Author: Emil Lazarian

VIMPELCOM CEO: ARMENIA, GEORGIA CAPEX IN LINE WITH STRATEGY
Cellular-News, UK
Nov 16 2006
NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Dow Jones) — Capital expenditure plans for Georgia
and Armenia will generally follow OAO Vimpel Communications’ pattern of
investment in second-tier countries, Chief Executive Officer Alexander
Izosimov told Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday.
That is to say $100 per subscriber, Izosimov said. He added that the
company could reach one million subscribers – and $100 million in
expenditures – in both countries in about 36 months.
Izosimov said he couldn’t disclose more specific numbers or timeframes
at the moment.
In the case of Armenia, the deal in that country has just won approval
from the Armenian government and it is too early to talk about set
numbers, Izosimov said.
“We are very happy to see the Armenian government give its blessings,”
he said. “We have yet to finalize a capex plan.”
VimpelCom last week bought 90% of Armenian operator Armentel from
Greece’s Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA or OTE, for
EUR341.9 million in cash and EUR40 million in debt. The deal met
official approval last week.
Izosimov was in New York to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary
of listing in the New York Stock Exchange. VimpelCom, as it is more
commonly known, is Russia’s No. 2 mobile phone provider after OAO
Mobile TeleSystems, or MTS.
“We already entered key markets” outside Russia, such as Ukraine,
he said. “We’re now going through the second-tier (countries)” and
Armenia and Georgia are important for the company’s strategy in the
Caucasus region, Izosimov said.
In terms of measuring its growth, the company is now focusing on
“real, quality subscribers” rather than raw subscriber numbers based
on phone card sales.
Real subscribers are people who not only buy mobile phone cards but
also use them in a chargeable transaction in three months’ time,
he said.
“Our aspiration is leadership,” Izosimov said. “We are very close,
we are a stone’s throw from closing the gap.”
Izosimov said relations between Russia and Georgia aren’t interfering
with company’s business in Georgia.
Relations between the two countries have become strained, with Georgia
recently vowing to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and in an
apparent effort to counteract pressure from its neighbor.
“It has not affected at all. We enjoy great support from the (Georgian)
government,” he said.
In September, VimpelCom posted a 23% rise in second-quarter net
profit, driven by price increases and tight cost controls. Net profit
increased to $194.9 million from $158.8 million a year earlier,
and revenue rose 46% to $1.12 billion from $769.8 million.
Shares of VimpelCom in New York were down 0.2% at $66.50 in early
afternoon trade Wednesday, when most Russian American Depositary
Receipts were seeing red.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CEASE-FIRE REGIME BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIAN IS BROKEN
Author: Sh. Jaliloghli
TREND, Azerbaijan
Nov 16 2006
Today, units of Armenian Forces have broken the cease-fire regime on
the contact line, Trend Regional Correspondent reports.
It started at 10:00 a. m. and lasted for 30 minutes. Shots came from
the positions located in the occupied Azerbaijani Village of Talish
of Tartar District. The enemy was stifled by the back fire. Neither
victims nor injures have been reported.
Employees of “Lider” TV Channel were taping the cease-fire line in
the village of Borsunlu of Tartar District of Azerbaijan. Units of
Armenian Forces subjected “Lider” TV Special Correspondent Gabil
Aslanoghli and Operator Ilgar Farmanli to gun fire as well.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ETHNIC HATE AMONG LEADS IN ARMENIAN BOY MURDER PROBE
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Nov 16 2006
MOSCOW, November 16 (Itar-Tass) – Investigators do not rule out
ethnic hate as a prime motive behind the murder of an Armenian boy
in the town of Ivanteyevka, Moscow Region, on November 11, the press
service of the regional prosecutor’s office told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
“Various leads are checked in the course of the probe, including
the version that the crime was motivated by ethnic hate and strife,”
a prosecutor said.
“The case is supervised by the regional prosecutor’s office”,
she underlined.
Earlier, police reported that a 15-year-old boy was found not far
from the railroad platform of the town of Ivanteyevka with multiple
stab wounds in the back, and brought to hospital where he died.”
The victim, Narek Kocharyan, lived in the Moscow region and was
in hairstylist training. He was out for a walk with his friends on
that day.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKEY CUTS FRANCE OFF OVER ARMENIA
Gareth Cartman
Paris Link, France
Nov 16 2006
The issue of the proposed law penalising denial of the Armenian
genocide continues to rumble on. Turkey has cut off military ties
with France, one of its main suppliers.
Turkey’s continued belligerence in the face of a law proposed by the
French Assemblee National has resulted in the freezing of military
relations between the two countries. The proposal, which proposed
criminalising denial of the Armenian genocide during the First World
War, has no chance of becoming law, and was voted through the lower
house thanks to mass abstention.
General Ilker Basbug, the Turkish commander, announced the suspension
last night, adding that there would be no military visits between the
two countries and that none had been planned. Turkey, for so long a
customer of France’s armament production, has already taken a strong
line against France, encouraging consumer boycotts and suspending
business deals.
The proposed law has received international criticism, with the EU
claiming that it has harmed negotiations with Turkey. Internally,
the proposal has been given a lukewarm reception, with President
Jacques Chirac privately fuming at the attempt to pass the law through
parliament. Chirac attempted to calm the situation in a conversation
with Prime Minister Erdogan, and will annul the proposal if it gets
through the senate.
The issue further clouds Turkey’s increasingly small chances of
joining the European Union. Ankara maintains that the word genocide
is unfair and that killings took place on both sides in what it calls
ethnic conflicts. Armenians, backed by most international historians,
claim that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred as the Ottoman Empire
came to an end.
CLE/1409/2006-11-16.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS CALL FOR SAVING POLITICAL PROCESS
Lragir, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
The leader of the Christian Democratic Party of Armenia Khosrov
Harutiunyan thinks that economy cannot be separated from politics, and
if we want to have a competitive economy, we must have a “political
system able to make effective political decisions in any sphere of
the public life. I am inviting all the political parties: let us
save the political process.” The leader of the Christian Democratic
Union presented his standpoint to the news reporters on November
16. Khosrov Harutiunyan thinks that the best way to reach this is
to step up political struggle instead of struggle for power, when
the political teams of the political parties struggle, when before
the election the political teams of the political parties present
the pattern of the future parliament to the public, they say who
the minister of science or culture is going to be. In this case,
according to Khosrov Harutiunyan, the finance and the number of
the members of the party will not be the only and deciding factor,
“Everyone who has something to say and does not have money will be
able to become involved in the political struggle.”
Of course, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party does not think
that the financial factor can be ignored completely, but he is for
the existence of “political teams which make effective political
decisions” and he thinks “the purpose of the political parties
should not be coming to power but having a positive influence on the
processes underway in the public life and politics.” Thus the factor
of the personality will diminish in the political processes. And
now the political forces are thinking about coming to power and “if
you want to be a minister, you have to do two things: guess who the
prime minister will be and do him a favor.” The Christian Democratic
Party thinks that today the Republican Party, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun
and maybe also Bargavach Hayastan have the potential to present a
political team. There is no such force in the opposition but it is
commendable that alliances with an ideological basis are outlining.
Khosrov Harutiunyan is for criticizing the governments, against
swearing, and he also thinks that the success of the present government
is the success of all the previous governments. “Newton says I could
see far because I was standing on the shoulders of the giants.”
The leader of the Christian Democratic Union says the media have
an important role in saving the political process. Today, however,
he says there are no serious analyses in the media, “I had expected
more from the media.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE UNITED STATES HELPS KARABAKH ONLY
Lragir, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
Nagorno Karabakh should not be mixed with South Ossetia or the other
post-soviet conflicts, and we should not think that the policy of
the United States not to recognize the referendums held in these
territories will be applied to Karabakh. On November 16 Kiro Manoyan
in charge of the Hay Dat and political affairs of the ARF Bureau at
the National Press Club.
He said it does not mean that the White House cannot reject Karabakh
but it is a fact that Nagorno Karabakh is the only conflict area,
the only unrecognized country which gets annual assistance from the
United States.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THEY GET DOWN TO HADRUT WITHOUT GETTING THROUGH THE RECONSTRUCTION OF MARTAKERT
Lragir, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
During the meeting of the NKR National Assembly yesterday Speaker Ashot
Ghulyan called the members of parliament and the members of government
to contribute to Telethon 2006. He also stated that the personnel of
the parliament and the members of parliament decided to donate 350
thousand drams to Armenia Foundation, which is 5 percent of salaries.
Member of Parliament Sergey Ohanyan representing the region of
Martakert expressed his worry that without finishing the reconstruction
of Martakert we get down to raising funds for the reconstruction
of the region of Hadrut. He informed that the reconstruction of
the ruined school of the village of Harutiunagomer, Martakert had
been included in the project but “now they say the school will not
be reconstructed.” In answer NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielyan
said these decisions are made by the foundation.
“We have inquired, they said the pledged sums were not donated,
therefore they have to cut the projects,” said the prime minister.
The estimated costs of the project of the reconstruction of Martakert
was 17 million dollars. Last year 5 million dollars was raised. 1
million was raised in Armenia and Karabakh, 2.5 million was donated
by benefactors. Hence, hardly 1.5 million out of the pledged amount
was raised.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EVENTS DEDICATED TO WOODROW WILSON’S MEMORY HELD IN ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The November
16 event organized at the Armenian Union of Writers was dedicated
to the 150th anniversary of 28th U.S. President, Nobel prize-winner,
Armenia’s great friend Woodrow Wilson. In the words of Levon Ananian,
Chairman of the Armenian Union of Writers, the Armenian people has
always highly estimated W.Wilson’s activity for the sake of Armenian
people and numbers him among such friends of Armenia as Anatole Franz,
Fridtjof Nansen, Johann Lepsius, Franz Werfel and other great people.
In 1920 W.Wilson made decision On Delimitation Between Turkey
and Armenia, Armenia’s Outlet to the Sea and Demilitarization of
Turkish Territories Adjacent to Armenian Borders having a historic
significance. According to the decision, Wilson completed and
ratified Articles 88-89 of the Treaty of Sevres giving them an
international-legal final form.
In the words of Rafael Hambartsumian, Chairman of Board of the Azgayin
Miasnutian Ukht Party, the Treaty of Sevres signed on 1920 August 10
is considered a document that has preserved its international legal
significance up to present. But, according to the Party Chairman,
it is more than 80 years the Treaty of Sevres is presented wrongly in
the History of Armenian People textbooks. Six out of 480 points of the
treaty concern Armenia, but none of this points has been fulfilled,
while ten states achieved independence by this treaty. “The main reason
of Armenians’ failure was the policy carried on by the Bolshevik
Russia, as it had contacts with Turkey and would not permit Armenia
to have an integral territory,” R.Hambartsumian said. In his words,
the treaty also envisaged to create a large Armenian community in
Turkey, which, however, was not realized. In R.Hambartsumian’s words,
a number of measures and mechanisms should be worked out today for
using the treaty.
For perpetuating the name of Armenian people’s friend W.Wilson
the Azagayin Miasnutian Ukht Party members proposed naming streets,
schools after him in Yerevan and in the regions, erecting a monument to
Wilson in Yerevan, releasing stamps dedicated to his 150th anniversary,
as well as holding Wislon Days in Armenia and Diaspora.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PEACEMAKING CONTINGENT’S STAY IN IRAQ WILL BE MEANINGLESS IN 15-18 MONTHS: MEMBER OF ARF DASHNAKTSUTSYUN PARTY
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
The Armenian peacemaking contingent’s stay in Iraq will be meaningless
in 15-18 months, Kiro Manoyan, the head of the Armenian office of the
“Hay Dat” organization and a member of the ARF Dashnaktsutsyun Party,
said at a press-conference in the National press-club, Thursday.
He reminded that the ARF Dashnaktsutsyun Party strongly objected to
sending the Armenian peacemakers to Iraq for a number of reasons,
first of all, because of Diaspora’s concern about this. However,
the authorities of the country had to send the contingent under the
pressure of the USA. Official Yerevan has conducted complimentary
foreign policy – it yielded to the pressure of the USA, resisting
the pressure of Russia which was against, Manoyan noted. However,
he is convinced that in 15-18 months the necessity of the Armenian
peacemakers in Iraq will be no longer relevant, as even such a loyal
ally of the USA as Great Britain has already declared its intention
to withdraw its peacemakers.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VENICE’S HAUNTED PALAZZO IS SOLD: GRISLY TALES HOLD NO FEAR FOR AMERICAN BUYER
National Post (f/k/a The Financial Post) (Canada)
Calgary & Vancouver Edition
November 16, 2006 Thursday
ROME – Venice’s most famous haunted house, the Ca Dario on the Grand
Canal, has been sold to an unnamed American entrepreneur, despite
its grisly past.
The four-storey palazzo, elegantly clad in pink marble, has lain
vacant for the past decade because Venetians are so scared of its
history. Almost all of its inhabitants in the five centuries since
it was built have come to an untimely end.
Its last owner, Raul Gardini, a business tycoon, shot himself shortly
after buying the house because he feared arrest for allegedly paying
out more than (ps)50-million ($107-million) in bribes to politicians.
Before him, in the 1970s, Giordano delle Lanze was bludgeoned to
death with a statue by his gay lover, an 18-year-old Croatian sailor.
Christopher Lambert, an Englishman who bought the house in the ’80s,
fell down the stairs of his London house shortly after signing the
deeds, in an apparent suicide.
Local folklore claims the curse on the house comes from the Knights
Templar cemetery it is built over. The palazzo was completed in 1487
by Giovanni Dario, a senator. He lived in it with his daughter and
son-in-law, until she committed suicide.
In the 16th century, the house was lived in by the Barbaro family
until their son, Giacomo, was killed in an ambush. An Armenian jewel
merchant went bankrupt after buying it.
In later centuries, there was a suicide at a party in front of guests
and an American who bought the house fled the country when rumours of
his homosexuality leaked out. His lover then killed himself in Mexico.
The buyer of the palazzo has not revealed his identity, but has
paid $11-million for it, according to the newspaper La Stampa. In
recent years, the Dario palazzo has been offered to the Guggenheim
and Benetton families, both of whom turned it down.
It has also been marketed to Woody Allen and Elton John. Venetians
currently go on ghost tours of the property during the day, but are
loath to stay there past sunset.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress