFERS RECEIVED FROM ABROAD BY THE HOUSEHOLDS IN ARMENIA IN 2005
Source: Central Bank of Armenia web-site ()
ArmRadio.am
17.08.2006 12:32
The inflow of money transfers from abroad into Armenia via banking
system during 2003-2005 totaled to 580 mln USD annually or about 15.5%
of GDP.
According to some experts’ assessment, the estimation of the total
volume of money transfers (including non-bank transfers) needs to
be adjusted up by 20-30% to account for alternative routes of money
receipts.
It is very important to realize that complete information (covering not
only bank transfers) will significantly contribute to the efficiency
of economic policy implementation. With this in mind, as well as
considering the growth pattern of transfers and the pressure they
exert on the foreign exchange market, the Central Bank of Armenia
(CBA) initiated the conduct of a survey to estimate the total volume
of transfers to Armenia. The survey was carried out by “Alpha-Plus”
consulting company during February-April 2006 and was financed by the
World Bank. The questionnaire was designed by the CBA and reviewed by
Alpha-Plus. The CBA’s External Sector Statistics Division of Statistics
Department has analyzed the data and prepared the final study.
The survey covers three basic dimensions: 2000 households receiving
money transfers, 2000 respondents sending money transfers from Moscow,
and several organizations engaged in providing money transfer services
in Armenia.
The major objective of the survey was to estimate the volume of money
transfers received by the Armenian households in 2005. The transfers
are defined to include not only money sent by relatives, friends
of the recipients, but also transfers of compensations received
by seasonal workers abroad. Other objectives were to disclose the
main routes of money inflow into Armenia, as well as the geographic
coverage, seasonality, sustainability, spending structure, and other
characteristics of money transfers. Remittance senders’ profile and
motives were also studied.
According to the results of the survey, in 2005 the Armenian households
received money transfers in the amount of about 940 mln USD. On average
37% of households are transfer recipients who receive around 1,434
USD per annum. The average transfer size is about 353 USD (which
contrasts to 692 USD in banking transfers).
The seasonal distribution of transfers suggests that the bulk of
money transfers are received in December – about 13% of total (the
respective number according to banks’ reports is 12%). The second
largest volume of transfers is received in August – 9.5% – coinciding
again with the data reported by banks – 10.6%.
78% of money transfers received by the Armenian households is mediated
by banks which is rather high proportion. Most of the respondents
indicated that banking transfers are preferred because they provide
swiftness of transfers and reliability. The second popular mode
of transfers is sending cash through some people or organizations,
which represents 12.5% of total transfers.
Money transfers mostly originate from Russia (72.2% of total),
followed by the USA (14.3%). Other major sources are Germany, Greece,
and Ukraine (5.2% combined). USA-originated money transfers are mostly
made through specialized organizations providing this service.
30.6% of money transfers are sent by seasonal workers, while 69.4%
are sent by non-residents.
Over half of money transferers are employed in construction (36%)
and trade (20%) industries. Other industries include transportation
and communication (mostly drivers) – 4% and other services (auto body
shop workers, programmers, etc.) – 5.6%.
Regarding sustainability of transfer flows, 84.5% of respondents
informed that they believed they would continue receiving money
transfers. 6.2% of respondents could not comment, and 9.3% of
respondents answered that they would stop receiving money from
abroad. For 54% of this latter category the reason is that the money
transferer moves back to Armenia.
For the recipient households the amount of money transfers on average
makes up 47.8% of their income. This proportion holds around the same
for both urban and rural population.
The average income of the recipient households is about 4,500 USD
per annum.
For those living in Yerevan the corresponding amount is 3,400 USD,
for other urban households – 4,900 USD, and for households living
in rural areas – 5,100 USD (per capita income is 71 USD, 71 USD,
and 90 USD respectively).
The average recipient household spends 76% of total money transfers
on current consumption, 6.1% – on education, 1.2% – on the purchase
of real estate, 2.0% on investing in business activity, and saves 1.1%.
The analysis of Moscow respondents’ responses revealed that they
sent to Armenia as much as 27% of their income, which is quite a
high share, indicative of close relationship between the tranferer
and the recipient.
67% of Moscow respondents disclosed that the volume of money transfers
they send will increase over time. 31% of respondents informed that the
amount of transfer and their income are not correlated. This result
corresponds to the fact that many of those sending money to their
parents setup permanent residence in Moscow with their families,
therefore the increase in their income will not affect the amount
transferred, but rather on their own spending behavior. Probably,
that is the reason why the answer “the amount of money transfer will
not change” dominates in the answers of the respondents sending money
to their parents.
The analysis attempted also to reveal the respondents’ ties with
Armenia.
28% of respondents rejected the idea of ever returning to Armenia. 25%
of respondents mentioned that if paid 300-600 USD per month they would
consider coming back home. Another question asking if won 50,000
USD how would this money spent, 36% of respondents indicated their
willingness to return, 12% of respondents would send part of this
money to Armenia, 7% of respondents would buy housing in Armenia.
Below are presented the conclusions on the sustainability based on
the responses to other questions related to this point:
· since, as mentioned above, 72% of money transfers are originated
in Russia, from sustainablility perspective it becomes crucial to
possess updated information on the economic developments of Russia;
· other conclusions which need further testing are: – 78% of total
transfers are regular, 84.1% of Moscow-originated transfers are also
sent periodically allowing to categorize them as sustainable; – 63.6%
of money recipients are sent the transfers more than 3 times per year
evidencing close ties between the transferer and the recipient; – only
a small share of money transfers is saved therefore suggesting their
sustainability. Usually the households tend to save more when they
expect that the transfers will discontinue; – 84.5% of respondents
expected that transfer inflows are sustainable; – the main motive of
transferers is altruism confirming that transfer flows are stable and
continuous; – 90.5% of Moscow respondents also believe that they will
continue sending money; – only 5.6% of recipients receive money from
relatives living abroad for more than 15 years, suggesting strong
ties with the transferers living abroad less than 15 years; – over
75% of recipients receive money from family members, mostly from a
son/daughter or from the head of the family; – 65% of money sent from
Moscow is intended for family members (24%) and parents (41%). As long
as parents are less inclined to leave their home country the money
transfers received by this group may be considered as sustainable.
These conclusions help us to assess the overall sustainability of
money transfers into Armenia based on factors, such as the degree
of economic development, the profiles of money recipients and money
transferers, the proximity between these two groups, as well as the
share of seasonal workers in total number of money transferers and
factors affecting working seasonally abroad.
In summary, this study is the first in Armenia large-scale analysis
in the field due to its coverage and scale. The survey contains very
valuable information policy makers too. It will be complemented by
another survey to be conducted in September-November 2006 in Los
Angeles, USA among money transferers.
The reliability of the study results will certainly increase if more
surveys are conducted on a continual basis at least for a couple of
years to come.
This will allow to estimate and forecast the trends in the volumes
of money transfers in Armenia.
–Boundary_(ID_ZwVnlmsE2Vn8xx0UiV9fLg)–

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SAYS CHEMICAL PLANT TO BE SOLD TO RUSSIAN COMPANY
Arminfo
11 Aug 06
Yerevan, 11 August: A Russian company has shown interest in the
Vanadzor chemical plant and negotiations have been going on for four
months already, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan told journalists
during his visit to Lori Region today.
“In my assessment, if an agreement is reached, this will open new
prospects for the plant,” the president pointed out, adding that he
is being careful, taking account of the unsuccessful experience of
the past. He said that this issue was discussed at today’s meeting
with the leadership of Lori Region. The president did not say which
Russian company he was talking about.
“The plant can operate,” the president pointed out, adding that the
interest shown in the plant confirms this conclusion. “However, the
plant should be updated as it needs new technologies,” the president
said, asking Vanadzor residents to be more patient.
At the request of the potential buyer, the plant suspended its
operation after the beginning of the talks.
[Passage omitted: The plant was sold to a Russian businessman of
Armenian origin in 1999, but could not get off the ground due to high
fuel prices]

AZERBAIJANI PRISONS ARE REAL PARADISE
E. Babayan.
Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
11 Aug 2006
Perhaps this opinion is dominant in the neighboring republic, otherwise
Arzu Abdullayeva, the chair of the Azerbaijani committee of Helsinki
Civil Association would not announce in the press conference with the
Azerbaijani media, ” I had not seen worse conditions anywhere else
than in the prison of the town of Shushi.” The Azerbaijani defender
of human rights arrived in Karabakh for a two-day visit, and she had
a chance to meet with NKR President Arkady Ghukassian, the local NGOs
and even visit Shushi. The visit naturally sparked a strong reaction
among the Azerbaijani society. After returning to Baku Ms. Abdullayeva
gave a press conference and told about her impressions from
Karabakh. Unfortunately, some facts described by the Azerbaijani human
rights defender are not real. We asked Albert Voskanian, the chair
of the Civil Action Center Karabakh to comment on Arzu Abdullayeva’s
statement that in the prison of Shushi she became convinced that the
worst conditions are found in the prison of Shushi. She said, “The
first floor, where they keep 300 inmates, reminds a stable. I asked
to take us to the second floor. When our guides got instructions from
“above”, we quickly passed by the cells on the upper floor.
Although it has been slightly repaired, some writings on the walls
made by the Azerbaijani POWs are still visible…” Albert Voskanian
said, “The Civic Action Center NGO that I lead regularly conducts
monitoring of NKR penitentiaries and reports to international,
regional and local organizations. The prison of Shushi was built in
1869. Its initial appearance was preserved in the Soviet times and
was similarly passed over to independent Nagorno Karabakh. This
penitentiary with 5 degrees of security is foreseen for 350
people. We have been conducting monitoring of the prison for many
years, and over this period the number of inmates was between 60 and
80. During the visit of Abdullayeva there were 78 prisoners, and 300
inmates mentioned by the Azerbaijani defender of human rights is not
true. As for the “stable”, during the visits of foreign, including
Azerbaijani defenders of human tights to the prison they reported
normal conditions, including hygiene, food, medical service. Every
year the cells are partly repaired. Of course, the conditions are
far from the European standards, but these are being improved, and
our organization has a considerable contribution. It gives advice to
the leadership of the prison and provides aid, including computers,
newspapers, medicine, etc.” Arzu Abdullayeva said the Azerbaijani
POWs are kept in Kelbadjar, in a place called Tunnel. She said it
is a gold mine, where the Azerbaijani POWs allegedly work. In this
connection Albert Voskanian said, “For already 13 years I have been
dealing with this problem (in 1993-1997 Albert Voskanian was deputy
chair of the NKR State Commission on POWs, Hostages and the Missing)
and I state that all the Azerbaijani POWs returned home within two
years after the cease-fire signed in May 1994. In cooperation with
our Azerbaijani counterparts we exchanged or returned to Azerbaijan
several hundreds of POWs, and tens of bodies.” As for the words of Arzu
Abdullayeva that “the soldiers of the Sumgait regiment were buried
near Aghdara”, Albert Voskanian said “necessary efforts are made
to find the places of mass burial, and it is not expedient to make
suggestions, and even specify names of people relying on rumors. It
may deal a new psychological blow to the relatives of the missing,
which would not be useful for the search.”

SUMMER FILM ACADEMY FESTIVAL FEATURES INDIAN FILMS
PAP Polish Press Agency
PAP News Wire
August 8, 2006 Tuesday
Over 200 films grouped in 11 theme sets are in the programme of the
Summer Film Academy LAF festival underway in Zwierzyniec, Lublin
province. The event which opened last weekend to run till mid-August
features 11 films by Indian director Satyajit Ray.
“The first in Poland review of pictures by the Indian filmmaker is
expected as a special event. This will be an opportunity to have a look
at the Indian cinema, especially its still little known non-Bollywood
current,” LAF organiser Arnold Dec says.
Ray’s films reflect changes in customs and conflicts that take place
after Indian tradition merge with contemporary civilisation.
The cycle “Sacrum et Profanum” features films pertaining to the
problems of faith and spirituality, including classics, like Polish
Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s Cannes awarded “Mother Joan of the Angels”
and Ingmar Bergman’s “Seventh Seal”.
Armenian director Sergei Paradhanov will have a retrospective of
films penetrating cultural archetypes and national traditions,
folklore and art of the peoples of Armenia, Ukraine and Georgia.
Dutch cinema will be represented by films by Jos Stelling who is to
come to meet the audience at Zwierzyniec. Also Czech and Hungarian
films are in the programme of the festival which will run till
August 15.

MARXIST PARTY CHAIRMAN ADVISES SERZE SARGSYAN TO TAKE POWER BY FORCE
Panorama.am
16:23 09/08/06
“The Republican junta has finally got hold of the absolute power in
the country with its party conference. Since 1998, this is the second
time that the military machine passes to a party which possesses
also the parliamentary and the executive powers,” Davit Hakobyan,
Marxist Party chairman, told a press conference today.
Hakobyan labels the recent assembly of the Republican Party as “palace
coup d’etat,” also saying in the language of political science it
may be called “bonapartism, juntaism, political blackmail.”
Hakobyan advises “Serze the Liberator,” as he sarcastically calls Serze
Sargsyan, to start the political active campaign with a “royal gambit.”
Moreover, the Marxist is sure that the “throne” must be taken by
force by January, otherwise, the Republican Party will have no
such chance after the parliamentary elections. “Either Serze the
Liberator will become the owner of the throne by January, or else
he will never be because the situation will be different after
the parliamentary elections,” Davit Hakobyan assures. The Marxist
even forecasts resignation of the president by his own will in
October-November.

THE STATE OF THE MEDIA ACCORDING TO THE OSCE OFFICIAL
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
Armenia made considerable progress in improving the legislation on
the media, runs the report of Miklos Haraszti, OSCE Representative
on Freedom of the Media, reports the news agency ARKA. Haraszti’s
report is based on his visit to Armenia several months ago. Haraszti
says democratization of the media in Armenia is underway, however
the sphere of broadcasting must reflect political and social pluralism.
He thinks that the state of the media in Armenia needs improvement.
The OSCE representative thinks that pluralism is found only in the
press, which has a small circulation.
The lack of pluralism in television is a highly serious problem,
Miklos Haraszti thinks, because the mass media do not give objective
information to the public. The OSCE representative mentioned in
the report that the cases of violence against news reporters are
not many. He also emphasizes that for the past few years no actions
were brought against the media for libel. Haraszti also notices that
despite the adoption of the law on freedom of information, for news
reporters information often remains unaccessible because the law is
not applied duly.

ARMENIAN POLICE SEARCHES FOR PERSON WHO COMMITTED ASSAULT IN ARARAT REGION
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 7, 2006
YEREVAN, August 7. /ARKA/. The Armenian police searches for the person
who committed an assault in the village of Armash, Ararat region.
The General Prosecutor’s Office reported that a villager was assaulted
and held up on August 4, 2006 at 1:30am.
The police found out that a strange young man took the advantage and
broke in the villager’s house through an open door. He beaten the man
and stole jewelry for AMD 800,000 (about $1960), and took to flight.
The police’s investigation detected that the violator was certain
Zakaryan. As a result, the police initiated a criminal case. The
investigation is under way. R.O. –0–

INFORMATION ON NEW FOREIGN CAR IMPORTS SUBMITTED TO RA COMMISSION ON
ECONOMIC COMPETITION PROTECTION DOES NOT REFLECT REAL MARKET SITUATION
YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, NOYAN TAPAN. At the August 7 sitting, the RA State
Commission on Protection of Economic Competition approved the results
of studies in several commodity markets. According to these studies,
in 2005, eleven economic entities were operating on the new Russian
passenger car market, with Armenia-Lada and Carcomavto accounting
for the largest share of the market.
4,378 new Russian vehicles and 141 used ones were sold in the
market. In 2005, 43 companies were operating on the new “far
abroad” passenger car market, with Muran, Megna, Carcomavto, Fora,
Armenia-Lada, Eurovagen, Euromotors, Avangard Motors companies
accounting for a large share of sales. According to the information
of the State Customs Committee, last year 16,471 passenger cars
were imported into Armenia, 5,524 of which were imported by economic
entities and 10,947 – by natural persons. The comparison of the data
received from the State Customs Committee and economic entities showed
that in 2005, only 552 new foreign cars were imported into Armenia by
economic entities. The commission called these facts in question as
it is possible that the passenger cars imported by economic entities
at the request of natural persons cross the border as belonging to
natural persons rather than to economic entities – importers.
The provisions of the RA Law on Protection of Economic Competition
do not apply to the economic activity of natural persons, while,
according to the commission, the information about imports of new
foreign cars does not reflect the real situation on the market. So,
under the commission’s decision, additional studies will be conducted
on the given market. In the commission’s estimation, Armenia-Lada and
Carcomavto represent an economic entity – a group of persons on the
new Russian passenger car market and account for about 95% of the
market. Muran, Megna, Carcomavto, Fora and Armenia-Lada companies
are operating as a group of persons in the new “far abroad” car
market. Out of these two groups of persons, the former was recorded in
the register of entities with a dominating position. The commission
also studied the market of electric lamps. The studies revealed
that 128 economic entities were operating in the commodity market
“Domestic Electric Lamps” last year. Grand Sun (47.7%) and Carlita
(28%) companies were leading ones in terms of market sales. By the
commission’s decision, Grand Sun was recorded as in the register of
economic entities as one with a dominating position. The commission
made a decision, according to which Armenian Railway CJSC that has no
competitor was also qualified as a company with a dominating position
in the reailway service sector.