Author: Emil Lazarian

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: COOPERATION WITH ICRC HAS ALWAYS BEEN WITHIN LIMITS
OF GOOD WILL AND READINESS

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Robert Kocharian and
President of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) Jakob
Kellenberger spoke about programs implemented with the assistance of
ICRC, in particular, about work done in the direction of revealing
missing people at the April 7 meeting. Appreciating the cooperation
with ICRC, the country’s President said that it has always been within
the limits of good will and readiness. Robert Kocharian said that
Armenia has always showed readiness by providing favorable conditions
for the activity of ICRC employees. According to RA President’s Press
Service, Robert Kocharian also briefly presented the current process
of Nagorno Karabakh settlement.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FIDE’s April 2006 ratings without Kasparov

03.04.2006 For decades we have been used to see him at the top of
every chess rating list. Now, a year after his retirement from
competitive chess, Garry Kasparov has been taken off the FIDE rating
list. His successor is the current FIDE world champion Veselin
Topalov, just one point ahead of VishyAnand.

Here are the top rankings.

FIDE April 2006 Rating Lists

For the first time in decades FIDE publishes a rating list without
Garry Kasparov, not at the top nor anywhere in the list. Kasparov has
been removes due to inactivity, as required by the ratings conventions
and announced in advance by FIDE. The above chart makes clear who the
“crown princes” are: Veselin Topalov, the current FIDE world champion;
and Viswanathan Anand, the former FIDE world champion and 1995 title
challenger in New York of Garry Kasparov.

Topalov and Anand are almost 50 points ahead of the nearest rival,
Armenian GM Levon Aronian, who has just won the Morelia/Linares
tournament. In place four we find Peter Svidler, who had some very
disappointing results and lost 22 points, but had enough on his
account to maintain his ranking – taking into account that Kasparov
vacated one place. Five points behind Svidler are Peter Leko and
Ruslan Ponomariov. The latter gained 15 points to move from tenth to
joint fifth place. Alexander Morozevich gained 9 points to climb back
into the top ten. Classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik lost
12 points, mainly due to illness, and dropped from sixth to eights
place.

It is interesting to note, in our age of child prodigies and teenage
grandmasters, that the average age of the top ten is over thirty.

Top 100 Players April 2006
Rank Name Title Country Rating Gms Born 1 _Topalov, Veselin_
( tml?id=3D2900084) g BUL 2804 27 1975 2 _Anand,
Viswanathan_ ( 5000017) g IND 2803
13 1969 3 _Aronian, Levon_
( l?id=3D13300474) g ARM 2756 27 1982 4 _Svidler, Peter_
( l?id=3D4102142) g RUS 2743 28 1976 5 _Leko, Peter_
( l?id=3D703303) g HUN 2738 27 1979 6
_Ponomariov, Ruslan_ ( 14103320) g UKR
2738 16 1983 7 _Morozevich, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4116992) g RUS 2730 10 1977 8 _Kramnik, Vladimir_
( html?id=3D4101588) g RUS 2729 11 1975 9 _Gelfand,
Boris_ ( 2805677) g ISR 2727 13
1968 10 _Ivanchuk, Vassily_
( tml?id=3D14100010) g UKR 2723 28 1969 11 _Adams, Michael_
( tml?id=3D400041) g ENG 2720 15 1971 12 _Grischuk, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4126025) g RUS 2719 3 1983 13
_Radjabov, Teimour_
( tml?id=3D13400924) g AZE 2717 14 1987 14 _Polgar, Judit_
( l?id=3D700070) g HUN 2711 0 1976 15 _Bacrot, Etienne_
( tml?id=3D605506) g FRA 2708 30 1983 16 _Akopian,
Vladimir_ ( 13300032) g ARM 2706
19 1971 17 _Bareev, Evgeny_
( ml?id=3D4100140) g RUS 2701 11 1966 18 _Shirov, Alexei_
( ml?id=3D2209390) g ESP 2699 10 1972 19 _Mamedyarov,
Shakhriyar_ ( 13401319) g AZE 2699 23
1985 20 _Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter_
( es.phtml?id=3D1202758) g ROM 2695 3 1976 21 _Sasikiran, Krishnan_
( html?id=3D5004985) g IND 2692 27 1981 22 _Malakhov,
Vladimir_ ( 4120787) g RUS2691 11
1980 23 _Rublevsky, Sergei_
( ml?id=3D4115309) g RUS 2687 11 1974 24 _Lautier, Joel_
( ?id=3D600016) g FRA 2682 3 1973 25 _Harikrishna, P._
( d=3D5007003) g IND 2680 7 1986 26
_Georgiev, Kiril_ ( 2900017) g BUL
2677 28 1965 27 _Sokolov, Ivan_
( ?id=3D14400030) g NED 2676 16 1968 28 _Jakovenko, Dmitry_
( ml?id=3D4122356) g RUS 2675 24 1983 29 _Kasimdzhanov,
Rustam_ ( 14200244) g UZB 2673 3
1979 30 _Dreev, Alexey_
( ml?id=3D4100107) g RUS 2673 20 1969 31 _Karpov, Anatoly_
( tml?id=3D4100026) g RUS 2672 0 1951 32 _Kamsky, Gata_
( ?id=3D2000024) g USA 2671 13 1974 33 _Korneev,
Oleg_ ( 4156803) g RUS 2671
79 1969 34 _Zvjaginsev, Vadim_
( l?id=3D4113403) g RUS 2670 11 1976 35 _Azmaiparashvili, Zurab_
( l?id=3D13601326) g GEO 2669 17 1960 36 _Tiviakov,
Sergei_ ( 1008013) g NED 2669 23
1973 37 _Short, Nigel D._
( d=3D400025) g ENG 2668 11 1965 38 _Bologan, Viktor_
( ml?id=3D13900048) g MDA 2666 22 1971 39 _Vallejo Pons,
Francisco_ ( 2205530) g ESP 2666 23
1982 40 _Eljanov, Pavel_
( l?id=3D14102951) g UKR 2665 11 1983 41 _Naiditsch, Arkadij_
( tml?id=3D4650891) g GER 2664 25 1985 42 _Nakamura, Hikaru_
( ml?id=3D2016192) g USA 2664 14 1987 43
_Efimenko, Zahar_ ( 14107201) g
UKR 2662 18 1985 44 _Smirin, Ilia_
( ?id=3D2801990) g ISR 2662 0 1968 45 _Moiseenko, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D14102560) g UKR 2662 18 1980 46 _Karjakin,
Sergey_ ( 14109603) g UKR 2661
22 1990 47 _Motylev, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4121830) g RUS 2660 33 1979 48 _Volokitin, Andrei_
( ml?id=3D14107090) g UKR 2660 9 1986 49 _Areshchenko,
Alexander_ ( 14109530) g UKR
2660 19 1986 50 _Navara, David_
( l?id=3D309095) g CZE 2658 13 1985 51 _Almasi, Zoltan_
( ml?id=3D702293) g HUN 2657 13 1976 52 _Van Wely, Loek_
( ?id=3D1000268) g NED 2655 13 1972 53
_Kobalia, Mikhail_ ( 4119150) g
RUS 2654 0 1978 54 _Najer, Evgeniy_
( tml?id=3D4118987) g RUS 2653 14 1977 55 _Bruzon, Lazaro_
( ml?id=3D3503739) g CUB 2652 24 1982 56 _Krasenkow,
Michal_ ( 1113100) g POL 2650 11
1963 57 _Onischuk, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D14101025) g USA 2650 0 1975 58 _Izoria, Zviad_
( l?id=3D13601733) g GEO 2647 16 1984 59 _Dominguez, Lenier_
( ml?id=3D3503240) g CUB 2647 9 1983 60
_Nielsen, Peter Heine_ ( 1400355)
g DEN 2646 2 1973 61 _Asrian, Karen_
( l?id=3D13300490) g ARM 2646 13 1980 62 _Carlsen, Magnus_
( ml?id=3D1503014) g NOR 2646 13 1990 63 _Timofeev,
Artyom_ ( 4140419) g RUS 2646
9 1985 64 _Miton, Kamil_
( l?id=3D1111914) g POL 2646 0 1984 65 _Jobava, Baadur_
( ml?id=3D13601520) g GEO 2646 22 1983 66 _Gashimov, Vugar_
( l?id=3D13400630) g AZE 2644 13 1986 67
_Gurevich, Mikhail_ ( 200930) g
TUR 2643 13 1959 68 _Tkachiev, Vladislav_
( phtml?id=3D618438) g FRA 2643 3 1973 69 _Khalifman, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4100115) g RUS 2640 20 1966 70
_Delchev, Aleksander_ ( 2900394) g BUL
2640 11 1971 71 _Alekseev, Evgeny_
( ml?id=3D4138147) g RUS 2640 9 1985 72 _Bu, Xiangzhi_
( html?id=3D8601445) g CHN 2640 9 1985 73 _Zhang, Zhong_
( l?id=3D8600694) g CHN 2640 8 1978 74
_Bauer, Christian_ ( 603767) g
FRA 2638 30 1977 75 _Ibragimov, Ildar_
( l?id=3D4102878) g USA 2637 15 1967 76 _Sakaev, Konstantin_
( .phtml?id=3D4104226) g RUS 2637 12 1974 77 _Seirawan,
Yasser_ ( 2000032) g USA 2635
0 1960 78 _Cheparinov, Ivan_
( ?id=3D2905540) g BUL 2635 29 1986 79 _Aleksandrov, Aleksej_
( tml?id=3D13500139) g BLR 2634 14 1973 80 _Fressinet,
Laurent_ ( 608742) g FRA 2633 19
1981 81 _Avrukh, Boris_
( l?id=3D2803895) g ISR 2633 0 1978 82 _Huebner, Robert Dr._
( id=3D4600010) g GER 2632 0 1948 83 _Granda Zuniga, Julio E_
( =3D3800024) g PER 2631 0 1967
84 _Sutovsky, Emil_ ( 2802007)
g ISR 2628 10 1977 85 _Sokolov, Andrei_
( ml?id=3D627089) g FRA 2628 10 1963 86 _Atalik, Suat_
( ?id=3D14401487) g TUR 2627 22 1964 87 _Zhang,
Pengxiang_ ( 8600970) g CHN 2623 9
1980 88 _Beliavsky, Alexander G_
( =3D14602377) g SLO 2622 13 1953 89 _Milov, Vadim_
( l?id=3D1304364) g SUI 2622 19 1972 90 _Vescovi, Giovanni_
( html?id=3D2100789) g BRA 2622 13 1978
91 _Istratescu, Andrei_
( ml?id=3D1200372) g ROM 2621 3 1975 92 _Volkov, Sergey_
( ml?id=3D4122763) g RUS 2620 30 1974 93 _Sadvakasov, Darmen_
( ml?id=3D13700464) g KAZ 2619 9 1979 94
_Lputian, Smbat G_ ( 13300024) g
ARM 2619 3 1958 95 _Hjartarson, Johann_
( ml?id=3D2300044) g ISL 2619 0 1963 96 _Galkin, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4120426) g RUS 2618 9 1979 97 _Korotylev,
Alexey_ ( 4119142) g RUS 2618
9 1977 98 _Movsesian, Sergei_
( ml?id=3D310204) g SVK 2618 9 1978 99 _Paragua, Mark_
( ?id=3D5201241) g PHI 2617 8 1984 100 _Timman, Jan H_
( =3D1000012) g NED 2616 7 1951 101
_Vladimirov, Evgeny_ ( 13700014) g
KAZ 2616 0 1957
Top Women April 2006
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year 1 _Polgar, Judit_
( l?id=3D700070) g HUN 2711 0 1976 2 _Koneru,
Humpy_ ( 5008123) g IND 2548 25
1987 3 _Kosteniuk, Alexandra_
( phtml?id=3D4128125) g RUS 2540 20 1984 4 _Cramling, Pia_
( id=3D1700030) g SWE 2520 35 1963 5 _Xu, Yuhua_
( l?id=3D8600635) wg CHN 2517 13 1976 6
_Chiburdanidze, Maia_ ( 13600036) g GEO
2504 8 1961 7 _Stefanova, Antoaneta_
( phtml?id=3D2902257) g BUL 2502 23 1979 8 _Kosintseva, Tatiana_
( tml?id=3D4133471) m RUS 2489 15 1986 9 _Hoang Thanh
Trang_ ( 12400149) m HUN 2487
10 1980 10 _Zhu, Chen_
( ?id=3D8600546) g CHN 2483 19 1976 11 _Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman_
( .phtml?id=3D5004098) m IND 2472 6 1979 12 _Cmilyte,
Viktorija_ ( 12801259) m LTU 2470 20
1983 13 _Galliamova, Alisa_
( l?id=3D4129725) m RUS 2470 13 1972 14 _Kosintseva, Nadezhda_
( html?id=3D4134974) m RUS 2469 11 1985 15 _Lahno, Kateryna_
( html?id=3D14109336) m UKR 2468 15 1989
16 _Qin, Kanying_ ( 8600350)
wg CHN 2465 6 1974 17 _Socko, Monika_
( ml?id=3D1106619) m POL 2465 2 1978 18 _Dembo, Yelena_
( ml?id=3D723916) m GRE 2464 12 1983 19 _Kovalevskaya,
Ekaterina_ ( 4116704) m RUS 2460
28 1974 20 _Matveeva, Svetlana_
( html?id=3D4119827) m RUS 2454 21 1969 21 _Mkrtchian, Lilit_
( l?id=3D13300601) m ARM 2453 6 1982 22 _Krush, Irina_
( l?id=3D2012782) m USA 2447 0 1983 23
_Korbut, Ekaterina_ ( 4144228)
wg RUS 2442 11 1985 24 _Dzagnidze, Nana_
( ?id=3D2012782) m GEO 2442 13 1987 25 _Pogonina, Natalija_
( html?id=3D4147855) wg RUS 2440 20 1985 26
_Radziewicz, Iweta_ ( 1108166) m
POL 2439 28 1981 27 _Paehtz, Elisabeth_
( phtml?id=3D4641833) m GER 2438 13 1985 28 _Sebag, Marie_
( l?id=3D617822) m FRA 2434 25 1986 29 _Zatonskih,
Anna_ ( 14101572) wg USA 2433 0
1978 30 _Gaponenko, Inna_
( ?id=3D14101181) m UKR 2430 21 1976 31 _Khurtsidze, Nino_
( ?id=3D13600320) m GEO 2426 28 1975 32 _Zhukova, Natalia_
( tml?id=3D14101513) wg UKR 2425 141979 33
_Ciuksyte, Dagne_ ( 12800619)
wg LTU 2423 16 1977 34 _Skripchenko, Almira_
( ml?id=3D13900145) m FRA 2423 13 1976 35 _Zhao, Xue_
( id=3D8601283) wg CHN 2423 19 1985 36
_Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan_ ( 13600168) m
GEO 2423 14 1968 37 _Hunt, Harriet_
( tml?id=3D403512) m ENG 2422 0 1978 38 _Danielian, Elina_
( l?id=3D13300210) m ARM 2422 22 1978 39 _Kachiani-G.,
Ketino_ ( 4623614) m GER 2421
0 1971 40 _Muzychuk, Anna_
( ?id=3D14111330) wg SLO 2419 171990 41 _Zaiatz, Elena_
( l?id=3D4139518) m RUS 2417 2 1969 42 _Maric, Alisa_
( l?id=3D904180) m SCG 2415 0 1970 43
_Javakhishvili, Lela_ ( 13601458) m
GEO 2410 22 1984 44 _Peptan, Corina-Isabela_
( iles.phtml?id=3D1201930) m ROM 2408 12 1978 45 _Xu, Yuanyuan_
( html?id=3D8601089) wg CHN 2405 0 1981 46 _Zimina,
Olga_ ( 4132190) wg ITA 2404 20
1982 47 _Vajda, Szidonia_
( html?id=3D723894) m HUN 2403 0 1979 48 _Lomineishvili, Maia_
( ?id=3D13600656) m GEO 2399 19 1977 49 _Ushenina, Anna_
( ?id=3D14110911) wg UKR 2397 4 1985 50
_Peng, Zhaoqin_ ( 1004786) g
NED 2395 14 1968 51 _Vasilevich, Tatjana_
( tml?id=3D14101610) m UKR 2395 0 1977 52 _Ovod, Evgenija_
( html?id=3D4131827) m RUS 2395 11 1982
Top 20 Juniors April 2006
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year 1 _Radjabov, Teimour_
( tml?id=3D13400924) g AZE 2717 14 1987 2
_Harikrishna, P._ ( 5007003) g IND
2680 7 1986 3 _Nakamura, Hikaru_
( ml?id=3D2016192) g USA 2664 14 1987 4 _Karjakin, Sergey_
( ml?id=3D14109603) g UKR 2661 22 1990 5 _Volokitin,
Andrei_ ( 14107090) g UKR 2660 9 1986
6 _Areshchenko, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D14109530) g UKR 2660 19 1986 7 _Carlsen, Magnus_
( ml?id=3D1503014) g NOR 2646 13 1990 8 _Gashimov, Vugar_
( l?id=3D13400630) g AZE 2644 13 1986 9
_Cheparinov, Ivan_ ( 2905540) g
BUL 2635 29 1986 10 _Guseinov, Gadir_
( l?id=3D13401378) g AZE 2610 10 1986 11 _Pantsulaia, Levan_
( l?id=3D13602071) g GEO 2609 0 1986 12 _Wang,
Hao_ ( 8602883) g CHN 26059 1989
13 _Wang, Yue_ ( 8601429) g
CHN 2598 9 1987 14 _Wojtaszek, Radoslaw_
( html?id=3D1118358) g POL 2597 25 1987 15 _Tomashevsky, Evgeny_
( ml?id=3D4147235) g RUS 2595 20 1987 16
_Balogh, Csaba_ ( 718939)
g HUN 2576
16 1987 17 _Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime_
( ml?id=3D623539) g FRA 2576 21 1990 18 _Savchenko, Boris_
( l?id=3D4147332) m RUS 2568 17 1986 19 _Predojevic,
Borki_ ( 930849) g BIH 2566 25
1987 20 _Nguyen, Ngoc Truongson_
( phtml?id=3D12401110) g VIE 2555 16 1990
Top 20 Girls April 2006
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year 1 _Koneru, Humpy_
( l?id=3D5008123) g IND 2548 25 1987 2
_Kosintseva, Tatiana_ ( 4133471) m RUS
2489 15 1986 3 _Lahno, Kateryna_
( html?id=3D14109336) m UKR 2468 15 1989 4 _Dzagnidze, Nana_
( ?id=3D2012782) m GEO 2442 13 1987 5 _Sebag, Marie_
( l?id=3D617822) m FRA 2434 25 1986 6
_Muzychuk, Anna_ ( 14111330) wg
SLO 2419 17 1990 7 _Melia, Salome_
( ml?id=3D13602446) wg GEO 2393 191987 8 _Huang, Qian_
( ?id=3D8602689) wm CHN 2391 9 1986 9 _Zawadzka, Jolanta_
( tml?id=3D1122320) wg POL 2389 11 1987
10 _Mongontuul, Bathuyag_
( html?id=3D4900758) wg MGL 2378 18 1987 11 _Tania, Sachdev_
( tml?id=3D5007844) wg IND 2375 0 1986 12 _Ruan, Lufei_
( l?id=3D8602727) CHN 2370 4 1987 13
_Kadziolka, Beata_ ( 1119990) wm POL
2359 11 1986 14 _Harika, Dronavalli_
( .phtml?id=3D5015197) wg IND 2358 0 1991 15 _Gunina, Valentina_
( phtml?id=3D4167570) wf RUS 2352 9 1989 16 _Chistiakova,
Tamara_ ( 4140370) wf RUS 2351
9 1986 17 _Hoang, Thi Bao Tram_
( ?id=3D12401102) wm VIE 2349 9 1987 18 _Tairova, Elena_
( l?id=3D13503383) wm RUS 2342 221991 19 _Arutyunova,
Diana_ ( 14107244) wg UKR 2338 10
1988 20 _Kursova, Maria_
( l?id=3D4129709) wm RUS 2333 15 1986
All data by courtesy of FIDE (_ () ).

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

YAHOO Finance
PRESS RELEASE
Source: Global Gold Corp.

Global Gold Corporation Closes $13 Million Private Placement
Wednesday April 5, 3:56 pm ET

GREENWICH, CT–(MARKET WIRE)–Apr 5, 2006 — Global Gold Corporation (OTC
BB:GBGD.OB <; – News
< ; ) () has
closed a private placement raising thirteen million dollars with Aton
Securities, Inc. of New York City () acting as the Managing
Private Placement Agent. Global Gold will use the proceeds to fund its
mining and exploration projects in Armenia and in Chile, acquisition plans
as well as for working capital.

The transaction involved the issuance of ten million four hundred thousand
shares of common stock at $1.25 per share. Each new share issued carries a
warrant to purchase one third of one additional share at $2.00 per share.
The warrants are exercisable on or before the sooner of (a) April 1, 2008 or
(b) sixty (60) days following a determination that the weighted average
trading price of the common shares over a thirty (30) consecutive trading
day period commencing after August 1, 2006 is $3.00 USD or greater. Lead
investors include current shareholders Firebird Global Master Fund, Ltd.
() and East Capital (), as well as new
shareholders Farallon Capital Management (),
Persistency Capital (), QVT Financial
(), Prince Street Capital (), and Aton
International Ltd.

Global is currently focusing its work in Armenia in the North Central Belt
to produce gold and to bring historical reserve numbers up to Western
standards as well as in the gold and uranium Getik exploration area. Global
also has other interests in Armenia including joint ventures with Iberian
Resources and the right until December 31, 2009 to elect to participate at a
level of up to twenty percent with Sterlite Gold Ltd. or any of its
affiliates in any exploration project undertaken in Armenia. Global Gold
Corporation is located at 45 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. The
main phone number is 203-422-2300. More information can be found at

To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly
historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business
strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals,
future financial conditions, future collaboration agreements, the success of
the Company’s development, events conditioned on stockholder or other
approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are
forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking
statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
statements made.

Contact:
Contact:
Drury J. Gallagher
[email protected]

_____
Source: Global Gold Corp.
GBGD.OB

Copyright C 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IT’S ENVISAGED THAT DUAL CITIZENS TO MAKE USE OF ELECTORAL RIGHT ONLY AFTER SETTLING IN ARMENIA FOR MOSTLY AND CONTINUOUS LIVING

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 06 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN, – ARMENIANS TODAY. Levon Mkrtchian,
the head of the RA NA “ARF” faction and Armen Rustamian, a
representative of the ARF Supreme Body of Armenia presented at
the April 5 press-conference the working draft of the conception
of the RA draft law “On Giving Armenians from Abroad Status of Dual
Citizenship.” It’s expected that the draft law will be worked out based
on the conception and will be put it in the official circulation at
the National Assembly till September. The necessity of adopting the
letter is conditioned with constitutional amendments adopted by the
November 27, 2005 referendum, as a result of that the prohibition
of the dual citizenship was liquidated. It’s envisaged that those
dual citizens who implemented their military service in any state,
must not implement double military service in the RA. Issues connected
with tax duties must be regulated by international agreements. Double
taxation of dual citizens will be excluded by the means of interstate
agreements and the productive citizenship will be used, thus, taxes,
duties and other payments will be paid in that state where those
people mostly and continuously or always live or where they actively
promote their activity, where the place of sources of their profit
is. As for carrying out the right of votion, according to the proposed
draft conception, dual citizens will make use of this right after
their settling in RA for mostly or countinuously living. Taking into
account, that by the RA amended Constitution no prohibition functions
connected with the right of voting, it’s fixed that people got dual
citizenship in the RA must make use of the possibility of their right
of voting. The author considers possible to fix a principle in the
Electoral Code, according to what, state elections must be held only
in the RA territory, excluding existence of polling stations in other
countries. Let’s mention that the basis for getting dual citizenship
is the fact of certifying and proving meaning, thus, according to
A.Rustamian, the principle of blood functions.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RADIO MONITORING OF CONTACT LINE HELD IN IJEVAN-GHAZAKH PART OF ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI BORDER ON APRIL 6

Noyan Tapan
Apr 06 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Within the framework of the mandate
of Andrej Kasprczik, the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office, radio monitoring of the contact line will be
held near the village of Berkaber, in the Ijevan-Ghazakh part of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border at 11:00, April 6.

As Colonel Seyran Shahsuvarian, the RA Defence Minister’s Press
Secretary informed Noyan Tapan, this time A.Kasprczik will participate
in the observation from the Azerbaijani side.

5th UNIT OF HRAZDAN TPP SOLD TO GASPROM

Noyan Tapan
Apr 06 2006

YEREVAn, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Under the Armenian government’s decision
of April 6, 2006, the 5th power unit of the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant
(TPP) has been sold to Gasprom company (Russia) for 248.8 mln USD. RA
Minister of Energy Armen Movsisian told reporters on the same day that
the government took this step in order to mitigate the consequences
of the increase in the gas tariff. A. Movsisian said that in the
period from April 10, 2006 to December 31, 2008, the government
will compensate the users 188 mln dollars of the indicated sum in
the form of subsidies aimed at mitigating the tariff increase, while
the remaining sum will be transferred to the state budget. Starting
April 10, the state will subsidize 25 thousand drams out of the 90
thousand drams (200 USD) for 1,000 cubic meters for private users,
and 52.01 USD is envisaged against 146.51 USD for big consumers. The
sum will be transferred to the extrabudget account of the RA Ministry
of Defence, which, according to A. Movsisian, will allow to accelerate
the process. The Russian side intends to implement a 150-160 mln dollar
investment program at the 5th unit of Hrazdan TPP within the next two
years. Under the program, the power unit must be fully constructed,
in addition, a gas turbine with the capacity of at least 140 megawatt
has to be installed. The contract also stipulates that there will be
no change in the tariff of the gas supplied by Gasprom until 2009. The
minister said that this deal will also allow to avoid an increase in
the price of electricity. Asked if it would not be more expedient
to sell the 5th unit by holding a tender, A. Movsisian said that a
tender was announced two years ago but the offered price was much lower
than the current one. According to an agreement reached previously,
construction of the Hrazdan TPP 5th power unit was to be completed
with credit resources of the Iranian side. A. Movsisian said that it
was proposed that instead, the Iranian side should make investmenmts
in the construction of the Meghri hydropower plant on the Arax River.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OLD DATA ON ARMENIA USED IN GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REPORT 2005

Noyan Tapan
Apr 06 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenia-related data in the Global
Information Technology Report 2005 of the Global Economic Forum does
not reflect the current situation in the information and communication
sectors of Armenia, since the outdated information has been used. RA
Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Tigran Davtian
stated this at the April 6 press conference. According to the report,
Armenia ranks 79th among 155 countries by its summary index. T. Davtian
said that particularly the index of the information and communication
technologies component affected the formation of such a low rating
of Armenia. For example, Armenia was in 103rd place by the component
of mobile phone use by individuals, but this conclusion was made
based on the 2003 data. Armenia took the last – 115th place by the
component of mobile phone use in business sector – based on the 2004
data. This information does not reflect the increase in the indices
of mobile phone use after the entry of the second operator in the
Armenian mobile phone communication market.

Besides, Armenia took 110th place by the Internet services availability
component (2004 data was used), 104th place by the new phone lines
availability component (2003 data). T. Davtian said that the low
indices of these two components are conditioned by ArmenTel’s monopoly
in the Internet access service and phone communication provision
market. It is for the first time that Armenia was included in the
Global Information Technology Report, which, in T. Davtian’s opinion,
is a positive phenomenon.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER HAS MEETINGS AT FOREIGN MINISTRY AND PARLIAMENT OF CZECH REPUBLIC

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 06 2006

PRAGUE, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Arman Kirakosian,
the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia was on a working visit to the
Czech Republic on April 3-4. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Czech Republic, Arman Kirakosian had meetings with Jaroslav Basta,
the Foreign Minister’s First Deputy of the Czech Republic and Jaromir
Plisek, the Director General of the Territorial Department. The sides
discussed issues concerning development of bilateral relations,
possibilities of completing the legal-contractual field between
Armenia and the Czech Republic, of widening commercial-economic
ties. For giving new filling to relations of the two countries,
interlocuters discussed the necessity of mutual official visits in
future. The RA Deputy Foreign Minister also had meetings with Edvard
Outrata, the Deputy Speaker of the Czech Parliament and Jan Kavan,
the Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Committee.

Issues connected with widening interparliamentary ties, visit to be
paid to Armenia by Czech parliamentaries in coming May were touched
upon during the meetings. Within the framework of his visit to the
Czech Republic, Arman Kirakosian participated in the international
conference dedicated to the Armenian Genocide. The conference where
he made a speech was organized at the Czech Senate by Senator Jaromir
Stetina and the Armenian community. Scientists and historians from
the Czech Republic, U.S., Germany, France, Slovakia made speeches
at the conference. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign
Ministry’s Press and Information Department, the RA Deputy Foreign
Minister had a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community
of the Czech Republic.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NUMBER OF PEOPLE RECEIVING FAMILY BENEFITS INCREASES IN GEGHARKUNIK

Noyan Tapan
Apr 06 2006

GAVAR, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The number of people receiving
family benefits has increased in the first quarter of 2006 in the
Gegharkunik region. Thus, in 2004 the number of beneficiaries amounted
to 11722, in 2005 11547, while in the first quarter of 2006 12013
people. At the Health Protection and Social Security Department of
Gegharkunik Administration they condition the increase of the number
of beneficiaries by the circumstance that the government reduced the
lower brink of poverty estimation. In accordance with the regions’
districts, the number of beneficiaries in the first quarter of 2006
was distributed in the following way: Martuni 4599, Gavar 1824,
Sevan 1805, Vardenis 2385 and Chambarak 1400.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FIRST ISSUE OF “ARMYANKA” MAGAZINE IN RUSSIAN LANGUAGE PUBLISHED IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Apr 06 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The first issue of the “Armyanka”
(“Armenian Woman”) magazine in the Russian language was published
in Yerevan on the initiative of a number of journalists. As Narine
Baghdasarian, the editor-in-chief of the periodical, said at the
April 6 presentation, the magazine published in 4000 copies will be
also spread in CIS countries, especially in Russia.

The “Armyanka” has several departments: health protection,
travel, letters, interviews, etc. According to N.Baghdasarian, any
interesting story or proposal of a woman-reader will be published in
the magazine. “It seems that the Armenian woman has been spoken much
about but this is not enough. We will try to present the reflections
and feelings of the Armenian woman by means of this magazine,”
N.Baghdasarian said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress