Author: Nalbandian Eduard

PRIME MINISTER SAYS SPORTSMEN AND COACHES TO MAKE USE OF CREDITS

Panorama.am
18:33 02/04/2009

The Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan said during the
Government session today that the sportsmen and coaches receive as much
grants and pensions that they can make use of hypothec credits as they
are payable. The Prime Minister signified adopting such procedure as
soon as possible. "We have many young sportsmen and young families
who can make use of those hypothec credits. The procedure that we
draft with the Central Bank is one of the basic principles of the
President’s campaign too," said the Prime Minister.

PRESIDENT’S PRIZE IN FINE ARTS AND CINEMA ART

Panorama.am
13:13 01/04/2009

"Fine arts and cinema art" exhibition of the President’s Prize launched
in the Painters’ Union. The exhibition is available till 3 April. The
exhibition is organized by "Hayastan" All Armenian Fund.

Aida Khachikyan, the consultant of the Fun’s President said
that 30 best works from 84 applications are presented in the
exhibition. Different sculptures, paintings, graphics, photos and
films are presented in the exhibition.

A. Khachikyan said that those 30 works have been selected in two
rounds and that the jury is appointed to select the best three
works. According to the source the President should chose the best
work to award a diploma and 2500 USD.

GOTZ BERNAU & SAYALI DADAS TO PERFORM IN YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.04.2009 12:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Gotz Bernau & Sayali Dadas duet will give a concert
in Yerevan today in the framework of Week of German Culture in Armenia.

Violin player Gotz Bernau and pianist Sayali Dadas will perform
Bethooven, Aram Khachaturyan and Alexander Spendiaryan’s works.

On April 3 the duet will give a concert in Dilijan.

ARA AGHISHIAN-HAYASTAN ALL ARMENIAN FUND’S WESTERN REGION AFFILIATE NEW PRESIDENT

LRAGIR.AM
18:34:25 – 31/03/2009

Ara Aghishian is new president of Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s
U.S. Western Region affiliate.

Hayastan All Armenian Fund is pleased to announce the election of
its U.S. Western Region affiliate’s new president, Ara Aghishian.

On Thursday, March 26, 2009, the Corporate Board of Armenia Fund,
Inc. unanimously elected Ara Aghishian to the post of Chairman/
President. Mr. Aghishian has been Vice President of the Fund since
2001.

Present at the meeting were the Honorable Grigor Hovhannisyan, Consul
General of the Republic of Armenia, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian,
Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western Prelacy of
the Armenian Apostolic Church, Fr. Antoine Saroyan of the Armenian
Catholic Eparchy, Rev. Joseph Matossian of the Armenian Evangelical
Union of America, Mr. Al Cabraloff of the Armenian Assembly of
America, Mr. Avedik Izmirlian of the Armenian Cultural Foundation,
Dn. Vahe Charkhutian of the Armenian General Benevolent Union SCDC,
Ms. Sossie Poladian of the Armenian Relief Society of Western USA,
Dr. Hampig Sarafian of Nor Serount Cultural Association, and Mr. Ara
Aharonian of Tekeyan Cultural Association.

Mr. Aghishian has been in private legal practice since 1988 in
California. He is admitted to practice law in all the courts of the
State, all Federal District Courts in California, the 9th U.S. District
Court of Appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Aghishian heads the
Law Offices of Ara Aghishian with offices in Encino, San Diego, and
Sacramento. His client base consists of Fortune 500 companies as well
as the City of Los Angeles.

He is a member of the California State Bar, the Los Angeles County and
American Bar Associations, as well as the Armenian Bar Association. He
has served as Judge Pro Tem of the Los Angeles Superior Court for
several years. Mr. Aghishian has received several commendations and
recognitions for his volunteer services to the legal profession.

For 15 years, Mr. Aghishian served as the Secretary of the Board
of Trustees of TCA Arshag Dickranian Armenian School in Hollywood,
CA. He is a former Chairman of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of
the Armenian General Benevolent Union. He is a former member of the
AGBU Asbeds and AGBU SCDC. Mr. Aghishian is a Godfather of the Mother
Cathedral of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Mr. Aghishian is married to Julia Yeranossian and a proud father of
a daughter, Alexandra. In the spirit of philanthropy and furthering
Armenian studies, Mr. and Mrs. Aghishian have sponsored Armenian
language, culture and history programs at the University of California,
Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, and various
Armenian schools in the U.S. and Canada.

In 2008, Mr. and Mrs. Aghishian were the Honorary Presidents of
the Armenia Fund Canada (Montreal) chapter’s annual gala. Besides
sponsoring various other charitable causes, Mr. and Mrs. Aghishian have
sponsored various projects of the Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region.

"Ara Agishian, the patriot and philanthropist, has always been the
loyal partner and great supporter of the Fund. As the U.S. Western
Region affiliate’s new president, he will ex officio continue the
work he has been doing unselfishly for years. Thank you very much
to the Board for the decision they came up with and my warmest
congratulations to Mr Agishyan on his election," the Hayastan All
Armenian Fund acting executive director Ara Vardanyan pointed out.

ARMENIAN DELEGATION TO TAKE PART IN SESSION OF FINANCE, ECONOMY MINISTERS AND HEADS OF CBs OF CIS MEMBER COUNTRIES

ARMENPRESS
March 30, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS: The second session of finance, economy
ministers and heads of central of CIS member countries will take
place in Moscow March 31.

Press service of the Armenian Finance Ministry told Armenpress that
Armenian Finance Minister Tigran Davtian, Economy Minister Nerses
Yeritsian and chairman of the Central Bank Arthur Javadyan will take
part in the session.

The participants will present the current macroeconomic state of their
countries and discuss the positions of CIS governments on overcoming
world financial crisis. During the session the joint position will
be clarified which will be presented at the "G-20" Summit of heads
of member countries April 2 in London.

On the same day members of the delegation will participate in the 7th
session of EurAsEC and discuss economic and financial cooperation
issues as well as issues on formation of Anti-Crisis Foundation
of EurAsEC.

GERMAN FEDERAL FOREIGN OFFICE MINISTER OF STATE: ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE KARABAKH CONFLICT BASING ON TWO BASIC PRINCIPLES NOT EFFECTIVE ENOUGH

ArmInfo
2009-03-30 14:04:00

Germany supports the efforts to settle the Karabakh conflict and
comes out against the forced settlement of the conflict, German
Federal Foreign Office Minister of State, Gernot Erler, declared in
Yerevan Monday.

He said the years-long attempts to settle the conflict basing on
the two basic principles of the International Law, particularly,
the people’s right to self-determination and territorial integrity,
have proved not efficient enough. It is necessary to find more
practical approaches in the negotiations. ‘Mutual concessions are in
question. During my visit to the region I will make some proposals
regarding the process. Despite the effective meetings of Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents, it is necessary to prepare the two countries’
publics for mutual concessions. In addition, it is necessary to think
of peace and the future of the region, shutting out any populist and
propagandist statements’, G. Erler said.

The Hindu, India
March 28 2009

Levon Aronian retains title

NEW DELHI: Armenia’s Levon Aronian drew his final round games to pip
Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik and defend his title in the
Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament at Nice, France, on
Thursday.

Anand had the consolation of sharing the rapid title with Aronian and
Gata Kamsky. Aronian also shared the blindfold title with Kramnik and
Magnus Carlsen.

Anand blew away his winning chances during the blindfold game against
Wang Yue before emerging stronger in the rapid encounter. Kramnik
finished strongly by blanking Peter Leko 2-0.

The results: Blindfold (11th round): Wang Yue (Chn, 3.5) drew with
Viswanathan Anand (6.5); Veselin Topalov (Bul, 5.5) drew with Levon
Aronian (Arm, 7); Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 5) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor,
7); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 7) bt Peter Leko (Hun, 5.5); Alexander
Morozevich (Rus, 6.5) bt Gata Kamsky (USA, 3); Sergey Karjakin (Ukr,
4.5) bt Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 5).

Rapid (11th round): Anand (7) bt Wang Yue (4); Aronian (7) drew with
Topalov (5); Carlsen (6) bt Rajdabov (4); Leko (4.5) lost to Kramnik
(6.5); Kamsky (7) drew with Morozevich (4.5); Ivanchuk (4.5) lost to
Karjakin (6).

Final standings: 1. Aronian (14), 2-3 Kramnik, Anand (13.5 each),
4. Carlsen (13), 5. Morozevich (11), 6-7 Topalov, Karjakin (10.5
each), 8-9 Kamsky, Leko (10 each), 10. Ivanchuk (9.5), 11. Radjabov
(9) and 12. Wang Yue (7.5).

INTER RAO SUBSIDIARY TO INVEST $27.6 MLN IN ARMENIA BY 2012

Interfax
March 25 2009
Russia

The Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia (PSRC) approved
on Wednesday the 2009-2011 investment program of CJSC International
Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of OJSC Inter RAO UES, which comes to
10.2 billion dram ($27.6 million at the current exchange rate), Karen
Margaryan, the head of the corporation’s department for electricity
sales and agreement development, told Interfax.

He said that the bulk of the program’s financing would come from
foreign loans.

The corporation is already in negotiations for a loan with Slovakia’s
CSOB Bank and Ardshininvestbank of Armenia. The loan from the Armenian
bank can reach up 10% with a guarantee provided by CSOB Bank.

The bulk of the investment program, 8.376 billion dram, will be
invested in the modernization of Yerevan Hydroelectric Power Plant
(HPP).

‘GAZPROM’ BUYS SHARES OF ‘ARMRUSGAZPROM’ FROM ‘ITERA’ AT $49 MLN

ArmInfo
2009-03-27 14:49:00

"Gazprom" has bought 4,45% shares of "ArmRusgazprom" from "Itera"
at $49 mln. So, the whole trader was evaluated of $1,1 bln.

"ArmRusgazprom" reported about the transaction between "Gazprom" and
"Itera" on Monday. "Itera" has left the trader shareholders, and the
share of "Gazprom" increased from 75,55% to 80% shares. The parties
do not call the transaction amount. However, the Board of Directors
of "Gazprom" confirmed it in February at the level of $49,3 mln. It
turns out that the whole "ArmRusgazprom" has been evaluated of about
$1,1 bln, ‘Vedomosti’ newspaper says.

According to the newspaper, the total cost of "ArmRusgazprom"
assets is unknown. Annual sales of gas make up about 2 bln cub
m. In 2009, "Gazprom" schedules to supply 2,5 bln cub m of gas to
JV, the forecasted average price is $141 per 1000 cub m (the data
from the Concern’s budget adopted in December, 2008). Internal
prices of "ArmRusgazprom" for the current year are as follows:
about 96 000 drams ($262) for small consumers, about $215 – for
wholesale consumers (valid from April 1). It turns out that the
Company proceeds will not exceed $655 mln under $352 mln of expenses
for purchase of gas. According to the calculations of the analyst of
"Solida" Denis Borisov, "ArmRusgazprom" may cost $700-750 mln with 10%
profitability (upon the results of 2007). This is a transaction for
"Itera", a source close to "Itera" management says.

"Gazprom" does not think it overpaid. Evaluation of "ArmRusgazprom"
was made by the "Direct Investments Agency" (DIA), and the cost of
the Company shares in its report was higher by additional 10%, the
monopoly representative said. Further expenses of "ArmRusgazprom"
were taken into account during evaluation based on its business-plan,
Director of DIA Evaluation Department Aleksey Sergeyev said. However,
neither him nor representative of "Gazprom" give the details of this
business-plan.

"ArmRusgazprom" CJSC is a gas trader. It owns gas distribution networks
of Armenia, as well as deals with sale and transit of gas in the
country. The shareholders are "Gazprom" (80%) and the government of
Armenia (20%). The authorized capital makes up $580,8 mln. Financial
indicators (2007): proceeds – about $354 mln, net profit – about
$3,3 mln.

Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Lisa Kalustian
Chief Deputy Director
300 South Spring Street, Suite 16701
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213)897-0322
FAX (213)897-0319
[email protected]<mailto: [email protected]>

Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Benjamin Davidian, of Gold River, to the
Sacramento Superior Court, and Kenneth Melikian, of El Dorado Hills, to the El Dorado Superior Court. See below for more information.

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, March 26, 2009

Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Four to Sacramento County Superior
Court

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the appointment of
Thadd A. Blizzard, Benjamin G. Davidian, Geoffrey A. Goodman and
Louis R. Mauro to judgeships with the Sacramento County Superior
Court.

Davidian, 57, of Gold River, has been a sole practitioner since
2005. He was a partner at Sweeney, Davidian & Greene since 2004 and
Bell, McAndrews, Hiltachk & Davidian from 2000 to 2004. From 1995 to
2000, he was of counsel for Wilke, Fleury, Hoffelt, Gould & Birney
from 1981 to 1987, Davidian was an associate, then partner for Wilke,
Fleury, Hoffelt, Gould & Birney and, from 1980 to 1981, he was an
associate for Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon. Davidian earned a Juris
Doctorate degree from University of California, Hastings College of
the Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah.
He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Gerald
Bakarich. Davidian is a Republican.

Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Two to El Dorado County Superior
Court

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the appointment of
Nelson Keith Brooks and Kenneth J. Melikian to judgeships in the El
Dorado County Superior Court.

Melikian, 56, of El Dorado Hills, has served as an assistant
U.S. attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of
California since 1991. Prior to that, he worked as a deputy district
attorney for the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office from 1988 to
1991 and held the same position with the San Bernardino County
District Attorney’s Office from 1978 to 1988. Melikian earned a Juris
Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California School of
Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College. He fills the
vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on
September 23, 2008. Melikian is a Republican.

The compensation for each position is $178,789.

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