Author: Emil Lazarian

‘ARMAVIA’ PRESENTED THE NEW A-319 AIRPLANE
Yerevan, March 31. ArmInfo. Armavia company has purchased an A-319
airbus. On the presentation of the airbus the head of ‘Mika Limited’
and owner of Armavia Mikhail Bagdasarov noted that the technical
equipment of Armevia is being renewed and its customers serviced
at a high level. Armavia strives to insure security and reliability
therefore it could not be included in the recently published list of
insecure air companies.
In the interview to ArmInfo, Mikhail Baghdasarov said that in May
the company will purchase another A319 plane on leasing grounds. In
fact, there will be 5 air busses, 2 planes YAK-42, one IL-86 and one
YAK 40. He emphasized the importance of the fact that the purchased
planes are almost new. “Such planes will impart the company with a
special status both in CIS and in Europe,” Bagdasarov stated.
The company is in good terms with “Aeroflot,” “Sibir” “Krasavia,” as
well as with “Air France,” “KLM,” “British Airways,” and “Leufthanza”
air companies. He stated that this is conditioned by the fact that
“Armavia” follows a right path. “I want to say that at present, there
are a number of new directions for the activities of our company
and they will yield good results. I think that the company should
pull itself together. In case, we manage to do that, we will become
very powerful. This means that we should correct the drawbacks that
developed the Armenian aviation for over 10 years. The situations
changes so briefly that we may face its full revival very soon,”
Bagdasarov said.
Bagdasarov says that together with AirFrance Armavia will resume
flights to Paris; in the summer the company will start flying to Anapa
and Donetsk; and is considering resuming flights to St.Petersburg,
Samara, Odessa, Simferopol, Beirut, Aleppo and Athens.
The flight to Tel Aviv will be resumed after the opening of an Israeli
consulate in Yerevan. During holidays Armavia is going organize
charter flight to Cyprus and Antalia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VARDAN KHACHATRYAN STILL DOES NOT KNOW A LOT
Lragir.am
01 April 06
Since April 1 the Russian gas will cross the border of Armenia at
110 dollars per 1000 cubic meters. It is not an April Fools joke,
it is not a joke at all, especially when new details are becoming
known day by day. Particularly, different sources inform or “forecast”
that Armenia will transfer the fifth generating unit of the Thermal
Power Plant of Hrazdan and its share of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
to Russia. Vardan Khachatryan was the first government official that
news reporters could ask for elucidation. He gave a press conference on
March 31 to tell about his American visit. However, Vardan Khachatryan
used the American visit to not tell anything definite.
The minister announced that he was not aware of the details of
the Russian-Armenian talks on the price of gas and hopes to get
information from relevant bodies on the process of the talks and the
agreement. Such a relevant body is Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan,
for instance, who personally announced that Armenia has no more
property to transfer to Russia to repay the debt. But the vague
and avoiding answer of Vardan Khachatryan apparently confirms the
rumors and refutes the words of the prime minister. The minister of
finance and economy did not say yes, but he did not say no either
to the transfer of the fifth generating unit and the shares of the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.
“There is no absolutely good and absolutely bad. It depends on the
problems that must be solved, on the way how to solve them,” says
Vardan Khachatryan, adding that Armenia wants to keep the fifth
generating unit of the Thermal Power Plant and the gas pipeline
operating. Vardan Khachatryan even said that Armenia evaluated the
fifth generating unit rather high, and there is information that it
was evaluated 250 million dollars. Vardan Khachatryan says it is a
very good price for a half-built generating unit.
Generally, the words and behavior of Armenian officials allow thinking
that Armenia cannot have an operating thermal power station and Iranian
gas unless these are controlled by Russia. Whereas, the program of
property for debt shows the opposite thing, that if Armenia wants to
have something that operates, Armenia should not transfer it to Russia.
But thus the problem of gas, which threatens to become a far more
burning issue than the problem of bread, is not settled, for it is
two-fold: the border and beyond the border. The terms might cause
confusion, however we should also think for our compatriots living
outside Armenia, for them to understand what is going on in their
native land. And in the native land the government does favor to
people on the money of people. Since April 10 people will have to pay
90 drams per one cubic meter of gas, and industries will pay twice
as much. It was the decision of a governmental body, headed by the
former mayor of Yerevan Robert Nazaryan.
“If the government does not accept these tariffs, it can decide
to cover part of these tariffs. I hope it will do,” says Vardan
Khachatryan. To put it mildly, the minister of finance should despise
this phrase, for it is illogical when a commission “lets down” both the
citizen and the government. The minister of finance is not a minister
of social security, he has to fear for every cent of the government,
and should at least announce that it is absurd when the government
covers the costs of some private company, be it Armrusgasard or
Whateverprom. In the meantime, Vardan Khachatryan is hopeful that it
will be so. Moreover, for a long time.
“The estimation was done with consideration of several factors. It is
not going to give a surprise to the government. As far as I know, it is
a three-year program,” says the minister, who has just returned from
the United States, and announces that he does not know much yet. He
does not know either what Armenia and Russia are negotiating for if
the 110 dollars for the Russian gas at the border is already fixed.
In the meantime, this secrecy is rather doubtful. From whom are the
governments of Armenia and Russia hiding the details of the talks
and the options discussed? It is even difficult to understand why
the negotiations for Karabakh are secret, let alone the talks for the
price of gas. Secrecy would be justified if the negotiating officials
discussed with Russians the option of paying for the gas from their
own pockets, but obviously the Armenian state is concerned, and it
means that all of us are going to pay, but one or two, or maximum
three will decide how much we are going to pay. Even if the government
members paid from their pockets, one will wonder where the ministers
got so much money that cannot be found in the budget of Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ABMDR TRANSPLANT ANTIBODIES LABORATORY TO BE GRANTED
INTERNATIONAL QUALITY CERTIFICATE
Armenpress
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS: The transplant antibodies laboratory of
the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) will be granted the
certificate of international quality by the European Immune-Genetic
Federation.
ABMDR executive director Sevak Avakian told a news conference on March
30 that the decision was made based on the report of two experts from
the European Federation who visited Yerevan to get acquainted with
ABMDR’s work. ABMDR has now around 10,000 registered donors.
Because of unique genetic make up of Armenians, it is nearly impossible
to find suitable matches among the existing international registries
and hence a great number of Armenian children and adults have lost
their lives due to the lack of compatible donors. To address this
imbalance, a volunteer donor registry for bone marrow transplant has
been established in Armenia to help to overcome this difficulty.
The ABMDR is a member of the World Marrow Donor Association, sharing
its database information with other registries around the world and
cooperates with several international medical centers, including
the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust in England, St Jude Hospital in
Memphis and Glendale Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles.

HANDBOOK FOR JUDGES
Panorama.am
13:37 31/03/06
Today the presentation of the book “Interpretations of the RA Law about
insolvency (bankruptcy)” by the Chairmen of the Court of Cassation
and Appeal Court Hovhannes Manoukyan and Tigran Mukuchyan was held.
Those present at the ceremony mentioned that the Armenian law circles
needed such interpretations very much as “Armenian lawyers, advocates
and judges make use of literature published in Russia what very often
doesn’t correspondent to Armenian legislation.” As the Deputy of the
Justice Minister Anatoly Matevosyan said Armenian laws essentially
differ from those in Russia and CIS. As a result of absence of
interpretations of the laws the work of Armenian lawyers became
several times harder.
In the talk with Panorama.am correspondent Anatoly Matevosyan mentioned
that while delivering a judgment the Judges must follow not only
Armenian laws but also from their interpretations. “Of course a
Judge must comment on this or that point of a law himself but he
must have some basis, a kind of guidebook to follow especially now
that according to the Constitution the Court of Cassation must secure
similar use of law,” he says.
In his turn the Chairman of the Court of Cassation Hovhannes Manoukyan
said that they wrote the interpretation of the “Law about insolvency”
as “it is quite a complicated law and our lawyers needed practical
help.”
In reply to Panorama.am’s question whether or not Armenian Judges had
much difficulty delivering judgment of cases concerning insolvency
H. Manoukyan said: “Our Judges had certain difficulties up to 2001.
After that they mastered the field already.”
Besides the legal procedures of “Law about insolvency” those terms
of the Civil Code concerning with the field were also theoretically
and practically interpreted in the work.
The book was published with the financial assistance oft he USAID
(United States Agency of International Development). It was published
in limited number and was handed in to lawyers. /Panorama.am/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Spanish Trade Industrial Cooperation Centre To Be Opened
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
March 31 2006
On March 30, in Valencia within the framework of the Fifth Forum
of World Alliance of the Cities Fighting Against Poverty Artur
Baghdasaryan, RA NA President, had several bilateral meetings.
During the meeting with Francisco Camps, President of the Valencian
Government, problems of establishing regional relations between
Valencia and Armenia were discussed. An agreement was reached on the
leave of the Valencian delegation to Armenia in future, during which
the possibilities of cooperation will be specified.
During the meeting with Rita Barbera, Mayoress of Valencia, the
problems of implementation of concrete programmes, as well as
transferring ambulance cars to Armenia between Valencia and cities
of Armenia were discussed.
During the meeting with Justo Nieto, Industry Minister of Valencia, an
agreement was reached on opening joint offices in Armenia and Spain,
the activity of which will have two directions: increase of trade
turnover and study of market, also study of goods consuming markets and
advertisement, establishment of joint fund, the goal of which will be
the implementation of scientific-educational programmes. The activity
of this office will boost the development of the Armenian-Spanish
trade-industrial and scientific-cultural development, establishment
of new possibilities and new jobs.
Other meetings are also envisaged during the day.
NA President Artur Baghdasaryan gave interviews to the central
newspapers, and the works of the forum are widely illustrated on TV.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan says soldier killed on Armenian border
Agence France Presse — English
March 30, 2006 Thursday 1:28 PM GMT
BAKU, March 30 2006 — Azerbaijan accused Armenia Thursday of breaking
a ceasefire and responsibility for the death of one of its soldiers
on their common border.
“An Azeri soldier was killed during the habitual violations of the
ceasefire by the Armenian side,” the defence ministry said in Baku.
“Azerbaijan’s positions in the Tovuz region were targeted by Armenian
military units from the Berd area,” it said.
The two neighbours, which fought a war in the early 1990s over
Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, regularly
charge each other with ceasefire violations.
Azerbaijan accused Armenia on March 7 of causing the death of an
Azeri soldier in the Karabakh region. Armenia quickly denied the
charge and responded with counter-accusations that Azeri troops had
killed an Armenian soldier the previous week.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russia,Georgia to sign temporary agt on Russian military facilities
by Eka Mekhuzla
ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 30, 2006 Thursday 08:15 PM EST
Russia and Georgia on Friday will sign an agreement in Sochi on the
terms and rules of temporary operation of Russian troops in Georgian
territory, including the military bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki
and other facilities, the Georgian Defense Ministry has told Itar-Tass.
Defense Minister Mamuka Kudava will sign the agreement for Georgia.
Another document to be signed in Sochi will concern the transit of
Russian military cargoes and personnel through Georgia.
Under the agreement Georgian and Russian foreign ministers achieved
on May 30, 2005 the Russian military bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki
are to be withdrawn over a period of 3.5 years (by the end of 2008).
Last summer saw the first phase of the withdrawal of heavy equipment
and armaments and motor transport. Most of the hardware was taken to
Russia (by land or by sea), and some pieces of equipment redeployed
to the Russian military base in Gyumri in neighboring Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Drug barons seek to turn Armenia into transhipment point -police
by Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 29, 2006 Wednesday 11:42 AM EST
Armenian police chief Gaik Arutyunyan said his country is in “the
centre of drug barons’ attention and interests”.
“There have been attempts to use Armenia as a transit country for the
shipment of drugs, mainly to Europe,” Arutyunyan said on Wednesday
after a meeting of the Anti-Drug Coordinating Council of the Collective
Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
Last year and this year Armenian police detained persons who
tried to carry narcotics through the country. Each year the number
of drug-related crimes is growing, and although there has been no
increase in drug addiction, “complex problems will arise tomorrow if
we do not take proper measures today,” Arutyunyan said.
The head of Russia’s Federal Service for Drug and Psychotropic
Substance Control, Viktor Cherkesov, who chaired the session, said the
United States and Mongolia had decided to join in the CSTO anti-drug
operation Kanal (Channel).
In his words, the operations against drug trafficking from Afghanistan
involve CSTO countries, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan,
and Ukraine.
Cherkesov said the situation on the Iranian-Afghan border is “very
complex and tense”, but “Iran’s law enforcement agencies act very
firmly and decisively to protect the Iranian border from drug
contraband.”
“A whole system against contraband” has been built on the
Iranian-Afghan border, he said.
However Cherkesov stressed that the fight against drug trafficking,
the use and sale of narcotics is impossible without the struggle
against their contraband.
“Our efforts to fight the use and sale of narcotics are impossible
without the struggle against their contraband, especially from
Afghanistan,” he said.
“Measures taken by the government of Afghanistan and the international
community to solve this problem have not yielded any result,” the
official said. “According to international experts, the drug situation
in the region aggravated after the withdrawal of Russian border guards
from the Tajik-Afghan border.”
“Insufficient measures to ensure security on the borders of states
affected by drug trafficking prevent the international community from
setting up barriers to drug contraband,” Cherkesov said.
He said the analysis of the drug situation in Russia proves that
illicit drug trafficking is fully controlled by different criminal
groups, which have transnational ties.
“This problem remains topical. The routes of drug transportation change
permanently. International organised criminal groups and communities
penetrate Russia’s drug market,” the official said.
“Russia is fighting drug-related crime in the context of an extensive
criminal network, which embraces most regions of Russia,” he said. In
his words, “this network is rather organised and has vast international
criminal ties.”
Cherkesov said, “The major purpose of the Russian drug control
service is to take urgent measures to stabilise the drug situation,
create conditions for curbing 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 transnational and
turned into the most acute problem of mankind.”
Drug trafficking “wrecks political, social and economic stability of
states,” the 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 is of 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 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.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse
30 mars 2006 jeudi 12:54 PM GMT
L’Azerbaïdjan accuse l’Armenie de violation du cessez-le-feu
BAKOU 30 mars 2006
L’Azerbaïdjan a accuse jeudi l’Armenie d’avoir viole le cessez-le-feu
entre les deux pays et d’avoir provoque la mort d’un soldat
azerbaïdjanais a la frontière entre ces pays du Caucase du Sud.
“Un soldat azerbaïdjanais a ete tue dans la cadre des violations
habituelles du cessez-le-feu de la partie armenienne”, a declare le
ministère azerbaïdjanais de la Defense.
“Les positions azerbaïdjanaises dans la region de Tovuz ont ete
visees par des formations armees armeniennes depuis la region de
Berd”, frontalière de l’Azerbaïdjan, a ajoute le ministère.
Erevan et Bakou se reprochent mutuellement des ruptures du
cessez-le-feu. L’Armenie avait accuse l’armee azerbaïdjanaise d’avoir
tue un soldat armenien le 3 mars. Et le 7 mars, l’Azerbaïdjan a
affirme que l’Armenie avait cause a son tour la mort d’un soldat
azerbaïdjanais.
L’Armenie et l’Azerbaïdjan se disputent la region du Nagorny
Karabakh, une enclave habitee en majorite par des Armeniens et qui a
fait secession de l’Azerbaïdjan après un conflit meurtrier a la fin
des annees 1980 et au debut de la decennie suivante.
–Boundary_(ID_YfaRwCwDfPCLgTeUsBjltQ)- –
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Streets
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x109
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 31, 2006
AGBU SPONSORS HARVARD ARMENIAN SOCIETY SUMMIT ON THE FUTURE OF ARMENIA
The Harvard Armenian Society welcomed over 85 university students
and young professionals to the Harvard Graduate School of Education
in Cambridge, MA on February 18, 2006 to participate in its first
Intercollegiate Summit on International Development. Funded by AGBU,
the daylong program challenged participants to examine the role of
the Diaspora in the development of Armenia, and propose concrete
project ideas to build a stronger, more prosperous homeland.
Student delegates from the Armenian Student Associations of the
following schools were present: Bentley, Boston College, Boston
University, Brown, Columbia, Duke, MIT, Northeastern, St. Joseph’s
College, Stanford, Tufts and University of Pennsylvania. “The
conference made everyone involved realize how much potential, talent
and experience there is out there,” said Nina Kouyoumdjian, Harvard
sophomore. “The first step is always generating ideas and building
a network of people who are committed to those ideas, and I truly
believe the Summit did just that.”
Representing various facets of Armenian state of affairs, such as
philanthropy, the economy, the environment, politics and culture,
the conference featured a diverse panel of guest speakers: Carol
Aslanian, AGBU Central Board Member and Director of Education; Noubar
Afeyan, Armenia 2020 Founder and CEO; Jason Sohigian, Armenian Tree
Project Representative; Bryan Ardouny, Armenian Assembly of America
Executive Director; and Tom Samuelian, American University of Armenia
Law Department Dean and Arlex International Ltd. Founder.
“I was privileged to share with this group of eager and talented
students how AGBU has devoted its time, energy and resources to
the current and future needs of Armenia and the Diaspora,” said
Ms. Aslanian. “The major outcome for me was the renewed hope I have
for future generations to play a significant role in the development
of Armenia. Volunteerism is an essential part of the lives of young
Armenians, and AGBU is prepared to help channel their unique skills
and capabilities to meet to the needs of our nation.”
Among the many Harvard Armenian Society members responsible for the
event were Co-Presidents Arie Zakaryan and Christine Megerdichian,
Vice-President Nina Kouyoumdjian, Secretary Tamar Ayrikyan, Activities
Chairman Armen Yerevanian and Treasurer Shant Hagopian.
For a copy of the proposals, please email Nina Kouyoumdjian at
[email protected]. For more information on the Harvard Armenian
Society, please visit
Established in 1906, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is
the world’s largest Armenian non-profit organization. Headquartered
in New York City with an annual budget of $34 million, AGBU preserves
and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational,
cultural and humanitarian programs, annually serving some 400,000
Armenians in 35 countries.
For more information on AGBU and its programs, please visit
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress