Author: Dabaghian Diana

LAST OF THE MOHICANS STANDS DOWN AFTER YEARS OF BATTLING
By FT Reporters

FT
July 30 2008 03:00

Serge Tchuruk, 70, who is standing down as chairman of Alcatel-Lucent
after almost two turbulent years, was seen as one of telecoms’
great survivors.

A former arms engineer born to Armenian parents in Marseilles, Mr
Tchuruk climbed the corporate ladder to become head of the oil group
Total before joining Alcatel in 1996.

He had spent more than 30 years in the oil and chemicals industries,
and appeared to hanker after the energy business’s greater
predictability. He told the FT in 2003: "When I was in the oil industry
it was much easier – you knew what demand was and could easily predict
your output."

As boss of Alcatel, his frustrations with the uncertainties of the
telecoms sector led to fierce clashes with the analyst community. He
once branded credit rating agency analysts pompier pyromanes , or
"pyromaniac firefighters", who precipitate the very crises they
forecast.

Having steered Alcatel out of a profound management crisis, he
endured the internet bubble and then three years of losses. The
company returned to profit in 2004, and survived a severe downturn
in the sector.

Mr Tchuruk engineered a restructuring of the sprawling Alcatel empire
into the core telecoms activities, a defence branch (which became
part of Thales) and the Alstom industrial engineering group.

His tenacity as other t elecoms chiefs came and went earned him the
nickname "Last of the Mohicans".

That resilience – and tireless deal-making – was underlined at the end
of 2006 when Alcatel agreed to merge with Lucent Technologies. Mr
Tchuruk had come close to a "transformational" tie-up with the
company in 2001 when negotiations were aborted at the 11th hour amid
US concerns about French ownership.

His departure from Alcatel-Lucent is likely to reopen speculation over
the future of the group’s 20.8 per cent stake in Thales, worth about
â~B¬1.5bn ($2.3bn), which Mr Tchuruk was reported to have wanted to
keep. Thales shares dipped 2.1 per cent in afternoon trading yesterday.

As Alcatel-Lucent staggered through six quarters of losses and its
market capitalisation halved, rumours grew that it was considering
selling the Thales stake.

Mr Tchuruk’s reign of dealmaking at Alcatel-Lucent is over. "It is now
time that the company acquires a personality of its own, independent
from its two predecessors," he said yesterday.

–Boundary_(ID_oC25vhRvHPw5CPXjenMWdA) —

PEOPLE LIVING IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH SHOULD DETERMINE THEIR STATUS THROUGH VOTING – U.S. DIPLOMAT

Interfax News Agency
Aug 1 2008
Russia

MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) – The people living in Nagorno-Karabakh will
decide themselves whether the republic should remain under Azerbaijan’s
jurisdiction or gain independence, said U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza, a co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"That’s what the vote would determine [] by the people who are there,
I mean by the Karabakhs themselves," Bryza told journalists in Moscow
following a meeting between the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers
on Thursday.

"It’s the basic principles that have been talked about before, I mean
the rough framework," Bryza said.

"None of this by the way is agreed, nothing is agreed until everything
is agreed," Bryza said. "What we have suggested – only what we have
suggested – is that the Armenian troops would pull out of the seven
territories around Karabakh, there would be international peacekeepers
that are brought in there, then there would be the return of internally
displaced persons and refugees, that there would be a corridor that
connects Armenia and Nagorno- Karabakh, and there would be a process
of voting, be it a plebiscite or a referendum, you can talk about
different words, but anyway, a voting process to determine the future
of Nagorno-Karabakh, its future status," he said.

"We don’t know exactly when that would occur, all those sorts of
modalities would need to be negotiated," he added.

What is also important is that the parties trust each other and have
enough political will, Bryza said. He also warned against the danger
of a stall in the negotiations.

Yury Merzlyakov, the Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, praised
the group’s active role in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"The way the process is going on, including meetings between the
presidents and the foreign ministers, means that the Minsk Group
is acting properly and that the conflicting parties – Armenia
and Azerbaijan – have constructive attitudes toward each other,"
Merzlyakov told journalists.

Baku lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and several districts adjacent
to it in a bloody conflict between Azeris and Armenians in the
1990s. The conflict rendered about 1 million Azeris refugees. The UN
Security Council condemned the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories
by Armenia and demanded that Armenian troops be withdrawn from them.

A negotiating process to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is
currently underway with international mediation of the OSCE Minsk
Group, which is comprised of representatives from the U.S., Russia,
and France.

HULIQ (press release), NC
July 30 2008

`World Music Expo’ & `Grammy’ Nominated Armenian Legendary Musical
Instrument

Womex (World Music Expo) Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2002 and
Grammy in 2007 nominated Djivan Gasparyan as an Armenian national
hero, created cross-cultural collaborations with many legendary
musicians and composers. By him Armenian Symbolic Musical Instrument
obtained worldwide popularity in Show-Business.

One of the wholly Armenian oldest and traditional musical instruments
in the world, its redolent, colorful character and warm sound that
bring just enjoyment or sadness is Armenian wood-wind musical
instrument – duduk! All over the centuries, the Armenian duduk has
passed through to many adjoining countries and today different
versions of the Armenian duduk can be found in Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Turkey and Persia, also named differently.

Magical Armenian duduk has been particularly developed to bring a
warm, flexible character.

Over the years the unique technique of duduk making has been applied
in Armenia: an apricot tree lumber was used, while other countries
always use other wood.

. The Armenian duduk is perpetually played with addition of a second
duduk-`dum’, which gives the music a force and stimulant atmosphere,
harmoniously with the principal duduk. The duduk is also typically
being an adjunct with `dhol’. The dhol is known as its positive
Armenian dance rhythms. However, even when the duduk plays lament, the
gentle touch of the dhol provides a suitable background.

Armenian duduk has truly become a part of daily life in Armenia. In
fact, it would not be an overstatement to say that no wedding
ceremony, festive occasion, or family gathering would be complete
without a duduk player. The duduk has been used in many western
movies; particularly it has been used in film soundtracks for "The
Last Temptation of Christ", "The Crow", `Gladiator’, `Titanic’ and
"Ronin".

Only one oldest musical instrument in the world can talk with you,
entertain and amuse you, can also get you into deep meditation `
ARMENIAN MAGIC DUDUK!

PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN AWARDS CHAIRWOMAN OF ARMENIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY NGO

ARMENPRESS
July 30, 2008

YEREVAN, JULY 30, ARMENPRESS: Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
awarded today Rimma Varzhapetian, the chairwoman of the Armenian
Jewish Community non-governmental organization, the memorial medal
of Armenian prime minister in recognition of her contribution to
strengthening and promoting the Armenian-Jewish relations.

The government public relations and information department told
Armenpress that Prime Minister Sargsyan received today Rimma
Varzhapetian to hand the medal. He thanked her for her active civic
activity in addressing the problems of the Jewish community of
Armenia in constant cooperation with the government. "Your devotion
to your work is visible and encouraging," Tigran Sargsyan was quoted
as saying. The government public relations and information department
said he was curious to learn also about the community’s problems and
the organization’s plans.

Rimma Varzhapetian thanked the prime minister for his commendation
and the attention towards the Jewish community saying this is
another occasion to present Armenia to the world by highlighting the
Armenian-Jewish friendship.

"What I have done, I did with dedication and with sincere heart. I am
ready to continue my work with a bigger zeal," she said. She said
also Armenia has all preconditions to develop into a strong and
prospering nation.

Taking the advantage she also thanked the government for allocating
17 million drams in 2007 for reconstruction of a medieval Jewish
cemetery in the village of Yeghegis in Vayots Dzor province.

COURT SITTING ADJOURNED

A1+
[05:52 pm] 30 July, 2008

The Appellate Court of the Republic of Armenia adjourned the hearing
of Isahak Malkhassian’s case for twenty days.

Isahak Malkhassian had requested Justice Melik Sarkissian to draw
a third advocate in the case and to give him time to get acquainted
with the material.

Isahak Malkhassian was sentenced to a one-year condition
imprisonment. He is charged under Article 316 of the RoA CC /violence
against a government official/.

Isahak Malkhassian is the brother of arrested Armenian MP Miasnik
Malkhassian.

RUSSIA BOOSTS GAS SUPPLIES TO ARMENIA 3% TO 1.1 BLN CU M IN 1H08

RIA Novosti
13:39 | 29/ 07/ 2008

Russia’s natural gas supplies to Armenia increased 2.8% year-on-year
in the first six months of 2008 to 1.1 billion cubic meters, Gazprom’s
subsidiary in the South Caucasus republic said on Tuesday.

Armenia currently imports natural gas from Russia at a price of $110
per 1,000 cubic meters.

According to ArmRosgazprom, which supplies and distributes Russian
natural gas on the Armenian market, the South Caucasus republic
consumed 1.009 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the reporting
period or 6.2% more than in the same period last year, with 215 million
cu m going to the power sector, 360 million cu m to households and
186 million cu m to industry.

ArmRosgazprom was established in 1997 as a joint Russian-Armenian
natural gas pipeline venture. The company has charter capital of 278
billion Armenian drams (around $900 million). Its core shareholders
are Gazprom (72.16%), the Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural
Resources (22.78%) and Russian oil and gas company Itera (5.06%).

CONTEST FOR INVESTMENT PROGRAM BUILDERS STARTS IN ARMENIA

ARKA
July 28

The Armenian National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) in cooperation with
the Radvan Technology Company are holding a contest for investment
program builders.

The ANAS press service reports that the winner will receive 1.5mln AMD
(about $4,900) as prize money. The winners of the second and third
places will receive 800,000 AMD (about $2,600) and 600,000 (about
$1,900). The best participants in the contest will get highly-paid
jobs.

Under a memorandum signed between ANAS and the Radvan Technology
Company, a Higher School of Corporate Management after Abel Aghanbekyan
was founded.

The school was intended for business managers, business analysts,
first-class consultants interested in promotion.

The curricula are currently being specified. The school is taking
specialists of international level on its teaching staff. P.T.

JOINING THE CONGRESS

A1+
24 July, 2008

Administration of the Social Democratic Hnchak Party has made a
decision to join the Armenian National Congress. The latter has
been founded at the suggestion and will of RA First President Levon
Ter-Petrossian.

The Social Democratic Hnchak Party calls on all the political powers,
concerned with the future of their Nation and Country, to announce
their willingness to join the Armenian National Congress with the
aim of making the victory more likely.

CORRUPTION COMBATTING MUST START FROM ELITE: ARMENIAN PREMIER

ARKA
July 23

Elite must be the first target of anti-corruption measures in Armenia,
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said.

"To start an efficient struggle against corruption first of all
people must realize that corruption is an evil. That is the only way
to eradicate corruption," the premier told the campers of the Youth
Achievements Armenia Summer Camp in Tsakhkadzor.

The premier said corruption starts in Armenia from the very birth, at
the maternity hospital referring to the well-known Armenian tradition
of bribing the hospital personnel.

Later people are encountered with corruption in kindergartens and
schools.

It is only at the universities that people realize the scale
of corruption when they have to bribe each lecturer to get their
desired marks.

"People must be taught to treat corruption as an evil. Unless people
realize this the government will be making useless efforts. People
must understand that corruption jeopardizes their future and the
future of the country," Sargsyan stressed. N.H.

ARMENIAN DELEGATION TO TAKE PART IN WORLD POSTAL UNION’S CONGRESS

ARMENPRESS
JULY 22

Armenian Transport and Communication Minister Gurgen Sargsian will
head a delegation that will take part in the World Postal Union’s
congress opening in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 23.

Susana Tonoyan, a spokeswoman for the Armenian ministry, told
Armenpress that Armenia joined the World Postal Union in 1992. In
2004 it was elected member of its administrative board.

The World Postal Union was established in 1874 embracing now 190
countries.