Author: Madatian Greg

ARMENIA’S GIVEAWAYS TO RUSSIA: FROM PROPERTY-FOR-DEBT TO PROPERTY-FOR-GAS
By Vladimir Socor

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
April 19 2006

Armenian critics describe the government’s new agreement with Russia,
giving up infrastructure property for moderately priced gas, as the
equivalent of giving up the family’s milch cow — or at least selling
the cow for the price of milk.

The preliminary Armenian-Russian sale-and-purchase agreement, first
announced on April 6, was not signed as scheduled on April 14 — an
indication that the bargaining continues over some details. It also
appears that Moscow and Yerevan need a decent interval to condition —
if not convince — Armenia’s population to accept the terms of the
energy agreement and, more broadly, the changing nature of Armenia’s
relationship with Russia from partnership of choice to servitude
without a choice.

According to Gazprom announcements and Armenian officials’ statements
from April 6 to date, the 25-year agreement includes the following
elements:

1) Gazprom will charge $110 per one thousand cubic meters of gas
supplied to Armenia from April 1, 2006, through January 1, 2009. The
price will be subject to negotiation from 2009 onward. Armenia had
paid $54 to $56 per one thousand cubic meters until 2005, and it
will sell assets to Russia in 2006 in order to be able buy the gas at
double the old price. However, the price of gas delivered to Armenian
consumers will rise only slightly, because the government will use
the proceeds from the asset sale to Russia in order to subsidize the
domestic gas sales.

2) The joint ArmRosGaz company is taking over the fifth power bloc of
the Hrazdan gas-fired power plant and unifying it with the four old
blocs, which are already controlled by Russia’s Unified Energy Systems
(UES), under a single management system. Hrazdan’s unfinished fifth
bloc was slated to become Armenia’s largest and most modern power
generating unit. Gazprom is to pay $249 million for Hrazdan-5 in
three annual tranches from 2006 to 2008.

Of this amount, $189 million will be nominally transferred to Armenia’s
government, which will use the funds to subsidize moderately priced
gas supplies to Armenian consumers. Significantly, those funds
are earmarked for ArmRosGaz to ensure its profitability — i.e.,
they are to revert to Gazprom, which is the dominant stakeholder in
ArmRosGaz. Curiously, the remaining $60 million is to be transferred
in cash into the Armenian Defense Ministry’s extra-budgetary account.

3) ArmRosGaz is to take over the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. It shall
acquire Armenia’s ownership title to that pipeline’s first section,
Meghri-Kajaran (40 kilometers), which is due for completion before the
end of 2006; and will become the general contractor for construction of
the pipeline’s second section, Kajaran-Yerevan (197 kilometers). Thus,
Gazprom will be in a position to dictate the terms of Armenia’s access
to Iranian supplies or prevent Armenia from diversifying its supply
sources altogether. Meanwhile, Russia uses Turkmen gas for deliveries
to Armenia, and Iran had similarly planned to supply Armenia with
gas from Turkmenistan.

4) Gazprom’s existing, 45% stake in ArmRosGaz shall increase to a
veto-proof majority, between 75% and 82%, by adding Gazprom’s stake
in the Hrazdan-5 power bloc. The Russian company is to invest $140
million in the completion of Hrazdan-5. Gazprom’s offshoot Itera
holds another 10% stake in ArmRosGaz.

Construction of the Hrazdan-5 power bloc was being completed by Iran’s
Sanir company under a 2005 investment agreement. Iran made available
to Armenia a $150 million soft loan for completing Hrazdan-5 and a $90
million investment for building an electricity transmission line from
Hrazdan to Iran. Armenia was to repay the loan by supplying electricity
from Hrazdan, using Iran-supplied gas to produce that electricity. The
project envisaged annual profits of $100 million for Armenia, which
would have retained ownership of Hrazdan-5 and covered more than 40%
of the country’s electricity requirement from this project.

Russia already owns Hrazdan’s first four power blocs and some smaller
hydropower plants, as well as Armenia’s electricity distribution grid
(all under Unified Energy Systems) and controls the gas distribution
network (through ArmRosGaz), as well as exercising financial management
of the admittedly obsolete Metsamor nuclear power plant.

The transfers of Hrazdan-5 and control over the Iran-Armenia pipeline
will deliver Armenia’s energy sector totally in Russia’s hands.

(Noyan Tapan, Mediamax, Arminfo, Interfax, April 7-17; see EDM,
January 17, 20, April 6)

Pyunik primed for title defence
Tuesday, 18 April 2006
by Khachik Chakhoyan
from Yerevan

FC Pyunik got off to a flying start as the Armenian
Premier League season began with the title-holders
defeating newcomers FC Gandzasar Kapan 3-0. Arsen
Avetisyan scored twice with Levon Pachajyan adding the
third.

Fewer clubs
Pyunik announced their intentions at the onset of a
campaign that has seen the number of participating
teams drop from eleven to eight due to financial
problems. The Football Federation of Armenia had been
keen to increase the number of competing sides, but
that proved impossible, so each club will play its
rivals four times as in the last two seasons.

Ararat winner
Elsewhere on the opening weekend, FC Ararat Yerevan
overcame FC Banants thanks to Edgar Safaryan’s
solitary free-kick goal. FC Kilikia had to come from
behind against FC Ulis Yerevan after Gor Atabekyan put
Ulis ahead, Sagris Movsisyan equalising from the
penalty spot before Arman Minasyan grabbed the winner.
Meanwhile, FC Shirak managed a 0-0 draw against
much-fancied FC MIKA.

Pyunik dominant
Pyunik have been Armenian champions for five seasons
running, and have signed three players as they attempt
to make it six. Arsen Avetisyan and Eduard Partsikyan
have returned to their ranks from Russia’s second
division while 18-year-old Boris Melkonyan has joined
from Russian side FC Sochi-04.

MIKA primed
Pyunik’s main rivals are expected to be MIKA,
runners-up in the last two years. MIKA have five new
faces and held two training camps abroad in a bid to
improve their fortunes. The teams will get an early
chance to assess each other when they meet in the
Armenian Cup semi-finals on 19 April.

Turkish trips
Banants, meanwhile, have the experienced Nikolaj
Kiselev in charge and spent much of the pre-season in
Turkey. They also recruited nine players after a
series of trials, with six coming from FC Metalurh
Donetsk in Ukraine.

New boys
Finally, the top flight’s two newcomers, Gandzasar and
Ararat Yerevan, suggested they could cope with the
élite during previous cup campaigns, but while Ararat
have landed three Brazilians to keep compatriot Renato
Moraes company, Gandzasar will try their luck with an
all-Armenian squad.

©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.

–Boundary_(ID_pTzN4DNOh0b6z1597Yu2bg)- –

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN TO PARTAKE IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 20:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ombudsman of Armenia Armen Harutyunyan will
partake in an international conference titled the Role of
Ombudsperson Institution in Strengthening Democracy, planned in
Istanbul April 26-27, reports the Press Service of the Ombudsman of
Armenia. Ombudspersons of Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
(BSECO) member states – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine,
Moldova, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and
Albania – will take part in the conference organized by the BSECO
Parliamentary Assembly. During the event matters of activities of
ombudspersons, their role in strengthening processes of development
of democracy will be discussed. Armen Harutyunyan is expected to
address the conference.

FOREIGN FORCES MAKE USE OF WEAKNESS OF ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES, VAZGEN MANUKIAN CONSIDERS

Noyan Tapan
Apr 18 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, NOYAN TAPAN. “The illegitimacy of the Armenian
authorities and, correspondingly, their weakness becomes beneficial
for the foreign forces as such authorities can be always intimidated
by saying that assisting the opposition we will remove you from
power,” Vazgen Manukian, Chairman of the National-Democratic Union,
declared in his interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent. According
to him, making use of the weakness of the Armenian authorities the
foreign forces can always demand concessions from them, at that such
concessions they could not get if the authorities were elected by
really a democratic way. As for the positions of the West and, in
particular, the U.S. in connection with the violation of democratic
freedoms in Armenia, according to Vazgen Manukian, the U.S. has two
directions in its foreign policy. The first is that the U.S. really
considers that all countries should become democratic. “This is good
both for these countries and for the U.S. which will feel safe if all
countries are like itself. But, on the other hand, the U.S. has local
problems and the authorities of the kind are very beneficial from
this point of view. I form an impression that in this case Americans
act in Armenia in the very way, we saw the same in Azerbaijan,
too”. V.Manukian emphasized that he and the party headed by him are
against any foreign assistance. “I will not be for if other countries
finance any policy in Armenia, this means to become dependent. We
need this assistance only in one case, for not solving issues through
application of force as this happened in Georgia and in the Ukraine”.

SCOWCROFT LEADS SALT LAKE SYMPHONY
By Edward Reichel

Deseret News, UT
April 16 2006

When Barbara Scowcroft steps onto the podium next Saturday to conduct
the Salt Lake Symphony, she’ll be making history. She is the first
woman to lead the orchestra in its 30-year history.

Barbara Scowcroft “I don’t want to make an issue out of it, but I think
it’s an interesting fact,” Scowcroft said. “But I’m really thrilled
to be conducting the Salt Lake Symphony. They’re a wonderful group
of players.”

The centerpiece on Saturday’s program is Franz Schubert’s magnificent
Ninth Symphony, appropriately nicknamed, considering its length, the
“Great.” “It’s taxing and takes a lot of stamina, but it’s a fabulous
work,” Scowcroft said.

She added that there is so much to be uncovered in the Ninth.

“Schubert was influenced by Beethoven, and so you really have two
different styles in here – Beethoven’s drama and Schubert’s undulating
lyricism. The music is delicately textured, yet it contains an
enormous message.”

Also on Saturday’s concert will be the U.S. premiere of Dana Paul
Perna’s “. . . songe de voix perdues . . . ” (“. . . dream of the lost
voices . . .”) for flute and strings. Salt Lake Symphony principal
flute Laurel Ann Maurer will be the soloist.

“It’s a very beautiful piece,” Maurer said. “Dana’s music is
interesting, because it’s a mixture of modern techniques and
impressionism that blend with his Americanism. I love it.”

Perna wrote the piece in 2002 for Maurer, who premiered it in
Armenia. “I was scheduled to do a chamber orchestra concert in Armenia
in December of that year. So I called on some composers I’ve worked
with in the past to see if they had anything for flute and strings.”

When Maurer contacted Perna, he said he didn’t have anything but he
wanted to mull the idea over in his mind. “And what he came up with
was this beautiful piece of music.”

Laurel Ann Maurer The immediate genesis of the piece was the first
anniversary of 9/11. “That made a deep impact on Dana,” Maurer
said. “It reminded him of all the victims of Sept. 11 who died in
New York and Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. It made him think
of the victims’ children, who now can only hear the voices of their
parents in their dreams.”

Scowcroft, who is a member of the first violin section of the Utah
Symphony, has always been interested in conducting and has been
expanding her podium engagements in recent years. Besides guesting with
the Salt Lake Symphony this season, she is also the music director
of the Utah Youth Symphony and, since 2000, resident conductor of
the American Festival for the Arts in Houston, Texas.

She has also led the festival chamber orchestra in concerts at the
Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyo.

In addition to the Schubert and Perna pieces, Saturday’s concert
will also include the “Bacchanale” from Camille Saint-Saens’ opera
“Samson et Dalila.”

APRIL 18 INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR MONUMENTS AND SITES
By Marietta Makarian

AZG Armenian Daily
18/04/2006

The International Day for Monuments and Sites

The International Day for Monuments and Sites, initiated by the
International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), with the support
of UNESCO, in 1982, is being organized in many countries of the world
on April 18. In solidarity with the world community the Ministry of
Culture and Youth Affairs of Armenia will put on an exhibition of
Teishebaini fortress at “Erebuni” History-Archeological Museum.

Among the exhibits will be the findings of Boris Piotrovsky’s
archeological expedition in 1931-1971 as well as the recent findings.

LEVON ANANYAN: THE DAY THE BUILDING OF THE UNION OF WRITERS IS DEMOLISHED, I WILL RESIGN

ArmRadio.am
17.04.2006 16:10

“The day the building of the Union of Writers is demolished, I
will resign,” declared President of the Union of Writers of Armenia
Levon Ananyan in response to the recent publications in the press,
according to which the building of the Union of Writers is going to
be destroyed and a new elite building will be constructed in its place.

Where did this news come from? As it is said, there is no smoke
without fire. In 2005, when Levon Ananyan was reelected President
of the Union of Writers, the building was also talked about. It was
concluded that the building was small.

Levon Ananyan opposes the idea of constructing a multistory
building. However, this issue is still in the stage of discussion.

Another publication that irritated Levon Ananyan says that only old
writers let for Lebanon to participate in the all-Armenian forum
of writers.

ALIYEV’S INVITATION TO THE WHITE HOUSE: A BLESSING OR A CURSE?
By Fariz Ismailzade

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
April 13 2006

Officials in Baku are rejoicing. Three years after his election,
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has received an official
invitation to visit the White House and meet with U.S. President George
W. Bush. In a press release issued by the White House on April 10,
the invitation was justified by the fact that “Azerbaijan is a key
ally in a region of great importance and a valued partner, making
important contributions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.” The meeting
with President Bush, set for April 28, will include discussion of a
wide range of issues, including democracy promotion and cooperation in
the Caucasus, energy diversification, and the shared U.S.-Azerbaijani
commitment to working together to advance freedom and security.

The invitation comes as a slap in the face to the Azerbaijani
opposition, which has long complained about election fraud in the
country and the lack of adequate pressure from the Western community
on the Aliyev administration. The Azerbaijani opposition has often
cited the continuing refusal to invite President Aliyev to Washington,
while Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili were welcomed immediately after elections in
their countries, to show the international community’s negative
assessment of the state of democracy in Azerbaijan. Now this trump
card has disappeared.

Local analysts predict that two issues will dominate the talks
between Aliyev and Bush: Iran and Azerbaijan’s long-standing
conflict with Armenia over the Karabakh enclave. “There will be a
set of complex issues on the agenda, but Iran will dominate it with
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict being included into the discussion
through the prism of the Iranian question,” independent political
analyst Ilgar Mammadov told Jamestown. “Everything tells us that the
negotiations will focus around the Iranian and Karabakh problems,”
according to an editorial in the opposition Azadliq newspaper on
April 9. Consequently, the long-anticipated invitation from Washington
might not be the blessing that was expected by official Baku.

Political scientist Fuad Gahramanli believes “Aliyev is not interested
in participating in possible military operations against Iran and
actively tries to stay away from this process.” For that reason,
the invitation to the United States at this particular moment might
not please Aliyev that much, concludes Gahramanli (Azadliq, April
7). Mammadov also believes that Azerbaijan will try to play a careful
game, but “It is not for sure yet if Azerbaijan will stay completely
outside of the process.”

Still, some other experts forecast that the Karabakh conflict will
top the discussions, as Washington is re-energizing peace talks
between Armenia and Azerbaijan and trying to save the failed talks
in Rambouillet, outside Paris, on February 11. The intensive trips
by the OSCE’s Minsk group co-chairs into the region in the last few
weeks have raised speculations about the possibility of reaching an
agreement on this conflict in 2006. U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan
Reno L. Harnish III, has told the local Azerbaijani media that there
are good prospects for settling the conflict in 2006. Furthermore,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said after his trip to
the Washington last week “some new, interesting proposals regarding
the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been offered
and the Azerbaijani government will discuss them” (Turan, April 10,
also see EDM, April 12).

“The United States is interested in a quick resolution of the conflict
this year,” Mammadov told Jamestown, “but whether Russia will help in
this process is still not clear.” ANS-TV radio quoted Yuri Merzlyakov,
the Russian co-chair of the Minsk group, as saying that there is no
competition between the co-chairs and that President Aliyev met with
Russian President Vladimir Putin long before he is scheduled to meet
with President Bush (ANS-TV, April 13).

Much is expected from Aliyev’s upcoming trip to Washington, yet most
local analysts agree that the negotiations will be tough for the
Azerbaijani president. Particularly, any possible pressures on Aliyev
to agree to the terms of the referendum that is being proposed for the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict might produce counter-productive
results domestically. The Azerbaijani opposition is carefully watching
what will happen in Washington and they will try to dampen President
Aliyev’s excitement about the long-anticipated meeting with President
Bush by focusing on the failures of Azerbaijani diplomacy regarding
the Karabakh conflict. As for President Bush, he is no longer feeling
the necessity to postpone this invitation, as his re-election in 2004
has removed the need to take domestic considerations into account
regarding such an action.

Now the emphasis is on security and foreign policy, areas in which
Azerbaijan could be a key ally.

ROMANIAN FM: “I HOPE NK CONFLICT WILL BE RESOLVED IN 2006”

Today, Azerbaijan
April 13 2006

“I hope following few meetings between ministers of exterior of
Azerbaijan and Armenia within the framework of Prague process and
negotiations held in Warsaw and Kazan in 2005, as well as in Rambouait,
Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be resolved,” Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu,
Romanian FM and Chairman of Ministers Committee of EC stated on April
12 at Parliamentary Assembly of EC.

The letter was the response to questions raised by members of Azeri
parliament Ganira Pashayeva and Rafael Huseynov, Trend reports.

The letter says the following: “Heads of states shared their opinions
regarding unresolved conflicts at the third meeting in Warsaw.

Ministers Committee of EC has come to decision to pay special attention
to Nagorno Karabakh conflict. This position remains unchanged since
Azerbaijan and Armenia have joined EC.”

“Representatives of public pf the both countries, including members
of parliament, have their responsibilities in this respect. Use of
language of threats is not a path to a positive solution,” Romanian
Minister writes.

He opines that neither EC nor Ministers Committee is authorized to
interfere the negotiations on the conflict resolution, as this is
responsibility of OSCE’s Minsk Group. However, EC may provide some
assistance in development of cooperation between the two countries,
in particular, resolution 1690 approved by Ministers Committee in
September 2005, which states a number of such initiatives.

URL:

Azeri Officer Given Life Sentence For Brutal Killing Of Armenian

AFP, Associated Press
April 13, 2006

An Azerbaijani military officer who hacked to death an Armenian lieutenant
while attending a NATO-sponsored training course in Budapest was convicted
of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday.

Judge Andras Vaskuti of the Budapest district court ruled that Ramil
Safarov, now 29 and an Azerbaijani army lieutenant, killed Armenian
Lieutenant Gurgen Markarian, 26, in “premeditated, malicious and an
unusually cruel” way by nearly decapitating him with axe in February 2004
while the victim slept in a dormitory used by participants in a NATO
Partnership for Peace English language course.

Safarov was also found guilty of planning the murder of another Armenian,
which he did not carry out. He will be eligible for parole in 30 years,
according to the ruling.

“Compassion and remorse were completely missing from (Safarov’s) testimony,”
Judge Vaskuti said upon announcing the verdict. “During the whole case we
waited for him to be at least a bit sorry for the Armenian soldier he killed
brutally and for (Markarian’s) family.”

Safarov’s lawyer, Gyorgy Magyar, said they would immediately appeal the
verdict, adding that it was yet unclear whether his client would serve his
sentence in Hungary or be extradited to Azerbaijan.

A lawyer representing Markarian’s family said she was satisfied with the
court’s decision. “We’re happy that the court honestly evaluated all the
materials of this case and the brutal intentions … of the murderer,” said
Nazeli Vartanian. “This is a good decision for the Hungarian court and for
(Armenian) society.”

Making his final statement to the court earlier Thursday, Safarov said the
conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia was at the root of his act, and that
the Armenian officer had repeatedly provoked and ridiculed him. He said he
was unable to suppress his feelings and his wartime memories due to
Markarian’s behavior.

“My conscience was clouded as a result of the insults and humiliating and
provoking behavior, and I lost all control,” Safarov told the court. “It
would not be correct to consider it as merely a premeditated act caused by
the awakening of revenge and hate upon seeing the Armenians.” Safarov denied
trying to kill a second Armenian officer.

Armenian-backed forces drove Azerbaijan’s army out of the ethnic Armenian
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s. A 1994 cease-fire ended the
six-year war that killed 30,000 people and left about 1 million homeless and
the enclave is now under the control of ethnic Armenians.

(AP-Photolur photo: Safarov Making his final statement to the court.)