Author: Chilingarian Babken

CATHOLICOS ARAM I AND AYATOLLAH KHATAMI MEET IN BARCELONA

Noyan Tapan
April 11, 2008

BARCELONA, APRIL 11, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. Aram I, the
Catholicos of the Great Cilician House and Ayatollah Khatami, the
former President of the Islamic Republic of Iran met in Barcelona in
Iran. After the private meeting the members of the delegation joined
them. Issues concerning the situation of Lebanon, the Armenians of
Iran and the relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the
Catholicosate of the Great Cilician House were discussed during the
meeting. Within this framework the inter-religious dialogue to be held
in Tehran between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Catholicosate of
the Great Cilician House in this November was also spoken about. Both
President Khatami and His Holiness attached importance to the necessity
of the inter-religious dialogue.

IMPORT OF GOODS INTO ARMENIA THROUGH YELLOW CUSTOMS ZONE SIMPLIFIED

Noyan Tapan
April 10, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 10, NOYAN TAPAN. At the April 10 sitting, the Armenian
government approved the bill on making amendments to the RA Law on
Customs Service, as well as the amendments in the decision to establish
the methods of customs control. The deputy chairman of the RA State
Customs Committee Gagik Khachatrian said during a briefing after
the sitting that the purpose of the decision is to reduce customs
officer-importer contacts to a minimum.

In his words, the new decision allows customs brokers and economic
entities to declare the goods imported by them in a self-declaration,
while an automated program will check reliability of the declaration
without the participation of a customs officer.

G. Khachatrian said that this change applies only to goods imported
through the yellow zone. Previously, during the import of goods,
the procedure included checking of documents, customs examination,
in case of necessity – also detailed examnation, whereas now only
documents will be checked, and a partial examination may be made
based on a written report of the customs officer.

According to G. Khachatrian, the procedure of importing goods through
the red and green zones has remained the same. By information of March
2008, 60% of goods imported into the country passed through the green
zone, 15% – through yellow zone, while the rest passed through the
red zone.

BLACKSTAIRS ENERGY plc

PRESS RELEASE

ROMANIA, 8th ROUND OF LICENCING

Blackstairs Energy – Successful Bidder on 7 Production Blocks

Dublin, April 7th 2008

The National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR) has announced the
results of the 8th Round of Licencing. Under the terms of the Round,
twenty-six Production Blocks were offered to the industry on a
competitive bidding basis. The individual Production Blocks are over
formerly producing oil and gas fields and were operated by Romanian
state companies.

Blackstairs Energy plc applied for nine of the Production Blocks on
offer. NAMR has advised that the company has submitted the winning
bids on seven of these blocks. The Licencing procedures and Concession
Agreements grant Blackstairs exclusive rights to re-develop the fields
and to apply for Production Licences on completion of the agreed field
evaluation programme. The various technical programmes are designed to
reinstate the individual fields to commercial oil and gas production.

Five of the fields- Salacea, Saniob, Ciutelec, Bogeiu and Chet- are
located in the Pannonian Basin, a prolific oil and gas producing area
in north-western Romania. A sixth Production Block – the Postavari gas
field – is located 20 kilometres south of the capital city Bucharest
in the Moesian Platform basin. The seventh Block- the Dolani-Tatarani
gas field- lies at the boundary of the Getic Depression and the
Diapiric Fold Zone, some 85 kilometres north-west of Bucharest

Blackstairs, at NAMR’s invitation, will now enter formal technical and
contractual discussions in order to finalise the terms of Petroleum
Concession Agreements over each of the seven Production Blocks. A
period of up to six months is set aside by the NAMR to complete these
formalities. Blackstairs has proposed technical programmes of
reservoir and petroleum engineering studies, seismic acquisition and
processing, and re-evaluation and reprocessing of existing field
data. The company will also undertake work`over of previously
producing wells, the drilling of new field development wells and the
refurbishment of surface production facilities and pipeline
infrastructure. Environmental assessment projects and technology
transfer programmes will also be completed.

Romania is a significant oil and gas producer and has a well-developed
oilfield infrastructure including an extensive pipeline network and
refining capacity.

PANNONIAN BASIN PRODUCTION BLOCKS
FIELD / County / Block Area (Ha) / Hydrocarbon Type
CHET BIHOR 224 Ha Crude oil & Associated Gas
CIUTELEC BIHOR 141 Ha Crude Oil
BOGEIU BIHOR 60 Ha Crude Oil
SANIOB BIHOR 1293 Ha Crude Oil & Associated Gas
SALACEA BIHOR 422 Ha Non`Associated Gas & Condensate

SOUTHERN ROMANIA PRODUCTION BLOCKS
FIELD / County / Block Area (Ha) / Hydrocarbon Type
POSTAVARI CALARASI 540 Ha Non-associated Gas
DOLANI`TATARANI DAMBOVITA 403 Ha Non-associated Gas

Note to Editors:

Blackstairs Energy plc is an Irish company involved in hydrocarbon
exploration and production and associated energy and resource
evaluation activities. The company is actively exploring three large
blocks in the Republic of Armenia under an Exploration & Production
Sharing Agreement. Blackstairs (50%) is the Armenia licence operator
in a joint-venture with Vangold Resources Limited, a Canadian natural
resource company.

Blackstairs was founded in 2006 by Gerry Sheehan (Managing Director)
and Bob Hamilton (Finance Director). Gerry is a geologist and
geophysicist and has been involved in the international oil industry
since 1982. From 1987 to 2006 he held various senior technical and
management positions in Tullow Oil plc including International
Exploration Manager and New Ventures Manager. Bob is a chartered
accountant with broad experience in the natural resource sector; he
was previously Group Financial Controller with Tullow Oil plc.

Additional Information
Please contact:

Gerry Sheehan
Managing Director

Phone: +353 86 6085345
Email: [email protected]

Company Contact Details:

Blackstairs Energy plc
Regus House
Harcourt Centre
Harcourt Road
Dublin 2
Republic of Ireland

Telephone: +353 1 477 3032

BSEC COUNTRIES SIGN DECLARATION ON ENERGY COOPERATION WITH EU

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.04.2008 15:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Member countries of the Organization of Black Sea
Economic Cooperation signed a joint declaration on energy cooperation
with the European Union. The document was signed during a meeting of
BSEC Ministers of Energy held in Kyiv on April 7-9.

According to Ukrainian Deputy Energy Minister Sergei Pavlusha, the
member countries agreed on coordination of process of harmonization
of legislation and regulations between the BSEC and EU. Besides,
the EU will be offered to join BSEC for ensuring energy security in
the region.

ARMENIA BANKING SYSTEM TO KEEP ATTRACTING FOREIGN FINANCIAL MEANS

ARKA
April 8, 2008

YEREVAN, April 8. /ARKA/. Armenia banking system is to keep attracting
financial means from the outside, David Sargsyan, chief of Armenian
Central Bank’s unit in charge of financial system policy, said Tuesday
on Public Television.

He said 80-percent growth of industrial and consumer crediting was
recorded in Armenia in 2007.

"It is natural that banks have to obtain necessary financial means
to provide due supply for growing demand. Foreign countries are one
of financial sources", he said.

Sargsyan said that now foreign investments make not a big part of
the financial means attracted by Armenian banks.

In his opinion, if they grow to 30 or 40%, risks will grow as well.

Sargsyan said that recent financial crisis in world markets has
stricken Armenia not so hard, because outside financial means are
little here.

He thinks the key source of the banks resources will be domestic
economy.

He said Armenian banks’ aggregate assets total $2.5 billion while
$1.5bln to 2bln of foreign currency is now in circulation out of banks.

"The country faces problem how to attract them to banking system",
Sargsyan said.

According to ARKA News Agency’s data, financial means attracted from
non-residents totaled AMD 151.6 billion ($498.2 million) by late 2007.

It means non-residents’ means made 26.83% of all resources attracted
by Armenian banks by late 2007 against 18.61% earlier that year.

CBA CHAIRMAN AGAIN REFUTES RUMORS ON HIS POSSIBLE APPOINTMENT AS RA PRIME MINISTER

Noyan Tapan
April 7, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, NOYAN TAPAN. "Let me not touch upon that issue, as
I have already given my exhaustive answer and it remains unchanged,"
Tigran Sargsian, the Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA),
stated on April 7, answering the question of his possible appointment
as the RA Prime Minister. "Any superfluous word I can say will just
cause additional suppositions and commentaries," he said.

It should be mentioned that T. Sargsian already for several times has
refuted the rumors on his possible appointment as the RA Prime Minister.

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Phone: 617-489-1610
Fax: 617-484-1759
E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Verjine svazlian to speak on genocide survivor testimonies IN GLENDALE

Dr. Prof. Verjine Svazlian, Leading Researcher, Museum-Institute of the
Armenian Genocide and Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography of the
National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia, will speak at the
Armenak Der Petrossian Hall of St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 500
S. Central Ave., Glendale, CA, on Tuesday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. The
lecture will be co-sponsored by the Ararat-Eskijian Museum and the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and will
be held under the auspices of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian
Apostolic Church of America, His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, Prelate.

Since the 1950s, Svazlian has dedicated herself to collecting and
recording and thereby saving from total loss the popular oral tradition
communicated, in different dialects, by the Armenians forcibly exiled
>From Western Armenia, Cilicia, and Anatolia, as well as the testimonies,
memoirs, and songs of historical character narrated by the eyewitness
survivors of the Armenian Genocide.

She has presented her research in many conferences around the world and
in many articles and books, including Hayots tseghaspanutyun: Akanates
veraproghneri vkayutyunner (The Armenian Genocide: Testimonies of the
Eyewitness Survivors), Kilikia: Arevmtahayots banavor avandutyune
(Cilicia: The Oral Tradition of the Western Armenians), and Bolsahayots
banahyusutyune (The Oral Tradition of the Armenians of Constantinople).

Dr. Prof. Svazlian has been honored with the Fridtjof Nansen Memorial
Medal by the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of the
Republic of Armenia in 2003, the Memorial Medal "for meritorious
services in the field of Genocide Studies" by the Government of the
Republic of Armenia on the occasion of the 90th Anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide in 2005, and the Presidential Prize and Gold Memorial
Medal of the Republic of Armenia "for the valuable contribution in the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide" in 2006, among many other
distinctions.

More information on Dr. Prof. Svazlian’s talk may be had by
calling 617-489-1610, faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing at [email protected], or
by writing to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478; or by
contacting the Ararat-Eskijian Museum at 818-838-4862 or
[email protected].

EDWARD O’HARA TO CONDUCT NEGOTIATIONS WITH AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN AND GEORGIAN MPS TO ORGANIZE VISIT OF PACE MISSION TO THE REGION

Azeri Press Agency
April 3 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva-APA. There was not any progress on the visit
of PACE Subcommittee on the Cultural Heritage to the region, Edward
O’Hara, member of PACE Subcommittee on the Cultural Heritage told APA.

He stated that he would discuss the mission’s visit to the region
with Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian MPs in April session of PACE.

"I hope that all aspects of the visit will be discussed and the sides
will be coordinated" he said. Though the visit was planned in September
last year, it was postponed because of divergence of opinion between
the parties.

BAKERY PRODUCT PRICE INCREASED BY 33.3%

Panorama.am
17:08 03/04/2008

In January-March the prices of food stuff increased by 7.2%, and
the increase was particularly sharp in March 2.0%. The information
is available on the official web site of the Armenian Statistical
Service. Note that 13 products were considered during the examination.

Thus in March 2008 the bakery product in the country increased by 33.3%
compared with March 2007. And the prices of bakery product in the
examined cities of Armenia rose by 5.7-11.2% and in the capital – 5.7%.

The oil and vegetable ghee price increased by 32.3% in March compared
with the same period last year.

According to the source the prices of coffee, tea, cacao, egg, meat,
sugar, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverage also increased.

DEPUTY FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER OF UKRAINE ARRIVES IN ARMENIA

Panorama.am
21:46 02/04/2008

In 3-5 April the deputy foreign affairs minister of Ukraine Konstantin
Eliseev and the delegation headed by him arrives in Armenia for a labor
meeting. The deputy minister will take part in inter-administrative
council meeting held between Armenia and Ukraine.

According to the public relations department of the foreign affairs
ministry the deputy minister and the RA foreign affairs minister
Vardan Oskanyan will take part in the opening ceremony of the
exhibition devoted to the 90 anniversary of Armenian-Ukrainian
diplomatic relations. The deputy minister will also have a meeting
with the chairman of the foreign affairs relations committee of the
NA Armen Rustamyan.