Author: Chalian Meline

RIA Novosti, Russia
Aug 30 2004
CIS AIR DEFENSE COMMITTEE TO MEET
MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti) – The CIS Air Defense Coordinating
Committee will meet in Rostov-on- Don and Yeisk, a city in the
Krasnodar territory, from September 1 to 4, Colonel Alexander
Drobyshevsky, head of the Air Force press service, said Monday.
“A training and methodological session with members of the Air Force
coordination committee will be held concurrently.”
He also noted that issues related to the strengthening the CIS
states’ air boarders would be discussed at the meeting.
Air defense commanders from Armenia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia will attend the
meeting, the press service reported.
The committee was created on February 10, 1995 following a decision
of the CIS Economic Council.

Mail & Guardian Online , South Africa
Aug 26 2004
Armenians ‘had nothing to do’ with coup plot

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Six Armenian air crew members accused of helping to plot to oust
Equatorial Guinea’s long-time leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema told a
court in Malabo on Thursday that they had nothing to do with the
alleged plot.
Samuel Darbinyan (41), a co-pilot of the aircraft leased by a company
belonging to Gerhard Eugen Merz of Germany — one of 15 alleged
mercenaries arrested in March and accused of fomenting a putsch in
the tiny, oil-rich country — said he does not know why he has been
held in prison since March along with five other Armenian crew
members and eight South Africans.
Merz, who was arrested along with the others, died in detention,
officially of cerebral malaria, but with rights groups saying he was
tortured to death.
All the Armenian crew members, including captain Ashot Kerapetyan,
told the court that they were unaware on what charges they were being
held until a few days before hearings began on Monday.
The Armenians arrived in Equatorial Guinea in January this year.
Their Antonov-12 aircraft was hired the following month by Nick du
Toit, the South African soldier-turned-businessman who risks the
death penalty for allegedly leading the coup plot.
>From the time they arrived in the tiny Central African country, the
Armenians flew out of Equatorial Guinea once on board the Antonov,
bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they were to
deliver cargo picked up at N’Dola in Zambia, they told the court.
Merz had given them the instructions for that trip, they said in
separate testimonies.
The flight crew said the shipment was never delivered to the DRC
because the airport they were bound for there was closed. They said
they returned to Malabo with nothing in the hold.
Du Toit told the court on Monday that the Antonov was to have picked
up ammunition for security agents at mines in the DRC. The crew
members said they were unaware of what their payload was to have
been.
The Armenians are on trial alongside eight South Africans and four
Equato-Guineans, all accused of complicity in a plot to topple
Obiang, who has been in power since 1979.
Obiang announced their arrests on March 9, saying: “A group of
mercenaries entered the country and was studying plans to carry out a
coup d’état.”
Without going into details, Obiang said interrogation of the suspects
revealed they were financed by multinational companies and “countries
that do not like us”.
The arrests came days before 70 men were detained when their plane
stopped off in Zimbabwe, allegedly en route to Equatorial Guinea for
the coup.
The group arrested in Zimbabwe has consistently said it was on its
way to the DRC to protect diamond mines.
Du Toit is so far the only one of the 18 defendants on trial in
Equatorial Guinea to admit any involvement in a coup plot.
Verdict expected in Zimbabwe
Meanwhile, a Zimbabwe magistrate is expected to hand down verdicts on
Friday when the trial resumes of the 70 suspected mercenaries held on
charges of plotting the coup in Equatorial Guinea.
The men, who include Briton Simon Mann, are accused of being at the
heart of a conspiracy that allegedly also includes Mark Thatcher, son
of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher, a friend and neighbour of Mann’s, was arrested at his Cape
Town home on Wednesday and charged under South Africa’s Foreign
Military Assistance Act, which bars mercenary activity, for allegedly
bankrolling the coup plot.
He denied the charges and was released on bail.
On Thursday, the elite Scorpions unit said it arrested Thatcher
because he was planning to move to the United States next week.
“I can confirm he was planning to leave the country,” said
spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi.
“He claims he was planning to relocate his family. He was supposed to
leave for the US next week,” Nkosi added. — Sapa-AFP, Sapa

IN ARMENIA EDUCATION IS AHEAD OF ECONOMY BY DEVELOPMENT RATES
YEREVAN, August 20 (Noyan Tapan). In Armenia education by its
development rates is ahead of economy, and for this reason
unemployment in the country makes 9%. Hranush Hakobian, Chairwoman of
the RA NA Standing Commission on Education, Science, Culture and Youth
Issues, told about it at the August 20 meeting with 51 Diasporan
teachers participating in the training courses in Yerevan.
According to her, this situation can only be regulated if the
development of the economy reaches a level at which it is possible to
provide all the higher schools graduates with jobs. At the same time,
H. Hakobian noted that there is a problem of supply and demand in
Armenia’s labor market.
However, according to her, higher schools have not been restructured
so that they train specialists needed for the labor market. H. Hakobian
reported that today 1,482 comprehensive schools function in the
republic, and about 80,000 students study at 6 state-owned and 81
private higher schools.

Messenger.com.ge, Georgia
Aug 20 2004
Postcards from the boardwalk
Kobuleti attracts more and more tourists, but not everybody is happy
By Anna Arzanova

KOBULETI – The number of holiday-makers from across Georgia, as well
as other countries such as Azerbaijan and Armenia, flooding to the
Black Sea resort of Kobuleti is on the increase.
Immediately after Aslan Abashidze fled the region, the new government
promoted the region has the new economic wellspring, encouraging
investment, government reform and most of all tourism.
Three months after Abashidze’s ousting, residents see improvements
like new roads and new busses, but also complain of increased crime
and favoritism by the new ruling party. The Messenger joined this
summer’s holiday-makers in Kobuleti to find out more.
Kobuleti resident Gela Verulidze has mixed opinions about the changes
that have taken place since Abashidze’s departure. Every year the
number of tourists is increasing, he says, and this year there were
record numbers.
But he regrets “there are no foreigners,” and suggests this could be
because the sea-side is very dirty and there is a lack of facilities.
“It certainly needs a make-over,” he says.
Although he sees some improvements, he says that today there is more
garbage, and more crime. “There was more cleanliness and less crime
during Abashidze’s period. But now there are more robberies in
Adjara. For example, three cars were stolen recently in Kobuleti.
Such thefts never took place in Kobuleti before.”
Verulidze also complains that the change of government had not
generated jobs. “After Saakashvili came to power many people remained
unemployed. You need to be a member of the National Movement in order
to find work. Otherwise you will have no way out,” Verulidze says.
Restaurants are doing very well this season and have a very large
turnover. “They are earning so much money that the owners can get by
during the whole year until another season comes,” Verulidze says.
Other positive changes include the fact that after Saakashvili became
president, such problems as the lack of electricity and lack of water
were solved. Verulidze also noted that after the Rose Revolution the
new government paved the roads in Kobuleti with asphalt and
rehabilitated the park very well. “There is no problem with
transportation in the region, and the buses are reliable and very
cheap,” he says.
However, Verulidze believes that since the May revolution many people
have been wrongfully arrested. “There are very serious repressions
taking place in Kobuleti,” he claims. “Many people have been detained
here, especially members of the Revival Party.”
Nevertheless, Verulidze expresses his hope for the future, which he
says is shared by all Kobuleti residents. “Everybody here really has
hope of Mikheil Saakashvili and we think that he will look after us
as well as the region. We want the old buildings to be repaired and
Kobuleti to become more clean and tidy and to be put in order,”
stated Verulidze.
Hamaiak Aguzumtsian came to Kobuleti from Armenia where he is USAID’s
advisor in social issues. Asked how why he chose to come to Kobuleti
rather than a resort in Turkey, Greece or elsewhere, he says that one
of the reasons is the ease with which his family can travel to
Kobuleti.
“We cross the Georgian-Armenian border without any problem. We pay
nothing there. The authorities have never sought to take money from
us at the border, either before or after the change of government.
Anyway, we travel very well,” Aguzumtsian says.
Aguzumtsian believes that the situation in Adjara has improved. He
remembered that when they were in Kobuleti the last time, they were
traveling by car, and when the policemen saw the car with Armenian
numbers, they stopped them every 5 minutes and demanded bribes.
Aguzumtsian sees changes for the better in Kobuleti. He also noted
the fact that the flow of the tourists from Armenia has increased
this year. “Many people from Yerevan go to Batumi and Kobuleti. Here
is one plus why the people want to arrive here. A round-trip ticket
cost about USD 50-60 and this of course stimulates people to come
here, instead of other places such as Russia and foreign countries.
It is more expensive for us to go to another country for our
holiday,” Aguzumtsian stated.
Aguzumtsian and his family are in Kobuleti for the second time and
they like the people there. “The people are very friendly in Kobuleti
and the attitude toward Armenian people here is also very good. The
prices here are reasonable as well,” explained Aguzumtsian.
He said that it is more expensive to stay in Yerevan cost then to
have a holiday in Kobuleti. “In Kobuleti we eat in cafes or in
restaurants and we spend USD 600-700 on average during ten days,
including our travel at both ends.”
Aguzumtsian said that they can have a cheap holiday in Yerevan as
well, but there is no sea. There is only lake Sevan, which is too
cold. “We also like very much the park here. It is free of charge,
and is very beautiful. There is good entertainment and it is very
clean and bright. We did not notice such things earlier.”
“But what we do not like is that the beach and sea-side are dirty and
at night it is very dark and there are few facilities. Also, you have
to pay to enter changing-rooms and shower rooms,” he complained.
Aguzumtsian expressed his hope that the current government will solve
this problem in the future. He said that they have a better holiday
in Kobuleti for the money than they would in Yerevan, and what’s
more, but they prefer the sea. “We can say that the situation in
Kobuleti has improved,” he concluded.
In contrast, a tourist from Tbilisi Nana Butikashvili expressed her
dissatisfaction with the situation in Kobuleti. She has been
vacationing in Kobuleti for more than 5 years now and said that,
apart from the fact there are many more tourists this year, she sees
no serious changes in Kobuleti. She only goes, she says, because she
wants to go to the sea, and there is no other choice.
Policemen continue to stop cars with non-Adjaran number plates,
Butikashvili complains. And as for the environmental situation in the
region, she thinks that nothing has improved. “Instead of buying
parks and territories in Kobuleti, it would be better if
Patarkatsishvili set dustbins in Kobuleti. They must put in order the
sea-side and beach and create the best possible conditions for the
people,” Butikashvili says.
She is hopeful, though, that the situation may improve. “We have the
hope that everything will be done in Georgia for the people’s
welfare. Those who want to do something for Kobuleti as well as for
Georgia should not do it for their business but with the aim of
charity. In this case everything will be good here,” she says.

Iran allegedly aborts anti-U.S. plot
BigNewsNetwork.com
Thursday 19th August, 2004
Iran reportedly aborted a plot by al-Qaida and radical Iranian
Revolutionary Guards to assassinate U.S. officers in central Asian
countries neighboring Iran.
The Saudi daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat Thursday quoted sources close to
Iranian intelligence, which is controlled by reformists, as saying that
they discovered the plot after intercepting messages between al-Qaida
operatives and Iranian Revolutionary Guards, along with the so-called
Quds Brigade, in Iran.
Iranian intelligence also monitored telephone conversations between a
senior official in the office of Iranian spiritual guide Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei and a senior operative of al-Qaida in Iran.
It said their findings indicated that there is a sensational plot in
which members of Quds Brigade, al-Qaida and the Revolutionary Guards
were involved to assassinate U.S. military personnel and intelligence
officers operating in central Asia, notably in Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Turkmenistan, which are Iran’s neighbors.
The paper said the plot was aimed at drawing Iran into direct
confrontation with the United States as well as countries located on its
northern border.

ArmenPress
Aug 18 2004
ARE THERE REALLY 20,000 ARMENIANS IN AZERBAIJAN?
BAKU, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS: Azeri state statistics committee
chairman Arif Veliev told a news conference in Baku that as of July
1, 2004 8 mln 300,000 people live in the republic. He said that
according to 1999 census, 657 Armenians live in Azerbaijan. However,
according to him, the real number is much higher totaling about
20,000. Arif Veliev said that during the census, according to UN
requirement, no documents were asked proving national identity.

Calcutta Telegraph, India
Aug 17 2004
INDIA IN 1865
– The first impact of globalization on India

Writing on the Wall Ashok V. Desai
George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen’s Most
Excellent Majesty, printed in 1867 a Statistical Abstract Relating to
British India, from 1840 to 1865 (as far as the Particulars can be
stated,) Compiled from Official Records and Papers Presented to
Parliament, and presented it to both houses of Parliament on the
Command of her Majesty. According to it, the population of India was
196 million – just about a seventh of what it is in the same area,
including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burmah, which became an Indian
province in 1852. Bombay then had 816,000 people, Madras 427,000, and
Calcutta 378,000. Of Calcuttans, 11224 were Europeans – 6820 men,
2545 women and 1859 children. Most of the men must therefore have
been unattached and childless. No wonder there were 11636
Indo-Europeans – 4082 men, 4218 women, and 2736 children. They were a
largely Calcutta phenomenon; Bombay had only 1891 Indo-Europeans as
against 8415 Europeans. The Madras census did not bother to count
them separately; they were probably too few. Calcutta also had 763
Armenians, 681 Jews, 409 Chinese, 53 Africans, 30 Greeks, and 1441
Asiatics, whatever that may mean.
The Government of India received £45.7 million in revenue in 1865
(the financial year then ended on 30 April), and spent £46.5mn –
£39mn in India, the rest in Britain. That is as many crore rupees; to
get the rupee equivalent, just multiply the figures by ten, for its
value was fixed at 2 shillings for decades. The revenue went up from
£20.1mn in 1840 to £47.6mn in 1865; the star performer was Bombay
presidency, whose revenue went up from £2.4mn to £9.6mn. It was
booming thanks to opium exports. The deficit shot up to an average of
£12mn in the three years following the mutiny because of additional
military expenditure; but taxes were raised, expenditure strictly
controlled, and the deficit was brought down to less than £1mn by
1864. The debt went up to £107.5mn in 1861, but prudent fiscal
management brought it down to £98.5mn in 1865 – £72.4mn raised in
India, and £26.1mn in England. On it, £4.6mn was paid in interest –
6.25 per cent on the average.
Opium brought in £7.3 million in revenue – only second to the £20
million from land revenue. It was a great arrangement – the Chinese
ruined their health, and Indians got rich; the government took a part
of their riches. Salt tax brought in an astonishing £5.5 million – no
wonder Gandhiji picked it for picketing 66 years later. Various
excises – sayer, abkarree etc – brought in £2.6 million, and customs
£2.3 million. Stamp duties were important then, bringing in £2
million. Unaccountably, tax on tobacco was abolished in 1854.
The year 1865 saw 26,823 ships entering British Indian ports; 26070
cleared out of it. Why their numbers differ, I do not know;
presumably 753 vessels slipped out while the harbour master was
sleeping – or were built in the ports. They weighed 4 million tons –
that is, 150 tons on the average. The 20577 Indian vessels weighed
771000 tons – an average of 37 tons; 6246 foreign vessels weighed 3.1
million tons – 500 tons on the average. An average British ship
weighed 940 tons, a Chinese one 620 tons, a Siamese one 62 tons, and
a Ceylonese one, 113 tons. Obviously, size mattered in longer
voyages, especially around the Cape of Good Hope. (In 2003/04, 13
major Indian ports handled 85 million tons.)
Over the 25 years to 1865, the number of foreign vessels entering
went up from 1390 to 6246; their tonnage increased from 460,000 to
3.1mn tons. The number of native vessels went down from 24497 to
20577; their tonnage increased from 591000 tons to 771000. Clearly,
the share of native vessels came down. An anticolonial would
immediately think that the British displaced natives in competition,
fair or foul. Not really; long-distance, inter-ocean trade increased
more than local trade, and the British had a bigger presence in the
latter. Bombay specialized in short-distance trade across the Arabian
Sea; the average vessel entering its port weighed 23 tons in 1840 and
81 tons in 1865. Its trade increased 2.3 times. Calcutta specialized
in long-distance trade; the average vessel entering its port weighed
340 tons in 1840 and 540 tons in 1865. Its trade multiplied 4.5
times.
Calcutta trade was then overwhelmingly international and
western-oriented. The only Asian vessels entering Calcutta in 1865
were 12 Arabian vessels weighing 6884 tons; native vessels accounted
for another 17000 of the total 1.092mn tons. The rest were from white
countries. The British dominated with 1584 of the 1796 foreign
vessels; there were 137 French vessels, 40 American and 22 from the
rest of Europe. Native ships accounted for 26 per cent of the traffic
in Madras and 38 per cent in Bombay. Clearly, native shipping
survived better on the south and the west coast.
India had a massive trade surplus in the entire quarter century from
1840 to 1865; its exports came to £69mn and imports to £50mn in 1865.
Even this is misleading; for of the imports, £22mn was bullion; only
£28mn was goods. The share of bullion climbed from 18 per cent in
1840 to 44 per cent in 1865.
The major suppliers of imports into India in 1840 were Britain (60
per cent), China (15 per cent), the Middle East and the Straits (7
per cent each). By 1865 the market shares of all had fallen –
Britain’s to 46 per cent, China’s to 8 per cent, the Middle East’s
and Straits’ to 3-4 per cent. India had acquired new trading partners
– Australia (7 per cent), France (6 per cent), and Alexandria and the
Suez (13 per cent). Remember, this was before the commissioning of
the Suez Canal in 1869; even before it, trade to Europe had begun to
pass through Egypt.
Exports nearly quintupled from £14mn in 1840 to £69mn in 1865. In
1840, Calcutta dominated with exports of £8mn; by 1865, Bombay was
exporting £41mn out of the £69mn. The reason lay in the direction of
trade. In 1840, 52 per cent of exports went to Britain, 15 per cent
to China, 12 per cent to the Straits, 5 per cent to the Middle East,
and 3 per cent each to Ceylon and Mauritius. In 1865, Britain’s share
was 67 per cent.
China held its share thanks to booming opium which, however, went
from Bombay; Straits’ share fell to 3 per cent, Middle East’s to 3
per cent and Mauritius’ to 1 per cent. India was becoming a raw
material supplier to industrializing Great Britain, and Britain’s
demand turned India’s exports away from the traditional markets
closer to it.
Thus we see in the mid-19th century the first impact of globalization
on India. Shipping technology changed; ships became larger and
travelled further (steamers were just coming into use in 1865). With
it, direction of trade changed; from trade within the Indian Ocean
region, India began to trade more with Britain and China.
Industrializing Britain and opium-eating China created new markets;
as they expanded, India developed a massive export surplus. It did
not know what to do with all that money, so it stashed away gold and
silver. Was that deindustrialization? There may have been; but there
was export-led growth too. For some of India’s people, this must have
been a golden era.

La Stampa, Italia
August 14, 2004
OGNI ANNO SEI MILIONI DI PELLEGRINI SALGONO AL SANTUARIO SUI PIRENEI
La grotta delle guarigioni Sessanta i miracoli “”certificati”” dalla
Chiesa
Tosatti Marco
:
SEI milioni di pellegrini visitano ogni anno Lourdes, un villaggio
dei Pirenei dove nel 1858 una contadinella ignorante e votata alla
tubercolosi, Bernadette Soubirous, vide la Madonna vestita di bianco
che fece sgorgare una fontana d’acqua dalla grotta. Acqua miracolosa:
da allora migliaia di persone sono ritornate da Lourdes “”guarite””
in maniera inspiegabile dalle malattie che le affliggevano. La Chiesa
ha “”certificato”” solo 66 di questi presunti prodigi. Ci va con i
piedi di piombo: un po’ per diffidenza connaturata della gerarchia
ecclesiastica verso tutto cio’ che appare straordinario, un po’ per
il timore, piu’ che giustificato nella Francia dei Lumi e nel clima
di scetticismo regnante, di un effetto boomerang, se i controlli non
sono severi. E in effetti lo sono.
Dal 1927 e’ stata creata una Commissione internazionale, composta da
medici di diverse nazionalita’ e fedi (o nessuna fede) che ha il
compito di seguire per vari anni il decorso di coloro che si
ritengono guariti miracolosamente.
Ci sono due livelli di giudizio, dopo la prima segnalazione che il
“”miracolato”” fa all’Ufficio Medico di Lourdes. E passano parecchi
anni, e numerose visite, prima che arrivi il giudizio. L’ultimo caso
“”certificato”” riguarda Jean Pierre Be’ly, colpito nel 1972 da
sclerosi multipla. Riconosciuto invalido al cento per cento, aveva
diritto a un accompagnatore fisso. Nel 1987 ando’ a Lourdes, e per la
prima volta, dopo tre anni di letto, riusci’ a camminare. Il 9
febbraio ’99, dopo anni di osservazioni ed esami, si parlo’
ufficialmente di guarigione al di la’ dei confini della scienza.
Lo scorso anno qualche cosa di analogo accadde a una signora di Roma,
Giuliana Tofani Mangelli, 60 anni, che soffriva di una sindrome
semiparalizzante dei muscoli delle gambe, detta di Guillan-Barre’.
Era venuta a Lourdes per pregare non per se’ ma per suo marito
Raffaele, malato di un tumore al cervello. Mentre si trascinava
cercando di seguire la processione delle fiaccole “”proprio in
coincidenza di fronte a me del passaggio della statua della Madonna –
ha raccontato – mi sono sentita chiamare, un invito che diceva:
”cammina, cammina”. E’ cosi’ che e’ incominciata la mia nuova vita.
Le mie gambe, come liberate da enormi stivali carichi di cemento,
hanno cominciato ad avanzare, involontariamente, sembrava che il mio
cervello non le controllasse piu'””.
Giuliana faceva parte del pellegrinaggio della diocesi di Roma,
guidato dal cardinale Ruini, e organizzato dall’Opera Romana
Pellegrinaggi. “”Abbiamo visto quella signora sofferente, e quasi
incapace di reggere in mano le candele tanto la malattia l’aveva
consunta – ha detto il Presidente dell’Opera, monsignor Liberio
Andreatta – si e’ improvvisamente ripresa, lasciandoci tutti
sbigottiti””. Testimone dell’avvenimento anche Bruno Vespa, che
accompagnava l’anziana madre a Lourdes. Ora Giuliana Tofani e’
entrata nel raggio d’azione della Commissione medica internazionale.
Ogni giorno 120 mila litri d’acqua sgorgano dalla fonte della grotta
dove Bernadette si reco’ 16 volte a incontrare la Madonna e le chiese
nel suo dialetto (non si espresse mai bene in francese): “”Madame,
boulets aoue’ la bountat de me dise’ qui es?””, “”Signora, volete
avere la bonta’ di dirmi chi siete?””. “”Sono l’Immacolata
Concezione”” fu la risposta, che Bernadette ritornando a casa
continuo’ a ripetersi, temendo di dimenticarla, e ignorandone il
significato. Mori’ a 35 anni, soffrendo. “”I miracoli di Lourdes? Non
li ho mai visti””, disse.
Ma li videro molti altri, tra cui nomi come quelli di Huysmans,
Peguy, Mauriac, Cesbron. A Lourdes ha legato il suo nome Franz
Werfel, l’autore de “”I quaranta giorni del Mussa Dagh””, sul
genocidio armeno del 1915 a opera dei turchi. Werfel, ebreo, fuggiva
nel 1940 dall’invasione nazista della Francia, verso la Spagna e
l’America. Passo’ per Lourdes, e si ripromise, se lui e la sua
famiglia avessero raggiunto la salvezza, di scrivere una storia di
Bernadette. Oggi e’ una delle piu’ belle biografie della veggente.
Il culto di Lourdes e’ nato pero’ in un momento infelice del gusto
architettonico, e cio’ che si e’ costruito intorno alla grotta di
Massabielle costituiva, secondo Huysmans, una vendetta del Diavolo.

ARKA News Agency
Aug 13 2004
Regional semi-final of 5th international contest of young designers
`New Fashion – World Without Borders’ takes place in Yerevan
NKR authorities returned Azeri military man
CBA plans to resume traditions of conduction of Armenian Chess Cup
The newly appointed Ambassador of Poland to Armenia hands credentials
to RA President Robert Kocharian
ArmenTel CJSC to emit a new consignment of Sim and Easy-Card
beginning from August 16, 2004
CBA publishes bad borrowers list
NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan goes on holiday
*********************************************************************
REGIONAL SEMI-FINAL OF 5TH INTERNATIONAL CONTEST OF YOUNG DESIGNERS
`NEW FASHION – WORLD WITHOUT BORDERS’ TAKES PLACE IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. Regional semi-final of 5th international
contest of young designers `New Fashion – World Without Borders’ took
place in Yerevan. According to the President of Russian Siluet
Foundation, Honorary Member of Russian Arts Academy Tatiana
Mikhalkova, `the contest is an opportunity for young designers to
receive new orders and maybe even work abroad. We would like that
government and private structures supported us’, she said.
According to the Director of `Atex Fashion Center’ Karine Dnoyan, 70
applications for participation in the contest were received from
students and graduates of Armenian and NKR institutes. After 3 rounds
30 young Armenian designers will take part in the semi-final. The
winners will represent Armenia during the final in Moscow in
September.
The organizer of the contest is CJSC Atex Fashion Center. L.D. –0 –
*********************************************************************
NKR AUTHORITIES RETURNED AZERI MILITARY MAN
STEPANAKERT, August 13. /ARKA/. Today, in 14.00 local time at the
Aghdam direction of NKR and Azeri armed forces contact line, NKR
State Commission on Prisoners of War and Missing transferred the
citizen of Baku Samedov Anar Misha ogly to Azeri party.
Transmission was conducted in accordance to the decision of NKR
authorities in mediation of International Red Cross Committee in NKR,
after the Azeri party agreed to receive its military man. During his
stay in Karabakh, Samedov was attended by representatives of IRCC.
Anar Samedov was arrested by NKR Defense Army on August 6, 2004
during trespassing the line of demarcation. L.D. –0 –
*********************************************************************
CBA PLANS TO RESUME TRADITIONS OF CONDUCTION OF ARMENIAN CHESS CUP
YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. CBA plans to resume traditions of
conduction of Armenian Chess Cup among bank’s staff members. Three CB
staff members became the winners of the competition that started two
months ago, they received prizes and memory gifts. First place was
taken by the lawyer of Legal Department of CB Karen Meliksetian, who
received money prize in amount of 50 thousand AMD, second place –
staff member of Department of Information Systems Khachatur
Bakhshetsian, who received 30 thousand AMD, third place – Director of
CB Cafeteria Levon Poghosian, who received 20 thousand AMD.
According to CBA Chairman Tigran Sargsian, CB plans to resume
traditions of the cup. He said that chess in Armenia have serious
traditions and the goal of the bank is to give new impulse to their
future development. `In near future we plan to conduct similar chess
tournaments in commercial banks of the country and then we will
determine the best players of RA banking system and create a team of
banking chess players’, Sargsian said. He also said that
Ardshininvestbank already expressed readiness to provide financial
support to conduction of similar tournaments.
The President and Founder of Armenian Chess Academy, International
Grand Master Smbat Lputian said that `as a chess player he is proud
that chess traditions are restored in the country’. L.D. –0 –
*********************************************************************
THE NEWLY APPOINTED AMBASSADOR OF POLAND TO ARMENIA HANDS CREDENTIALS
TO RA PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARIAN
YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. The newly appointed Ambassador of Poland
to Armenia Tomash Knotkhe has handed credentials to RA President
Robert Kocharian today. According to RA President’s Press Service
Department, during the meeting Kocharian expressed his satisfaction
with the level of Armenian- Polish relations, noting that they
develop quite dynamically. He also attached importance to the
development of Armenian-Polish partnership in the context of the
European direction of the Armenian external politics. According to
Kocharian, Armenia, on its way to European integration, considers
Poland as a new partner in the frames of EU, who is represented by
Poland.
According to the press release, the parties attached key importance
to the visit of RA President to Poland planned on September 5-7 for
further development of Armenian-Polish relations. A.H. – 0 –
*********************************************************************
ARMENTEL CJSC TO EMIT A NEW CONSIGNMENT OF SIM AND EASY-CARD
BEGINNING FROM AUGUST 16, 2004
YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. ArmenTel CJSC will emit a new consignment
of SIM and Easy-Card beginning from August 16, 2004. According to the
announcement published in the press, SIM cards will be given to
individuals and juridical persons by their free subscription for
them. Cards will be provided in Yerevan and regional departments of
the company.
Besides, according to the announcement, ArmenTel will also provide
Easy-Card to the individuals who subscribed for cards in Yerevan
subscribers servicing centres of the company in November-December
2003. To get an Easy-Card one should submit an application ticket and
passport. The announcement also states that other people, who have
subscribed for cards, will be additionally informed of the supply
with Easy Card.
At the end of 1997 OTE Greek company purchased 90% of ArmenTel
telecommunication company’s shares at $142.47 mln. through
international tender. The rest 10% of the shares belongs to the RA
Government. According to the agreement, signed with the RA
Government, ArmenTel received a monopoly licence on communication
system for 15 years. According to the agreement, OTE was to invest
$200 mln. into the RA telecommunication within first 5 years. A.H.
-0 –
*********************************************************************
CBA PUBLISHES BAD BORROWERS LIST
YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. Central Bank of Armenia published list
containing name of bad borrowes that as of 30 June 2004 had
liabilities to the Armenian commercial banks in the sum more than USD
100 thous. and with the term of more than 180 days. According to
statement of CBA, this publication is stipulated by requirement of
paragraph 3 of Clause 6 of RA law on banking confidentiality. The bad
borrowes list contains 89 enterprises as a whole among which are such
companies as Armenergo CJSC, Intermotor Yerevan Ltd, Armenicum+ CJSC,
Neutron SIE, Nairit Plant CJSC, Sodk Golden Ore Ltd, Kapan Ore Mining
Combine. T.M. -0–
*********************************************************************
NKR PRESIDENT ARKADI GHUKASYAN GOES ON HOLIDAY
STEPANAKERT, August 13. /ARKA/. President of Nagorno Karabakh
Republic Arkadi Ghukasyan went on holiday that we would spend outside
the Republic, as NKR President General Information Service told ARKA
today. T.M. -0–

DWELLING SPACES OF SOME HOSTELS TO BE PRIVATIZED BY REFUGEES LIVING
THERE
YEREVAN, August 13 (Noyan Tapan). The dwelling spaces, which are under
the jurisdiction of the Department on Issues of Migration and Refugees
attached to the RA government, will be privatized by the refugees
living there that were displaced from Azerbaijan in 1988-1992 and
received the Armenian citizenship.
These dwelling spaces are situated at Shiraki street N2, 6-th street
of Vardashen N68, Kievian street N8, Komitas street N49/4, Moldovakan
street N70/2. Dwelling space being under the jurisdiction of the RA
Ministry of Agriculture is situated at Isakov street N48. According to
the RA government’s press service, this suggestion was approved during
the August 12 sitting of the RA government.
A decision was also made during the sitting that the dwelling spaces
of the hostels populated with the local dwellers and situated at
Moldovakan N70/2, Kievian N8, Isakov N48 should be transferred to the
Nor Nork, Arabkir, Kentron Communites respectively under the condition
of their donation to families living there.