Author: Boshkezenian Garik

armenianow.com
July 30, 2004
Vacation Armenian Style: The healing value of Dendropark
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
>From the road leading to Stepanavan, travelers get a first glimpse of
the pride of that city, the Dendropark. The tops of big pine trees
sway humbly as if to wave at approaching guests.
The 35 hectares park is in unfortunate decay, yet from a distance it becomes
an emerald lake, rippling after rain in the colors of every imaginable
green.
Natural health for the soul
Dendropark was created in 1933 by Polish forester Edmond Leonovich. Over the
years Leonovich collected trees, bushes and flowers from across the world.
>From about 2,500 species, he identified 600 that would thrive in the
Northern Armenia climate and they became the park. The work was later
continued by Leonovich’s son, Vitali, a doctor of biology.
Given the travel restrictions of Soviet times, it was a massive chore for
Leonovich to collect samples from throughout the world. And today, because
of quite different problems, it is equally difficult to maintain the park,
the son says.
Still, during summer months Dendropark is filled with guests. Leaving the
wearisome heat, people hurry here to enjoy the dizzying fragrance of fir
trees, calm rustling of tree branches and crystal clear air.
Vanadzor resident Narine Kirakosyan, 27, is a big fan of this garden and at
least one day a week she spends close to this wonderful nature.
Green peace
“When I’m angry or very tired I get into the car and come to Dendropark
without hesitating and as if by some miracle I relax,” says Narine. She says
the experience allows her soul to merge with nature.
“No one knows what the paradise in heaven is like, but the earthly one is
definitely like our Dendropark, at least my friends and I have that
feeling,” says Narine.
This heavenly park that spreads behind the small gates attracts not only due
to its beauty but also due to its medicinal qualities. In early summer
people come even from different countries to breathe the pollen of fir
trees. According to specialist Grigor Nerkararyan the fir tree pollen has a
natural makeup that is good for treatment of bronchitis, bronchial asthma,
pneumonia and allergies. Taking into account nature’s own remedy, in 1937
the Sotchut Health Center for Mothers and Children was constructed next to
the park.
Despite various problems and poor financing visitors are accepted at
Dendropark free of charge. Director Vitali Leonovich says nature belongs to
everyone and it’s in a way immoral to ask money from people who want to
enjoy it.
“These days complaining is a sin. We ???? sprouts from several famous brands
such as sitka spruce ? r fir and sell them and spend the money that we make
of it on the works on improving the park’s conditions,” says Leonovich.
Surrounded by beauty
The 71-year old park starts each day like the one before. Rays of sun, like
naughty children trying to break in, try to penetrate the thick foliage of
so many old trees and are laughed at by twittering birds. Rains do not keep
one waiting here, often the clouds start roaring and heavy rain slakes the
thirst of the plants.
Here people and nature are as a single whole, even on cold winter days
Vitali Leonovich and his family do not leave the park, he caresses it like
his own child and speaks with every tree and bush.
“This nature is a part of me,” Leonovich says. “In general, a person is a
part of nature, so the closer and more harmonious you are to nature, the
more valuable a person you are both spiritually and physically.”

Interfax
July 29 2004
New bank with foreign capital to be set up in Armenia
Yerevan. (Interfax) – A new commercial bank with foreign capital is
being set up Armenia, Armenian Central Bank Chairman Tigran Sarkisian
told journalists.
He said that the Central Bank has agreed to provide a license to
ArmSwiss Invest & Trust Bank, founded by Swiss citizens of Armenian
origin involved in international finance and industry.
Sarkisian said that the initial charter capital of the bank amounts
to $6 million.
“The founders of ArmSwiss Invest & Trust Bank plans to introduce new
banking instruments, that are not used by the other 19 commercial
banks in the republic,” Sarkisian said. He said that the new bank
will work on the international market and will have an active
investment policy. The bank should start to operate in three months.
Armenia currently has 19 commercial banks with total charter capital
of $65 million, of which non-residents accounts for 53%.

ArmenPress
July 29 2004
DOCUMENTARY AIMS TO PROVOKE DEBATES ON HOW TO END CONFLICTS
STEPANAKERT, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS: A documentary shot by Georgian
filmmakers in cooperation with their counterparts from the breakaway
region of Abkhazia and telling about the Armenian-Azeri dispute over
Nagorno Karabagh was shown to residents of Stepanakert, the capital
of Karabagh. The film became possible thanks to funding from Heinrich
Bell Foundation from Germany and the British Reconciliation Resources
organization.
Walter Kaufman, a representative of the Heinrich Bell Foundation
in the South Caucasus, said before the show of the documentary that
one of the major objectives of the Foundation in the region is to
help societies of the conflicting nations to restore the confidence.
The documentary, he said, was to show how people on different sides
of the barricades were looking at the conflict.
Mikhail Mirziashvili, one of the directors of the film, said: “You
will not find in this documentary an answer to a question as who is
to be blame for the conflict, who is right and who is wrong. We have
tried to describe the conflict from a human being’s viewpoint.”
According to him, one of the goals is to push people from rival
camps to start debates over what to do to and how to do to end
confrontation. Two other documentaries, shot by the same team and
telling about Georgia’s conflicts with South Ossetia and Abkhazia
will be also shown to Stepanakert residents

ArmenPress
July 26 2004
ROYAL ARMENIA ACCUSES CUSTOMS OFFICERS OF BIAS AND DISCRIMINATION
YEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS: Chief managers of Royal Armenia
company dealing with imports of coffee to Armenia, accused today
customs officials of bias and discrimination against their company, a
practice which they said was started from 2003 spring. The managers
claimed that customs officials demand 50 and even 100 percent higher
customs fees than the real cost of the coffee suggests.
Company managers said they had asked a local court to protect them
against such treatment and despite three verdicts issued by it, which
deemed the customs officials’ treatment illegal, the practice is
going on. “We announce officially that we are not going any longer to
work according “the rules” imposed by customs officials and we have
also decided to speak out about corruption practices corroding the
customs service,” the company’s managers announced during a special
news conference.
A lawyer of the company said also that customs officers have been
refusing to let through a batch of 93 tons of coffee beans for two
weeks already forcing the company to pay $50 in penalties for each of
the five containers. The company has sent letters of complaint to the
president, prime minister, justice and foreign ministers.
Royal Armenia in which 96 percent of the capital is of
non-Armenian origin, exports 7o percent of its products and is
planning to extend the geography of its partners to CIS and Europe
countries. It brings in annually some 9,000 tons of coffee beans.

Oil & Gas Journal
July 23
Construction begins on Iran section of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, July 23 — ZAO Armrosgazprom has begun construction on the
100 km Iranian section of the $210-220 million Iran-Armenia natural
gas pipeline that will promote gas deliveries from Turkmenistan
through Iran to Armenia (OGJ, Feb. 3, 2003, p. 62). Iran is funding
its section, which is being built by an Iranian contractor, Russia’s
Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

Armrosgazprom, a consortium of Russia’s OAO Gazprom, 45%, Armenia’s
Energy Ministry 45%, and Russia’s Itera 10%, will operate the
Iran-Armenia pipeline.

Gazprom has completed a feasibility study for the Armenian section,
which will extend 41 km from the Iranian border to Kajaran, about 320
km from Yerevan in southeastern Armenia. The $140 million Armenian
section also will include rehabilitation and partial replacement of
parts of the existing Kajaran-Yerevan gas pipeline. Armenia is
seeking funding for its project, and investor proposals have not yet
been announced.

Under terms of an agreement the two nations signed in May, the 700 mm
diameter pipeline initially will deliver 1.1 billion cu m/year of
natural gas to Armenia for 20 years, increasing to 2.3 billion cu m
at the end of the contract, which could be extended by 5 years. The
gas, slated for first delivery in January 2007, will be used to fuel
Armenian power plants that will export electric power to Iran and
Georgia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
July 23 2004
ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT GEORGIA ON JULY 25
YEREVAN, JULY 23, ARMENPRESS: On July 25 Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan will pay an official two-day visit to Georgia. Armenian
Prime Minister will confer with his Georgian counterpart, Zurab
Zhvania and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Prior to these
meetings Andranik Margaryan, as a co-chairman of Armenian-Georgian
joint commission on economic cooperation, will participate in its
regular session.
Within the frameworks of the visit Armenian Prime Minister will
visit the Pantheon, where many prominent Armenian writers, musicians
and scientists rest and a Monument commemorating heroes, who fell for
the cause of Georgia’s unity. Then Andranik Margaryan will visit the
Armenian Church of Saint Gevorg, the site of a planned meeting with
representatives of the Armenian community of Georgia.
The Prime Minister will also visit the Georgian Art Museum,
Georgian State Museum and Jvaria and Svetitskhoveli Mother Cathedral.
Andranik Margaryan will be hosted also by the Armenian Embassy in
Georgia.
After the concluding meeting of the Armenian-Georgian commission
on economic cooperation and the ceremony of documents signing, Prime
Ministers Andranik Margaryan and Zurab Zhvania will hold a joint
press conference.
The delegation, headed by Andranik Manukian includes members of
the inter-governmental commission Vardan Khachatryan, Minister of
Finance and Economy, Karen Chshmaritian, Minister of Trade and
Economic Development, Armen Movsisyan, Minister of Energy, Vardan
Ayvazyan, Minister of Nature Protection, Tatul Margaryan, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Artak Sahradian, Deputy Minister of
Education and Science, Gagik Gyurjyan, Deputy Minister of Culture and
Youth Issues, Gagik Khachatryan, deputy Chairman of
Government-Affiliated State Customs Committee, Stepan Margaryan,
Advisor to Prime Minister, as well as Ararat Khrimyan, Chief Manager
of Armenian Railway cjsc, Hovsep Kloyan, Deputy Minister of
Agriculture, Vladimir Badalyan, a parliament member, heads of the
government and foreign ministry appropriate staffs.

US ENVOY TO ARMENIA DENIES WORKING AGAINST IRAN
Arminfo
22 Jul 04
YEREVAN
“Working as a US ambassador to Armenia, I did not perform a so-called
anti-Iranian task at all,” the outgoing US ambassador to Armenia, John
Ordway, told a final press conference today while speaking about the
construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.
He said that he had not issued any harshly-worded statements regarding
the gas pipeline. At the same time, he said that US actions concerning
Iran are dictated by the sanctions that stem from the Iran law
approved by Congress which has not been repealed yet. “However, I did
not perform any anti-Iranian task in Armenia during my tenure,” John
Ordway said.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
July 16, 2004 Friday 2:31 PM Eastern Time
Baku, Yerevan must provide for Karabakh talks progress-OSCE
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman
BAKU
The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, not the OSCE Minsk Group, are
responsible for the development of negotiations on the Karabakh
settlement, the Minsk Group co-chairmen said at a Friday press
conference in Baku.
The co-chairmen will continue supporting direct dialog between the
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents and negotiations of the two
foreign ministers, U.S. Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Steven
Mann said. He said that he believed in peace settlement. Lasting
peace can be achieved only through political negotiations, and
attempts to settle the conflict with other methods can have tragic
consequences, he said.
The co-chairmen said they would not thrust any solutions on the
conflicting sides. They noted that the negotiations could be
successful only in case of compromises, whose degree was up to the
sides.
Russian Co-Chairman Yuri Merzlyakov said the three member countries
of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, the United States and France)
supported the principle of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

RUSSIAN GAS TO BE SUPPLIED TO THIRD COUNTRIES VIA ARMENIA
MOSCOW, JULY 15. ARMINFO. There are prospects of supplying Russian gas
to the markets of third countries en route via Armenia, said Russian
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov during his meeting with his Armenian
counterpart Andranik Margaryan.
According to the agency “Neftegazovaya Vertikal,” M. Fradkov said that
Russia and Armenia will finish preparation for an agreement of
cooperation in the gas sphere soon. He said that cooperation in
construction of new gas pipes is currently under discussion. It should
be noted that the sides confirmed the intention of Russia and Armenia
to develop cooperation in all spheres of activity, Fradkov stated that
Russia and Armenia successfully cooperate in the economic sphere:
commodity turnover increased 30% as compared to the last year.
Besides, by the end of the year, regular session of the
Intergovernmental Commission for Trade-and Economic Cooperation will
be held, wherein issues of economic, humanitarian cooperation, in the
sphere of military and technical ties will be discussed, as well as
the issues related to payment of the debts under the project of
property purchase in Armenia by Russia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VARDAN OSKANYAN AND BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO
ARMENIA THORDA ABBOT-WATT SIGN AGREEMENT “ON CULTURAL VALUES”
YEREVAN, JULY 15. ARMINFO. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
and British Ambassador to Armenia Thorda Abbot-Watt signed an
agreement “On Cultural Values”.
The Press-Service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told ARMINFO that
Director of the British Council in Armenia Roger Budd attended the
signing ceremony. The agreement raises the cultural ties between the
two states to an offical basis. These ties have got a special
development since the opening of the British Council Office in Armenia
in 2001. According to the agreement, the British Council is officially
recognized a body regulating cultural ties between Armenia and Great
Britain as well as creates preconditions for establishment of a
similar Armenian cultural office in Britain. The agreement says that
the sides get a right to open cultural centers in the capitals and
regions of the two states on a mutual agreement. Cultural centers will
contribute to implementing various programs aiming development of
cultural cooperation between the two states. The major goal of the
centers is development of relations between Armenia and Great Britain
in the sphere of language and literature, culture and art, education,
science and technologies, exchange of knowledge and information
between Mass Media.