Author: Takmazian

SCR SWITCHES OVER TO THROUGH RATES WITH GEORGIAN RAILWAY

ArmInfo
2009-04-01 11:03:00

ArmInfo. As a result of a joint work of "South Caucasus Railway" CJSC
with the Georgian Railway, transportation of the loaded 20ft containers
in the direction of Karmir Blur-Poti-Karmir Blur started April 1,
2009, will be calculated at a through rate of 0.48 Sw. francs (~ US
$300) per 1 cont.-km both through the territory of Armenia and Georgia.

This decision aimed at attraction of cargo traffic in the export-import
communication, including from the railway-alternative kinds of
transport.

"We hope that reduction of tariffs will allow to increase the volumes
of container traffic by railway and will create a stable platform for
further development of through technologies of work with contiguous
roads", Chief of commercial shipment unit of "SCR" CJSC Ilya Kelperis
said. Tariff reduction will also allow to assure transparency of the
railway constituent in the cost of carriage when using several kinds
of transport", he added.

SCR CJSC is the 100 percent subsidiary of Russian Railways CJSC. In
February 2008 SCR obtained a concession of the state CJSC Armenian
Railway. The agreement of concession of the Armenian Railroad CJSC
for 30 years with a 20-year renewable period was signed in Yerevan
in February 2008.

RPA DEPUTY ASSURES THAT RPA NEVER INSTRUCTED ITS ACTIVISTS TO COLLECT PASSPORTS

Noyan Tapan
March 31, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. RPA in any election has never
instructed its activists and supporters to collect passports
or to commit other falsifications and will not give this time,
either. Hermine Naghdalian, a member of the RA National Assembly RPA
faction, stated at the March 31 press conference. According to her
affirmation, if RPA members do such a thing on their own initiative,
they should be punished by the party.

According to the RPA deputy, in Yerevan Council of Elders elections all
political forces should fight falsifications in a united way. According
to her, RPA is too interested in that issue. H. Naghdalian stated
that RPA is not going to politicize the elections or to use its levers
for political purposes in the educational, health and other spheres.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION SAYS AMENDMENTS TO LEGALIZE USE OF ARMS AGAINST CIVILIANS

Aravot
March 19 2009
Armenia

The Heritage parliamentary opposition faction in Armenia is planning
to vote against amendments to three laws related to the police, which,
the faction leader believes, would legalize the use of arms against
civilians, Aravot daily has reported. The faction leader added that the
amendments will legalize skinheads, too, the paper said. The following
is the text of Margarit Yesayan’s report headlined "Skinheads are being
moved from ‘de facto’ to ‘de jure’", published by the pro-opposition
Aravot daily on 19 March 2009; subheadings inserted editorially:

Yesterday [18 March] parliament discussed a portfolio of draft laws
on making changes and amendments to the laws on "On police troops",
"On the police" and "On police service". According to the government’s
decision, these changes are pressing.

Draft law bans police intervention against "peaceful, unarmed" rallies

When presenting the draft law, a deputy chief of Armenia’s Police,
Hovhannes Hunanyan, took questions from MPs. [Independent MP] Viktor
Dallakyan asked whether police troops could use physical force and
violence against peaceful protesters. The deputy chief of the Police
replied: "Point 3 in Article 14 of this law envisages that intervention
by police is prohibited for the purpose of stopping peaceful, unarmed
meetings, rallies, marches and demonstrations that are held with a
violation of legal order." "Why did they [police] intervene on 1 March
[during post-election disturbances in 2008]?" one of the journalists
asked, but his question remained unanswered.

Dallakyan said that the proposed changes forbid use of firearms in
"the event of a considerable gathering of people": "For one person
a considerable gathering can be 100,000 people, for another – 10
people. My approach is the following: we need to remove the word
‘considerable’, and because more than one person is already a
‘gathering’ and one cannot open fire in their presence."

The chairman of the temporary [parliamentary] commission to look into
the 1 March events, Samvel Nikoyan, said that the draft laws discussed
were directly connected with the 1 March events. He repeated the
statement by the deputy chief of the Police that the dismissal of
a few top police officials was connected with the 1 March events:
"Police actions were often an attempt to react to developments in
some way rather than precise actions aimed at predicting the events
and resisting them." Mr Nikoyan requested that the draft law clearly
prohibit use of expired weapons – implying the story of Cheremukha-7
gas grenades [which, according to official reports, killed three
out of the 10 victims in the 1-2 March 2008 clashes between security
forces and protesters]. He also suggested defining clearly in what
kind of a case a special weapon can be used and in what kind it cannot.

Opposition faction says draft law to legalize use of arms against
civilians

The [opposition] Heritage faction announced that it would vote
against the portfolio. The leader of the faction, Armen Martirosyan,
who described the draft law as important, said that after having
familiarized himself with it, he came to the conclusion that general
elections should be held in our country periodically and they should
be rigged periodically, afterwards, the people will periodically
voice their discontent, then mass disturbances should take place,
and internal troops should immediately intervene. Martirosyan said:
"According to the logic of this law, internal troops have been
replenished by youth of conscript age, and from now on they will be
replaced with contract servicemen. That is, skinheads, who defended
the authorities on funding from oligarchic structures, will become
legal now, will receive salary from the state and will protect the
authorities from mass disturbances within this framework." The MP
believes that this is the whole logic of the draft laws. The MP made
this statement because the draft law envisages that service in police
troops will be carried out exclusively on contract basis starting from
2012. Martirosyan also said that the draft law tries to legalize the
use of arms and military equipment against civilian population. He
said: "This should happen exclusively under conditions of martial
law, and even then [only] in the battlefield. And if there is such a
wave of popular disturbances, then there is demand for it, and this
requires a political solution but not use of military equipment."

ARMENIAN RAILWAYS DISCUSSED IN MOSCOW

Panorama.am
18:00 31/03/2009

"Russian Railways" have been authorized the consensus management
of Armenian railways since 2008. Various approaches to develop
the Armenian railroads have been discussed during Armenian-Russian
inter-parliamentary session in Moscow on 25-28 March.

The Vice President of Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary committee
Volodia Badalyan said in "Novosti" press center that the issue is
not an easy one as they need much support to manage it. "We have
recommended the parliamentarians to deal with the issue. I have
recommended to hold the autumn session focused on railroads and their
development," he said.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Way to Smyrna by Antonia Arslan presented in Rome
28.03.2009 11:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Way to Smyrna book by Antonia Arslan was presented
in Levonian lyceum in Rome on March 26.

The new by the author of Skyark Farm is again dedicated to the
Armenian Genocide.

Antonia Arslan (born 1938) is an Italian writer and academic of
Armenian origins.

After graduating in archaeology she became a teacher of modern and
contemporary Italian literature at the University of Padua and
published, inter alia, on Italian popular women’s fiction and Italian
women writers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Her later writings have focused on her Armenian heritage. She
translated two volumes of Daniel Varujan’s poetry into Italian and
edited works on the Armenian Genocide and on the experiences of
Armenian refugees in Italy.

In 2004 her first novel La masseria delle allodole (Skylark Farm) was
published.

MEPS DON’T WANT TO SEE LUKASHENKO AT EASTERN PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.03.2009 14:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ European Parliament members have objected to plans
to invite the president of Belarus to a summit of EU and ex-Soviet
states, citing his failure to end human rights violations, a spokesman
said on Friday.

The EU has been seeking to mend ties with Belarus, and earlier
this month prolonged the suspension of a travel ban that had been
imposed on President Alexander Lukashenko. At the last EU summit,
on March 19-20 in Brussels, Belarus was included in the EU’s Eastern
Partnership project with ex-Soviet republics.

However, the European Parliament spokesman said that during a plenary
session in Strasbourg, the majority of members spoke out against
inviting Lukashenko to the May 7 Eastern Partnership summit in Prague.

The Eastern Partnership project, which aims to improve human rights
and rule of law in former Soviet states, and to strengthen their
ties with the EU, also includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova
and Ukraine.

The ban on Alexander Lukashenko entering EU countries was
imposed in 2006 in protest against election fraud and human rights
violations. However, the 27-nation bloc suspended the ban last October,
after several political prisoners were freed in Belarus.

Opposition protests held in the Belarusian capital on Wednesday
attracted attention for the unusual restraint shown by the city’s
riot police. Previous protests in Minsk have resulted in mass arrests
and beatings.

However, one rights group said several activists had been arrested
before the start of the rally, which went ahead in central Minsk
despite official instructions to gather in a park outside the center,
RIA Novosti reports.

ARMENIAN PARTY LEADER DENIES ALLEGED MAYORAL ELECTION PLANS

Aravot
March 20 2009
Armenia

The leader the opposition People’s Party of Armenia, Stepan Demirchyan,
has denied reports that he is going to become Yerevan mayor if former
President Levon Ter-Petrosyan cedes the mayor’s office to him after the
forthcoming election, Aravot pro-opposition daily reported on 20 March.

The former Armenian president and currently opposition leader, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, is reportedly planning to cede the mayor’s office
to Demirchyan if Ter-Petrosyan is elected mayor in the forthcoming
31 May election. Ter-Petrosyan is the top candidate on the list of
the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC), and Demirchyan is
the second.

In an interview with Aravot daily, Demirchyan said that having
Ter-Petrosyan on the top of the ANC’s list of candidates will
"mobilize the electorate" to the best extent. Demirchyan disapproved
of President Serzh Sargsyan appointment of Gagik Beglaryan, former
head of Yerevan’s Kentron district, to the post of Yerevan mayor
ahead of the 31 May mayoral election. He said that the opposition
and the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, which has Beglaryan on
top of its list of candidates, have "unequal" conditions of struggle,
Aravot said. The ANC has all possibilities to win the mayoral election
if a "normal" electoral process is ensured, adding that there was "no
ground to predict that the authorities will ensure a normal process",
Demirchyan said.

HENCEFORTH THE "HERITAGE" WILL PARTICIPATE IN ALL ELECTIONS
Nvard Davtyan

"Radiolur"
25.03.2009 15:03

Member of the Board of the "Heritage" Party Vardan Khacatryan today
apologized to those electors who were going to vote for the Heritage
in the forthcoming elections to the City Council of Yerevan. On behalf
of the Party he once again urged them to actively participate in the
elections and cast their votes for the opposition.

Vardan Khachatryan said that henceforth the "Heritage" will participate
in all elections without exception, while this time they will act as
public overseers. The Party now has enough licensed members who can
work in electoral commissions all over Yerevan.

Press Secretary of the Party Hovsep Khurshudyan assessed the chances
of the opposition in these elections as high.

"We are aware of the spirit of Yerevan, and we know how actively its
citizens can struggle for their rights. At last, the support of the
"Heritage" will also play a considerable role in the victory of the
opposition," he said.

Vardan Khachatryan added: "In essence, the victory is conditioned by
logical and high-quality actions."

BENEFITS RUBEN HAYRAPETYAN FIRST

A1+
06:31 pm | March 24, 2009

Economy

NA Deputy, businessman Ruben Hayrapetyan purchased "Bjni", but not
the right to export water. So, the decision of the Administrative
Court to declare the auction/sale of the assets and rights to assets
of the "Bjni" factory was first of all to the benefit of the buyer,"
told "A1+" advocate of the "Bjni" company Ara Zohrabyan who explained
his reasoning.

"The Service for Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial Acts had sold not
only the assets, but also the rights to those assets. However, due
to lack of knowledge of the law on mining extraction, the service had
not appealed to the authorized body and had not received preliminary
permission. Thus, by purchasing the assets of "Bjni" the buyer did
not have the right to export the water. The right to export still
belonged to the "Bjni" company. The law clearly states that the
contract, that is, the deal on the mining right, means nothing if
the buyer is not going to have the opportunity to extract the mines."

After the "Bjni" auction, the Sukiasyan family appealed to
the authorized body and it turned out that the buyer-Ruben
Hayrapetyan-doesn’t have the right to export water because he had
to get permission before purchasing "Bjni" at the auction. Zohrabyan
believes that Hayrapetyan was going to have problems if the Service
for Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial Acts did not know about the law.

"If the verdict is not appealed, the SCEJA must file for
bankruptcy. This means that the court will take the assets of the
company, hand it over to the owner and start the process of filing
for bankruptcy," told "A1+" Ara Zohrabyan.

Justice Minister Gevorg Danielyan also touched upon the fate of the
"Bjni" company after the auction was declared invalid. According to
Danielyan, the invalid auction doesn’t mean that everything goes back
to the way that it was. Advocate Zohrabyan believes that regardless
of officials’ statements, "Bjni" has only one road to take after the
court’s verdict and that road leads to bankruptcy.

"Bjni" was sold for a second time on February 5 for a reserve price
of 4 billion 441 million 358 thousand drams.

TAX RECEIPTS OF STATE BUDGET REDUCE 18.7% IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY

ARKA
March 24, 2009

YEREVAN, March 24. /ARKA/. Armenian State Revenue Committee’s tax
agency says tax receipts of the stat budget shrank 18.7% in January
and February 2009, compared with the same months of the previous year,
to AMD 49207.8 million.

Tax inflow for February totaled AMD 27258 million and for January
AMD 21949.8 million.

VAT receipts amounted to AMD 10850 million in January and February
2009.

This result is 32.9% worse than that that of the same months a year
earlier.

Profit tax inflow amounted to AMD 8841.1 million, 21.4% less than a
year earlier.

Excise tax receipts reduced 67.9% to AMD 657 million. Other tax
receipts reduced 17.1% to AMD 8488 million.

Instead, income tax receipts grew 15.8% to AMD 7590.1 million.

Arrears grew 2.1% in February reaching AMD 90622.5 million. Aharon
Chilingaryan, deputy chairman of the State Revenue Committee, said
that the reduction was due to the global financial crisis.

"It is clear that our economy is impacted by outside factors, and
import reduction resulted in reduction in tax collection", he said.

But it absolutely doesn’t mean that tax agencies work defectively,
Chilingaryan said adding that tax agencies do their job properly. ($1 =
AMD 370.61).