Author: Emil Lazarian

We’re number 1: World Banks says Georgia best reformer this year
By Christina Tashkevich
The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 7 2006
A new report from the World Bank and the International Finance
Corporation (IFC) names Georgia as the country to have made the most
reforms in the world in 2006.
The Doing Business 2007 report, which covered 175 economies and
looked into the ease of doing business, placed Georgia as the 37th
easiest country in which to do business in the world, up from 100th
last year. Georgia improved in six of the 10 areas investigated.
Nine CIS economies implemented a total of 24 regulatory reforms
(Georgia implemented ten) reducing the time, cost, and hassle for
businesses to comply with legal and administrative requirements.
The minimum capital required to start a new business has been
reduced from GEL 2000 to GEL 200 (USD 85) in Georgia. New business
registrations rose by 20 percent between 2005 and 2006.
“Reforms in customs and the border police simplified border
procedures. It took 54 days to meet all the administrative requirements
to export in 2004-it now takes 13,” the report says.
The time to resolve simple commercial disputes in courts fell from 375
days to 285. Georgia also reduced the social security contributions
paid by businesses from 31 percent of wages to 20 percent, making it
easier for employers to hire new workers.
The report also praises Armenia as a significant reformer, Armenia is
the only CIS country in which it is easier to business than Georgia,
placed at 34 in the world. After Georgia, Doing Business 2007 ranks
Kazakhstan at 62, Russia has a ranking of 96, Ukraine and Belarus
are at 128 and 129 in the global rankings.
“More progress is sorely needed. CIS countries would greatly
benefit from new enterprises and jobs, which can come with more
business-friendly regulations,” the IFC’s chief economist Michael
Klein said.
Other countries in the list of global top performers include Romania,
Mexico, China, France, Croatia, and Tanzania. Within the CIS, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia,
and Ukraine each implemented at least one reform to make it easier
doing business. Tajikistan had no reforms and Uzbekistan made it even
harder to do business.
The top 30 economies in the world, are Singapore, New Zealand,
the United States, Canada, Hong Kong (China), the United Kingdom,
Denmark, Australia, Norway, Ireland, Japan, Iceland, Sweden, Finland,
Switzerland, Lithuania, Estonia, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Belgium,
Germany, the Netherlands, Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Israel, St. Lucia,
Chile, South Africa, and Austria.
The report notes that globally the most popular reform in 2005-2006
was easing the regulations of business start-up. “Reforms should ease
the burden on all businesses: small and large, domestic and foreign,
rural and urban. This way there is no need to guess where the next
boom in jobs will come from. Any business will have the opportunity
to thrive,” an author of the report Simeon Djankov explained.
He will visit Georgia next week to present the report and Georgia’s
results.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 6, 2006 Wednesday
ANOTHER RUBEZH FOR HEADQUARTERS;
Military exercises of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization
are planned in accordance with military-political forecasts
by Vasily Strugovets
ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UNITED HEADQUARTERS OF THE CIS COLLECTIVE
SECURITY TREATY ORGANIZATION; An update on the activities of the
United Headquarters of the CIS Collective Security Treaty
Organization.
41, Leningradsky Prospekt, Moscow – the address of the Warsaw Pact
headquarters for many years. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, the
CIS Headquarters for Coordination of Military Cooperation was
quartered here. It is the turn of the United Headquarters of the CIS
Collective Security Treaty Organization now.
The Collective Security Council met on April 28, 2003, in Dushanbe
and ordered “establishment of the United Headquarters” due to the
necessity to set up headquarters of the CIS Collective Security
Treaty Organization, a structure responsible for military security of
members of the Treaty. The decision was made to have the United
Headquarters numbering 55 staff officers established by December 31,
2003.
The Collective Security Council ruled as well that Russia was to be
represented by 34 officers (because it subsidizes the budget of the
CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization 50%), and the rest of the
members by 4 officers each. “It was the Committee of Chiefs-of-Staff
that distributed representation,” said Major General Sergei Chuvakin,
the then secretary of the Committee that existed within the framework
of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization. “Member states
themselves decided what positions its national quota would include.”
“Were the member states interested in any particular positions and
functions they entailed? Sure, they were,” Chuvakin continued.
“Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were particularly interested in the
structures responsible for military-technical cooperation and
personnel training. Their wishes were granted. Colonel Alymkulov of
Kyrgyzstan is deputy chief of the Department of Military-Technical
Cooperation; Lieutenant Colonel Dostiyev of Tajikistan is deputy
chief of the Department of Personnel Training. Other positions in
these departments are held by representatives of Armenia, Belarus,
and Russia.”
Departments of tactical planning, tactical and combat training, and
joint (regional or united) systems are most international of all. All
of them are staffed with officers of all six countries. Now that
Uzbekistan is back in the CIS Collective Security Treaty
Organization, its officers are also expected to turn up. According to
what information this newspaper has compiled, Tashkent has not
decided yet what positions in the United Headquarters it would like
its officers in. Insiders do not expect any trouble because rotation
within is permitted. In the meantime, representatives of Uzbekistan
are not all who are expected at 41, Leningradsky Prospekt. This
August (with a delay extending into eighteen months, in other words),
Belarus has finally assigned officers to the United Headquarters. It
happened when Belarus became chairman of the CIS Collective Security
Treaty Organization.
“The United Headquarters is the permanent working body of the CIS
Collective Security Treaty Organization and its Council of Defense
Ministers. It is responsible for preparation of suggestions and
fulfillment of military decisions within the framework of the CIS
Collective Security Treaty,” said Colonel General Ivan Babichev,
Senior Deputy Chief-of-Staff of the United Headquarters.
On the decision of the Council and in accordance with the Protocol
dated May 25, 2001 (on the order of formation of forces and means of
collective security framework of members of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty Organization), the United Headquarters may be
transformed into an international body of military command to
coordinate interaction between regional groups and united systems,
and military-technical cooperation within the framework of the
general collective security system.
Functions of the United Headquarters include:
– work on theoretic postulates of military strategy, conceptual bases
of establishment of the collective security framework (regional
collective security systems) and their development;
– generalization and evaluation of information on military-technical
situation in collective security regions;
– work on suggestions concerning combat composition of troops
(forces);
– work on suggestions concerning tactical infrastructure of
territories of the member states;
– coordination of joint use of objects of military infrastructure.
And many more similar tasks. The United Headquarters includes all
necessary divisions and departments to handle them all.
Joint complex exercise Rubezh’2006 took place on the territory of
Kazakhstan between August 23 and 27. Units of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, and Tajikistan were deployed in the exercise.
The United Headquarters includes the Directorate for Coordination of
Combat Training Planning. August is the period when the structure is
traditionally busy. Rubezh exercises are essentially the main test
for Central Asian Regional Group of the CIS Collective Security
Treaty Organization composed of units and formations of the Russian,
Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Tajik armies.
“This was the first Rubezh exercise where coordinated efforts of all
three branches of the military (Ground Forces, Air Force, and navy)
were drilled. This was the first time for the CIS Collective Security
Treaty Organization and its armies when forces were simultaneously
landed by air and from the sea,” Chuvakin said.
“The Rubezh series began in 2004. We have never planned them as only
exercises of the Collective Rapid Response Forces,” Chuvakin
continued. “What with the tasks the CIS Collective Security Treaty
Organization is facing, the exercise is always complex. It means
maintenance of military security of member states and prevention of
terrorism, trafficing, and illegal immigration. That is why we use
both the Collective Rapid Response Forces in the exercises and
whatever other forces or means that are considered as necessary. Plus
tactical teams (or even units) from other security structures –
Internal Troops, Emergency Ministry, secret services… As for the
naval component, the Council of Defense Ministers ordered deployment
of means that do not belong to the Collective Rapid Response Forces.
In this particular case, the matter concerned the Marines and ships
of the Russian Caspian Flotilla. Kazakhstan deployed its aviation,
naval assets, infantry, and auxiliary units.”
In June 2005, the heads of state signed an accord on personnel
training for armies of the CIS Collective Security Treaty
Organization. Personnel for national armies are to be trained on
territories of other members of the Organization free of charge.
“Needless to say, the matter concerns Russia first and foremost,”
said Colonel Aleksei Selyukov, Chief of the Department of Personnel
Training. “On the other hand, military colleges with adequate
teaching facilities and instructors exist in Kazakhstan and Belarus
as well. Their potential is also used within the framework of the CIS
Collective Security Treaty Organization. Kazakhstan is already
training officers for the Kyrgyz army and Belarus for the Armenian.”
In November 2005, the Council of Defense Ministers compiled the list
of military colleges for joint personnel training. “The list includes
45 military educational establishments in Russia, 6 in Belarus, and 3
in Kazakhstan,” Selyukov said. “Plus one in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and
Tajikistan each. Now that Uzbekistan has reactivated its membership
in the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization, the list may be
expanded some more. Uzbekistan has retained fine potential in this
sphere since the Soviet era. I’m talking about two Tashkent command
military colleges and the one in Samarkand.”
Source: Voenno-Promyshlenny Kuryer, No 33, August 30 – September 5,
2006, pp. 1, 3
Translated by A. Ignatkin
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Baku Does Not Believe Ankara Will Open Border with Armenia
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.09.2006 15:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In spite of all difficulties, Turkey will not either
open the border with Armenia, or recognize the Armenian Genocide in
1915, stated Azeri MP from the ruling party and member of the PACE
Azeri delegation Aydyn Mirzazade. In his words, otherwise Turkey will
refuse from its history.
At that he underscored that within past 14-15 years Turkey was firmly
proving its commitment to fraternal relations with Azerbaijan. “There
are forces in the fraternal country, ready to open the border with
Armenia for the sake of a momentary benefit. However, I do not think
any government in Turkey will risk to do it,” the MP supposes, writes
the Echo newspaper.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #171, 08/09/2006
Economy
ARMENIA LEADER IN CIS AS A COUNTRY WITH TROUBLE-FREE CONDITIONS FOR
RUNNING A BUSINESS
It’s becoming easier to run a business in all over the world. This was
the conclusion of “Doing Business in 2007” report by the World Bank and
the International Financial Corporation published in Washington. As
a result of 213 reforms in 112 countries during 2005-2006, troubles
connected with implementation of legislative acts and financial
expenses have reduced. This is true for the whole world. What is
the situation in the CIS?
In this sphere neighboring Georgia with a number of reforms behind is
leading the field as well as is the first on the list of 10 countries
where reforms were carried out in doing business. Georgia has improved
its rating in 6 of 10 spheres. Armenia is also among the seriously
reformed states with 4 improvements.
“Doing Business in 2007” includes indices of 175 countries on degree
of simplicity in running a business. Georgia’s advancement in this
category by 75 points is rather impressive. Armenia is the first with
among the CIS states being located on 34th place. Georgia follows
on 37, then comes Kazakhstan on 62. Russia is on the 96th place
after which come Ukraine on 128, Belarus on 129, Tajikistan on 133
and Uzbekistan on 147.
Georgia has reduced the amount of needed capital for opening a new
organization from 2000 lari to 200 lari (85 USD). In this period of
time 20 percent more new companies have emerged.
With regard to Armenia, among the factors making doing a business
easier is simultaneous registration of new companies in tax service and
social fund that reduces day of registration to one. Requirements for
starting a business in the sphere of construction have been trimmed
down as well as processes of deeding over the right on assets were
made easier.
By Ara Martirosian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IT Month to be held in Armenia September 15 – October 15
ArmRadio.am
08.09.2006 17:15
September 15 – October 15 IT Month will be held in Armenia.
Adviser to the Prime Minister Ara Hakobyan said today that in the
framework of the month more than 10 large-scale events will be held
in the Republic.
According to Mr. Hakobyan, the aim of the Month is to demonstrate
Armenia’s potential in the IT sphere. Besides, the arrangements will
allow to determine the major directions of development of the IT
sphere in Armenia.
DigiTech 2006 exhibition will be held in the framework of the IT Month.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO EXTRACT MORE WATER FROM SEVAN
Panorama.am
17:31 07/09/06
The government session decided today to extract more water from
Sevan. The information released by the government says that the
government made an amendment in its earlier decision setting 170
million liters as the norm for extracting water from Sevan instead
of previous 150 million liters. The decision takes into consideration
the draught of this year and sharp rise in temperature. /Panorama.am/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NEW ARRIVAL LOUNGE OF ZVARTNOTS TO OPEN SEPTEMBER 14
Lragir.am
08 Sept 06
On September 14 the new arrival lounge of Zvartnots Airport will
open. On September 12 news reporters will visit the new arrival lounge.
The new terminal of the airport with the departure and arrival lounges
will be operated in the spring of 2007. The new terminal was designed
for an annual 2 million passengers, and costs about 63 million dollars.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Days of Yerevan to be held in Moscow
ArmRadio.am
08.09.2006 15:55
September 9-11 Days of Yerevan will be held in Moscow in the framework
of the Year of Armenia in Russia.
Russian media report that the Days of Yerevan in Moscow will start
with the ” Golden Pomegranate” fair of Armenian goods, which will
be held September 9-10 in the Revolution Square.
About 100 restaurants of Armenian cuisine will be presented at the
fair. Clo thes, carpets, folk art items ad souvenirs will be presented
as well. 10 Armenian artists will present their paintings.
Armenian and Russian singers, folk groups and instrumental ensembles
will perform in the framework of the fair. September 10 the Armenian
Navy Band will perform in Pavel Slobodkin Center of Moscow.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

U.S. Welcomes Turkey’s Decision to Send Troops to Lebanon
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.09.2006 13:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. Department of State spokesman Sean McCormack
has said that his country welcomed the approval of the government
motion in the Turkish parliament regarding the deployment of Turkish
troops to Lebanon, reported Cihan news agency.
Spokesman McCormack on Wednesday stated that they (U.S.) welcomed the
offer, in his regular press briefing held in U.S. capital Washington
DC. “We think it’s important that countries around the world step
up and meet an important need so that we do — we are able to make
progress in that small corner of the world”, the McCormack remarked.
McCormack added that, thus, they would not end up back where they were
at the beginning of hostilities thanks to finding such common points.
A total of 340 deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) voted in favor of the government motion, while 192 deputies
voted against the motion. One deputy abstained from voting.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

—
PRESS RELEASE
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
Contact: Information Desk
Tel: (374-10) 52-35-31
Email: [email protected]
Web:
~LNew Answers to Old Questions: Armenians in the 21st century¹ is the
title of a forum which will take place on the second and third days
of the Third ArmeniaDiaspora Conference to be held, from September
18th -20th in Yerevan.
More than a dozen international experts and an equal number of
specialists from Armenia will participate in the first-of-its kind
forum.
Following the first day¹s session which will deal with general
Armenia-Diaspora and the new Rural Poverty Eradication Program,
the forum will focus on the old issues of identity, culture,
belonging, homeland-diaspora relations, but from the point of view
of a transnational people living in a globalized 21st century world.
The first panel of the forum, to be held on Tuesday, September 19,
is entitled Nation, State and Identity in the 21st Century, and will
explore new approaches to understanding the evolution of culture and
identity in relation to the diaspora, as well as Armenia. Khachig
Tololyan, editor of the Toronto, Canada-based Diaspora, A Journal
of Transnational Studies, and a professor of Comparative Literature
at Wesleyan University, will open the forum and moderate this first
session which will consider such questions as whether diasporan
political and institutional development can occur without a homeland,
whether the homeland can develop independently of the diaspora,
and whether the diaspora can develop outside of its traditional
structures and institutions. The role of language, literature, arts,
religion and history will also be discussed in relationship to how
they define citizenship and culture.
Participating in this panel are Chandrashekhar Bhat of the Center
for the Study of the Indian Diaspora in Hyderabad, India and Tsypylma
Darieva of Humboldt University in Berlin. Challenges of Identity will
be presented from two perspectives: Gagik Harutyunyan, President of
the Constitutional Court of Armenia, will present a view from Armenia,
and Khatchik Der Ghougassian, a political analyst from Argentina will
present a view from the Diaspora.
The second panel will address the mechanics of diaspora-homeland
relations.
Reciprocal perceptions of Armenians from Armenia and from the Diaspora,
as well as the need to make both socio-economic and political relations
a two-way street will be addressed by Harutyun Marutyan of Armenia¹s
National Academy of Science¹s Institute of Archeology and Ethnography
and Gloria Totoricaguena from the Center for Basque Studies at the
University of Nevada, Reno. In the same panel, Yevgeny Kuznetsov, an
economist with the World Bank in Washington, will speak on Diasporas
bringing know-how and networks to the homeland.
Razmik Panossian, Director of Policy, Programs and Planning of Rights
and Democracy, of Montreal, will be discussing whether mechanisms
and approaches be created in the future to direct cultural and social
developments toward ideal Homeland-Diaspora configuration.
Repatriation and territory of common identity will be the theme of
the third session of the forum covering topics such as emigration,
repatriation, the role of government in these areas, and whether
existing trends might be reversed.
Edward Melkonian, a Historian at the Slavonic University in Armenia,
will be moderating the session. Armenuhi Stepanyan, from the National
Institute of Sciences¹ Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, will
talk about Lessons of Post-War Repatriation in Armenia. This year,
2006, is the 60th anniversary of the year when the largest number
of Armenians repatriated to Soviet Armenia, in the Stalin years. A
look at current international migration will be presented by Sossi
Kasbarian of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
Gevorg Poghosian, Sociologist, will speak on the causes, consequences
and prospects for emigration from Armenia. Avetik Chalabian, a young
economist with the McKinsey Corporation, in Russia, will cover New
Migration, New Investments and New Diasporans.
In the same session, Judge Eduard Muratian of Armenia will speak
about the perspectives, prospects, promises and possibilities of
dual citizenship.
The final session of the forum will be held on Wednesday morning,
September 20, when four professionals from diverse backgrounds
will take a look at the Diaspora in 2020 and will explore possible
scenarios. This segment will look at what facts and analyses are
prerequisites to future programming and policies.
Moderator Noubar Afeyan of the US, one of the leaders of Armenia 2020,
will present four keynote speakers each of whom will present their view
of the Diaspora in 2020: Arman Jilavian, Editor-in-Chief of Nexion
Publications in Russia; Levon Abrahamian from the Armenian National
Academy of Sciences¹ Institute of Archeology and Ethnography; Bedros
Terzian of Petrostrategies in France, Lebanese-born, and a member
of the Board of Trustees of the Armenia Fund; and Tom Samuelian,
an American-Armenian who has been residing in Armenia for a decade
and heads the American University of Armenia Law Center.
Following each panel, a group of invited discussants representing
different communities, ages, and backgrounds, will comment on the
speakers¹ theses.
There will be simultaneous translation into four languages. Everyone
is welcome to participate. For more information and
last-minute registration, visit
< iaforeignministry.am> .
–Boundary_(ID_Rx29Jyqi1Ng8aEFcmtcJ0w)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress