Author: Karakhanian Suren

PRESIDENT AND ECOLOGY MINISTER DISCUSS LAKE SEVAN AND OTHER ISSUES
Armenpress
Jun 13 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS: President Robert Kocharian and nature
protection minister Vartan Ayvazian discussed today a set of issues
regarding the growing level of Lake Sevan, effective use of mineral
resources and management of state-run reserves.
Kocharian’s press office said the minister said the level of the lake
has risen 2.8 meters flooding many areas which he said are being now
cleaned. The president ordered to regulate the procedure of setting
fees for use of natural resources and apply more efforts to detect
shadow businesses in this sector and ensure transparency in holding
tenders for use of mineral resources.
The two men also spoke about development of ecological tourism,
restoration of forests and air pollution.

REORGANIZATION IN THE GOVERNMENT: TWO MINISTRIES TO BE ABOLISHED?
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
June 13 2006
Big changes are planned in the government. State Minister of Reforms
Coordination, Kakha Bendukidze, states that by the end of 2006 the
Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development should be
closed. Bendukidze argues that the technical rehabilitation of the
energy sphere-the responsibility of the energy minister-has already
been accomplished; and that as soon as the privatization process is
complete the Ministry of Economic Development will be obsolete as
well. The newspaper Rezonansi quotes Bendukidze as saying flatly that
“Possibly by 2007 the Ministry of Economic Development will no longer
be necessary in Georgia.”
This statement led to something of a media hullabaloo, with journalists
rushing to the respective ministries to get the reactions of the soon
to be ex-ministers. However, neither Nika Gilauri (Minister of Energy)
nor Irakli Chogovadze (Minister of Economic Development) objected to
ttheir possible redundancy “I will welcome any rational solution,”
said Chogovadze.
Not everybody approves Bendukidze’s statements. Economist Soso
Tsiskarishvili says that the closure of these ministries will have
dire results for the country. Analysts point out that if the closures
do go ahead, a reshuffle of the cabinet will be necessary, and that
this is likely to lead to other staff changes as well.
According to the local press-pack the Minister of Agriculture and
Food, Mikho Svimonishvili, may also have to look for a new job. The
president is said to be discontented with his style of working,
he recently inquired why Georgian production techniques were more
expensive than Armenian, and a short while ago made him taste some
of the now infamous “Svanchkara” falsified wine-it that there may be
some things on the horizon that are even more difficult for Mr.
Svimonishvili to swallow.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN FMS TO MEET IN PARIS TOMORROW
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 12 2006
Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers are due to meet in Paris
tomorrow, Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan told journalists (APA). He
said the details of these talks for the settlement of the Nagorno
Garabagh conflict have not been specified but the Foreign Ministers
are prepared to this meeting.
“We’ll try to reach an agreement on the issues that the Azerbaijani
and Armenian Presidents failed to solve at the meeting in Bucharest.
We’ll make efforts to reach common agreement at tomorrow’s meeting.
Despite the presidents’ failure to reach a consensus in Bucharest
talks, there exist positive nuances for peaceful solution of the
Nagorno Garabagh conflict. We must try to benefit from these nuances
and prepare next meeting of the Presidents,” Oskanyan said.
The Armenian Minister also said that there is a document with some
details agreed on the negotiations table and stressed the parties
could not agree on some issues regarding this document.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizadeh in his
statement to APA confirmed the information on meeting of Azerbaijani
and Armenian foreign ministers scheduled for in Paris tomorrow. He said
this meeting is the continuation of the Prague process, the two foreign
ministers will have talks in the frames of the Prague process.

“THIRD FRONT” FOR ARMENIANS?
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
12 June 06
It was not calm on the Russian-Armenian “front” on the weekend. For the
time being this word can be taken in inverted commas, but murder of
another couple of Armenians, and we can surely state that the third
front is open. Moreover, independent from us and in an unexpected
direction for us. Another Armenian was killed in Moscow, only several
hours after another Armenian was trying to assure the public in Armenia
that the Russian government is not to blame, and there is no need to
become hostile with Russia.
Several hours later the Police found the killer, thus showing that
maybe the government is not related to these murders, if the government
can be not related to serial killings of people belonging to another
nationality in a country at all. However, since there is no evidence
to this relation, we cannot insist that what happened was organized by
the government. However, the government should prevent crime along
with punishing the guilty to prove that they are not related to
the anti-Armenian surge, that they neither organize nor connive in
murders. It does not seem to happen, and there are no signs that it
will do. Moreover, there is no confidence that the real murderer was
found, considering the dependence of the judiciary on the executive
in most post-Soviet countries, particularly in Russia.
He may be a scapegoat, who will be tried in public, whereas nobody
can be sure that the convict will not be released on the next day or
the convict will not become a hero in jail for destroying the foes
of Russia.
In the meantime, there are reasons to doubt the consistency of the
Russian government, and these reasons are widely known. The verdict
of the court leaving the killers indicted for the horrible murder of
the nine-year-old Tajik girl almost unpunished makes it pointless to
recall other examples. And it is surprising why this would not arouse
concern in Armenia, both among the society and the government.
Whereas the problem is much serious than it might seem at first
sight. The silence following every murder directly strikes the Armenian
state. Hence, the authority of the state is diminishing among its
own citizens, who can see that they are not protected abroad, that
their own government is avoiding practical steps in this direction.
The foreign minister of Armenia says Russian-Armenian relations are
administered directly, not through letters. It may be better and
also more effective. It is certain, however, that besides personal
contact it is necessary to make a statement, at least once. In order
for the citizens of Armenia and the Armenians living abroad, namely in
Russia and other post-Soviet countries, to see, to hear and to feel
that there is an Armenian state, which thinks about its compatriots
and does not keep silent about repeating murders. If there is anxiety
that the Russian-Armenian relations will become tense, we can easily
bid farewell to these relations, if the dignity of Armenia and the
Armenians is the price for sustaining them.

Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)

June 9 2006

OSCE Office to open its first presence in Armenian province

YEREVAN, 9 June 2006 – The Head of the OSCE Office Ambassador
Vladimir Pryakhin and Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian today
signed an additional protocol to the Memorandum of Understanding
between the OSCE and Armenia which creates the legal basis for
establishing presences to implement OSCE programmes in regions of
Armenia.
An on-site presence in Kapan, the capital of Syunik, Armenia’s most
remote region, focusing on developing and implementing economic and
environmental projects, will be opened by the OSCE Office in Yerevan
at the end of June.
“Strengthening socio-economic stability is one of the key factors for
sustainable development and security,” said Ambassador Pryakhin. “We
look forward to implementing new projects in Syunik province in order
to make a greater contribution to the social, economic and
environmental development of the region.”
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said: “The Government pays special
attention to the development of Armenian regions and rural areas, and
we are grateful to the OSCE for assisting in this matter. Today’s
event marks a new stage of co-operation between Armenia and OSCE.”
In 2004, with the help of the OSCE Office, a year-long study of the
socio-economic development of Syunik province was completed. The
paper revealed major social and economic problems in the region,
identified priorities and outlined potential business opportunities.

FIDE COMMITTED TO ITS STANCE: NO TOURNAMENT IS LEGAL IN NK
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
June 8 2006
FIDE (World Chess Federation) remains committed to its stance that any
international chess tournaments in Nagorno-Karabakh are illegal, Kirsan
Ilumjinov, FIDE president said in Turin at the 77th FIDE congress.
This statement came as President of Azerbaijan Chess Federation
Aynur Sofiyeva appealed to the World Chess Federation for clarifying
Armenians’ allegations that FIDE has officially recognized so-called
tournament in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The congress also considered some organizational matters. President
of the Federation Aynur Sofiyeva was elected as FIDE zonal president
while vice-president Mahir Mammadov became the treasurer of the
European Chess Federation. FIDE awarded grandmaster title to Nijat
Mamamdov, Rashad Babayev while Ibrahim Mammadov and Ilgar Bajarani
became FIDE referees.

IMF, WB DUTCH GROUP TO MEET IN YEREVAN
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 8 2006
Yerevan, June 8. /ARKA/. A representative meeting of the Dutch group
at the International monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB)
is to be held in Yerevan on June 17-18, the RA Ministry of Finance
and Economy reports.
During the annual meeting, a number of high-ranking officials,
particularly Ministers of Finance and Presidents of Central Banks of
12 group members, are to arrive in Armenia.
Among the meeting participants will be IMF Managing Director Rodrigo
Rato, WB Vice-President Danny Leiptziger, and others.
The IMF and WB Dutch group includes Armenia, Holland,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Spain, Croatia, Moldoa, Georgia, Romania,
Ukraine, Cyprus and Macedonia.

GOVERNMENT APPROVES MID-TERM EXPENDITURE PROGRAM
Armenpress
Jun 08 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 8, ARMENPRESS: The government of Armenia has approved
today a mid-term expenditure program for the next three years. Deputy
finance and economy minister Pavel Safarian said this program will
serve as the basis for drafting next year’s budget.
Safarian said the mid-term program projects 6 percent real GDP growth
rate for the next three years and a 3 percent inflation. He said
budget revenues are projected to rise to 447 billion drams in 2007,
to 507 billion drams in 2008 and to 560 billion drams in 2009.
He said the share of taxes in the overall GDP will be rising 4-5
percent in the next three years. From 15.2 percent expected this
year they are envisaged to grow to 15.6 % in 2007 and to 16.6 percent
in 2009.
Government expenditures will be growing 47 billion drams in 2008
and 47 billion drams in 2009. The extra money will go to education,
health, defense and force bodies. The mid-term program is supposed
to go to parliament’s consideration before July 1.

Israel negotiates oil purchase with Azerbaijan
By Leah Krauss
UPI Energy Correspondent
Published June 6, 2006
BAKU, Azerbaijan — Israeli Minister of National Infrastructures Benjamin
Ben-Eliezer and Rovnag Abdullayev, the president of the Azerbaijani state
oil company SOCAR, set oil purchase negotiations in motion on Tuesday during
Ben-Eliezer’s visit to the Caspian country.
“I’m here to open business with you,” Ben-Eliezer told Abdullayev.
Israel buys one-sixth of its oil from Azerbaijan, but from a consortium
rather than directly from SOCAR, according to the chairman of Israel’s Oil
Refineries Ltd., Ohad Marani.
Abdullayev and Ben-Eliezer discussed starting talks on a deal under
which Israel would buy Azerbaijani oil for its two oil refineries and for
transportation to the Far East via the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline to the Red
Sea.
Azerbaijani oil arrives at the Turkish Mediterranean Sea port of Ceyhan
via the recently inaugurated 1,058-mile Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline, the
second-longest oil and gas pipeline in the world.
Ceyhan is roughly 373 miles north of the Israeli port city of Ashkelon.
The Eliat-Ashkelon Pipeline represents an opportunity for Israel to
become a major oil and gas corridor. Israeli energy industry insiders said
other transport options such as passage through the Suez Canal or shipping
around the entire African continent are much more expensive routes than the
Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline.
The energy businessmen said India was likely a key market for
Azerbaijani oil and gas.
Oil from this Caspian Sea country is light, good for high-octane
gasoline, Mordechay Shalev, Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Co. deputy general
manager, told United Press International.
Ben-Eliezer urged Abdullayev to visit Israel and tour the pipeline.
In previous discussions of establishing an energy corridor in Israel,
the idea of extending the BTC pipeline underwater from Ceyhan to the Israeli
port cities of Haifa and Ashkelon.
But transporting the oil between the two pipelines via tankers may be a
more cost-effective scenario, Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Arthur
Lenk, told UPI.
At the meeting in SOCAR’s Baku offices, Shalev briefed Abdullayev on the
Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline’s capabilities, and Oil Refineries Ltd.’s Marani
spoke of looking forward to cooperation between the two countries.
The Israeli delegation seemed optimistic about a possible oil deal,
though Ben-Eliezer said just two days ago that the country should use less
oil.
“The Ministry of National Infrastructures is working to reduce the State
of Israel’s dependency on oil,” he said via a ministry statement announcing
that the country had spent nearly $6 billion on oil in 2005.
“It is my intention as national infrastructures minister to promote …
energy conservation, renewable energy and the use of alternative fuels,”
Ben-Eliezer continued, according to the statement.
Israel has been courting international energy companies aggressively
over the past several months in efforts to increase competition in the
concentrated market.
Talks with Russian giant Gazprom are going well, according to advisers
to Ben-Eliezer, while talks with British company BG Group broke down over
prices.
The country imports all of its oil and has only one natural gas
supplier, the jointly held Israeli and American company Yam Tethys.
Israel-Egyptian company East Mediterranean Gas is set to enter the Israeli
market in late 2007.
But because Yam Tethys has already promised away most of its reserves,
any potential new customers, such as private power stations looking to
compete with the state-run Israel Electric Corp., would only be able to buy
from EMG.
Earlier Tuesday, Ben-Eliezer met for nearly an hour with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev. Speaking in front of reporters at the beginning of
the meeting, Aliyev told Ben-Eliezer that a partnership of Israel should not
be strictly about energy; rather, Azerbaijan could also benefit from Israeli
high-tech, infrastructure and medical services.
Later, as the two met privately with their advisers, Ben-Eliezer
expressed hope that Azerbaijan would soon set up an embassy in Israel,
according to those present at the meeting.
“It was an excellent meeting,” Ben-Eliezer told UPI afterward.
On Wednesday, Ben-Eliezer plans to meet with Azerbaijan’s energy
minister.

FLAWLESS POWER ALTERATION IS IMPROBABLE IN ARMENIA
A1+
[03:16 pm] 06 June, 2006
“Certain people think that pressure must be exerted on the Armenian
authorities and they should make unilateral decisions so that
the society might have a chance to recover and change the present
authorities,” claims Albert Bazeyan, chairman of the party “National
Revival” and adds that such approach is inadmissible for them as the
Karabakh conflict is all national and the representatives of each
power will inherit what we have today.
Today Albert Bazeyan who was invited to the club “Pastark” noted that
the power change is not end in itself and added, “In 2003 there was
election fraud and ballot stuffs. The power is forcibly taken today and
the President of the country is not legitimate. If the power change
is improbable they shouldn’t constantly speak of it.” He also urges
that judging from our reality flawless power is improbable in Armenia;
after the power alteration one separate power or the alliance of a
few forces cannot take the whole responsibility in their hands as the
same people who are in power today will remain and govern the country.
Bazeyan and his adherents neither predict nor wish the power change
caused by outer pressure as outer forces will not interfere into the
home affairs of our country for nothing.
Albert Bazeyan announced that they will go to the Parliament with
the Opposition representatives based on the same ideology but so far
he doesn’t want to give their names and adds that the final decision
will be made in the party assembly.