Education Minister Happy That Armentel Has Put Down Its Monopoly Rig

EDUCATION MINISTER HAPPY THAT ARMENTEL HAS PUT DOWN ITS MONOPOLY RIGHTS

Panorama.am
19:08 20/04/2007

Levon Lazarian, minister of education, said some 300 schools have
internet connection thanks to not only the state but also international
organizations.

The minister believes it is good that ArmenTel has put down
its monopoly rights and the market will have more internet
providers. Lazarian said that increases the chances to have more
schools with internet connection.

"The state budget has allocated funds to provide internet connections
to all schools throughout the republic," he said.

PACE President Going To Visit Karabakh

PACE PRESIDENT GOING TO VISIT KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2007 17:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Meetings between the Armenian and Azeri delegations
in PACE with the purpose to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
are worth appraisal, PACE Rene van der Linden said. The sides’
persistence in their stance pushes the process into complexities,
according to him. "Both delegations arrived to an agreement to visit
the conflict region. I am also going to pay a visit to Karabakh in
the second half of the year. Everything depends on the developments,"
he said, APA reports.

Today Karen Demirchyan Would Be 75

TODAY KAREN DEMIRCHYAN WOULD BE 75

A1+
[05:42 pm] 17 April, 2007

Today, Karen Demirchyan could celebrate his 75th anniversary. It is 8
years he has not been with us; his relatives, friends and just ordinary
people visit his tomb in Pantheon after Komitas. People used to call
him ‘ Karen the Constructor’ as Karen Serobovich was at the head of
the country during the years of prosperity and development of Armenia.

In the years of 1966-1972 he had been the Secretary of Yerevan Civic
Committee of Communist party, then the Second Secretary. In 1972, he
was the Secretary of Central Committee of Communist Party of Armenia
(CPA).

At the age of 42, Mr. Demirchyan was appointed the First Secretary
of CPA in 1974, and had been in the post till May, 1988.

He had deserved public fame and respect in the period of 14 years
in politics. He came back when there was the need for it. And he
was able to excite and bring back the minute "seed of hope" among
people. He was about to do it together with Vazgen Sargsyan but for
the disastrous accident.

The 75th anniversary will be celebrated officially. A number of
events will be held. On April 21, at 6:00 p.m. the memorial meeting
will take place in The Opera and Ballet Theatre after Al. Spendiaryan.

On April 20, at 2:00 p.m the solemn opening of "Karen Demirchyan"
museum will take place.

They Hinder Zharangutiun Party From Fixing Agitation Posters

THEY HINDER ZHARANGUTIUN PARTY FROM FIXING AGITATION POSTERS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 17 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The Zharangutiun (Heritage) Party,
the representatives of which have already visited Armavir, Kotayk,
Aragatsotn and Tavush regions, estimates the process of agitation
campaign as effective. As Hovsep Khurshudian, Party’s Spokesperson,
said at the April 17 press conference, judging by the reception of
population it can be supposed that electors will be very active. And
Zharangutiun will have an absolute majority in the parliament in
case of equal conditions and relative majority in case of unequal
conditions.

Emphasizing that the main three criteria of holding democratic
elections are accessibility of media, non-exceeding of the maximum
barrier of expenditures and creation of equal conditions for meetings
with electors, the Party’s Spokesperson said that in spite of some
improvement, there are still some problems in this respect. In
particular, they have obstacles when fixing agitation posters. For
instance, for fixing posters in Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebastia community,
in all electoral districts except kindergarten N 34, they demanded to
introduce a permission from Mayor’s Office, which, in H. Khurshudian’s
words, is violation of law.

In H. Khurshudian’s words, currently media are much more accessible
than before the agitation campaign. At the same time, he stated that
some TV companies demand payment for covering Zharangutiun’s activity
in their information broadcasts.

Answering journalists’ questions, Zharangutiun’s Spokesperson said
that from 60 mln drams envisaged by the law the Party has already
spent 9 mln drams (nearly 24.4 thousand USD). It was mentioned that
Party’s expenditures are well-calculated so as not to exceed the
barrier established by the law.

BAKU: Lebanon For Peaceful Regulation Of Nagorno Garabagh Conflict O

LEBANON FOR PEACEFUL REGULATION OF NAGORNI GARABAGH CONFLICT ON THE BASIS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Demaz.org, Azerbaijan
April 16 2007

As press center of ministry of foreign affairs informed, minister,
Elmar Mamadyarov, who continues visiting countries of Middle East,
came to Lebanon on April 12.

During the meeting held the same day between E. Mamadyarov and
his Lebanon counterpart, Fauzi Salluh, perspectives of development
bilateral relations, opening of embassies in both countries and other
issues were discussed.

Fauzi Salluh extended his gratitude for constant support and
humanitarian aid rendered to Azerbaijan by Lebanon.

E. Mamadyarov informed in details about Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorni
Garabagh conflict. He emphasized importance of support of friendly
states concerning peaceful regulation of the conflict.

Lebanon minister said that Armenian diaspora in his country has no
political influence. He specially stressed that his country advocates
peaceful regulation the above conflict on the basis of international
law.

View exchange relating to ongoing processes at international and
regional level was held.

The same day E. Mamadyarov met with member of the parliament of
Lebanon, Valid Jombulat, and held view exchange on bilateral issues.

Deputy of parliament informed minister about ongoing processes in
the region.

E. Mamadyarov told about large scale energy and transport projects
going on in our country, economic development and our relations with
neighbor states.

s.pl?s=001&p=0055&n=002433&g=

http://www.demaz.org/cgi-bin/e-cms/vis/vi

Cairo: Egyptian-Armenian talks held in Cairo

Middle East News Agency, Egypt
April 15 2007

Egyptian-Armenian talks held in Cairo

Cairo, 15 April: Premier Dr Ahmad Nazif held a session of talks with
visiting Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on Sunday [15 April].

The talks dealt with means of promoting bilateral relations in
various fields, especially in the economic sector. Discussions
touched on how to increase the volume of trade exchange between the
two countries and the number of the Armenian tourists visiting Egypt.

They also discussed the latest developments in the Middle East and
Eastern Europe as well as a number of other issues of joint interest.

Autocredits market of Armenia increased by 83.5% during the year

Autocredits market of Armenia increased by 83.5% during the year

Arminfo
2007-04-14 15:35:00

The market of banking autocredits of Armenia surpassed all the
optimistic expectations within 2006, having assured the annual growth
by 83.5%. According to the data of AmRating, the independent Rating
Agency, the volumes of autocrediting in the country’s banking system,
as of January 1, 2007, made up 19.216, 2 mln drams. In the opinion of
the Agency’s analysts, these indicators are directly concerned with
the fact that the republic’s automobile market shows high growth
rates. Only in January, 2007, which is not the best month from the
viewpoint of a seasonal factor, the import of passenger cars to the
republic has grown 1.5 times to 2403 units against 1572 cars for
January, 2006. At that, the import of "less solvent cars" of Russian
production reduced, that is, 489 against 686 units in January,
2006. Half of the cars, imported to the republic, are over 13 years
old and their cost varies within $6-10 thsd. In the experts’ opinion,
the share of the old cars will lessen, while that of the fresher and
more expensive ones will increase. This circumstance, in the opinion
of the Agency’s analysts, indicates the further growth of indicators
of the autocreditingmarket as one of the most profitable segments of
the banking retail, by 80% per year, at the minimum, in summary terms.

According to the data of AmRating, the triplet of the most
autocrediting banks of Armenia, as of the beginning of the year,
included the Areximbank, that gave autocredits for 2.757 bln drams,
"HSBC Bank Armenia" (5.173 bln drams) and Armeconombank (2.602 bln
drams). The first bank could keep the leading position in the market
during the year, while the "HSBC Bank Armenia" has jumped from the 9th
to the 1st place. The Areximbank has taken the send place, the
Armeconombank has risen one step higher, from the 4th to the 3rd
place. The fourth place is taken by Artsakhbank (2.190 bln drams), the
fifth place – by INECOBANK (1.866 bln drams).

The leading five, by the autocredits portfolio upon results, 2006,
included "HSBC Bank Armenia" – 2.962 bln drams, Areximbank – 2.446 bln
drams, Artsakhbank – 1.926 bln drams, INECOBANK – 1.858 bln drams and
Armeconombank – 1.854 bln drams. The "HSBC Bank Armenia" has made a
vast leap from the 9th place to the leaders, the Areximbank has kept
the second position, the Artsakhbank has moved three positions forward
, the INECOBANK held out in the fourth place and the Armeconombank has
secured the fifth position for itself.

In the AmRating analysts’ opinion, there are no apparent favourites of
race in the strict competitive activity in this market as yet, that is
proved by the indicators growth dynamics. Thus, the Armenian
Development Bank (ADB) with 15 mln drams has assured growth by 3619%,
the Unibank – by 264%, the BTA-Invest Bank – by 208%, the ArtsakhBank
– by 192%. Meanwhile, the market leader, Areximbank, assured the
growth of this indicator by 29,3% in all, the Armeconombank – by
93%. Therefore, the picture of priority in the market by 2008 may
change, especially as some of the former leaders today reduce their
previous indicators. Thus, the VTB Bank Armenia, that gave the
autocredits of 470.9 mln drams in 2005, decreased its indicator by
28.2%, upon results of, 2006, the Ardshininvestbank, that was in the
triple of leaders in 2005 with indicator of 1.992,3 mln drams, by
15,7%, the Bank reduced its indicators (299.2 mln) by 34,8%.

Upon the analysis results, the lowest share of autocredits in the
total indebtedness of physical persons, as of 2006, is fixed at
Armbusinessbank (ABB) – 1.1%, followed by VTB-Armenia – 3,7% (0.95% in
2005), ADB – 13.3% (0.41 in 2005), BTA-Invest Bank – 15.76% (7,88% in
2005) and Armeconombank – 15,8% (12.64% in 2005). The share of the
market leader, the Areximbank, makes up 11%, the "HSBC Bank Armenia" –
20%, the Armeconombank – 15.8%.

By the number of the given autocredits, the leading position in 2006
was taken by Armeconombank – 1621, that has kept the priority in the
yearly section (915 in 2005). The second place is taken by Areximbank
– 1054 (855 in 2005, that is the second place). The third place is
secured for "HSBC Bank Armenia" – 1015, which has made a yearly leap
upward by 6 positions (64 in 2005). The Artsakhbank is in the fourth
place – 805, which has advanced by two positions since 2005 (265
deals). The five of leaders, by the number of given credits, is closed
by INECOBANK – 650 against 597 in 2005, which has lowered by one
position.

Meanwhile, in the Agency analysts’ opinion, the active development of
the autocredits market entails synergy of the financial market
segments. Thus, according to ArmInfo data of Ranking of the leading
insurance companies of Armenia, the premiums of insurers, received for
the vehicle insurance, have shown nearly the same growth. Almost al
the banks, except for the two ones, insure the credited cars. The
total volume of insurance premiums in this segment, as of the
beginning of the year, made up 1.064,5 mln drams, however, according
to the experts’ data, the share of the gathered autocredit premiums
makes up 1,5% of the banking autocrediting volume on average, that
makes up about 250 mln drams by approximate estimations. The leaders
in the autoinsurance market are the INGO Armenia with volume of
premiums of 274.8 mln drams, RASCO – 232.1 mln drams and Sil Insurance
– 186.4 mln drams.

Nevertheless, in the AmRating analysts’ opinion, despite the growth of
the autocredits market indicators, this sphere of consumer crediting
is less developed from the viewpoint of quality of the proposed credit
products than the sphere of the consumer equipment crediting. Such
products as credits without initial fee, interest-free credits,
express-credits are absent in the market as yet, that is connected
with insufficient level of credit histories market development and
absence of scoring systems for the clients solvency estimation.
However, under the competition growth conditions, the analysts
forecast the further improvement of the market as regards
liberalization of the crediting terms, reduction of rates from the
present 18% on average, "prolongation" of terms to 5-6 years,
reduction of the credited cars’ age limit.

Globe trotting in Armenia

Taipei Times, Taiwan
April 14 2006

Globe trotting ?? Armenia

Famous for its hospitality, Armenia is a unique nation at the
crossroads of Europe and Asia. Some even speculate the Garden of Eden
was located here. Come take a closer look at Armenia.

A closer look 說?Ã`_?¡

Armenia is a land-locked country located in Eurasia’s Southern
Caucasus mountain range. The terrain is mountainous, summers are hot
and dry (reaching 36oC) and winters are snowy and as cold as -10oC.
The long autumns are marked by colorful foliage.

Armenia has been a center of civilization since antiquity, and people
have been living there and trading tools and metals since at least
6,000BC. The Armenian Empire was one of the strongest in the region
during it’s heyday around 50BC, but the country has also been invaded
and conquered by Greeks, Romans, the Ottoman Turks, Russia and
others.

Christianity is central to the country’s identity (over 93 percent
are church members). Armenia was the first nation to make
Christianity the state religion in 301, and legend holds that an
early Armenian leader, Hayk, was a great great grandson of Noah.

Ottoman Turkey ruled Armenia until the end of World War One, when the
victors drew new borders. Turkey rejected Armenian borders and fought
the Turkish-Armenian War in 1920, taking half of the territory. The
Soviet Union invaded what was left and Armenia did not regain
independence until 1991.

Since independence, Armenia has switched to a market economy and
seeks parliamentary style democracy, but elections are not yet
considered fair by international observers.

Favorite Armenian sports include soccer, chess, boxing and hockey.
The cuisine, influenced heavily by Russia and the Middle East,
features stews, breads, fish, grilled meat and pastries.

A LOOK AT CONTEXT
1. The foliage on the trees in autumn is bright orange, yellow, brown
and green though simply green in the summer.
Foliage means . . .
a. tree branches.
b. tree roots
c. plant or tree leaves.
d. tree trunks.

2. Since antiquity, Daoism has been a strong influence in China.
Antiquity means . . .
a. the modern era.
b. ancient times.
c. any time period.
d. a future era.

3. You cannot bring plants, wild animals or soil across the border
into another country.
A border is …
a. the line that divides two countries.
b. a line that cuts through a capital city.
c. something illegal to carry.
d. a kind of wild animal.

4. The government used to own all companies, but now we have a market
economy and the companies are privately owned.
A market economy is . . .
a. an economy where the government runs industry.
b. an industry which the government
takes taxes from.
c. a company with close a relationship
to the government.
d. an economy where private individuals
run industry.
ANSWERS: 1. c 2. b 3. a 4 . d

WHO KNEW 你’m`¹嗎
Armenian weddings have some unique practices. The process starts when
the man and his family visit the woman’s house to ask her father’s
permission to wed. If the father agrees, the man gives his future
bride a promise ring and her family begins planning for the
engagement party, which her family must organize and pay for. The two
families will then celebrate with a bottle of Armenian cognac. At the
engagement party, a priest prays with the couple and blesses them,
and the couple exchanges wedding rings that are worn on the right
hand. After about one year, the formal wedding takes place, where the
rings are switched to the left hand. Planning and paying for the
wedding is the groom’s responsibility, unlike traditions in most
European countries.

WHAT TIME ?»?Ý`ß – ¡?ôêy
The time in Armenia is currently three hours behind Taiwan. If it is
3:15pm in Taipei, it is 12:15pm in Yerevan.

ABOUT ARMENIA
Size: 29,800 km2; or about 80 percent of Taiwan’s size
Location: Eurasia
Border countries: Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran
Capital: Yerevan
Population: Around 3.2 million
Languages: Armenian
Government: Unitary republic
Currency: Armenian Drams; NT$1 = about 11 Armenian Drams

FLAG ? ?ø

The Armenian constitution says that the red sybolizes the Armenian
Highland, the peoples’ struggle for survival, maintaining the
Christian faith and Armenia’s independence and freedom. The blue
represents the will to live under peaceful skies. The orange
represents the talent and hard-working nature of the people.

ives/2007/04/14/2003356662

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/arch

A Pellet Bomb Discovered On The Territory Of Medical College In Step

A PELLET BOMB DISCOVERED ON THE TERRITORY OF MEDICAL COLLEGE IN STEPANAKERT

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 13 2007

Today a pellet bomb has been discovered on the territory of the
Medical College in Stepanakert.

According to the information DE FACTO got at the Rescue Service under
the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic government, the Colleges’ students and
teaching staff had been evacuated, the building had been cordoned
off. The specialists have decided to destroy the bomb on the spot.

The bomb has been on the territory of the College since the Karabagh
war, 1991-1994, when the Azeri aviation made air raids on the capital
city of NKR – Stepanakert, the Rescue Service’s employees stated.

Evening For Mentioning 92nd Anniversary Of Armenian Genocide To Be O

EVENING FOR MENTIONING 92nd ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE ORGANIZED IN CONGRESS OF STATE OF WISCONSIN

Noyan Tapan
Apr 13 2007

WASHINGTON, APRIL 13, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
National Committee of America Wisconsin Office, with a group of
members of the state, will organize a reception on April 24, 2007 to
mark the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. This event will
take place at the Congress of the state of Wisconsin.

As the Armenian National Committee of America states, besides it,
a requiem liturgy will be celebrated in four Armenian churches of
the state of Wisconsin on late April 24.

The event annually organized by the Armenian National Committee of
America Wisconsin Office gives possibility to the American Armenian
community to express gratitude to the parliament of the state and
to the Senate of the state for adopting a resolution concerning the
Armenian Genocide, by which April 24 is every year marked as "the
day of mentioning the 1915-1923 Armenian Genocide in the state of
Wisconsin." According to the same source, these events make a part of
efforts on increasing awareness in the issues relating to Armenia and
Armenians as well, particularly in the issue of the Armenian Genocide.

Resolutions recognizing the historic fact of the Armenian Genocide were
adopted in the state by the lower chamber (Assembly) of the Parliament
on March 2, 2000, and by the Senate of the state on March 7, 2002.