Author: Talalian Arpi

LEVON ARONIAN TO COMPETE WITH LEADER IN NEXT TOUR OF “AMBER”

Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2006

MONTE CARLO, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. After a one-day rest the
participants of the “Amber” chess tournament being held in Monte
Carlo resumed the competition. In the 9th tour representative
of Armenia Levon Aronian was defeated by Boris Gelfand (Israel)
in the first game by the rules of “blind” chess and won the next
game by the rules of quick chess. So, gaining 8 out of 18 possible
points, Aronian shares 9-10th places among 12 chess-players. In the
penultimate, 10th tour of the tournament Aronian will compete with
Indian Vishvantan Anand. Anand and Russian Alexander Morozevich are
at the top of the tournament table: they share 1-2nd places with 12
points each considerably leaving behind the other chess-players.

AZERI TV REPORTS TRUCE VIOLATION AFTER OSCE MONITORING

ANS TV, Baku
29 Mar 06

Regular OSCE monitoring was conducted on the contact line between
the Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces in the village of Qapanli
in Azerbaijan’s Tartar District today, private TV station ANS reported.

An ANS correspondent in Qapanli said that “about five minutes after
the monitoring ended, shooting took place in the area and we heard
up to 30 shots”.

The correspondent noted that positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces
in Tartar District’s front-line villages had come under intensive
fire from Armenian armed forces in the past 24 hours.

TRADE AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND GREECE DO NOT REFLECT YET POTENTIAL FOR BILATERAL COOPERATION

Noyan Tapan
Mar 29 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 29, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian received on March 29 the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister
Evripidis Stylianidis, who is on a visit to Armenia with the aim of
participating, as the Greek side’s co-chairman, in the fourth sitting
of the Armenian-Greek intergovernmental commission on economic,
industrial, scientific and technical cooperation.

Expressing appreciation for the current level of Armenian-Greek
political cooperation, A. Margarian noted that the contacts and
mutual visits at various levels are conducive to it. He attached
importance to the activization of interparliamentary links and
the promotion of cooperation in international structures and
organizations, particularly, within the framework of the EU European
Neighborhood Policy, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization,
the Council of Europe and the NATO. In his words, all this will create
favorable conditions for the further development of bilateral economic
relations. Expressing the opinion of the Greek side, E. Stylianidis
noted that Greece is ready to provide the possible assistance to
Armenia with the implementation of Eurointegration, NATO Individual
Partnership Action Plan and many other programs, which, according to
him, will proceed from the bilateral Armenian-Greek interests, as well
as from the interests aimed at the regional stability and development.

Speaking about the current state and development rates of the
Armenian-Greek trade and economic relations, the interlocutors noted
that they do not reflect yet the existing potential for cooperation
between the two countries.

Pointing out the role of the joint intergovernmental commission
as important, the RA Prime Minister expressed confidence that the
commission’s activities will be successful. The sides underlined
the practical steps for cooperation in various spheres of economy,
particularly in agriculture, industry, science and technology, energy
sector, tourism, etc. Expressing satisfaction over the process of the
fourth sitting of the Armenian-Greek intergovernmental commission,
E. Stylianidis said that among the issues to be discussed by the
commission are the current state and development prospects of
the bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the mechanisms for
performance of the agreements reached, prospects of cooperation within
the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy, issues related to
cooperation in trade and other spheres of economy.

He expressed a hope that making decisions aimed at the solution of
the both current problems and those remaining from the past will allow
to present Armenia to Greek partners as a reliable country with good
opportunities to make sound investments. A. Margarian in his turn
underlined that the RA government is interested in creating equal
conditions for all businessmen in the country, including foreign ones,
which, in his opinion, may contribute to further development of links
and relations with various companies, as well as with the states
they represent. According to a press release of the RA Government
Information and PR Department, at the conclusion of the meeting the
RA Prime Minister wished the commission successful activities for
the benefit of the two countries and their peoples.

Russia’s big companies to invest USD 100 million in business school

Itar-Tass News Agency
29.03.2006

MOSCOW, March 29 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s business is ready to invest
100 million U.S. dollars in the creation of a business school in
Moscow, Troika Dialog head Ruben Vardanyan said after a meeting with
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

“This is one of the projects that was presented during the meeting
with the president,” Vardanyan said.

He said “14 companies and private persons” are ready to invest in
the project.

Vardanyan stressed, “This is good start-up capital for building a
school that can compete not only in the country but also in the world.”

Putin promised support to business school projects and advised
businessmen to direct their suggestions to his administration and
the government.

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INTERNATIONAL BANKING CONFERENCE ON TRADE FINANCING TO START ON MARCH 28 IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Mar 27 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Representatives of about 80 Armenian
and foreign organizations will participate in the 3-day international
banking conference on trade financing to open in Yerevan on March
28. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and
Armeconombank are the event’s organizers. NT correspondent was informed
at Armeconombank that the following reports will be made during the
conference: “The Role and Problems of the Armenian Banks in Connection
with Trade Promotion”, “The Peculiarities of Trade Financing in Armenia
(Currency Regulation and Control, Customs and Tax Legislation)”, “The
RA Payment Balance, the Structure and Problems of Import and Export”,
“The Exporters and Cooperation of Banks with Respect to Import and
Export Activities”, “The Financial Audit as An Instrument to Strengthen
the Confidence of the Banking System”. A seminar on issues of trade
promotion and financing will be held for bank representatives and
businessmen within the framework of the conference.

AZG Armenian Daily #054, 25/03/2006

Armenia-Region

HOPES TO BREAK ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC BLOCKADE

Consortium on Abkhazian Railroad Rehabilitation Set Up

“Setting apart political and economic issues” was the motto that
united Russia, Georgia, Abkhazia and Armenia to begin the works of
rehabilitation of Abkhazian railroad. An ad hoc four-sided consortium
was set to carry out all works, Vladimir Badalian, representative of
Armenia in the consortium, told daily Azg.

A document signed at the session of the Russian-Georgian
intergovernmental commission in December 2005 set in motion the
creation of the consortium. Mr. Badalian says that thanks to the
efforts of Armenian-Russian and Armenian-Georgian companies they
managed to set apart economic and political issues. As a stumbling
block in this regional initiative emerged first of all the
Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Tbilisi sought to get Georgian refugees
back to the Abkhazian region of Gali against its consent to railroad’s
reopening. The return of refugees paved a way for negations. The next
vital issue had to do with the customs station: should it be on
Georgian-Abkhazian or Russian-Abkhazian border?

Representatives of Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Abkhazia had their
first meeting within the consortium format on March 15 in Moscow and
agreed to meet again in Tbilisi in late March. After the mid-April
meeting in Yerevan the consortium will be legalized after which it
will engage in its activities. The consortium is also responsible for
fund raising. Most of the finances will be directed to demine
surrounding territories of the railroad, repair of bridges and
rails. Vladimir Badalian says that a railroad link stretching 70-80 km
is completely devoid of rails. The overall price of the project is
$150-200 million. The Russian side will cover 50 percent of the sum,
Georgia $30, Armenia and Abkhazia 10 percent. Mr. Badalian assures
that the railroad will possibly function in 1 or 2 years.

The consortium gives hope that the Abkhazian railroad will finally
function spurring development of our economy. Besides it will break
the economic blockade of Armenia by 60-70 percent opening a window not
only to Russia but also to Europe. Experts claim that reopening of the
railroad will bring new approaches in Armenian-Turkish relations – the
closed Turkish border will hence be meaningless.

By M. H

ACCORDING TO GALUST SAHAKIAN, “PARLIAMENTARY HOUR” PROGRAM TURNED INTO
“MONOLOGUE OF ONE PERSON”

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The proposal of Alexan Haroutiunian,
Chairman of the Council of Public TV and Radio Company, on liquidation
of the “Parliamentary Week” program covering the activity of RA
National Assembly is, in fact, aimed at liquidation of the
three-minute speeches of the Ardarutiun (Justice) and National Unity
factions. Artashes Geghamian, head of RA NA National Unity faction,
expressed such an opinion at the March 24 press briefing. As another
reason he pointed to the “jealousy” of the coalition partners to the
Orinats Yerkir party. Hrayr Karapetian, Secretary of ARF faction,
considers a serious omission the circumstance that it’s mainly the
meetings and speeches of NA Speaker that are covered during the
“Parliamentary Hour” program. Agreeing to the inevitability of
covering the opinions of the parliamentary Speaker and his party,
Karapetian at the same time considers that the principle of equality
should be preserved and the opinions of another parties on the same
issues should be also presented. Galust Sahakian, head of the RPA
faction, mentioned that recently the “Parliamentary Hour” program has
turned into a “monologue of one person”. Sahakian considers Alexan
Haroutiunian’s proposal acceptable but he thinks that the decision
about it should be made by the parliament of next convocation.

Azerbaijan hands over Armenian POW

Arminfo
24 Mar 06

Yerevan, 24 March: An Armenian serviceman who has been in Azerbaijani
captivity [since 3 March] was handed over back to Armenia with the
meditation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
today.

The handover took place on the road between the Armenian town of
Idzhevan and the Azerbaijani town of Qazax, the ICRC’s Yerevan office
told Arminfo news agency.

At the request of the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments, the ICRC
carried out its neutral mediator mission and facilitated the handover
of the POW.

ICRC representatives had met the POW before his release and made sure
that he returned home voluntarily.

[Passage omitted: background information]

UNPO, Netherlands
March 23 2006

Abkhazia: EU Can Play Mediator Role in Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Yesterday International Crisis Group’s (ICG) report on `The EU’s role
in conflict resolution in the South Caucasus’ prepared on account of
the EU grant was represented in Brussels. Crisis Group’s Caucasus
Project Director, Sabine Freizer, the EU special representative on
South Caucasus, Peter Semneby and International Alert Organization
representative addressed the meeting.
ISG representative in Baku, Vugar Gojayev told APA that about 35-page
report investigated participation of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
in the European Neighbourhood Policy and EU’s activity in these
states and included about 30 proposals. Recommendations are targeted
to both EU and South Caucasus countries. The EU’s efforts to address
tensions over Nagorno-Garabagh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia and points
out how the EU can do more for Nagorno-Garabagh, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia conflicts.

The report reads that delay is observed in Azerbaijan in connection
with working out of the action plan.

`NGOs have actively taken part in development of the action plan,
even the NGOs have worked out an alternative plan, 9 NGOs have been
involved in this process in Armenia. NGOs’ not joining this process
in Azerbaijan causes concern’. Touching on Garabagh conflict, the ICG
thinks that firstly, Armenian Armed Forces should be withdrawn from
the occupied lands, IDPs should return to their home. The final
status of Nagorno-Garabagh should be determined through a referendum.
The report reads that the EU did little for settlement of the Nagorno
Garabagh conflict and its activity was weak in this process, only
ambassador Heiki Talvitie paid some visits to the region. ICG thinks
that the OSCE have not produced comprehensive peace agreements and
the EU may eliminate this gap. ICG thinks that Peter Semneby can
closely take part in talk process within the OSCE MG and the EU can
play an honest mediator role in the negotiations. One of the
recommendations is that the EU should send fact finding mission to
the occupied territories. ICG thinks that the EU should carry out the
initial assessment, work out strategy of rehabilitation works and
determine the contingency on deployment of the peacekeepers in the
region. The ICG analysed the EU assistance to the South Caucasus and
concluded that Azerbaijan is the greatest trade partner of the EU in
South Caucasus.

AZG Armenian Daily #052, 23/03/2006

Conference

GLOBAL SECURITY AND COUNTER-TERRORISM DISCUSSED IN BRUSSELS

Armen Sarkissian speaks at Worldwide Security Conference

BRUSSELS — More than 400 civic leaders, policymakers, experts and
delegates from around the world gathered in Brussels during the last
week of February for the annual Worldwide Security Conference,
organized by the East West Institute in partnership with the Russian
Foreign Ministry and the World Customs Organization.

Speakers and panels focused on a host of critical issues facing the
world today – from global responses to international terrorism, to
security infrastructures, the role of technology in security and
protection mechanisms, to prevention, civil protection, and energy
security.

Conference speakers included the President of European Commission Jose
Manuel Barroso, former Prime Minster of Canada Kim Campbell, Secretary
General of World Customs Organization Michel Danet, Head of
Anti-Terroist Centre of CIS Boris Mylnikov, Russian President’s
Special Representative Anatoly Safonov, Chinese Foreign Ministry
Director General for Security Gao Jian, Russian Camber of Commerce and
Industry President Evgeny Primakov, US Ambassador to the European
Union C. Boyden Gray, and many other leading figures in government and
world security issues.

Armen Sarkissian, former Prime Minister of Armenia and currently
advisor to global energy and telecom corporations, spoke at the
three-day conference and chaired a panel on energy security. The panel
discussed several key issues, including ways of balancing supply and
demand on the one hand and protection and security of infrastructure
on the other; the role of China and India and the various scenarios of
cooperation with these vast energy consuming countries.

In his address, Sarkissian emphasized the urgency of devising common
security goals by the international community and the significance of
a strategy of energy diversification in coming years.

“The era of easy oil has indeed ended”, said Sarkissian. He explained
that economic developments in India and China have led to an increased
demand for oil and contributed to the upward trend of prices. Whereas
in 1990 China accounted for only 3.5 percent of the worlds crude oil
demand, in 2004 it had increased to 9 percent. Sarkissian underlined
that in the last five years, the oil demand of the two most populous
countries in the world has grown at 8.8 percent in China and 4.5
percent in India. He contrasted these rates with growth in the world
in the same period which stood at 1.6 percent.

One obvious trend in the world is that certain oil producing countries
in the past are becoming consumers themselves. China, which has become
a net oil importer since 1993, is currently the second largest
consumer of oil, after the US. “Diversification and the search for new
sources of energy are increasingly crucial for energy security” stated
Sarkissian, adding that “the search and struggle for energy resources
will have significant influence on global security issues in the
coming decades”.