Author: Khoyetsian Rose

ARMENPRESS

WHEAT, BREAD, TOBACCO AND PETROL MOST CONSUMED COMMODITIES

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS: Wheat, bread,
tobacco products, flour and petrol topped the list of
25 most consumed commodities by Armenians in 2007.
According to the figures of the National
Statistical Service, last year Armenians consumed
almost 296,000 tons of bread. One kilo of high quality
bread cost 327 Drams. The lowest price of bread made
of lower quality flour was almost 280 Drams.
Armenians also consumed last year a total of
676,000 tons of wheat. Less than half, 254,000 tons
were grown in Armenia. The wholesale price of kg of
wheat was 155 Drams.

GAREGIN AZARIAN APPEALS

A1+
[05:43 pm] 06 February, 2008

"Armenian mass media and some presidential candidates circulate
rumours that passport data are being compiled throughout the country,"
Chairman of the Central Electoral Commission Garegin Azarian announced
on February 6.

"The process cannot affect the expression of voters’ free will. And
yet, on behalf of the Central Electoral Commission, I call on Armenian
voters to refuse people interested in passport data, unless they
are members of electoral commissions or proxies of presidential
candidates," he said.

PRIME MINISTERS OF RUSSIA AND ARMENIA DISCUSS PROSPECTS OF COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF USE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY

SKRIN Market & Corporate News
February 6, 2008 Wednesday 4:57 PM GMT

During a meeting in Yerevan today, Prime Minister of Russia Viktor
Zubkov and Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan discussed a wide
range of problems concerning bilateral cooperation in the field of
use of nuclear energy.

The prime ministers confirmed their commitment to further enhance
the safety and efficiency of the 2nd unit of Armenian Nuclear Power
Plant on the basis of the international and Russian experience and
to consider ways to develop nuclear power capacities in Armenia.

"The Government of Armenia is going to announce a tender for the
construction of new nuclear power plant. We are going to take part
in it and we have quite good chances to win," the director general
of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko told
journalists after the meeting.

The sides also exchanged notes confirming Armenia’s joining the
International Uranium Enrichment Center, established by Russia and
Kazakhstan in May 2007.

The Ministry of Ecology of Armenia and Rosatom State Nuclear
Energy Corporation signed a memorandum on the establishment of a
Russian-Armenian joint venture for prospecting uranium and other
mineral resources in Armenia. Russia and Armenia have equal (50/50)
shares in the company’s authorized capital. The company will start
its activities as soon as the project is approved by the state
environmental inspection – in Sept 2008.

Kiriyenko said that the JV would have access to all Russia-based
archives on uranium reserves in Armenia. Russia is ready to finance
additional prospecting and industrial development of uranium in
Armenia.

Thus, Russia and Armenia are starting projects in all segments of
the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Rosatom official Web site reported.

ANC-PAC ENDORSES ARMENIAN AMERICAN WOMAN RUNNING FOR CONGRESS

armradio.am
07.02.2008 18:26

The Political Action Committee (ANC-PAC) has endorsed Jackie Speier in
her campaign to serve as the next U.S. Representative for California’s
12th Congressional District. Speier, who is of Armenian descent, has
served as a County Supervisor, State Assemblymember and State Senator
in a distinguished career that has spanned over three decades. Since
1980, California’s 12th Congressional District has been represented
by Tom Lantos (D-CA), who recently announced that he would not seek
reelection in 2008 due to a diagnosis of cancer.

"We know that Jackie will be an effective fighter in Congress for
her constituents," said ANC-PAC supporter Roxanne Makasdjian. "She’s
dedicated to human rights and democracy, and she knows the challenges
that Armenian Americans face in addressing U.S. policy in the Caucasus
and genocide denial on Capitol Hill."

"The Armenian National Committee of America have made phenomenal
strides in educating Congress on the importance of recognizing the
Armenian Genocide," said Speier. "I value my longstanding friendship
with the ANC, and look forward to promoting in Congress all the
successful measures I have pursued on behalf of Armenian Americans
in the CA State Legislature," she added.

Jackie Speier’s career as a public servant began in the 1980s when
she won a seat on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. After
serving for six years as a San Mateo County Supervisor, she made a
successful bid for the State Assembly and in 1998 was elected to the
State Senate. In 2006 she attempted to gain the California Democratic
Party’s nomination for Lieutenant Governor, but was narrowly defeated
by John Garamendi.

The San Jose Mercury News has previously reported that "no one
comes close to Speier’s remarkable record of getting substantive
legislation signed into law." In fact, her legislative success
over the years was once rated "Ruthian" by the Los Angeles Times,
a reference to baseball’s prolific homerun king Babe Ruth. According
to state legislative records, as a member of the California State
Assembly and later State Senate, Speier authored over 300 bills that
have been signed into law by Democratic and Republican Governors.

The 12th Congressional District, which is home to an active Armenian
American community, encompasses San Mateo County and a portion of San
Francisco. The district is located just to the south of California’s
8th Congressional District, which is represented by Nancy Pelosi,
the Speaker of the House.

Speier has been a longtime friend to many Armenian American
activists in the San Francisco-Bay Area. She will be honored by
the San Francisco-Bay Area Armenian National Committee chapter on
March 8th at their annual banquet. In 2005, Speier was honored in
Los Angeles by the Armenian National Committee – Western Region as
the organization’s Woman of the Year.

Among her legislative achievements on Armenian issues, Speier
co-authored a bill, that was later signed into law, allowing California
families of victims of the Armenian Genocide to bring claims arising
out of the failure of banks to pay or turn over their deposited or
looted assets.

RUSSIAN PREMIER: RUSSIA TO ACTIVATE ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA

arminfo
2008-02-06 13:40:00

ArmInfo. Russia preserves status quo of the leading foreign economic
partner of Armenia and is going to activate economic cooperation in
future, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov which officially visited
Armenia said at today’s press-conference in Yerevan.

He also added that the main attention during today’s talks with
Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan was drawn to development of
the economic cooperation. The talks were the logical continuation
of the recent meeting of Armenian and Russian premiers in Moscow,
Zubkov said and added that bilateral commodity circulation between
Russia and Armenia grew by 60% over the last two years. According
to the results of 2006 commodity circulation was more than $700
mln. "We think this is not an end and we shall soon reach $1 bln",-
Russian premier said. Moreover, Russia has become the main foreign
investor of Armenia and the volume of Russian investments in the
Armenian economy is assessed in $1 bln. "This is a serious argument
of our intentions to develop relations in the sphere of investments,
taking into account the fact that joint investment programmes are
successfully implemented and involve new branches", – he said. Zubkov
called prospective the cooperation in the sphere of nuclear energy,
diamonds production and telecommunications. He specially mentioned
cooperation in the sphere of railway transport. "I am sure that
organizing of a regular ferry crossing Kavkaz-Poti will directly
enrich our trade and economic relations", – he said and added that
the first lot of Armenian cement was successfully delivered to Russia
and is a competitive product at the Russian market.

Armenian cement, breakstone and other inert materials will have
good prospects in connection with Olympic facilities construction
in Sochi. He assured that strengthening of the Russian-Armenian
relations will first of all give a social effect for the citizens of
the two states.

He also said that as a result of today’s talks an agreement
was signed on improvement of the bilateral trade regime and on
development of cooperation in the sphere of information technologies
and communication. Moreover, the parties exchanged notes on making
of the inter-governmental agreement about Armenia’s participation in
the activity of international centre on uranium enrichment in Angarsk.

For his part, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan said that
the transport problem still remains the main problem that hinders
development of the trade and economic relations between Armenia and
Russia. He thinks that the fact of passing of the Armenian railway
to the Russian railways for concession management will much promote
this problem resolving. "We are going to deepen our trade and economic
relations more", – he said.

TADIC RE-ELECTED SERBIA PRESIDENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.02.2008 14:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Serbia’s pro-Western President Boris Tadic has
won re-election in a contest with nationalist Tomislav Nikolic,
but his narrow victory may only have set up a fresh struggle over
the country’s future course.

Analysts say it puts the survival of Serbia’s ruling coalition
in question as it braces for the secession of Kosovo, the
Albanian-dominated province, which has Western backing for a
declaration of independence in the next few weeks.

Tadic won Sunday’s presidential election by 50.5 percent to around
47.8 percent, according to a partial count by the state electoral
commission, which reported many spoiled ballots. Tadic enjoys support
of Belgrade and other major cities while his opponent is backed
by provinces.

"Serbia has shown its great democratic potential," Tadic said, in
his victory speech, praising Nikolic for "the number of votes he
has won." "This is Serbia’s victory. I think we have proven both to
Europe and everywhere else in the world what kind of democracy we
have in Serbia."

In a 2004 presidential race, Tadic beat Nikolic easily by some 9
percentage points, in what the West saw as a welcome sign that the
reactionary nationalism which fuelled war in the 1990s over the
breakup of Yugoslavia was steadily weakening, Reuters reports.

SHOTS FIRED AT PRE-ELECTION HEADQUARTERS OF SERGE SARGSIAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. At about 2 a.m. on February 1, some
unknown pesons fired two shots at the RA presidential candidate Serge
Sargsian’s pre-election headquarters at 12 Mar Street in 5th block of
Nor Nork (Yerevan), breaking windowpanes. According to a press release
of the press service of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office, two
polyethylene ties fastening bullets in a bullet-case were found at the
scene of the incident, several meters away from the entrance of the
headquarters.

The investigation unit of the Nor Nork police opened a criminal case
under Article 258 Part 4 of the RA Criminal Code. A legal ballistic
examination will be made, measures are being taken to disclose the
crime.

DARCHINYAN FETED BY FILIPINOS

Sunday Territorian
January 31, 2008 Thursday
Australia

SYDNEY: They will bay for his blood on Saturday, but Filipino
fight fans are lavishing rock star treatment on Australian boxer
Vic Darchinyan in the lead-up to his world super flyweight title
eliminator against Z Gorres.

An amazed Darchinyan (pictured) said he was getting far more
recognition in Cebu City than in his adopted home of Sydney.

Prior to losing his IBF and IBO flyweight world titles to Nonito
Donaire last July, the Armenian-born slugger was fast becoming the
scourge of Filipino fighters.

Darchinyan’s manager Elias Nasser said his fighter had been in huge
demand for autographs and photos.

"He’s like a rock star. It’s unbelievable, he gets stopped every step
he takes," Nasser said.

Darchinyan completed his sparring last Monday in a light session with
his stablemate Hussein Hussein.

CAUCASUS RESEARCH RESOURCE CENTERS PRESENT RESULTS FROM DATA INITIATIVE (DI) 2007 SURVEY

ARMENPRESS
Jan 30, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, ARMENPRESS: The Caucasus Research Resource Centers
(CRRC) presented today the results from the Data Initiative (DI) 2007
survey, which represents the 4th wave of information gathered via
300 questions addressed to adults from over 8000 households randomly
selected in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The CRRC DI survey provides a unique opportunity to follow the
socioeconomic, demographic and political developments during the last
4 years.

The dataset also allows analysts to make parallels between the three
countries of the South Caucasus and the developments between rural
and urban areas within each country. It also sheds light on migration
patterns in the region by providing comprehensive information on both
returned migrants and migrants residing abroad.

Relevant to the current Armenian political environment, the dataset
provides new insights into Armenian political attitudes. About half of
the respondents in Armenia say they are "not interested" or "hardly
interested" in national politics.

Of those who are interested in politics, 36% stated that "quite
often" or "always" national politics seems too complicated to
understand. Moreover, only 38.6% of those who are interested in
national politics claimed that national politics was going in the
right direction.

According to DI 2007 data, 42% of the respondents in Armenia trust the
President, 19% – the National Assembly and 27% – the Government. In the
meantime, only 17% of the respondents in Yerevan trust the Government
(vs. 12.3% in 2006), while more people in other cities and rural
areas trust the Government (26% and 36% correspondingly).

It is also worth noting that about 36% of the respondents in Armenia
answered that they have little control over their life, while in
Georgia (21%) and Azerbaijan (30%) think so.

The data also gives insights into converging and diverging social
values across the Caucasus. In all three countries hard work and a
feeling of responsibility are among the three most valued qualities
that both male and female children should be brought up with. The
third most wanted characteristic for male children in Georgia and
Azerbaijan is independence (61% and 66%, respectively), while in
Armenia it is tolerance and respect to other people (70%).

The third most important characteristic for female children is modesty
for the respondents in Armenia (75%) and religious faith for those
in Georgia (56%), and thrift – in Azerbaijan (49%).

In terms of labor market development, in Yerevan, 35.3% mentioned
personal networking as the most important factor for obtaining a good
job, while the respondents from other cities and rural areas ranked
education as most important.

Meanwhile, the survey revealed that 54% of Armenian respondents did
not speak any other foreign language but Russian; only 21% have
some computer skills, and only 14% are able to use Internet and
e-mail. Marked differences also appear between Yerevan and the regions.

"WE ARE READY TO COUNTER-STRIKE"

A1+
28 January, 2008

Today is the 16th anniversary of the Armenian Army.

On this occasion RA President Robert Kocharian today visited the
Yerablur Pantheon to pay homage to the memory of the soldiers of
the liberation war in Artsakh. President Kocharian was escorted
by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, Speaker of the National
Assembly of Armenia Tigran Torossian, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkissian,
Deputy Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian, members of Government,
NA Deputies and senior Officers. The President laid flowers at the
memorials to Vazgen Sargsian, Andranik Ozanian and soldiers that fell
in the Artsakh war.

Robert Kocharian refused to answer reporters’ questions.

"Every time I visit Yerablur I feel regret, pain and excitement,"
PM Serzh Sarkissian told journalists.

RA Defense Minister Michael Harutiunian congratulated everyone on Army
Day. "The Army is strong, effective and ready to defend the Armenian
people, our state and the security of borders," he said.

"Armenia is against the Karabakh conflict settlement through a
war. But if Azerbaijan wages a war, we are ready to counterstrike. I
want our neighbours to realise that we must live in peace," Michael
Harutiunian said.