Author: Jagharian Tania

TAX REVENUES OF RA STATE BUDGET GROW BY 24% IN JANUARY-MAY 2007 ON
SAME PERIOD OF LAST YEAR

YEREVAN, JUNE 30, NOYAN TAPAN. In January-May 2007, tax revenues made
up 81.7% of the state budgetary revenues. State duties made up 3.8%,
non-tax revenues -10.8%, revenues from capital operations – 3.4%,
official transfers – 0.3% of the budgetary revenues.

According to the RA Ministry of Finance and Economy, in the first five
months of 2007, tax revenues of the state budget amounted to 162 bln
drams (over 451 mln USD) and ensured the fulfilment of the program for
the first half of 2007 by 82.3%. Tax revenues grew by 24% on the same
period of 2006. High growth rates were regsitered with respect to all
taxes.

VAT amounted to 76 bln drams and made up 46.9% of tax revenues in the
period under review. More than 46.2 bln drams of this sum was received
from taxation on the Armenian borders, 29.8 bln drams – from domestic
turnover of goods and services. VAT revenues of the state budget grew
by 34.3% or over 19.4 bln drams as compared with the same period of
2006.

Excise tax revenues amounted to 14.6 bln drams and made up 9% of the
total tax revenues. Particularly, 10.3 bln drams was received from
taxation of imported goods, including 4.6 bln drams from taxation of
imported gasoline and diesel fuel and 4.4 bln drams from taxation of
imported cigarettes.

Excise tax revenues from taxation of goods produced in Armenia made 4.3
ln drams, including 1.7 ln drams from sale of cigarettes made in
Armenia. Excise tax revenues of the RA state budget grew by 4.3% or
604.1 mln drams on the same period of 2006, which was mainly due to a
growth of revenues from imported cigarettes, gasoline and diesel fuel.

A growth was also registered with respect to revenues from imported
alcoholic drinks, while excise tax revenues from sale of cigarettes
made in Armenia declined.

VACHE TERTERIAN: ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL REFORMS SHOULD BE
IMPLEMENTED TO AVOID HYPERCENTRALIZATION OF BUSINESS IN YEREVAN

AFGVERAN, JUNE 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(CCI) of Armenia is prepared to participate in further economic
development of the country in order to develop entrepreneurship and
increase the competitiveness of Armenian companies in the foreign
market. The CCI deputy chairman, direcor general of Viasphere
Technopark company Aram Vardanian stated this at the June 29 business
forum "The Prospects of Armenia’s Economic Development and the Role of
Chambers of Commerce and Industry" in Aghveran.

The event’s purpose was to discuss issues related to participation of
regional CCIs in the country’s social and economic process, their
cooperation with local self-government bodies, and development of
entrepreneurship.

In the words of the RA deputy minister of trade and economic
development Armen Gevorgian, by assuming "the role of a collective
defender of the business community", the chambers should create a
favorable environment for business, in particular, to implement
advisory and training programs and to take part in the development and
adoption of respective laws.

Speaking about the problem of hypercentralization of business in
Yerevan, the RA deputy minister of territorial governance Vache
Terterian noted that a number of administrative and territorial
reforms, including the enlargement of communities and the creation of
intercommunity units, should be implemented in order to avoid the
business environment disproportion by settlements. "The creation of the
Council on Marz Development can be considered as the first step of this
program," V. Terterian said.

ARMENIAN INTELLECTUALS TO APPLY TO PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER ON ISSUE OF CONSTRUCTING ARNO BABAJANIAN’S HOUSE-MUSEUM IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Jun 28, 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. "The Arno Babajanian Foundation intends
to build a house-museum dedicated to the great composer in Yerevan
but the city authorities have not solved the issue of allocating
a land plot," the composer’s son, the chairman of the foundation
Arayik Babajanian said at the June 27 joint press conference with
the chairmen of the Creative Unions of Armenia. According to him,
they applied to the mayor’s office on this issue as far back as 2001.

A. Babajanian said that they applied to Yerevan mayor Yervand Zakharian
in February 2007. Although the mayor assured them that the problem
of the museum construction will be quickly dealt with, so far there
has been no official response from the mayor’s office.

In the words of the composer’s son, Russian intellectuals are concerned
over the issue of building Arno Babajanian’s house-museum in Yerevan
so they sent an open letter to Armenian intellectuals. The director
of the Armenian branch of the Arno Babajanian Foundation Jacques
Hakoian noted that this problem worries Armenian intellectuals as
well, and "the impression that everybody in Armenia has forgotten
Arno Babajanian is wrong."

The press conference participants decided to apply to the president
and the prime minsiter of Armenia on the issue of allocating a land
plot for the museum.

SECOND INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONFERENCE OF ARMENIA TO CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL SCIENCE IN REPUBLIC

Noyan Tapan
Jun 28, 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The international medical three-day
conference of Armenia, in which about 550 specialists, scientists,
and experts of Armenian nationality from the health service from
Armenia, Artsakh, and abroad took part, started its proceedings
in Yerevan on June 28. Important problems of the health service of
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh will be discussed and scientific reports
including about 24 spheres of the health service will be presented
during the conference.

Ara Babloyan, the Chairman of the organizational commission of the
conference, mentioned that eight discussions will be held through
satellite communication, and the specialists of the health service
sphere from regions will also take part. According to him, 10 satellite
symposiums will be held on the days of the conference: "Opthamology",
"Nursing Work", "Diabetology", as well as many others. In addition
to this, a live television discussion concerning the sphere of
pediatrics will be held, and doctor-specialists from Yerevan and
New Jersey will take part. It was also mentioned that the third full
sitting of the conference will wholly be dedicated to the strategy
of Armenian-Diasporan joint programs and further cooperation.

Bella Kocharian, the RA first lady, particularly, mentioned in her
speech: "I want the expected results of the conference to become the
property of Armenian specialists, to be brought to life and serve
the RA citizens.

Afterwards, I want our country to become a leading one in the region in
the near future, particularly, in those directions of medical science,
which were considered as primary at this conference." Bella Kocharian
attached importance to the circumstance that they should have great
respect for doctors and win the confidence of patients and mentioned:
"The work of doctors will be productive only when their professional
knowledge, high moral values, and psychological skills are united."

According to Haroutiun Kushkian, the RA Health Minister, the
proceedings of the conference will greatly contribute to the
development of medical science in Armenia. The Minister mentioned
that according to the project of RA government activities, the sphere
of the health service will be one of the primary directions of the
policy concerning budget expenses and that it will aim at raising
the quality and availability of medical assistance for the unprovided
stratum, in particular. The implementation of the program concerning
the availability of medical assistance for the population was mainly
connected with the development of an obligatory and voluntary medical
insurance system.

ARMENIAN SPORTSMEN TO TAKE PART IN BSEC MEMBER-COUNTRIES’ FIRST SPORTS GAMES

Noyan Tapan
Jun 26 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, NOYAN TAPAN. The first sporting games of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) member-countries will be held on
July 2-8 in Trabzon with the participation of representatives of 12
countries. As a Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by Yeghish
Davtian, the head of the Armenian sports delegation, the Armenian
sportsmen will take part in competitions in football, athletics,
taekwondo, free-style and Greco-Roman wrestling.

The delegation of Armenia will leave for Turkey on June 30.

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:

12TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS HOLINESS ARAM I’S
ANOINTMENT AND ENTHRONEMENT MARKED IN ANTELIAS

On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of His Holiness Aram I’s
ordination and anointment as Catholicos, a special service was held during
the Holy Mass in the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Antelias on
June 24. Representatives from Der Zor, Aleppo, and other areas in Syria,
former Ambassador of Armenia to Syria, Levon Sarkissian, as well as a large
number of believers attended the service.

The service was performed by Vicar General Archbishop Ardavazt Terterian
and members of the Cilician Brotherhood. The passages selected from the
Bible about the relationship between a spiritual leader and his community
and the characteristics of a true and brave shepherd were dedicated to the
Pontiff.

The prayers authored by our forefathers for the canon represent, with
great historical depth, the history of the Catholicosate of Cilicia, the
agony it shared with its people during the Armenian Genocide and its rebirth
on the welcoming shores of Lebanon. The Armenian nation was specifically
mentioned in the prayer, with an appeal to God to protect it from foreign
challenges.

V. Rev. Krikor Chiftjian performed the Holy Mass and delivered a sermon on
this occasion. He talked about the image of Jesus Christ as a brave
spiritual shepherd, drawing parallels with the Armenian Pontiff’s courageous
leadership of the Armenian Church and nation.

After the service, Deacon Kevork Arabian addressed His Holiness on behalf
of the Catholicosate of Cilicia’s Seminary, students and the attendants in
general, wishing a fruitful tenure and good health to His Holiness Aram I.

The Armenian Spiritual Leader expressed his gratitude for the well wishes
and considered the reason for his existence to be serving the Armenian
Church, nation and homeland. The Seminary choir sang the hymns "Aisor
Kahanayabed" and "Aghpur Genats", as well as "Cilicia" and "I Veh Partsants".

##
View the photos here: 5
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission 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.

DASHNAKS AGAINST LAND CONCESSIONS TO AZERBAIJAN
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
June 25 2007

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) is against
the return of any of the occupied Azerbaijani territories around
Nagorno-Karabakh and believes that they should repopulated by Armenians
instead, a representative of the governing party said on Monday.

"We are against ceding the liberated territories. We are against
giving away any territory," Giro Manoyan, the chief spokesman
for Dashnaktsutyun’s worldwide ruling Bureau, said of the seven
Armenian-occupied districts in Azerbaijan proper.

"The notion that Karabakh must be connected with Armenia through a
single corridor is unacceptable to us," he added in a clear reference
to international mediators’ existing peace plan on Karabakh.

The plan calls for the liberation of at least six of the occupied
districts before the holding of a referendum of self-determination
in Karabakh. Armenia’s leadership has largely accepted this peace
formula. Dashnaktsutyun leaders have never publicly rejected this
stance or threatened to quit the governing coalition, in which their
party is a junior partner.

Manoyan would not specify what the nationalist party will do if the
authorities in Yerevan press ahead with the proposed settlement.

Blaming Azerbaijan for the collapse of the latest round of peace
talks, he said instead that Yerevan should stop even talking about
territorial concessions to Baku.

"Given Azerbaijan’s position during the entire negotiating process,
we no longer have reason to make such statements, even if they cast us
in a positive light," Manoyan told a news conference. "Because if you
say the same thing for many times you will eventually start believing
it. So it would be good to put an end to those statements and put
the emphasis on resettlement [of the Armenian-controlled lands]."

"It is important to instill in the people the notion that repopulated
territories can not be given back. That is why the resettlement must
start quickly," he said.

Manoyan also made the point that the Karabakh dispute will likely
remain unresolved in the foreseeable future and that Armenia should
therefore eventually formally recognize Karabakh’s secession from
Azerbaijan. "If negotiations yield no results in two, three, five
or ten years … it is clear that Armenia should either recognize
Karabakh’s independence or annex it," he said. "There is no other
option."

"ARMENTEL" ANNOUNCED THE OPENING OF TWO NEW CENTERS OF EXPRESS-MAINTENANCE

Mediamax News Agency,Armenia
June 25 2007

Yerevan, June 25 /Mediamax/. "ArmenTel" Company announced today the
opening of two new centers of express-maintenance of subscribers.

As Mediamax was told in the press service of the Company, the first
center is opened in 18 Erebuni, Yerevan, and the second in Gyumri,
48/1 Gorki str.

Both of the centers are opened by "C & F Co" Company, which is the
partner of "ArmenTel" and the distributor of a number of famous
trademarks in Armenia – Unilever Cosmetics, Henkel and others.

The first center of express-maintenance of "ArmenTel" was opened in
May 2007 in the Yerevan "Citadel" Business Center.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTY DISMISSES REPORTS ON DEFECTION OF MPS

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
20 Jun 07

[Presenter] The Orinats Yerkir party continues to deny that Sergey
Abrahamyan and Khachik Petrosyan, who have been elected to parliament
from the party’s list of candidates, are going to leave the party
soon. Orinats Yerkir vice chairman Mher Shahgeldyan dismissed the
rumours as groundless today [20 June]. He also said denied that
prominent members of the party periodically leave it. He did not rule
out the possibility that the party may cooperate with the authorities
in the National Assembly. We will support approaches tackling various
issues, he said when answering a question regarding cooperation with
the authorities. Shahgeldyan said his party backs the idea of having
a joint candidate from the opposition in the forthcoming presidential
election.

[Mher Shahgeldyan, addressing the news conference] We think that
a joint candidate will mean a wake-up and our ranks have the same
approach towards the idea of having a joint candidate. The Orinats
Yerkir party has always considered this right, and we have never had
unnecessary ambitions.

TWENTY YEARS AGO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZED THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ArmRadio.am
18.06.2007 16:25

Twenty years ago today, on June 18, 1987, the European Parliament
became the first major international body to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, during its plenary session in Strasbourg, voting on a
momentous resolution paving the way "for a political solution of the
Armenian issue." After extensive deliberations and resisting immense
pressures from Turkey and its hired guns, the European legislators
set the record straight on this first genocide of modern times and
delivered a landmark victory for justice that Armenians in Europe and,
indeed, all over the world have been fighting for.

To mark this important anniversary, and to re-think the goals of the
task ahead, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy
announces the Second Convention of European Armenians, which will take
place on October 15-16, 2007 at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Twenty years after this historic accomplishment, and fifteen years
after the re-birth of Armenian independence, the Convention will
gather European Armenian grass-roots organizations and prominent
personalities from all corners of Europe to focus on the current
political priorities of the European Armenian community ranging from
Turkey’s European ambitions while persistently denying the Armenian
Genocide and persecuting its minorities to Turkey’s continuing blockade
of Armenia, the Karabakh negotiations, the European Neighborhood
policies in the region and the prospects of peace and stability in
the South Caucasus.

The Federation recalls that a key conclusion of the 1987 resolution
made clear in no uncertain terms that "the refusal by the present
Turkish Government to acknowledge the genocide against the Armenian
people committed by the Young Turk government, its reluctance to apply
the principles of international law to its differences of opinion
with Greece, the maintenance of Turkish occupation forces in Cyprus
and the denial of existence of the Kurdish question, together with
the lack of true parliamentary democracy and the failure to respect
individual and collective freedoms, in particular freedom of religion,
in that country are insurmountable obstacles to consideration of the
possibility of Turkey’s accession to the [European] Community."

"Today, twenty years after the passage of the resolution of 18
June 1987, this paragraph could be restated word for word by the
Parliament without the slightest hesitation", declared Hilda Tchoboian,
the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation. "The European
leadership should take note of the fact that in twenty years Turkey has
shown no evidence of progress on any of the stated issues," she added.

The Second Convention of European Armenians will pay a vibrant tribute
to all the key leaders of 1987 who acted courageously to deliver
the Parliament’s historic decision. Paule Duport, Henri Saby, Ernest
Glinne, Alfred Coste-Floret, René Piquet, Jaak Vandemeulebroucke,
Stan Newens, Francis Wurtz and all others who carried the torch
through painful deliberations. "As citizens of modern Europe, it
is our privilege to honor these MEP’s, visionary men and women, who
voted their conscience on that day and positioned the Parliament at
the most revered ethical standards of European values," concluded
Hilda Tchoboian.

–Boundary_(ID_98P6QVJEkbe1OhTo/SK+AQ) —