Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Russia to sell Armenia gas at 110 dollars – minister
Arminfo
31 Mar 06
Yerevan, 31 March: Russia will sell gas to Armenia at 110 dollars
per 1,000 cu. m. from 1 April 2006, Armenian Minister of Finance and
Economy, Vardan Khachatryan, told journalists today.
He said that the [Armenian] consumers of the Russian gas would l pay
the old price until 10 April. He went on to say that according to a
decision by the public services coordinating commission, domestic
gas prices would be increased from 10 April. The government might
compensate for the price rise from the budget, Khachatryan said,
adding that there were some options for giving compensation which
would not be a burden for the budget.
Khachatryan refused to comment on Aykakan Zhamanak newspaper’s report
that Russia would take over the fifth block of the Razdan power plant
and shares in the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline in exchange for a freeze
on the gas price in the next 30 months.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
[In a separate report at 1327 gmt on 1 April 06, Arminfo quoted
businessmen Mikael Bagdasarov as saying that Russia would supply gas
to Armenia for 68 dollars per 1,000 cu. m. He said the price still
might change, but would not exceed 70 dollars per 1,000 cu. m.]

Anand beats Aronian to keep pace with Morozevich
The Press Trust of India
March 30, 2006 Thursday
Monaco Mar 30 — Defending champion Viswanathan Anand won an engrossing
battle with World Cup winner Levon Aronian of Armenia to remain in
joint lead after the blindfold game in the 10th and penultimate round
of Amber Blidnfold and Rapid chess tournament here.
Being in joint lead with Russian Grandmaster Alexander Morozevich
before the start of this round meant that Anand had to win with
his white pieces against Aronian after Morozevich achieved the same
against Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk.
Though the two wins by the leaders in the combined standings made
little difference in the standings, it kept Anand in race for the
title in the event he really enjoys playing.
With just three games or one and a half rounds to come in the annual
event, both Anand and Morozevich have an identical score of 13 points
so far and for sure the battle royale is going to boil down to the
last round when the Indian ace will be under more pressure to perform
against reigning World champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
Anand defeated Aronian in a technical battle arising out of a Ruy
Lopez game in style. Slated to play black in the return rapid game,
Anand knew his chances lay in the blindfold game and he exploited
them fully to register a fine victory against the Armenian super
talent in 73 moves.
Morozevich, however, was quicker in his demolition act against Ivanchuk
as he won after 50 moves of a Sicilian defense game.
With the victory Morozevich’s supremacy in the blindfold section of
the Euros 216000 event remained uncontested as the Russian made sure
of his title triumph in this section with almost two games to spare.
With one more game still in hand in this category, Morozevich has
amassed a whopping 8.5 points and nearest rival Francisco Vallejo
Pons of Spain is 2 points behind him.
Complete results Blindfold round 10: Alexander Grischuk (Rus) beat
Peter Leko (Hun); Alexander Morozevich (Rus) beat Vassily Ivanchuk
(Ukr); Francisco Vallejo Pons (Esp) beat Loek Van Wely (Ned) Peter
Svidler beat Peter Heine Nielsen (Den); Viswanathan Anand beat Levon
Aronian, Levon (Arm); Boris Gelfand (Isr) drew with Veselin Topalov
(Bul) Blindfold Standings after Round 10: 1. Morozevich 8.5; 2.
Vallejo Pons 6.5; 3. Anand 6.0; 4-5. Grischuk, Svidler 5.5 each; 6-7.
Gelfand, Leko 5; 8. Van Wely 4.5; 9. Topalov 4; 10. Nielsen 3.5;
11-12. Ivanchuk, Aronian 3 each Rapid Standings Round 9: 1. Anand 7;
2-4. Aronian, Vallejo Pons, Topalov 5 each; 5-6. Morozevich, Grischuk
4.5 each; 7-10. Ivanchuk, Gelfand, Van Wely, Leko 4 each; 11-12.
Nielsen, Svidler 3.5.
Combined Standings Round 9: 1-2. Morozevich, Anand 12 each; 3.
Vallejo Pons 10.5; 4-5. Grischuk, Leko 9 each; 6-8. Gelfand, Van Wely,
Topalov 8.5 each; 9-10. Svidler, Aronian 8 each; 11-12.
Nielsen, Ivanchuk 7 each.

CBA LEAVES INTEREST RATE OF REFINANCING UNCHANGED
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. At the March 31 sitting, the Central
Bank of Armenia (CBA) made a decision to leave the interest rate of
refinancing unchanged – 4%. NT was informed about it from the CBA
press service.

GYUMRI, APARAN AND VARDENIS JOIN WORLD UNION OF CITIES STRUGGLING AGAINST POVERTY
Noyan Tapan
Mar 30 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN. On March 29, the 5th forum of the
World Union of Cities Struggling against Poverty opened in the Spanish
town of Valencia. City-members of the union, union’s partner cities
and associations, members of parliaments, governments, businessmen,
other high-ranking officials take part in the forum. Vardenis
Mayor Vardan Barseghian and Aparan Deputy Mayor Georgi Yeremian are
included in the Armenian delegation. The goal of the forum is to
work out the Mayor’s Offices’ strategy of actions aimed at poverty
reduction taking as a basis the experience of Mayor’s Offices during
the international decade of poverty reduction, in 1997-2007. RA NA
Speaker Artur Baghdasarian spoke during the opening of the forum. He,
in particular, said that the forum enables the country-participants
to summarize and to estimate the results of the efforts strained
earlier, to discuss the challanges in the issue of reduction of the
evil called poverty, as well as to outline the best ways of confronting
these challenges. According to him, the forum is the best opportunity
for the participant cities to look for verges of cooperation and to
initiate joint programs. “Poverty reduction cannot be limited to only
material and financial assistance. The violation of human rights and
bad management prepare a good ground for extension of poverty volumes,”
RA NA Speaker said.
According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan from RA NA Public
Relations Department, henceforth the forum’s works will continue
in working groups. The most important event of the day for Armenia
was that during the forum, among cities of other countries, Gyumri,
Aparan and Vardenis also joined the World Assembly of Cities Struggling
against Poverty, which will give possibilities for implementation of
development programs in these towns.

LEGISLATIVE DRAFT AGAINST KARS-AKHALKALAKI-TBILISI RAILWAY
AZG Armenian Daily
31/03/2006
Senators Rick Santorum and Robert Menendez submitted a draft directed
against the construction of Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railroad to the
US Senate.
The construction of the railroad costs about $800 million. According
to the Armenian Assembly of America, Rick Santorum said that the
policy of USA in the South Caucasus is aimed to maintain stability
and cooperation, as well as to contribute to opening of borders and
transport corridors. Thus, the project of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi
railroad construction will not only hinder implementation of
the American long-term goals in the region but will also isolate
Armenia. The senator stated that the efforts taken to contribute to
economic integration of the region and reducing the tension are both in
the interest of the USA and the South Caucasus. While Robert Menendez,
the other author of the draft, stated that through this construction
project, Turkey and Azerbaijan aim to isolate Armenia in the future.

ROBERT KOCHARIAN LAUREATE OF ORTHODOX PEOPLES’ UNITY FUND
AZG Armenian Daily
31/03/2006
Armenian President Robert Kocharian has been awarded the prize of
Orthodox Peoples’ Unity Fund 2006.
According to Iterfax news agency, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Alexy II stated that the Armenian Church is concerned with spiritual
needs of the Russian people, and the support of the Armenian president
and authorities evidence it.
Gazprom became the next laureate for its contribution in reconstruction
of destroyed shrines. Patriarch of Warsaw and Poland Savva will also
receive a prize.

DRUG TRAFFICKING IN RF CONTROLLED BY INTRL CRIMINAL GROUPS-VIEW
by Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 29, 2006 Wednesday 08:08 AM EST
The analysis of the drug situation in Russia proves that illicit drug
trafficking is fully controlled by different criminal groups, which
have trans-national ties, said Viktor Cherkesov, head of the Russian
Federal Service for Controlling Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Circulation.
Speaking at a session of the CSTO Anti-Drug Coordinating Council on
Wednesday, Cherkesov said, “This problem remains topical. The routes
of drug transportation change permanently. International organised
criminal groups and communities penetrate into Russia’s drug market.”
“Russia is fighting drug crime in the context of an extensive criminal
network, which embraces most regions of Russia,” the official said. In
his words, “this network is rather organised and has vast international
criminal ties.”
Cherkesov said, “The major purpose of the Russian federal drug
control service is to take urgent measures to stabilise the drug
situation, create conditions for suspending the growth of drug use
and trafficking, and preventing nacrotisation of the population.”
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Migranyan said illicit drug
trafficking became a global phenomenon. Illicit drug trafficking as
a dangerous social phenomenon “became global and trans-national and
turned into the most acute problems of mankind.”
Drug trafficking “wrecks political, social and economic stability of
states,” the Armenian prime minister stressed.
In his view, internationalisation of crime and “the growth of
international elements, which commit crimes in the territory of two
or more states, evoke the need to improve and develop international
and interstate cooperation between law enforcement agencies.”
Migranyan said the CSTO Anti-Drug Coordinating Council plays a
big role and have a great significance in the fight against drug
trafficking. “This will help work out and realise the common strategy
and new mechanisms to counteract illicit drug trafficking,” he said.
The Armenian prime minister proposed “to think together how we can
use our accumulated experience better and more efficiently in order
to deliver a sensitive blow against drug trafficking.”
The CSTO Anti-Drug Coordinating Council gathered for a session in
Yerevan on Wednesday to discuss the fight against trans-national
crime and analyse the results of the Kanal-2005 preventive operation.
The session will also focus on the CSTO joint efforts to counteract
drug trafficking from Afghanistan.
The agenda also includes a draft concept of the united database to
prevent illicit drug trafficking, psychotropic substances and their
precursors, and measures to battle their illicit trafficking.
The session is chaired by Viktor Cherkesov, head of the Russian
Federal Service for Controlling Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Circulation. The meeting involves representatives of Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and officials of the
CSTO secretariat.
The participants in the session will approve a document on the
Council’s working groups, cooperation on training personnel, exchange
of information, a plan of action and other issues.

TURKEY SHOULD COME TO TERMS WITH ITS PAST
Yerkir
29.03.2006 15:11
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – “This tragedy should not be forgotten,” Erik Boel,
the president of the Donnish European Movement, inscribed today in
the guest-book of the Armenian Genocide Museum. He also laid a wreath
at the monument of the victims.
Erik Boel was accompanied by Armenian National Assembly Vice-speaker
and Armenian Rvolutinoary Federation Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisian
and Bureau member Mario Nalbandian.
When asked whether the international community is assessing the
Armenian Genocide adequately and is not using double standards, Boel
said, “The country I represent and I personally believe that it was a
genocide. And this is why I am paying homage to the victims of that
tragedy. I believe all countries should come to terms with their
pasts to move forward, I believe Germany is the best example.”
As for making recognition of the Armenian Genocide for Turkey a
precondition to admit that country in the European Union, Boel said
that he believed it is in Turkey’s interest to recognize the Genocide
and it should consider its past as well as the Armenians.

THIRD INTERNATIONAL MILITARY-MEDICAL CONFERENCE HELD IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MARCH 28. ARMINFO. The 3rd in international military-medical
conference has set off in Hotel Congress in Yerevan today. The event
is sponsored by the US European Command.
The 1st conference was held in Yerevan in 2004. Then attending the
event were 20 representatives from 8 countries. Now too attending the
conference are 20 military doctors from Armenia, Kazakhstan, Russia,
Albania, Ukraine, Georgia and Austria. The conferees will discuss
the development and strengthening of military-medical cooperation
between the participant countries.
Armenian Deputy Defence Minister Artur Agabekyan says that this year
Armenia will host NATO Rescuer 2006.

YEREVAN’S STANCE FORCES BAKU TO CHANGE KARABAKH POLICY – ALIYEV
Interfax
March 27 2006
Armenia’s position on the Nagorno- Karabakh settlement is forcing
Azerbaijan to alter its settlement policy, Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev said.
“Armenia disrupted the February meetings in France, showing a lack
of constructivism. Their desire to drag out the negotiating process
is obvious. However, the peace process’ potential has not yet been
completely exhausted,” he said.
“We continue to adhere to the peace process, but are ready for any
outcome,” Aliyev said.