Author: Hakobian Adrine

MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DELEGATION HERMINE NAGHDALYAN’S REPORT AT THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
June 27 2007

On June 26 at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) session the report on the theme "Feminisation of Poverty,"
which presented Mrs. Hermine Naghdalyan, the member of the delegation
of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, was debated and
adopted. It was the first time after the accession of the Republic of
Armenia to PACE that the representative of the NA delegation delivered
a speech.

In her report poverty was assessed as a widespread phenomenon, and in
that respect the maximum vulnerability of women was underlined. The
report pointed out that a more socially acceptable and economically
effective way to reduce poverty is to expand employment. The report
proposed changes to the employment, social support and retirement
pension systems, also in the spheres of health care and education,
that are of conceptual importance for the reduction of women’s poverty.

At PACE plenary session during the debate of the report the speakers
opined that it should be seen within the framework of the national
programmes of the CE member states and their pursuing policy.

"REPROACHES OF ARMENIAN ASSISTANCE FUND IN HARMONY WITH MAIN POINTS OF RA GOVERNMENT," REPRESENTATIVES OF FUND DECLARE

Noyan Tapan
Jun 27, 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Serge Sargsian, the RA Prime Minister,
received the American delegation of the Armenian Assistance Fund,
headed by Archbishop Khazhak Parsamian, the Chaiman of the Armenian
Assistance Fund and the Head of the U.S. Eastern diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church.

This information was provided to Noyan Tapan by the RA Government’s
Information and Public Relations Department.

The Prime Minister mentioned that since the Republic of Armenia became
independent, he has officially had a deep and efficient cooperation
with the Armenian Assistance Fund and that he expects benefitial
interactivities in favour of further development, strengthening,
and welfare of our country and people in the post of the RA Prime
Minister as well.

Serge Sargsian introduced to journalists the coming projects of the
RA Government, its main points, and the notions and expectations
concerning cooperation with the Armenian Assistance Fund within their
frameworks. He stressed the fact that it is high time to cooperate in
respect of development projects. The head of the RA Government attached
importance to the work coordinated with comparison of projects,
implemented due to the means of different organizations and state
posibilities, which will allow to direct the existing possibilities
more effectively and solve the current problems without reducing
our forces.

The members of the Armenian Assistance Fund expressed willingness to
continue the Fund’s mission directed at the strengthening, development,
and progress of Armenia, and assistance to the RA authorities for
that purpose.

They mentioned with satisfaction that the approaches of the Armenian
Assistance Fund are in a full harmony with the primary and main points
of the RA Government.

Archbishop Khazhak Parsamian informed the Prime Minister that the
delegation has arrived in Armenia to also take part in the opening
ceremony of the new building disposed for the activities of the
Armenian Assistance Fund in Yerevan and expressed his gratitude for
the assistance in having the building at his disposal.

Garnik Nanagulian, the executive director of the Armenian Assistance
Fund, made assertions that they envisage to also discuss the
development projects of the Fund for the coming 10 years at the end
of the visit to Armenia and that they intend to direct the activities
of the Armenian Assistance Fund at the development projects.

At the end of the meeting the RA Prime Minister awarded Gevorg
Hovnanian, the Founder-Chairman of the "Hovnanian Enterprises"
Association and the Chairman and Founder of the Armenian Assistance
Fund, a souvenir medal of the RA Prime Minister for his active
participation in the formation process of the Armenian statehood.

SPECIFIC WEIGHT OF ASSETS OF RA BANKING SYSTEM IN GDP MUST BE REDUCED TO 40- 50%: CHIEF BANKER OF ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2007-06-25 20:47:00

Specific weight of assets of RA banking system must be reduced to
40-50% like in the developed countries, Head of RA Central Bank Tigran
Sargsyan said and added that the annual growth of assets should make
up 40% at the minimum against the present 20-25%.

T. Sargsyan said that the year 2006 was rather successful for the
banking system as all the indicators showed high growth rates and,
what is of most importance, a potential has been accumulated in the
system. He thinks that 25-30% of annual growth will be insufficient
for the banking system henceforth, under conditions of its low
participation in the economy development, that is indicated by specific
weight of credits in GDP.

He emphasized that it is necessary to pay attention to the number of
juridical and physical persons – the bank clients, which grew by 8,5%
or 60,000 due to growth of the number of physical persons. The number
of clients in the banking system makes up 763,000, where the physical
persons make up 723,000 and the juridical ones – 39,000. The number
of the banking accounts during a year grew by 3,4% to 881,000. CB is
dissatisfied with this digit. T. Sargsyan thinks that the number of
clients-physical persons should be reduced by half at the minimum,
as one person has accounts in two or more banks on average. It turns
out that about 360,000 people have accounts in the banking system ,
i.e. only one person of every second family has an account in the
bank. The number of juridical persons-clients of the banks should be
also reduced by half if not more, that is, to 18,000-20,000.

Presently, 54,000 juridical persons and 48,000 private entrepreneurs
have been registered in Armenia, while only 37% of juridical persons
have banking accounts. In fact, upon the different polls’ results, only
30-35% of the registered juridical persons act. Part of enterprises
is either in shadow or they are created for another purposes. There
is a serious problem in this sphere and the Central Bank together
with the government should implement measures to solve this problem,
T. Sargsyan said.

COAF AND ADSC COMPLETE DENTAL SCREENING AND TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IN ARMAVIR

ARMENPRESS
Jun 26, 2007

ARMAVIR, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS: The Children of Armenia Fund (COAF)
continues to upgrade and expand the healthcare component of its
Comprehensive Rural Development Program in the Model Cluster of six
villages of the Armenian province of Armavir. In close partnership
with COAF for more than three consecutive years, the Armenian Dental
Society of California (ADSC) recently completed dental screening
and treatment in the communities of Dalarik, Lernagog, Myasnikyan
and Shenik. Implemented on a cost-share basis, the project continues
to be very productive in terms of preventive care and considerable
number of beneficiaries.

An official from COAF told Armenpress that this year, 195
schoolchildren from the Model Cluster villages benefited from this
partnered initiative. In a series of scheduled stops on the school
grounds of each of the mentioned communities, these children were
diagnosed and treated in the mobile dental clinic. The availability of
two experienced dentists, a qualified nurse and up-to-date equipment
and medicine on board of the ADSC mobile clinic enabled quick action
and high-quality performance. A total of 88 boys and 107 girls were
provided with needed screening and treatment.

In the words of Tigranuhi Harutyunyan, a thirteen-year-old student
from Dalarik, "… the doctor’s friendly and caring attitude changed
my discomfort with dentists", she said with a smile.

Another student, Aram Ghazaryan from Lernagog, expressed his
delight when he spoke about his visit with the doctor. "Thanks to
the interesting stories the doctor was telling during the screening
and treatment, I hardly noticed how quickly two hours flew by".

Aside from the children’s satisfaction, the dentists’ professionalism
and caring attitude also impressed their parents. They all unanimously
stated that not a single child left the clinic unhappy. "We are so
grateful to COAF for initiating these important visits, and we are also
very impressed with dentists who brought back smiles to our children,"
said Vardges Azizyan, one of the parents from Myasnikyan. "It is so
convenient to have the dentists come to our village, so we do not have
to take our children elsewhere. We truly appreciate this project and
realize how it makes our lives much easier", he concluded. COAF plans
to continue this partnered program with ADSC.

GEORGIA’S TEENAGE CRIME SCOURGE
By Nana Kurashvili in Tbilisi

A1+
[02:20 pm] 23 June, 2007

The authorities lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12
following a wave of adolescent violence.

A piece of black drapery with two framed photos attached to it hangs
at the entrance of Tbilisi’s School No. 43. One of the photos shows a
girl with plaits and a playful smile, while a boy scowls out of the
other one. A vase with fresh flowers stands next to the pictures,
together with a number of letters spread out like a fan, one saying,
"Salome and Nika, we will never forget you!"

The last ring of the school bell, usually a joyful event marking the
beginning of summer holidays and celebrations for school leavers,
was not heard in the school this year after these two pupils were
murdered within a week of one another in May.

Fourteen-year-old Salome Mamatsashvili – the girl with the plaits in
the photograph – was found dead in the doorway of a block of flats a
short distance from her home on May 12. Her body bore multiple stab
wounds. A suspect detained by police, David Tabidze, an 18-year-old
living in the same block of flats as the Mamatsashvilis, has denied
killing her.

The girl had gone out for a walk with her friends and never came
back. The following morning, Salome’s mother identified her daughter’s
body at the morgue.

Salome kept a diary and after her death, her mother learnt from the
diary that Salome was in love with David.

Five days before this killing, 11th grader Nika Chankseliani, 17,
was shot dead in a fight involving pupils from his and another
schools. He died of eight gunshot wounds. A 14-year-old has been
accused of killing Nika, who was due to leave school in a few days.

There is growing public anxiety about the rise in teenage violence
in Georgia, and the topic eclipsed all others in news coverage in May.

The interior ministry reports that of the seven premeditated killings
committed in May, five of the victims were minors.

Parliament responded to the surge in juvenile violence by
making changes to the country’s criminal code to lower the age of
responsibility from 14 to 12. This means a 12-year-old found guilty
of committing a serious crime is liable to be punished as an adult.

The government says the changes will come into force as soon as
appropriate conditions for young offenders are introduced in the
prisons.

The move drew criticism from the international human rights group,
Human Rights Watch. Its Europe and Central Asia director Holly
Cartner said, "By lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility,
Georgia has gone against international and European standards.

States are supposed to work to establish higher, not lower, ages of
criminal responsibility."

Parliament also plans to pass a "law against antisocial behaviour" in
the near future, which will oblige school administrations and police to
monitor teenagers deemed to be prone to violence. Under the draft law,
parents whose children have committed a crime will have to pay a fine.

In April and May, Georgian television channels reported on a spate
of violent crimes committed by and against teenagers.

On the evening of May 17, a 17-year-old schoolboy was killed in a
shooting incident, while on May 7, a 14-year-old was stabbed to death
in a school playground.

A few days before that, Revaz Pukhashvili was killed after he refused
to lend his father’s car to another boy. On the same day, seventh-form
student Enriko Janelidze was seriously wounded in a fight, but his
life was saved by doctors.

On May 1, a group of around ten teenagers attacked Tbilisi resident
Giorgi Aptsiauri, 20, and stabbed him several times.

On April 18, three tenth-graders killed a classmate with a knitting
needle in the yard of their school in the Ozurgeti district of western
Georgia. Two days before that, 15-year-old Grigory Martashenko was
killed by 15 shots in the centre of Tbilisi. Earlier in the month,
a 14-year-old shot one of his classmates and the head of the local
hunting association.

Officials accept that there is a serious problem, but have also
accused television reports of playing it up.

"It’s unnecessary and wrong to dramatise the situation," said education
minister Alexander Lomaia.

Giorgi Bokeria, one of the leaders of the pro-government majority
in parliament, cited "a syndrome of impunity that has been rooted in
the country for years" as one of the causes of the recent adolescent
violence.

"The state with its legitimate right to retribution, the family where
the child grows up, the school he goes to – these are components that
should be working together in solving this," he said. "Adolescents
should know that they won’t go unpunished."

But parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze said the problem would not
be solved by tightening up the law alone.

"A tough response alone won’t lead us to a real result," she
said. "First of all, we should discover the reasons why incidents
like these happen and why they have become more frequent, and then
we should start combating the causes, not the consequences."

Psychologist Sophio Verulashvili also said it was wrong to blame
the children.

"This is the generation whose childhood coincided with a difficult
social and economic situation in Georgia, when their parents were
either desperate and at home, or permanently absent," she told IWPR.

"In actual fact, there was no one to bring up these children. When
there was electricity in their homes, they got poor-quality information
from television.

Otherwise, they whiled away their time on the streets.

"No one was there to educate them, and the consequences of this are
what we see today."

Gia Murgulia, the headmaster of Tbilisi School No. 24, said parents
and children were not communicating properly.

"Because of social problems, parents fail to pay proper attention
to their children," he said. "There’s no dialogue going on between
parents and children.

School plays an essential role, but, to my mind, family upbringing
is of prime importance."

In most of the recent cases cited above, the firearms used by the
minors involved belonged to family members.

Knives are on sale everywhere in Tbilisi. There is a great variety on
display in a stall in the underground passage right opposite School
No 1, although the salesman told IWPR he never sold knives to minors.

"I am not familiar with the law, but I think it’s something that is
regulated by a moral code – I would never sell a knife to a lad. But
some other seller might," he said.

Schoolchildren say carrying weapons has become fashionable.

"Many guys think that once they have a knife in their pocket and can
fight, they’ll be more admired by the girls, and that they’ll become
the coolest and most popular boys in their school," said Mari, a girl
aged 14.

"That may be true up to a point, but personally I don’t like boys
like that."

Nana Kurashvili is a correspondent for Imedi television in Tbilisi.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting’s Caucasus Reporting Service.

AsianHandicap.com, UK
June 23 2007

Intertoto Cup Preview
FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk vs FC Ararat Erevan

Below par:
Shakhtyor, the Belarusian team, as much as they have been invincible
at home last season, have suffered something of a hangover this
season as they struggled to emulate the kind of form that propelled
them to a 4th place finish in 2006. Shakhtyor won 9, drew 2 and lost
2 last year as they ranked the 2nd best home team in Belarus behind
League winners BATE Borisov. This season however sees them like 6th
on the table, and won just 1 from 4 home matches.

Poor form:
Not only that, they have won just 2 games from their last 7 matches
in the Belarusian Premier League. Apart from their wins against
mid-table Smorgon and relegation strugglers Dnepr Mogilev, Shakhtyor
have performed poorly in the other 5 games, drawing against FC Minsk
and MTZ RIPO Minsk and losing to the likes of Dinamo Minsk and Neman
Grodno. To their credit, they did put up a fight against the
defending champions BATE Borisov, narrowly losing 3-4.

Ararat on the up:
Now Ararat, the team from Armenia, are in a different form. They
finished a disappointing 4th last season, a staggering 24 points
behind eventual winners Pyunik Yereven, but this season they have
surpassed all expectations to be involved in the race at the top.
Last year, they lost 6 from 13 away games… based solely on that,
you would back Shakhtyor today hands down. But Ararat is now a team
transformed. They have won 7, drawn 1 and lost 2 from their 10 games
domestically. What is more impressive is the fact that they have won
their last 5 matches in the League, scoring a total of 11 goals.
Guess how many they have conceded… NONE. I am therefore backing
them to get the better of an underperforming Shakhtyor.

sterPicks&Match`2997

ARMENIAN EMPLOYERS FORECAST 5.5% GROWTH IN NUMBER OF JOBS THIS YEAR

ArmInfo
2007-06-18 19:05:00

Most of Armenian employers forecast 5.5% growth in the number of
jobs this year. Almost 23% expect 10% growth, say the results of the
survey conducted by Ameria consulting company in the framework of a
WB-sponsored project.

11% of employers expect 20% rise in wages. The head of the management
consulting department of Ameria Gagik Sahakyan says that most of
employers expect growing activity on the labor market and hope that
this will have a positive effect on trade, industry and services.

Concerning disabled and socially disadvantaged people, the survey
has shown that the Armenian employers are ready to employ such people
provided that they have necessary professional qualities. Meanwhile,
only 12.6% of them have higher education. One more requirement is
computer skills.

PRESIDENT AWARDS PRIZES

Hayots Ashkharh Daily – Armenia
19 June 07

Prizes in the name of the President were awarded yesterday to the
representatives of technical sciences, art, literature, humanities,
cinema and fine arts and classical music.

This time, during the "RA President’s Awards 2006" nomination, a
posthumous prize was awarded to Hrant Dink, Editor-in-Chief of the
"Agos" weekly published in Istanbul, for restoring historical justice
and having major investment in the promotion of mutual understanding
among peoples, freedom of speech and protection of fundamental
human rights.

The award was handed over to Rachel Dink, the widow of H. Dink.

PAULO and VITORIO TAVIANI brothers were awarded a prize for the
significant contribution to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide
by the film "The Larks’ Farm".

In the filed of technical sciences and information technologies,
VLADIMIR HAROUTYUNYAN, VALERI ARAKELYAN, ZAVEN ADAMYAN, KHACHATOUR
MARTIROSYAN and GOHAR SHAHNAZARYAN were granted prizes for their
research.

Honored Art Worker HENRIK IGITYAN was granted a prize for his
major investment in the study and dissemination of the 20th century
Armenian art.

In the field of literature, RUBEN HOVSEPYAN was awarded a prize for
his novel "Below the Apricot Tree".

In the field of the development of the humanities, SAMVEL KARAPETYAN,
Head of the organization studying the Armenian architecture was granted
a prize for the books "The Armenian Collection of Caucasian Museums",
"Armenians in Kakheti" and "Javahk".

During the youth contests in the field of cinema and fine arts,
prizes for the "Grotesque" graphical composition series were granted
to ARMINE HOVHANNISYAN; ANAHIT HAYRAPETYAN drew a prize for the
series of photos, TOGRAN KARAPETYAN – for "Jugha" documentary and
HAMBARZOUM HAMBARDZOUMYAN – for the stories "Katya", "Return", and
"The Eighth-Grade Students".

In the field of music, GEVORK HAKOBYAN, ARSEN SOGHOMONYAN and NAREK
HAKHNAZARYAN were awarded prizes for their high performance art. The
latter two of the laureates are currently in Moscow with the purpose
of participating in the international musical contest named after
Tchaykovski.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version:

CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA PUBLISHES
THE SEMINARY YEARBOOK "KLATSOR"

The new issue, volume XIII of the Seminary yearbook "Klatsor" has been
published in Antelias on the initiative of a special editorial board formed
of Seminary students working under the guidance of the administration.

Encompassing 263 pages, the yearbook is the mirror reflecting the
spiritual and intellectual formation of the Seminary students. Confined to
their solitude in a healthy religious and national environment in Bikfaya,
Seminary students work on several projects throughout the year in addition
to their day-to-day lessons: research articles, analytical writings, music
compositions and other literary and artistic works.

Seminary Dean V. Rev. Shahe Panossian writes in the introduction to the
volume: "Although this volume is a beautiful collection of personal
writings, "Klatsor" is a group initiative. The writings in its express not
only our students’ individual aspirations and thoughts but depict a true
picture of the atmosphere of creativity and religious life in the Seminary."

The Dean presented the first copy of the new volume to His Holiness Aram I
as the result of a year of fruitful work. The Pontiff highly praised the
collective work, considering it the first step of the Seminary students’
spiritual-intellectual formation, where the feelings of the new generation
towards our nation and church are reflected.

##
View the cover here: m#2
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Theological
Seminary of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

MIKHAÏL ASLANOVICH POGOSYAN: " LA PRIVATISATION DE SUKHOI VA CONTINUER "

La Tribune , France
18 juin 2007

Alors que l’industrie aeronautique russe se restructure, Sukhoi
mise beaucoup sur le developpement de son SuperJet, un avion
regional commande a 61 exemplaires par quatre compagnies locales,
dont Aeroflot. Il souhaite egalement faire avancer son projet de
jet prive supersonique et augmenter sa part dans l’A350. Mikhaïl
Aslanovich Pogosyan est directeur general du groupe.

La privatisation de Sukhoi commen-cee depuis quelques annees va-t-elle
se poursuivre au sein d’OAK?

Le processus de privatisation va sans aucun doute se poursuivre.

Sukhoi possède une structure de capital assez complexe. L’Etat a
deja transfere sa part a OAK [consortium aeronautique russe, Ndlr],
ce qui fait de ce dernier le principal actionnaire de Sukhoi. Sukhoi
represente environ 50 % de capital de la structure d’OAK. La structure
du capital de Sukhoi reste encore entre les mains de l’Etat. Nous
considerons que ce mouvement progressif de sortie vers le marche est
adapte a la strategie de developpement du groupe. Dans le cadre d’OAK,
la part des actionnaires prives va croître mais je ne peux pas vous
donner de calendrier concret.

Pour l’instant, nous mettons au point la strategie de developpement
d’OAK et, dans le cadre de cette reflexion, nous examinerons la
structure du capital de Sukhoi. Je suppose que la privatisation se fera
plus rapidement avec la partie civile de nos activites que militaire.

Beaucoup d’industriels francais (EADS, Dassault, Safran) et europeens
avaient annonce en 2005 des accords de cooperation avec l’industrie
militaire russe, y compris Sukhoi. Depuis rien, pourquoi?

Depuis longtemps, nous cooperons avec des societes francaises dans le
domaine militaire. Thales et Sagem fournissent des equipements de bord
de nos avions de la famille SU-30. Cette experience commune et positive
aide beaucoup pour la cooperation actuelle autour de l’avion regional,
où nous collaborons egalement avec tout un ensemble de societes
francaises. Mais il apparaît a l’heure actuelle que la cooperation
dans le domaine civil se developpe de facon plus dynamique, se heurte
a moins de barrières et donne des resultats plus rapides. C’est la
caracteristique du marche actuel. Quoi qu’il en soit, nous ne nous
interessons pas seulement a la cooperation dans le domaine civil,
mais egalement au domaine militaire.

Dassault Aviation, voire EADS, et Sukhoi peuvent-ils cooperer ensemble
sur la prochaine generation d’avions de combat?

La cooperation depend de la mise au point d’une cooperation a long
terme dans le developpement des technologies militaires en Europe. À
l’heure actuelle, cela demande plus de temps que celui qui s’est
ecoule depuis le dernier Salon du Bourget. Il n’y a pas actuellement
de progrès significatif dans la cooperation avec Dassault ou EADS
dans la sphère militaire. Toutefois je pense que la perspective d’une
telle cooperation dans le futur est reelle.

Où en etes-vous du projet d’avion de combat russe de 5e generation?

Le projet avance rapidement. Etant donne qu’il n’existe pas de projet
analogue en Europe, une cooperation semble difficile. Mais si un tel
projet survient, la question d’une cooperation se posera et nous
sommes prets au dialogue. Le programme avance selon le calendrier
prevu par le commanditaire du projet [l’Etat russe, Ndlr].

Quel est le niveau de cooperation au sein d’OAK pour cet avion
de combat?

Sukhoi a remporte le concours et se trouve leader et integrateur de
ce programme. Pour l’instant, nos ressources nous permettent de faire
avancer ce projet seul.

Qu’attendez-vous du Salon du Bourget?

Côte aviation civile, nous allons presenter le projet SuperJet. Pour
le militaire, nous presenterons les appareils de la famille SU-27
et SU-30 ainsi que le SU-35 dont nous avons montre la cabine pour la
première fois l’annee dernière lors du Salon de Farnborough 2006.

Nous esperons demontrer lors du salon notre capacite a mener a bien
nos projets.

Avez-vous recu des marques d’interet de compagnies aeriennes etrangères
pour votre nouvel avion SuperJet?

Aujourd’hui, nous avons deja signe des contrats avec des compagnies
russes. C’est une première etape. La signature de contrats avec des
compagnies etrangères represente la seconde etape. Je peux confirmer
l’interet des compagnies etrangères pour le projet, elles ont montre
un interet constant depuis plusieurs annees. Parmi les compagnies
etrangères manifestant le plus d’interet, je citerais Air France et
SAS, auxquelles s’est jointe recemment la Lufthansa a notre grande
satisfaction. Nous menons aussi des negociations avec plusieurs
compagnies du Sud-Est asiatique, un marche que nous estimons très
important pour ce projet.

Combien avez-vous recu de commandes pour le SuperJet?

Pour l’instant, quatre contrats ont ete signes, representant des
commandes fermes pour 61 appareils. Aeroflot a en outre signe un
protocole d’intention portant sur 15 avions ainsi qu’une option sur
30 autres. Soit plus d’une centaine de commandes.

Quel est le calendrier du projet?

Nous prevoyons les premiers vols du prototype dès cette annee. En 2008,
nous recevrons les certificats et nous commencerons les premières
livraisons aux compagnies aeriennes. Le projet avance selon le
calendrier prevu, que nous ne souhaitons pas divulguer.

Quel est le budget du SuperJet?

Le volume d’investissement depasse au total 800 millions de dollars.

À l’heure actuelle, plus de 50 % ont deja ete investis. Sukhoi est a
l’origine de plus de la moitie de ces investissements. Nous les avons
finances avec nos propres ressources, en levant des credits a long
terme et avec le soutien financier de l’Etat. Tout ce que je peux
dire sur le financement du programme, c’est qu’il se deroule selon
le calendrier prevu.

Avez-vous de nouveaux projets?

Pour Sukhoi, la priorite est de lancer sur le marche la famille
SuperJet 100. Notre deuxième priorite sera de moderniser cette gamme,
puis, enfin, d’elargir les capacites de cette famille a un appareil de
plus grande taille. Nous envisageons aussi la creation d’une version
business class. D’autres projets sont a l’etude, dont un sur lequel
nous reflechissons depuis longtemps. Il s’agit de la fabrication d’un
avion passager supersonique.

Un nouveau Concorde?

Non, c’est une autre niche. Il s’agit d’un avion d’affaires. Nous
appelons ce projet simplement " business jet supersonique ". Ce sera
un appareil de 10 a 12 passagers, dont la vitesse de croisière sera
entre 1,6 et 2 fois la vitesse du son.

Quel est l’objectif de Sukhoi dans l’aeronautique civile? Allez-vous
reequilibrer le civil et le militaire?

Compte tenu des previsions du marche international pour les vingt
prochaines annees, il apparaît que l’aviation civile va representer
plus de 70 % du marche contre un peu plus de 20 % pour l’aviation
militaire. Cela signifie que le developpement de l’aeronautique
sera largement lie au civil. Sukhoi etait jusqu’a present axe sur
le militaire avec 90 % de notre production, le civil n’ayant qu’un
caractère marginal. Avec le lancement de la famille SuperJet, nous
prevoyons un equilibre parfait entre le civil et le militaire d’ici
cinq a six ans.

Notre objectif est d’atteindre une structure de commandes equilibree
en conservant nos parts de marche dans le militaire et en se lancant
sur le marche des avions regionaux. Au sein d’OAK, les principaux
projets concernent le secteur de l’aeronautique civile. Le militaire
doit egalement croître, mais l’essentiel de la croissance dependra du
civil. C’est du civil que viennent les perspectives de croissances
de l’aeronautique russe. La forte croissance de l’aviation civile
nous laisse esperer qu’une partie significative de la production sera
realisee en Russie.

Vous souhaitez participer au developpement de l’A350. Quels en sont
les enjeux industriels et financiers pour la Russie et Sukhoi?

Nous prevoyons de prendre une part de 5 % dans le projet de l’A350.

Bien sûr, nous esperons que cette part va croître significativement
mais il est premature de parler de resultats concrets. Notre niveau de
participation sera un indicateur attestant du degre de comprehension
mutuelle qu’EADS et nous-memes auront atteint. Cela dependra aussi
des perspectives du marche mondial et russe, ainsi que du choix des
technologies, qui seront utilisees pour ce nouveau projet, suivant
qu’elles seront developpees chez nous ou a l’etranger. En bref,
c’est un projet complexe a de multiples niveaux.

Esperez-vous beneficier de transferts de technologie venant d’EADS?

Nous n’avons aucune envie de recevoir des technologies d’EADS. Ce
qui nous interesse, c’est une vaste cooperation sur le long terme.

S’agissant des technologies russes, elles peuvent etre developpees
et utilisees dans le cadre de projets internationaux, pas seulement
avec EADS, mais aussi avec d’autres constructeurs mondiaux. Je pense
en particulier aux technologies concernant l’utilisation de titane,
dans lesquelles l’hegemonie de la Russie est largement reconnue. Nous
comptons aussi developper la production de materiaux composites,
qui font l’objet deja aujourd’hui d’une forte demande sur le marche
mondial. Nous developpons enfin des technologies sur l’avionique,
en particulier le système de pilotage. Mais nous ne nous arretons
pas uniquement a des cooperations sur des projets d’avions, nous nous
interessons egalement au developpement de la cooperation scientifique
avec nos partenaires etrangers. La base des projets futurs est
determinee par la qualite de la cooperation scientifique et des
laboratoires de recherches crees a ces fins. L’ecole scientifique
et l’ingenierie russes, ainsi que les moyens financiers de notre
pays prevus dans le developpement de l’industrie aeronautique, nous
donnent des raisons de penser que nous serons capables de poser les
fondations nous permettant de prendre une position active dans les
futurs avions realises en cooperation.

Est-ce deja le cas pour la future famille des monocouloirs d’Airbus?

EADS reflechit a une proposition pour donner la maîtrise d’oeuvre a la
Russie a partir de la technologie du SuperJet. Seriez-vous interesses
par une telle proposition?

Nous recherchons une cooperation la plus profonde possible dans les
projets de conception d’appareils moyen-courriers avec les europeens
comme avec d’autres partenaires au niveau mondial. Il n’existe pas a
l’heure actuelle de plan detaille pour la conception d’un appareil
regional viable. De notre côte, nous etudions les calendriers, les
besoins du marche, la date de commercialisation, les caracteristiques
techniques. Lorsque nous aurons acheve ce travail, nous pourrons fixer
le cadre de notre cooperation sur ces projets entre la Russie et EADS.

Quel est l’interet pour OAK (et pour Sukhoi en particulier) de prendre
des parts dans EADS?

Le degre d’interet sur ce sujet va dependre de la quantite de projets
menes a bien en commun. Bien sûr, OAK est interesse par des paquets
d’actions chez nos partenaires.

Mikhail Pogosyan au centre de la recomposition de l’aeronautique
russe À la veille de la Perestroïka, la puissance industrielle
sovietique dans l’aeronautique est a son apogee. Les usines des
avionneurs Iliouchine, Tupolev… sortent deux avions par jour. Soit
une production de 720 appareils par an. L’URSS se vante alors de
produire un quart des avions civils de la planète. Mais la Perestroïka
a laisse cette industrie pratiquement exsangue…

Aujourd’hui, les usines russes sortent moins de dix avions par an.

Plus aucune compagnie ne veut des appareils d’origine sovietique,
bruyants, et surtout trop consommateurs de kerosène. Sans oublier
la mauvaise reputation qui colle a la carlingue de ces appareils en
matière de confort et de securite. Avec l’arrivee de Vladimir Poutine
au pouvoir, l’aeronautique russe est revenue au centre des priorites
nationales, mais aussi au centre de strategies divergentes dans les
coulisses du pouvoir et des nouveaux capitaines d’industrie. Une
guerre dans un contexte de resurrection de cette industrie, comme
en temoigne l’avion regional SuperJet developpe par l’avionneur
militaire Sukhoi. À sa tete, le directeur general Mikhail Pogosyan,
un des rares grands patrons russes d’origine armenienne. Ne a Moscou
en 1956, ce dernier, qui appartient au clan proamericain, s’oppose
au clan proeuropeen dirige par son eternel rival, Alexey Fyodorov,
a la tete du holding d’Etat OAK (90,1 %) regroupant une grande partie
des actifs aeronautiques russes et dans lequel est en partie integre
Sukhoi. Jusqu’a la fin de 2006, le clan proeuropeen, qui preconisait
des alliances structurelles avec l’industrie europeenne, dont EADS,
avait reussi a convaincre Vladimir Poutine. Mais le vent a finalement
tourne pour ce clan forme autour du constructeur Irkut, qui detient
9,9 % d’OAK. La prise de 5 % du capital d’EADS en catimini sur les
marches par la banque d’Etat russe VTB a destabilise la France et
l’Allemagne vigilantes sur le dossier EADS. En claquant la porte a
Moscou, les Europeens ont remis en selle le clan des proamericains.

Fâche, le Kremlin a fini par autoriser la commande des Boeing 787 il
y a une dizaine de jours et a engage Boeing a entrer plus avant dans
le SuperJet.

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