Author: Emil Lazarian

KDKA-TV
Europe’s new outsiders between bitterness and hope as EU enlarges
Friday April 30, 2004
By DAVID McHUGH
Associated Press Writer
While new European Union members celebrated Friday, their left-out neighbors
stood outside the rope and watched the party, wondering when or if they will
join Europe’s exclusive club of the stable and prosperous.
An entire swathe of countries, from Belarus and Russia in the north to
Albania in southern Europe, are seeing their relative poverty and outsider
status reinforced with the eastward push of the union’s borders at the
stroke of midnight.
Some, like Croatia and Romania, have a chance to get in over the next
several years. Others, burdened by shriveled economies and international
concern about human rights, can only dream of meeting the tough requirements
for economic reform and democracy.
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, leader of one of the biggest outsider
nations, testily accused the EU of erecting a new wall to replace the ones
torn down at the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“We regard it as historically unjust that we are outside this system,” he
told a Warsaw conference this week. “We are not asking for charity, we are
simply announcing to Europe that there is such a country as Ukraine.”
Kuchma’s emotional reproach was greeted with a bland thank you from EU
enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen, sitting on stage a few feet away
at the privately organized European Economic Summit.
He left no doubt, however, where Kuchma stands.
“For the time being, accession of the Eastern European countries Russia,
Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine is not on our agenda,” Verheugen told reporters.
“It makes no sense to make promises which are not realistic.”
The newcomers are Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania,
Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta, and Cyprus. And there’s a clear pecking
order for outsiders.
The former Yugoslav republics of Croatia and Macedonia and former Soviet
satellites Romania and Bulgaria have applied for EU membership and could
start getting in as early as 2007.
Turkey, eager to become the EU’s first Muslim-majority member, saw a setback
Thursday when French President Jacques Chirac said Ankara likely will not
meet the bloc’s conditions for another 10-15 years.
In the Balkans, Serbia and Montenegro and even impoverished Albania have a
theoretical chance to get in years down the road.
Others have no real chance for now. Russia has dismissed the prospect of
getting in, and its view of Caucasus nations such as Georgia and Armenia as
belonging in its sphere of influence may place a long-term lid on any faint
hopes there.
Then, there’s isolated, authoritarian Belarus, which refused permission for
an EU enlargement ceremony in the capital Minsk and canceled a visit to the
Warsaw economic summit by Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has struggled economically since becoming independent
with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. European officials have
expressed concern about the pace of democratic progress, most recently
criticizing local elections won by a pro-presidential party this month amid
accusations of widespread vote fraud.
Killings of independent journalists have alarmed human rights observers, and
corruption, bureaucracy and a weak legal system weigh on Ukraine’s economy.
Still, Ukraine and Belarus may be able to get more aid and sympathy at the
urging of Poland, which shares a border with both.
Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski was the only figure to publicly
console Kuchma, promising to try to “change views of Ukraine” and vowing
that “the message from Warsaw is: The door remains open.”
Other distant outsiders at the economic summit, such as Georgia’s new
President Mikhail Saakashvili, choose to look on the bright side.
“We are working on it every day,” said Saakashvili, whose country
struggles to keep the electricity on in its cities and has lost control of
the Black Sea province of Abkhazia to separatist rebels.
“We are going to go for it, whatever it takes I think we can make it, so
you should welcome us and wait for us.”
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russia’s economic diplomacy
Vladimir Radyuhin
5/1/2004

RUSSIA’S UAZ Automotive Factory has set up a joint venture
with an Indian company to assemble famous Ural off-road trucks and
buses in West Bengal; two Russian power firms tied up with India’s
Soma to build a hydropower station in Arunachal Pradesh; Silovye
Mashiny corporation signed a contract to supply Russian electric
turbines to NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation).
These are but a few recent examples of growing interest Russian
business takes in Indian and other foreign markets.
Encouraged by Russia’s re-emergence as a global political player and
boosted by five straight years of economic growth after a decade of
decline, captains of Russian business have entered the path of
international expansion.
The Norilsk Nickel giant last month laid out $1.16 billion to buy a 20
per cent stake in South African gold miner, Gold Fields, which has 4.3
million ounces of annual gold production and 84 million ounces of
mineral reserves. A month earlier, Tatarstan’s Tatneft oil major
snapped up Turkey’s Tupras, which controls 87 per cent of the
country’s refining capacity, for $1.3 billion.
More investment projects are in the pipeline. Russia’s natural gas
monopoly, Gazprom, has teamed up with GAIL India Ltd. to develop
offshore gas fields in the Bengal basin, the Russian premium telecom
corporation, Sistema-Telecom, is ready to sink $1 billion in Indian
mobile telephone industry, while the aluminium giant, RusAl, is
waiting to pounce on the National Aluminium Company (NALCO) when its
disinvestment plan is reactivated.
The President, Vladimir Putin, told the nation that Russia was still
facing a win-or-die battle it had fought in the Cold War, even if the
rules of the game had changed.
“There is a tough, competitive battle going on in the world,”
Mr. Putin told the country in his annual teleconference in
December. “As different from the past, this battle has moved from the
realm of military conflict to economic competition.” Accordingly,
Mr. Putin has recast Russia’s foreign policy priorities, charging the
Foreign Ministry with the overriding task of helping Russian business
abroad. The move has won the praise of Russian businessmen.
“I think there is a gradual revolution taking place in foreign
economic relations,” said Mr. Kakha Bendukidze, co-owner of Silovye
Mashiny, which won the electric turbine tender in India earlier this
year. “There is a growing recognition in the Foreign Ministry and in
the Economic Development and Trade Ministry that they need to support
Russian businesses abroad, including attempts to make investments
outside Russia.”
For the first time in more than a decade the Russian Government has
set aside a modest $500 million in state guarantees in this year’s
budget to support exports. In a more significant move, a new law will
come into force this summer that simplifies rules for transferring
cash out of the country for investment purposes.
The first stage in Mr. Putin’s global expansion plan is to win back
the former Soviet states. As the U.S.-led NATO moves troops to
Russia’s borders, Moscow is pushing to reassert its domination in
neighbouring markets. It wields the most powerful weapon at its
disposal, energy, being either the sole supplier of oil and gas to
ex-Soviet republics or providing the only route for their energy
exports to outside markets.
The state-controlled electricity monopoly, United Energy Systems
(UES), has brought under control four-fifths of Armenia’s
hydroelectric power capacities and bought up most of Georgia’s energy
facilities. The UES has acquired stakes in electricity assets in
Kazakhstan, is about to buy major stakes in 10 of the 27 Ukrainian
energy companies, and plans to participate in the disinvestment of
power assets in Moldova. In Kyrgyzstan, UES has set up a joint venture
with two local companies to build a cascade of two hydropower stations
on the Naryn River in the mountains that will meet the electricity
needs of Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian states.
“We have very aggressive plans that cover most countries of the CIS
(Commonwealth of Independent States),” the UES chief , Anatoly
Chubais, said in a recent interview.
Russia’s Gazprom controls practically all natural gas flows to and
from former Soviet republics. Even energy-rich Azerbaijan imports from
Russia over half of its gas needs to the tune of 4.5 billion cubic
metres. Earlier this month, Gazprom signed a deal with Uzbekistan to
develop a major gas field in that Central Asian republic that could
entail an investment of $1.4 billion in Uzbekistan’s energy sector. In
January, Russia’s oil major, Lukoil, signed an accord for the
investment of $3 billion into joint development of Kazakhstan’s oil
and gas fields in northern Caspian.
Russia’s aggressive economic expansion is reflected in growing mutual
trade with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which unites
12 out of 15 former Soviet states. Russian trade with CIS registered a
30 per cent hike last year, increasing at a higher pace than with
other countries. This helps Russia resist Western attempts to weaken
its positions in the former Soviet Union.
Earlier this month, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Russia said his country
planned to increase oil exports to and across Russia from the current
20 million tons a year to 250 million tons by 2020. In other words,
Kazakhstan will pump all its oil exports through Russian pipes, making
the U.S.-pushed $3.6-billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline a
profit-losing project, as Azerbaijan admittedly does not have nearly
enough oil to fill the pipe.
Russia’s Minister for Industry and Energy, Viktor Khristenko,
described the Russia-driven integration of energy systems in the
former Soviet states as “an instrument of solving political issues in
the CIS.”
Ukraine’s political elites may have declared a strategic choice in
favour of Europe, but the country’s economic interests push it towards
Russia. According to some information, Russian investors control about
80 per cent of Ukraine’s oil refineries, practically all non-ferrous
industry, a quarter of privatised electricity companies, half of cell
phone operators and 30 per cent of dairies. By the time Ukraine is
ready to join NATO and the European Union, most of its industry will
belong to Russian business.
Russian expansion into neighbouring economies has been a major factor
behind Moscow’s successful efforts to push reintegration plans in the
former Soviet Union. Even Ukraine, which had long rejected these
plans, signed last September a common market pact with Russia,
Kazakhstan and Belarus which envisions a customs union, free movement
of goods, capital and labour, and unification of tax, monetary and
foreign trade policies.
Winning commanding heights in former Soviet economies gives Russia a
stepping-stone to expansion beyond the former Soviet borders.
“We are not going to confine our expansion to the CIS,” Mr. Chubais
said last week. Having restored unified electricity grids with the
former Soviet republics, the company now plans to buy assets and
export electricity to a total of 12 countries from Norway in the north
to Slovakia in the west, Iran in the south, and China in the east.
Energy is the driving motor of Russian expansion. LUKoil, Russia’s
second biggest oil producer, won the rights in January to develop a
potentially huge gas field in Saudi Arabia in a tie-up with Saudi
Aramco. The deal strengthened newly emerging links between the world’s
two biggest oil producers that could give Russia greater leverage in
global energy markets. Gazprom, which is the major supplier of natural
gas to Europe, is in talks with Ukraine, Germany, France and Italy to
set up a gas transportation consortium that will help consolidate
Europe’s dependence on Russian energy. The energy tool has helped
Russia win important trade concessions from the E.U. ahead of its
expansion into Eastern Europe next week.
As one analyst put it, “In the old days of the former Soviet Union,
Russia’s political clout was measured by the 14,000 nuclear missiles
it had pointing west; now it’s measured by the pipelines it has
pointing west.”
Russian business has even made first inroads in the
U.S. market. LUKoil has bought 2,100 gas filling stations in the East
Coast and plans to bring up the number to 3,000 stations, while the
steel giant, Severstal, has purchased the Michigan-based Rouge
Industries for $286 million.
A World Bank report released earlier this month concluded that
Russia’s 23 largest business groups control more than a third of its
industry. This is an upshot of Boris Yeltsin’s corruption-ridden
privatisation deals of the 1990s.
However, rather than reverse privatisation or break up monopoly
groups, Mr.
Putin has instead used them as locomotives of Russia’s expansion to
global markets under government control. Oversees acquisitions may
eventually transform Gazprom, LUKoil, Norilsk Nickel and other Russian
industry tycoons into multinational corporations. This fits into
Mr. Putin’s strategy of building up Russia’s economic clout globally
and in the former Soviet Union, and convert it to political clout.
………………
The Hindu
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Source: BBC
Wednesday, 21 April, 2004, 15:34 GMT 16:34 UK
Country profile: Armenia
A landlocked republic with Turkey to the west and Georgia to the north,
Armenia has seen great changes since the break-up of the Soviet Union in
1991.
Once dubbed the Soviet ‘silicon valley’, Armenia’s economy collapsed when
its old markets disappeared.
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | MEDIA
It has since recovered significantly, but job creation and poverty reduction
have not kept pace with growth. Armenia also suffers from a trade blockade,
imposed by neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan since the dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The conflict over the predominantly Armenian-populated region in Azerbaijan
overshadowed Armenia’s return to independence in 1991. Full-scale war broke
out the same year as ethnic Armenians in Karabakh fought for independence,
supported by troops and resources from Armenia proper. A ceasefire in place
since 1994 has failed to deliver any lasting solution.
Armenia has always experienced waves of emigration, but the present exodus
is causing much alarm. It is estimated that Armenia has lost 20% of its
population in recent years, as young families leave for what they hope will
be a better life abroad. The negative consequences for the economy have been
widespread.
Around 50% of Armenians live below the poverty line. Corruption and
political killings add to the sense of a society under threat.
Gunmen who stormed the Yerevan parliament in 1999, killing the prime
minister and other politicians, said the plight of the Armenian people was
the reason for the bloodshed. Analysts believe that there were more complex
political factors involved as well.
The government is trying to promote tourism and technology parks. But
foreign investors are reported to be extremely wary.
FACTS
OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | MEDIA
Population: 3.1 million (UN, 2003)
Capital: Yerevan
Major languages: Armenian, Russian
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 69 years (men), 75 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 dram = 100 lumas
Main exports: Processed and unprocessed diamonds, machinery, metal products,
foodstuffs
GNI per capita: US $790 (World Bank, 2002)
Internet domain: .am
International dialling code: +374
LEADERS
OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | MEDIA
President: Robert Kocharyan
President Kocharyan
President Kocharyan is a former president of the self-proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. He became Armenian prime minister in 1997 and was
elected president the following year on a platform of ensuring the existence
of Karabakh and boosting the Armenian economy.
Mr Kocharyan’s reelection as president in 2003 was followed by widespread
allegations of ballot-rigging.
He went on to propose controversial constitutional amendments on the role of
parliament. These were rejected in a referendum the following May at the
same time as parliamentary elections which left Mr Kocharyan’s party in a
very powerful position in parliament.
There were mounting calls for Mr Kocharyan’s resignation in early 2004 with
thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets in support of demands for a
referendum of confidence in him.
A Communist Party official in Soviet times, Mr Kocharyan is no longer a
member of any political party.
The Armenian president has said he wants to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh
question and has held meetings with his Azerbaijani counterpart. But while
he acknowledges the importance to peace of compromise on both sides, he
insists that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh must be guaranteed the right to
exist within safe borders and that a link with Armenia must be maintained.
Mr Kocharyan was born in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1954 and trained as an
electrical engineer in Yerevan.
Prime minister: Andranik Markaryan
Foreign minister: Vardan Oskanyan
Defence minister: Serzh Sarkisyan
MEDIA
OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | MEDIA
Armenia’s government oversees national TV and radio. The national public TV
service can also be seen in many districts of neighbouring Azerbaijan. The
main Russian TV channels are widely available.
Libel and defamation are punishable by prison terms and journalists have
been sentenced under these laws. All print and broadcast media must register
with the Justice Ministry.
In 2003 the US-based NGO Freedom House downgraded its assessment of the
media climate in Armenia from “partly free” to “not free”, citing the use of
security and libel laws to silence criticism and the closure of a private TV
station in 2002.
The press
Aravot – private
Ayots Ashkar – private
Ayastani Anrapetutyun – founded by Armenian parliament
Aykakan Zhanamak – founded by opposition Democratic Homeland Party
Azg – founded by Liberal Democratic Party
Golos Armenii – private
Iravunk – founded by Union of Constitutional Law party
Respublika Armenia – founded by Armenian Presidential Executive Staff,
parliament and government
Yerkir – founded by Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun
Television
Public TV of Armenia – national, state-run
Armenia TV – national, commercial
Prometheus TV – national, commercial
Radio
Public Radio of Armenia – national, state-run
Hai FM – first private radio station
Hit FM – private, Yerevan FM station
Radio Alfa – private, Yerevan FM station
Radio Van – private, Yerevan FM station
News agencies
Arka – private
Armenpress – state-run
Noyan Tapan – private
Mediamax – private
Arminfo – private
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian bishop dies of cancer
AP Online
May 01, 2004

Archbishop Zareh Aznavorian of the Armenian Orthodox Church has died
of lung cancer, a church statement said Saturday. He was 57.
Aznavorian, chairman of the religious council and director of the
Christian Education Department of the Armenian Orthodox Church of
Cilicia, died Friday at the church’s seat in Antelias, north of the
Lebanese capital, Beirut, the statement said.
The bishop, whose condition deteriorated in the past few days, had
received treatment in New York before returning to Beirut last month.
Born in Beirut in 1947, Aznavorian studied priesthood in the Antelias’
seminary and later in the Rome Theological University.
In the early 1980s, he was the Armenian Orthodox Vicar of Cyprus based
in Nicosia.
In the past few years, Aznavorian had been engaged in translating the
Old and New Testament from archaic Greek and Hebrew originals into
modern Armenian.
He will be burned in Antelias on Monday.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia
to the United Nations
119E 36th street, New York, NY 10016
Tel.: 1-212-686-9079
Fax: 1-212-686-3934
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
May 1, 2004
PRESS RELEASE
Armenia’s Minister for Nature Protection participated at the 12th
session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
>From April 28-30, 2004, the delegation of the Republic of Armenia, headed
by H.E. Vardan Ayvazyan, Minister for Nature Protection, participated at the
High-Level Segment of the 12th session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The
High-Level discussion focused on the issue of sanitation and human
settlements.
During the session Minister Ayvazyan made statements on water and
sanitation, which are considered to be core elements for sustainable
development. In his remarks he noted that the United Nations and its
agencies and funds, as well as international financial institutions could
play an important role in the implementation of national programs aimed at
addressing water and sanitation challenges in the country. He urged to focus
on rehabilitating dated sanitation systems and providing for new
environmentally and ecologically sound technologies.
Speaking about water issues, the Minister noted that Armenia suffered some
serious water problems, including water quality. Much of the water came
from underground, and was of a good quality. By passing through obsolete
water supply systems it loses its quality. Moreover, 50% of the water
entering the system gets lost due to leakage. In 2002, the country had
adopted a Water Code, with a focus on basin management, the first to be
developed and implemented in the South Caucasus. It had helped to introduce
integrated water resource management in the country.
Full texts of Minister Ayvazyan’s statements:
Statement by H.E. Vardan Ayvazyan
Minister of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia
at the High-Level Segment of the 12th session of the
Commission on Sustainable Development
April 30, 2004
(Statements and interactive discussion focusing on “Water”)
Dear Chairman,
Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
For the Republic of Armenia, a mountainous country situated in an arid
region of the South Caucasus, the problems of the protection of water
resources, water quality, and access of the population to clean and safe
water are actual problems not only from ecological, but also from economic
and social perspectives.
In this regard it is worth mentioning here that the sustainable management
of the water resources remains one of the most important issues in Armenia.
The absence of an integrated approach to the management and use of water
resources in the period of economic crisis of the 1990s led to such negative
consequences as decline in the access to water supply, deterioration of the
water quality and gradual degradation of the corresponding infrastructure..
It should be mentioned that more than 90% of the drinking water used in the
country is formed out of the underground water sources. This water is of
quite a high quality, but as it passes through water supply systems, which
are very dated and do not correspond to sanitary requirements, the quality
of the water significantly deteriorates. Moreover, 50% of the water entering
the system gets lost due to leakage.
In the water policy of our country great attention is paid to the question
of financial assistance from international financial institutions for the
implementation of national water programs. In this connection I would like
to emphasize the activities of the UN Agencies, the World Bank, and other
financial institutions, as well as the donor countries aimed at assisting in
the implementation of environmental programmes, particularly in the field of
water resource protection, such as the restoration of the ecological balance
of the lake Sevan, which is one of the unique natural water reservoirs on
the planet. According to expert estimates, this freshwater mountain lake,
situated 2000 meters above the sea level, is the only perspective source for
drinking water in the South Caucasus. Starting from the 1930s, the water
resources of the lake were used for agricultural and energy purposes, which
resulted in the drastic decrease of the water level for about 19,5 meters.
Activities undertaken by the Government of Armenia during the last few years
led to the increase of the water level for about 1 meter.
In 2002 the new Water Code of Armenia was adopted. One of the main ideas of
the Water Code is the creation of basin management system that will
contribute to the sustainable use and integrated water resource management.
I would like to mention that Armenia is the first country in the South
Caucasus to introduce the basin management system. In the same year the
National Council on Water, headed by the Prime-Minster, became operational.
Since then more than 100 normative and regulatory acts have been elaborated
and adopted. The establishment of basin management bodies continues. The
articles of the Water Code are being vigorously implemented. Financial
assistance from our international partners in this phase could greatly
contribute to the sustainable water resource management.
One of the priorities of the Armenian Government is the elaboration of the
National Water Policy and the National Water Programme. In the National
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper special attention is paid to the
advancement of the irrigation system, which aims to increase the
effectiveness of the agricultural activities and mitigate the
desertification processes.
The improvement of the financial mechanisms in the water sphere would aim at
achieving a speedy resolution to the water problems in Armenia in the
context of country’s sustainable development. Armenia’s joining the
strategic partnership on water in Johannesburg was in compliance with that
approach. I consider the EU’s Water Initiative and its component for the
Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and the Central Asia, in particular, a
good basis for the development of real mechanisms of cooperation aimed at
the realization of both the decisions of World Summit on Sustainable
Development and the regional and national action plans. This would be our
contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the
field of water resources.
In conclusion I would like to state that the Government of the Republic of
Armenia recognizes that the effective and comprehensive management of the
water resources could provide for the sustainable and environmentally
justified economic development of the country.
Statement by H.E. Vardan Ayvazyan
Minister of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia
at the High-Level Segment of the 12th session of the
Commission on Sustainable Development
April 30, 2004
(Statements and interactive discussion focusing on “Sanitation”)
Dear Chairman,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As it was stated in Johannesburg, ensuring availability of safe water and
adequate sanitary conditions is a core element for sustainable development.
Creation of a healthy environment and prevention of adverse impact of
unfavorable environmental factors on the health of the population are
several of the main goals that were duly reflected in the national
programmes and action plans adopted by the Government of Armenia in the
recent years. Water-resource management, water supply and sanitation are
considered to be determining factors. The implementation of these programmes
implies intersectoral cooperation and integrated planning. Support from
international organizations, and that of the UN agencies in particular, can
be very instrumental and play a positive role in implementing these
programmes.
It should be noted here that the economic mechanisms regulating the
reduction of water pollution are not yet sufficient in Armenia. We are
actively working towards the creation of appropriate legal and institutional
systems, which could provide for the allocation of financial resources to
the end of solving the acute problems in the water sector.
The 1990s were marked by economic crisis and decline of the industrial
production by over 70% in Armenia, whereupon the untreated or poorly treated
municipal and agricultural wastewater became the main source for the water
pollution.
In most of the human settlements, the wastewater drains into water objects
either bypassing the treatment plants or, if they go through treatment
plants, gets an inadequate treatment. The problem is exacerbated by the mere
fact that none of the existing 20 wastewater treatment plants in Armenia
function in full capacity. Wastewater undergoes a partial mechanical
treatment only.
All treatment plants were put into operation before 1990 and the
technologies applied there do not correspond to the actual demands. In
addition, these technologies were developed taking into account the low-cost
of the energy consumption at the time, and their utilization presently is
associated with colossal expenses.
It is also worth mentioning that with the projected economic growth and
recommencement of industrial activities the water quality can deteriorate
because of the absence of necessary infrastructure for wastewater treatment.
In this respect, I would like to draw your attention to a point which was
rightfully brought up in paragraph 46 of the Document on Sanitation
(E/CN.17?2004/5), stating that there is a necessity for shifting the
evaluation of sanitation system from the monitoring of the existence or
absence of appropriate infrastructure to the efficiency of its functioning.
As far as Armenia is concerned, the problem is not the absence of such
infrastructure, but rather its poor functioning and deterioration.
Accordingly, for countries like Armenia, the rehabilitation and
modernization of the wastewater treatment plants through the utilization of
modern technologies, as well as the construction of new ones are a priority
as far as the provision of safe water and quality of surface and ground
water is concerned. The latter is an integral part of our national policy in
the field of water resources. To solve these problems under current
conditions great financial resources are needed, and the Armenian Government
is creating stimulating economic mechanisms today to attract these
resources.
The problems existing in Armenia related to the condition of water resources
and sanitation can be solved gradually parallel to the economic development
of the country, the possible increase of the state budget capacities, the
creation and implementation of new mechanisms for a target-oriented
financing and with adequate environmental administration, as well as
significant financial assistance for the national programmes by
international financial institutions.
END
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

newBrainframes.org
KARABAKH: FIRST INDEPENDENT PAPER
Ashot Beglarian (01-05-2004)The first non-government publication in the
Armenian-controlled province aims to cover themes which previously went
unreported.
Setting up an independent newspaper for Nagorny Karabakh has long been a
dream of Gegam Bagdasarian, head of the Stepanakert Press Club. Now
it's happened, and Bagdasarian is editor-in-chief of a twice-monthly
paper called Demo.
The idea behind it was to create a newspaper that is not beholden to the
authorities or any opposition movement, but is a voice for the public at
large – hence the title Demo, as in “democracy”. The paper's 16 pages
are in Armenian and Russian.
“Every citizen should have the chance to know what is actually happening in
his motherland and not just from one source but from several,” explained
Bagdasarian. “We intend to become a really independent source.”
Founding an independent newspaper is a very delicate project in a society
which emerged from a devastating conflict ten years ago. Until now there has
only been one main newspaper, the government publication Azat Artsakh.
Bagdasarian says he is well aware of the sensitivities. “We understand what
a responsible mission we are undertaking, as there is virtually no precedent
in the Armenian information space,” he said. “Demo is trying to become a
free publication in the classic sense, meaning it depends only on the
reader. We are not forcing our views on anyone. When we have a free market,
the reader himself can choose what reason and conscience dictate.”
Karabakh president Arkady Gukasian, himself a former journalist, told IWPR
last month that he welcomed the project. “A free press is a sign of the
formation of civil society,” Gukasian said. “We are now facing the biggest
challenge – helping democracy to take root here.”
But the new paper will undoubtedly create controversy. The first issue
touched on sensitive issues such as the resignation of Karabakh deputy prime
minister Yury Gazarian and a property dispute over a collective farm in the
town of Stepanakert. A column by Boris Navadasardian expressed concern about
Armenian reactions to the recent murder in Budapest of Gurgen Markarian, an
Armenian army officer, by Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov.
Demo is supported by the British-based non-government organisation
Conciliation Resources, as part of a wider consortium which is beginning a
series of projects in both Armenia and Azerbaijan to engage with the Nagorny
Karabakh dispute, with funding from the British government's Conflict
Prevention Pool.
In this spirit, the paper has also set itself the goal of building bridges
across the ceasefire line with Azerbaijan. It is covering events in the
Caucasus as a whole, and is publishing a page of IWPR's Caucasus
articles in each issue.
“We will be publishing articles about events in Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Armenia, trying to fill the information gap that has formed,” said
Bagdasarian. “I hope this will help us find common points of agreement.”
So far, readers have responded positively to Demo. “The articles published
in the newspaper are not only interesting but relevant,” said Armen
Sarkisian, a civil servant. “The whole spectrum of socio-political life in
Nagorny Karabakh is reflected there.”
Albert Voskanian, a well-known local activist who heads Stepanakert's
Centre for Civic Initiatives, said, “It is a lively newspaper which touches
on and investigates topics which are not only interesting but also painful,
and which worry people. I have no doubt it has a future.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Scotsman, UK
May 2 2004
Gilded youth
by Kenneth Walton
Final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year
USHER HALL, EDINBURGH
IN AN awe-inspiring showcase of prodigious young talent at the Usher
Hall yesterday, 16-year-old Ayrshire violinist Nicola Benedetti beat
off stiff competition to win the grand final of the 2004 BBC Young
Musician of the Year award.
All five finalists showed remarkable presence and confidence before a
2,000 capacity audience and prestigious panel of judges. And each one,
from the pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, 11, to the 17-year-old
percussionist Lucy Beeson, displayed complete professionalism in the
way they handled their concerto roles with the BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra, under its principal conductor, Ilan Volkov.
It was, we were told, the youngest set of finalists in the
competition’s 26-year history. Highlighting that, the diminutive
Grosvenor gave a technically assured account of Ravel’s G major Piano
Concerto on a concert grand lent to him by the makers Bösendorfer,
specially adapted to accommodate his size. Grosvenor is scheduled to
appear next season, playing Mozart and Britten, in the Scottish
Ensemble’s High Flyers tour. Each of yesterday’s finalists chose
challenging, rather than predictable repertoire. Lucy Beeson’s
cool-headed performance of Joe Duddell’s percussion concerto Ruby
revealed music of immense beauty. Welsh 15-year-old Daniel de
Gruchy-Lambert chose the Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian’s
excitable Trumpet Concerto to display his buoyant virtuosity. The
Manchester flautist Adam Walker produced exquisite variances of tone in
a bristling performance of Neilsen’s Flute Concerto.
But there was one clear winner. Nicola Benedetti’s performance of
Szymanowski’s First Violin Concerto was utterly captivating. It was
technically outstanding, and the charisma and musicianship of her
performance was that of the accomplished artist we know her to be. This
was playing soaked in delicacy, subtlety and sheer virtuosity. Her star
is very much in the ascendent.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Guardian, UK
May 2 2004
Scientists to search for Noah’s ark on Turkish mountain
Expedition will study ‘man-made object’ shown by satellite photos
Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow
The CIA calls it the “Ararat anomaly”. Mountaineers call it the peak of
the unforgiving range on the Turkish-Armenian border. But some
scientists think it might hold a far greater historical significance as
the great archaeological mirage – the remains of Noah’s ark.
Ten explorers and scientists from the US and Turkey will embark on an
expedition on July 15 to scale Mount Ararat, 4,700 metres (15,000ft)
above sea level, to determine what is behind the image that has been
picked up by spy satellites in the past two decades.
New satellite pictures suggest a huge 14-metre-high structure that was
exposed when the heatwave that hit Europe last summer melted the
snowcap that had obscured it for years.
The expedition will be led by Ahmet Ali Arslan, an English professor at
Seljuk University in Turkey. An experienced mountaineer, he has already
scaled Mt Ararat 40 times and grew up around the mountain range.
“The slopes are very, very harsh and dangerous on the northern face –
it is extremely challenging, mentally and physically,” said Mr Arslan,
who was once a prime-ministerial aide.
The expedition can only occur with the consent of the Turkish
government, and Mr Arslan will meet the prime minister next week to
discuss the proposed trip. The estimated cost is £500,000 and will be
met by Daniel McGivern, a businessman and Christian activist from
Hawaii.
At a press conference to announce the trip this week he said: “We are
not excavating it. We’re going to photograph it and, God willing,
you’re all going to see it.”
“These new photos unequivocally show a man-made object,” he added. “I
am convinced that the excavation of the object and the results of tests
run on any collected samples will prove that it is Noah’s ark.”
Mr McGivern’s Trinity Corporation last year used Quick Bird, the
world’s highest resolution satellite, to photograph the anomaly.
He has said he is 98% sure that the object is the ark, because of beams
of wood he said were visible in the images.
The Bible says that the ark, packed with either seven or two of each
creature, male and female, on earth, came to rest on the mountains of
Ararat after the great floods – thought to have occurred in 5,600BC,
when the Mediterranean flooded into the basin where the Black Sea now
sits.
Sceptics have pointed out that Noah would have had to load 460
organisms a second to fill the ark with two of each species in 24 hours
as the Bible suggests.
The object on Mount Ararat was first noticed by the CIA in 1949 from a
spy plane.
Turkish pilots saw it again 10 years later, and the pictures began to
reinforce the myth around the vessel, giving Christians apparent
archeological evidence that part of Genesis could be physically
substantiated.
The region was off limits until 1982 because of Soviet complaints that
explorers were spying. Since then, teams of explorers have tried to
reach the ark, but failed to substantiate what the object is.
Geologists have discovered evidence of a flood in the region known as
Mesopotamia in Sumerian times (6,000 years ago), yet have maintained
that it is not possible for a ship to have made landfall at an altitude
as high as that of Mt Ararat.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
May 3 2004
AZERBAIJAN-GEORGIA RELATIONS DEVELOPING
[May 03, 2004, 14:50:44]
Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov met with Foreign Affairs
Minister of Georgia Mrs. Salome Zurabishvili, in Baku, on May 1,
AzerTAj correspondent learnt from the Ministry’s press-center.
The Minister appreciated Mrs. Zurabishvili’s visit as continuation of
the relations between the two countries. He noted that further
development of relationships in economic, political, trade and other
spheres has importance significance for both countries.
Having thanked for warm reception, Mrs. Zurabishvili noted that she had
supported development of relations in all spheres. Touching on
commercial-economic issues between the two countries, she emphasized
that her country was keen in dynamic development of the relations. She
stressed the importance of coordination in the upcoming NATO summit to
be held in Istanbul, in July 2004, as well as membership of Georgia in
Asiatic International Bank.
Having stressed his satisfaction with the growth of trade turnover
between the two countries, Minister Mammadyarov noted that reciprocal
reduction of tariffs on Great Silk Road to increase turnover of goods,
improvement of infrastructure might positively influence on welfare of
both countries, as well as Azerbaijanis, residing in Georgia. The
Minister expressed confidence that the Georgian side would promote in
examination of issue regarding Embassy of Azerbaijan in Georgia.
The Minister noted that he would be pleased to meet with his colleague
at the upcoming regular sitting of GUUAM Council of Foreign Ministers
due in Tbilisi, on May 17. The Minister stressed the importance of
solution of Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict based on
joint efforts of international community, adding that the conflict
exert negative influence on regional cooperation.
The sides discussed other issues of mutual interest.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
May 1 2004
Man shares crime blame to be with friend

By Bassam Za’za’

Staff Reporter

Dubai: Two friends demonstrated what loyalty is all about when the
Dubai Court of First Instance gave them both four months in jail for
stealing video cameras worth Dh6,000.
The court heard that on March 3 a manager of an electronics company at
Jebel Ali Port reported to police that two video cameras were missing
from the warehouse.
Police probe revealed that the thieves, both Armenians, had taken a
regular customer to the company showroom to look at the goods. While
there, D.J., 32, stole the cameras but the equipment was recovered at
the gates on their way out.
Under questioning, D.J. confessed to the crime. He admitted hiding the
two cameras under his clothes without his friend’s knowledge.
However, bizarrely, his friend, A.S., 31, also a visitor to Dubai,
admitted that he, too, had been involved in the theft. He insisted he
should face similar punishment as he did not want his buddy to stay in
jail alone.
The court found the two men guilty of attempted theft.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress