Author: Emil Lazarian

THERE IS NOT ENOUGH FERTILIZER

A1+
[04:14 pm] 05 April, 2006

By the decision of the Georgian Government, every family of the rural
residents of the Samtskhe-Javakhq region will receive a present of
25 kg of fertilizer.

The Ministry of Agriculture has already carried out corresponding
calculations according to which 1096 tons of fertilizer will be
distributed to 47 844 families.

According to A-info, the 25 kg of fertilizer to be allotted is too
little even for the smallest rural economy. Every spring an average
amount of 500-1000 kg fertilizer is used by these families.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RESIDENTS OF KOZERN ARE “CIVIC REBELS”

A1+
[04:41 pm] 05 April, 2006

The residents of the district Kozern which is also a realization zone
are afraid that one day they will have the same fate as the residents
of the North Avenue. They applied to the RA Government to get right
of property for their houses. The Government promised to take care
of it, but the residents are not sure.

Today the head of the NGO “Community and Right” Samvel Lazarian
who represents the rights of the Kozern residents rendered a press
conference.

According to the census carried out by the NGO, there are 783
people living in Kozern 153 of which are not included in ht official
lists. There are 7-8 elite houses in the district which belong to
rich people and are not threatened. As for the other residents,
they have been forbidden to carry out construction work.

“We applied to the President, the municipality and the Prime
Minister, but all our applications appear in the office of the Yerevan
municipality urban development program which does not correspond to
the promise we were given”.

Samvel Lazarian claims that the residents have applied to the local
cadastre to register their houses but they were rejected. Nevertheless,
the residents of Kozern are going to fight till the end. They
expect an answer within 10 days, otherwise “Kozern will announce
civic disobedience”. They did not explain what they by “civic
disobedience”. Samvel Lazarian joked, “We will announce Kozern an
independent republic”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FADEY SARGSYAN DECIDED NOT TO RESIGN

Lragir.am
05.04.2006

The meeting of the presidency of the National Academy of Sciences
of Armenia on April 5 lasted for over 4 hours, but no episode of the
forecast came true. Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan did not turn up,
the president of the NAS did not resign.

The gathering of the academicians, who lived the greater part of their
lives under the Soviet rule, reminded similar gatherings of Soviet
times. The leader is never mistaken, the criticizer is a betrayer. The
meeting of the presidency of the NAS of non-Soviet Armenia heard
the 13 accusations of Academician Henry Nersisyan against Fadey
Sargsyan. Henry Nersisyan was characterized as “having dishonest aims,
an extremist capable of anything, eccentric.” And Fadey Sargsyan as
someone who made Armenia prosperous, having great merits, too tolerant.

The finish of the “revived” Soviet lifestyle was “disturbed”
by Academicians Hrachik Simonyan and Lenser Aghalovyan only, who
disagreed to the words addressed to Henry Nersisyan. Moreover,
like Henry Nersisyan, they wanted to find out where the 50 million
drams economized from the sum of honorariums of the academicians,
the annual 5 million drams from the lease of the territory, belonging
to the NAS, as well as donations to the NAS disappear. The commission
had not answered these questions either.

And the chair of the commission Yuri Chilingaryan declined to
answer the same questions during the meeting, saying “we wouldn’t
like to frighten our benefactors.” It apparently means that not
everything is clean but let us not talk about it “not to frighten
our benefactors.” Instead, speaking about the Medical Genetic Center,
headed by Tamara Sargsyan, Fadey Sargsyan’s daughter, the commission
found that the phrase “her daughter’s center” used by Fadey Sargsyan
is unacceptable. Similarly, it means that Fadey Sargsyan cannot be
introduced as the president of the NAS, Yuri Chilingaryan cannot be
introduced as the head of the department of Yerevan State University.

Fadey Sargsyan has formed a bureau, an advisory body, which passed
decisions, however. Nevertheless, the commission thinks that the law
was not broken. At the same time, the presidency of the NAS offers “to
choose in such cases the way which is more democratic, like the system
of academy.” However, no one explained why such a democratic system
does not accept criticism or an opinion that differs from the majority.

At the end, not deferring to some people’s requests, Fadey Sargsyan
announced that there was no reason for dismissing Henry Nersisyan. And
deferring to the request of the same persons, announced that he will
not resign. And the meeting of the presidency of the NAS decided to
approve the findings of the commission, eliminate the shortcomings,
reported by the commission.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CIS AIR-DEFENCE COMMANDERS HOLD EXERCISE AT RUSSIA’S BALTIC FLEET

RIA Novosti, Moscow
5 Apr 06

Kaliningrad, 5 April: A training assembly of air-defence commanders
from CIS member states has got under way on the basis of the Baltic
Fleet.

The Baltic Fleet press service told RIA-Novosti that the training
assembly of members of the coordinating committee for air-defence
issues under the CIS Council of Defence Ministers will be held on
5-8 April on the basis of the Baltic Fleet air force and air-defence
facilities. The chairman of the coordinating committee, Russian Air
Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhaylov, will lead the assembly.

The delegation will include chiefs of air-defence troops of the
Armenian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek and Ukrainian armed
forces, representatives of the Russian Defence Ministry and Russian
industry, as well as representatives of the executive bodies of the
CIS and the Collective Security Treaty organization.

“The programme of the training assembly of military leaders envisages
a visit to the command post of the Baltic Fleet air force and
air-defence, practical training at the command post, familiarization
with the way air defence is arranged on the fleet’s surface ships,
and work at the Baltic naval base,” the source said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES FERTILIZER TO PEASANTS OF JAVAKHK

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 05 2006

AKHALKALAK, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. By the decision
of the Government of Georgia, every family of the rural settlements
of Samtskhe-Javakhk will get 25 kg chemical fertilizer as a present,
for agriculture at the spring sowing. The Ministry of Agriculture
of the country and the staff of the authorized representative
of the President in Samtskhe-Javakhk have already implemented the
corresponding calculation, according to which 1096 tons of fertilizer
will be given to 47844 families. During the preliminary period, the
Government’s assistance will be given to the regions of Akhaltskha,
Aspindza, Adigen and Borzhom of the lower zone, then to the regions
of Akhalkalak and Ninotsminda of the higher zone. At the same time,
according to the “A-Info” agency, 25 kg fertilizer to be given to
villagers is few even for the smallest rural family-household which
uses up to 500-1000 kg fertilizer in middle in different cases during
the spring sowing.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KNOLLENBERG QUESTIONS SECRETARY RICE OVER ARMENIA-AZERI MILITARY AID DISPARITY

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 05 2006

WASHINGTON, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
Assembly of America (AAA) commended Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues Co-Chair Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) for questioning Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice on the disparity in military funding to
Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY)
2007 budget. During a hearing before the House Foreign Operations
Subcommittee on Appropriations, Knollenberg questioned Rice over the
Administration’s proposal to provide Azerbaijan with an approximately
20 percent increase in military funding over neighboring Armenia. In
her response, Rice said that the issue of need and requirement is
handled on an individual basis and that the U.S. is working with
both governments. Rice also noted that the U.S. and Armenia recently
signed a five-year $235 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
Compact which will help Armenia reduce rural poverty. Rice also
added that the U.S. maintains good relations with both Armenia and
Azerbaijan. Knollenberg countered that the U.S. is a leading mediator
in the Nagorno Karabakh peace conflict, pointing out that a disparity
in military funding can damage U.S. credibility in the region. Rice,
answered in part, that slight differences in military assistance can
be tolerated between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Administration’s
2007 funding proposal for Foreign Military Financing (FMF) calls for
$4.5 million for Azerbaijan and only $3.5 million for Armenia. The
proposed budget also recommends $885,000 for Azerbaijan versus
$790,000 for Armenia in International Military Education and Training
(IMET) assistance. Congressman Jesse Jackson (D-IL) expressed concern
over the decrease in U.S. economic assistance to several countries
including Armenia. Jackson noted that the Administration requested $50
million in assistance to Armenia in FY 2007 while Congress provided
Yerevan with just under $75 million in FY 2006. “We appreciate
Congressman Knollenberg’s leadership on this critical issue,”
said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. “Given the ongoing
bellicose statements emanating from Azerbaijan, the Assembly will
continue to fight to ensure that parity is reinstated.” “We also
commend Congressman Jackson for raising concerns about the decrease
to Armenia and will continue to work with our friends in Congress to
increase this request, especially in light of the ongoing blockades
by Turkey and Azerbaijan,” Ardouny continued.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ENTITLED “ROLE OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY-CIVIL SOCIETY COOPERATION IN FIGHTING CORRUPTION” TO BE HELD ON APRIL 6-7 IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Apr 05 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. An international conference entitled
“The role of National Assembly-civil society cooperation in fighting
corruption” will be held on April 6-7 at RA National Assembly. The
conference was organized by NA, OSCE, Eurasia Foundation, USAID, UNDP,
on RA NA Speaker Artur Baghdasarian’s initiative (by the agreement
reached during his visit to U.S.). The conference will open on April 6,
by speeches of A.Baghdasarian and Eurasia Foundation Vice-Chairwoman
Andrea Harris, U.S. Ambassador to RA John Evans, UN Resident
Coordinator Consuelo Vidal, OSCE Yerevan Office Head Vladimir Pryakhin.

Then the discussions will continue on the following subjects:
“Parliament-civil society cooperation models and GOPAC experience”,
“Parliament-civil society cooperation in fighting corruption”,
“State-NGOs cooperation experience”, “Some legal problems of fighting
“shadow law”, negative fenomenon giving rise to corruption”, “The
role of public control bodies in fighting corruption”, “The role of
the Control Chamber in fighting corruption: new possibilities and
new prospects in the context of the constitutional reform”, ” The
cooperation of the Control Chamber with meas media and civil society”,
“The role of mass media in fighting corruption”, “The correlation
of corruption and press freedom”, “RA mass media legislation and
the influence of its application on journalists’ involvement in
anti-corruption activity”. On April 7, group discussions will be held
on the subjects “NA-civil society cooperation”, “The role of external
control bodies in fighting corruption”, “The role of press in fighting
corruption”. Representatives of a number of international organizations
and 10 countries (including U.S., Canada, Germany, Poland, Romania)
take part in the conference. According to the report provided to Noyan
Tapan by RA NA Public Relations Department, within the framework
of the conference it is envisaged to found an Armenian structure
of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption
(GOPAC). After the adoption of a statement, the conference will be
concluded by a press conference.

NO ISSUE OF RA NAS CHAIRMAN’S RESIGNATION ON AGENDA OF COMING SITTING OF CHAIRMANSHIP

Noyan Tapan
Apr 05 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The enlarged sitting of the Chairmanship
of the National Academy of Sciences takes place on April 5. The main
issue is the discussion of results of the work of the commission
controlling the financial activity of the RA NAS administration,
particularly, of Chairman Fadey Sargsian. The commission was
created by academicians Anri Nersisian’s and Hrachik Simonian’s
demand. Representatives of the RA NAS and leading institutions of
higher education of the country are involved in the commission. As the
Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by the RA NAS Press Service,
no issue of F.Sargsian’s resignation is on the agenda of that sitting.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT IS READY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH PROPER RECEPTION OF AZERBAIJANI NATIONAL TEAM, RA PRIME MINISTER ASSURES

Noyan Tapan
Apr 05 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The assistance programs implemented
by UEFA considerably contribute to development of football and, in
general, sport, in the country. RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian
declared this on April 4, receiving UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer
Olsson. In particular, the Prime Minister attached importance to the
Hat Trick investment program, as well as the Small Fields program
aimed at promotion of children’s football in the country. A.Margarian
emphasized that the Armenian government pays great attention to the
restoration of the good traditions of the Armenian football: the state
renders assistance for the purpose of allocating areas for sports
grounds, buying sports equipments, implementation of construction,
etc. Expressing satisfaction with establishment of close cooperation
between RA government and Armenian Football Federation, as well as
among the Federation and football clubs, Lars Olsson gave assurance
that football development can also contribute to society’s progress
by uniting several thousands of fans around a single goal. He also
attached importance to promotion of mass and especially children’s
football, in particular, to the Small Fields program mentioning that
the financial assistance given by UEFA for this and other programs will
not only continue but will also increase. As Noyan Tapan was informed
from RA Government Information and Public Relations Department, at the
meeting the interlocutors also touched upon the preparation of Football
Europe Championship to be held in 2008, in particular, the issue of
Armenian and Azerbaijani national teams’ appearing in the same group
in the selective tour, as a result of drawing lots. In this connection
A.Margarian assured that the Armenian government is ready to solve
issues of proper reception of the Azerbaijani national team, providing
the security of the competitors and their fans. Expressing gratitude
to the Prime Minister for such an approach, Lars Olsson emphasized that
UEFA expects such security guarantees from the Azerbaijani side, too.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VARTAN OSKANIAN AND EU REPRESENTATIVE DISCUSSED ARMENIA-EU ACTION PLAN ELABORATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.04.2006 23:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian received today
Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for External
Relations Fokion Fotiadis, who is on visit in Armenia. Congratulating
Mr. Fotiadis with the appointment the RA FM voiced hop that the visit
will serve as a good basis for mutual cooperation. Vartan Oskanian
underscored Armenia intends to deepen relations with the Directorate
General for External Relations. The parties discussed a scope of
issues referring to the EU-Armenia relations. Special attention was
paid to the energy security of the region and diversification of
energy sources.

The parties referred to the elaboration of the Armenia-EU Action Plan
within the European Neighborhood Policy. Giving a high estimate to the
two completed stages they voiced assurance that in May the discussions
will be over and the program will be ready for implementation. The
interlocutors also emphasized that to establish normal relations
in the region special attention should be paid to the settlement of
conflicts, especially to the Nagorno Karabakh one.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress