Author: Chakrian Hovsep

GAZPROM WILL RAISE TARIFFS ON THE SUPPLY OF GAS TO ARMENIA STAGE BY STAGE

ITAR-TASS
May 20 2008
Russia

YEREVAN, May 20 (Itar-Tass) – Gazprom will raise tariffs on the
supply of gas to Armenia stage by stage, coordinating its steps with
the government of the republic. Such an arrangement was made here on
Monday during a meeting between President Serge Sarkisyan and Alexei
Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Board.

In the process, it was taken into consideration that Gazprom owns
72 percent of the shares of the monopoly supplier of Russian gas to
Armenia — the joint Russo-Armenian company ArmRosgazprom. Besides,
such an approach is intended to ensure predictability and accessibility
of deliveries to the economic entities and all gas users of the
republic, a government press service official has told Itar-Tass.

Gazprom is planning to achieve equal profitability of the supply of
gas both inside and outside Russia by 2011, Miller said.

During Monday’s meeting, the sides also touched upon negotiations
concerning the construction of an oil processing plant in Armenia,
and other investment projects that Gazprom implements in the republic’s
energy sector.

Sarkisyan said, "To Armenia, Gazprorm is a stable and promising
partner". He is confident that interaction will be fleshed out with
new substance. The interlocutors cited a substantial increase in
the scope of the use of gas by the population of Armenia in recent
years as an important achievement. The President said Armenia is one
of the world’s most widely gas-supplied countries, which is due to
large-scale installation of gas service.

The interlocutors stated that in recent years the ArmRosgazprom had
been working quite effectively, manifesting impressive results and
the fact that gas consumption has substantially gained in scope in
Armenia is indicative of steady development not only of the Company
but that of the entire economy of the republic, they emphasized.

At present Armenia gets Russian gas at a price of $110 per 1,000
cubic metres of gas. Effective from May 1, the republican government
discontinued subsidising the tariffs on natural gas for users. The
abrogation of those subsidies will entail an increase in tariffs on
gas by 42 percent for the population and still more for industrial
enterprises.

LEVON ARONYAN SHARES THE 5TH AND 6TH PLACES IN THE M-TEL MASTERS

armradio.am
19.05.2008 15:05

Armenian Grand Master Levon Aronyan played a draw with Vasili Ivanchuk
of Ukraine in the 9th round of the M-Tel Masters international chess
tournament underway in Sofia. Aronyan shares the 5tha nd 6th places
with Bu Xiangzhi of China with 2.5 points.

In the 9th round Azerbaijani Teymur Rajabov played a draw with Ivan
Cheparinov of Bulgaria.

Ukrainian Vasili Ivanchuk is in the lead with 7 points. Veselin
Topalov comes second with 6 points. Teymur Rajabov is the 3rd with
5 points. Ivan Cheparinov has 4 points and occupies the 4th position.

RF MFA: GEORGIA-SPONSORED RESOLUTION ON ABKHAZIA TO HAMPER CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2008 14:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia’s Foreign Ministry criticized as
counterproductive on Friday a move by the UN General Assembly to
adopt a Tbilisi-sponsored resolution on the return of refugees to
Georgia’s breakaway republic of Abkhazia.

The resolution recognizing the right of refugees and internally
displaced persons to return to Abkhazia and "underlines the urgent
need for a timetable to ensure" their prompt return was adopted 14-11,
with 105 abstentions, on Thursday.

"The vote results clearly demonstrate that the international
community has actually failed to support Georgia’s maneuvers on
the problem. Russia voted against the project and gave a statement
explaining its position," the Ministry said, describing the resolution
as a counterproductive move that could complicate further the conflict
between Georgia and Abkhazia, RIA Novosti reports.

ENTRANCE TO ALL ARMENIAN MUSEUMS TO BE FREE ON MAY 18

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 16, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The International Day of Museums will
be marked on May 18 in Armenia. Entrance to all museums of Yerevan
and regions will be free for visitors on that day.

As Anahit Galstian, the head of the Museums and Libraries Department
of the RA Ministry of Culture, said in her interview to Noyan
Tapan correspondent, at present 110 state and non-state museums,
house-museums, and reserve-museums function in Armenia, 60 out of
which are under state care and 30 under care of communities. The
rest museums work under the patronage of individual citizens or
organizations. Though museums have had many obstacles in the recent
years, they continued working. Some museums have been closed, but
new ones have been opened instead.

According to A. Galstian, Armenia has joined three actions on the
occasion of the International Day of Museums, the most interesting
of which is the Museum Night action announced on May 17.

The International Day of Museums has been marked in Armenia since 1978.

THE MUSEUM NIGHT TO START TONIGHT

armradio.am
17.05.2008 13:56

The traditional annual "Museum night" will start in the republic
tonight. Armenpress was informed from the Public Relations Department
of RA Ministry of Culture that within the framework of the event all
participant museums will host the art-loving public free of charge
until 1 a.m.

In 2005 about 1 200 museums of Europe united and organized the first
"Museum night" event, wishing to present their exclusive collections
in a new manner.

Armenian museums have also been participating in the initiative ever
since 2005 together with more than 2 000 art, folk, history museums
of 40 countries.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Ankara to recall ambassador from Argentina over
Armenian Genocide recognition
17.05.2008 14:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey plans to recall its
ambassador from Argentina for "political
consultations," in reaction to Buenos Aires’
recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Ambassador Hayri Hayret Yalav is expected to be
recalled to review bilateral relations with Argentina,
Today’s Zaman reports.

Argentinean Ambassador to Turkey Brugo Marco is
currently in Buenos Aires.

In April 2008, Argentina’s Senate proclaimed April 24
the Day of Reconciliation and Respect. The Turkish
Foreign Ministry announced that the move -conflicts
with historical facts and is a violation of the
international law.-

State Minister Mehmet Aydin cancelled a planned April
28-29 visit to Argentina which hosted -Alliance of
Civilizations- initiative meant to promote dialog
between the Islamic and Western publics.

FIRST MEETING OF ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS DUE ON JUNE 7

armradio.am
15.05.2008 16:12

The first meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev will take place on June 7 on the
sidelines of the non-official summit of the Heads of State of
the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States,
the Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian declared at the
National Assembly today.

ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN ACCUSES TER-PETROSIAN OF LIES

Interfax News Agency
May 13 2008
Russia

Armenian ex-president Robert Kocharian has said that statements made
by former presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian that the clashes
between the law enforcement and the opposition on March 1 were staged
by the Armenian authorities were an "absolute lie."

"The statement by Armenian ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian that
the March 1 events in Yerevan were carefully planned by the current
authorities is an absolute lie. Only an indecent man can say that
the authorities were planning the use of force in advance," Kocharian
said in an interview with a national news agency.

On March 1 Ter-Petrosian’s supporters, who defied the results of the
presidential election on February 19, clashed with law enforcement
forces in Yerevan. As a result of the violence 10 people died and
over 250 were injured.

"You have to understand who could be interested in this. Such clashes
with human casualties first of all have a negative effect on the
authorities. This is a blow to the authorities. Obviously, the opinion
that the authorities have not done enough to avoid civilian deaths
will always prevail. Such is the reality. It is real in situations
like this one even in European countries. In such cases the use of
force is something that authorities have to do in order to prevent even
harder consequences. Especially for me, I was an outgoing president,"
Kocharian said.

He also dismissed Ter-Petrosian’s allegations that on March 1 foreign
diplomats assisted at the talks on finding ways to avoid serious
clashes between law enforcement authorities and the opposition.

Ter-Petrosian’s supporters continue to challenge the presidential
election results. They are going to lodge a complaint with the European
Court of Human Rights.

ARMENIAN SHEPHERD WOUNDED BY GUNFIRE FROM AZERI SIDE – ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY

Interfax News Agency
May 12 2008
Russia

An Armenian shepherd has been wounded by gunfire coming from the Azeri
side, the Armenian Defense Ministry’s press secretary Colonel Seiran
Shakhsuvaryan told Interfax on Monday.

"On Monday morning, at 11:00 a.m. local time, Azeri army units opened
fire on Armenian troops stationed near the village of Baganis in the
Tavush region," he said.

One villager, shepherd Lorik Avagyan, born in 1957, was wounded.

Armenian soldiers carried him away from the scene of the shooting,
Shakhsuvaryan said.

The shepherd has undergone surgery. Doctors assess his condition
as serious.

ARMENIA TO BE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN SILK ROAD TOURISM FESTIVAL IN DAMASCUS

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 13, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. Prospects of developing tourism between
Armenia and Syria were discussed at the May 12 meeting of the Armenian
ambassador to Syria Arshak Poladian and the Syrian minister of
tourism Saadalla Agha al-Qala. In particular, the sides underlined
the necessity of signing a program of cooperation in the tourism
sector for 2008-2011. The draft program is now under discussion.

Saadalla Agha al-Qala said that a Silk Road festival of tourism will be
held in Damascus in October, and the Armenian side will soon receive
an invitation to participate in this event.

According to a press release submitted to NT by the RA MFA Press
and Information Department, on the same day A. Poladian met with
the Syrian minister of education Ali Saad. The Armenian-Syrian
cooperation in the education sector, as well as the details of the
envisaged visit of the Armenian minister of education and science to
Syria were discussed at the meeting.

Ali Saad attached special importance to the meeting with his Armenian
counterpart, saying that there has been a close and mutually beneficial
cooperation in edication between the two countries, and the Syrian
side is interested in developing this cooperation.