Author: Talalian Arpi

RA FOREIGN MINISTER’S VISIT TO GERMANY STARTS

NOYAN TAPAN

Ju ly 1

RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, who is in Germany on an official
visit, on June 30, met with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier.

During the meeting, both sides mentioned that Armenian-German relations
are warm and friendly, high-level political dialogue is established
between the two countries, cooperation develops efficiently in
bilateral and many-sided formats, a wide legal-contractual field has
been created, business contacts are expanded.

E. Nalbandian said that Armenia attaches importance to further
deepening and strengthening of many-sided cooperation with Germany as
one of the EU founding and leading countries. He assured those present
that Armenia will undertake all necessary steps in that direction. The
RA Foreign Minister expressed satisfaction that Germany is Armenia’s
second big investor and one of the main supporting countries.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry Press and
Information Department, the Armenian and German Foreign Ministers
touched upon issues regarding strengthening of security and stability
in the South Caucasian region. E. Nalbandian presented the latest
developments in the Nagorno Karabakh settlement negotiations, as well
as the possibilities of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations
and steps undertaken by Armenia in that direction.

The interlocutors also discussed possibilities of deepening of
cooperation in cultural and educational spheres and implementation
of joint programs. In that context E. Nalbandian said that Armenia
attaches importance to expansion of teaching German and conveyed
Armenian side’s expectation in connection with the opening of the
representation of Goethe Institute in Yerevan.

The meeting was followed by the two Ministers’ joint press conference,
at which representatives of leading German media were present.

The same day E. Nalbandian also met with Christoph Heusgen, the
General Adviser for Foreign Policy and Security of Prime Minister
Angela Merkel, Reinhard Silberberg, State Secretary of the Federal
Foreign Office, and Archbishop Wolfgang Huber, the Chairman of the
Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

The RA Foreign Minister met with representatives of Armenian
organizations in Germany in the evening. He presented the expectations
connected with creation of the Diaspora Committee in the Foreign
Ministry system and formation of the Ministry of Diaspora from this
October aimed at strengthening of Armenia-Diaspora contacts.

TO MOSCOW, UNDER DIFFERENT NAME
Vladimir Kuzmin

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 27, 2008 Friday
Russia

PRESIDENTS OF RUSSIA AND ARMENIA DISCUSSED REGIONAL PROBLEMS
President of Armenia, Serj Sargsjan, made his first visit to Moscow
after election and inauguration and met with President of Russia,
Dmitry Medvedev.

"Russian-Armenian cooperation, close in the first place, is becoming
even closer," Medvedev said when the talks were over. He referred to
the growing trade turnover that was already approaching $1 billion.

Russia is the principal investor in the Armenian economy. The sum
total of investments has already exceeded $1.2 billion.

The agendas of the Russian-Armenian talks always include international
issues. Granted that all problems on the agenda concern the
Commonwealth alone, but even they are numerous. The Nagorno-Karabakh
situation is one of them.

"The priorities of Russia have remained unchanged. We are convinced
that all crises in the Caucasus should be resolved by peaceful
means only, within the framework of the existing formats and in
line with the international law and practice," Medvedev said. The
two presidents discussed ways and means of intensification of the
Azerbaijani-Armenian talks.

Moscow reiterated its readiness to advance cooperation with Yerevan
within the framework of the CIS and CIS Collective Security Treaty
Organization (Armenia is about to assume chairmanship in the latter).

"The president of the Russian Federation and I discussed the whole
range of bilateral issues as well as international and regional
cooperation," Sargsjan said. "We reiterated readiness to advance the
Commonwealth for maximum efficiency of integration within it."

Sargsjan thanked Medvedev for the warm reception and invited him
to Yerevan.

ACRA CREDIT REPORTING HAS CREDIT INFORMATION ABOUT 33% OF THE POPULATION OF ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2008-06-27 19:38:00

As of today ACRA Credit Reporting has 1,800,000 credit histories
about 735,000 borrowers, the director of ACRA Credit Reporting Artak
Arzoyan said during the company’s annual meeting today.

In fact, the company has credit information about 33% of the population
of Armenia. According to the WB’s report, ACRA Credit Reporting is
the best in the CIS in this index. In the second half of 2007 the
index was 13.5%.

The price of one report ranges within 480-1,700 AMD VAT exclusive.

Presently, the company is beginning to provide subscriber services
at a fixed price. Two big banks have already subscribed.

Arzoyan said that the company would continue its
development. Particularly, in 2009 it is going to introduce a
scoring system, first of all, behavioral scoring. The company has
already finished its study of the system under USAID financial sector
development program. In the future, the company may introduce generic
scoring system.

"We are also going to expand the network of sources and start
cooperating with insurance companies, organizations providing communal
services, as well as with the traffic police, courts of Armenia and
other companies and state structures concerned" he stressed.

He also pointed out that the company already has a current profit
and it is gradually reducing the accumulated loss. "According to
pessimistic forecasts, the accumulated loss will be reduced within
the next 2-3 years", he emphasized.

Chairman of the Council of the ACRA Credit Bureau, Head of the
Central Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan noted that the Bureau is to
contribute to the increase in financial mediation of the banking
system and management of credit risks. In particular, he pointed
out the significance of the fact that the overwhelming majority of
financial companies are the clients of the Bureau, which successfully
transited to the a profitable mode of operation.

ACRA Credit Reporting Agency was founded by Credential Inc. in
2004. At the moment, the Central Bank of Armenia, which owns 10%
of the Bureau’s shares, 17 commercial banks, HBM Service CJSC set
up by the Union of Banks of Armenia, the First Mortgage Company,
Dun & Bradstreet International LTD (USA) are among the Bureau’s
shareholders. All of the 22 commercial banks and 9 credit companies
make use of the company’s services.

Progress in Armenia insufficient, says PACE; full compliance expected by
January 2009

Strasbourg, 26.06.2008 – Despite the political will expressed by the
Armenian authorities to meet the requirements outlined in Resolution
1609 (2008) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia,
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) takes the
view, in a resolution adopted yesterday at the end of an urgent debate,
that "progress is at present insufficient". It regrets "the delay in
implementing concrete measures" to overcome the political crisis that
broke out after the presidential election on 19 February, while
acknowledging that "the time given to the Armenian authorities was
short".

According to the Assembly, "the detention and conviction of opposition
supporters in relation to the events of 1 March 2008 will be a point of
contention that will continue to strain the relations between opposition
and authorities and could hinder the conduct of a constructive dialogue
on the reforms needed for Armenia". PACE therefore "urges the Armenian
authorities to consider all legal means available to them, including
amnesty, pardons and dismissal of charges with respect to all persons
detained or sentenced by a court in relation to the events of 1 and 2
March 2008".

PACE points out that "freedom of assembly should be guaranteed in
practice". Moreover, it welcomes the constitution, within the National
Assembly, of an ad hoc committee "to conduct an inquiry into the events
of 1 and 2 March 2008 as well as the causes that led to them". This
Committee has "the possibility to invite national and international
experts to participate in its work, which should increase the
credibility of its investigations," the parliamentarians said.

As proposed by the Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs, Georges
Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), who
visited the country on 16 and 17 June to assess the situation, the
Assembly decided to review the extent of Armenia’s compliance with the
requirements in Resolution 1609 at its January 2009 part-session, and to
consider the possibility of suspending the voting rights of the Armenian
delegation at the opening of the session if the conditions set out in
the resolution were not met.

PACE Resolution 1609 (2008)
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1609.htm>

P ACE Resolution 1620 (2008)
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1620.htm>

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US DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE INDICATES CASES OF ANTISEMITISM DISPLAY IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2008-06-25 13:08:00

US deputy Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and
Labour David Kramer indicated the cases of anti-Semitism display in
Armenia. During today’s press-conference, he expressed wonder that
an item of a frankly antisemistic content is displayed by one of the
Armenian TV channels. He said, at journalists’ request, that a similar
item was demonstrated in the programme "360 degrees" of the Public
TV of Armenia. He added that there should be no such facts in Armenia.

RA PRESIDENT MEETS WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF RUSSIA

armradio.am
24.06.2008 11:57

Yesterday RA President Serzh Sargsyan met with representatives of
the Armenian community in Moscow. Speeches were delivered by People’s
Artist of USSR Armen Jigarkhanyan, Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian
Interparliamentary Commission Nikolay Ryzhkov and other renowned
figures.

Rector of the Moscow State University Viktor Sadovnich awarded RA
President with a Big Order of the University. President Sargsyan
noted in his speech that, of course, the Diaspora is linked to the
Motherland with thousands of ties, but the historic ties of those who
live in Russia with the Motherland are tighter and multifaceted in
terms of both political and economic contacts, and these realities
greatly influence on the relations of Russian Armenians and Armenia.

Today the Motherland has entered into a new stage of reforms and
the solution of the problems facing Armenia and the success of
implementation of programs are possible only with coordination of
efforts of all Armenians.

The comprehension of the exceptional mission of the Diaspora has
hinted us to create a separate Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, which is
in the stage of formation. It’s aimed at raising the effectiveness of
our policy in this sphere. We aspire to turn Armenia into a regional
center of healthcare, banking and tourism.

President Sargsyan turned to three pivotal issues. The first is
the internal political situation in Armenia. "I would like you to
correctly comprehend and assess it. A political force that openly
declared it would not accept any outcome of the election except for its
victory several months before it was conducted, tries to destabilize
the situation in the country through political blackmail. I have
declared many times that deriving from Armenia’s interests I’m ready
to negotiate and work with any political force, and my steps have
been directed towards it ever since I assumed office.

The second issue I would like to speak about refers to Armenian-Turkish
relations. Our position on the matter is distinct: there should be no
closed borders between neighbor countries in the 21st century. Regional
cooperation can be the best means for establishing stability. The
Turkish side suggests forming a commission that would study the
historic facts. We do not mind establishing that commission, but
only when the border between our countries is opened. Otherwise, it
can become a means of protracting the solution of the issue for many
years. In the future I intend to undertake new steps to further the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. Most probably, I will
invite Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul to Yerevan to watch the match
between the national football teams of Armenia and Turkey.

The third issue is the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. You
know that recently I held negotiations with the President of
Azerbaijan. We agreed to continue the talks in the framework of
the document on basic principles. Nagorno Karabakh will never be
under Azerbaijan’s’ jurisdiction. The people of Nagorno Karabakh has
achieved its right for independent statehood in the framework of law
and later defended it in an imposed war, and the issue cannot have
any solution diminishing that status," RA President said.

PENNINGTON: U.S. TO PROMOTE ARMENIA-TURLEY RECONCILIATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.06.2008 13:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. will work for the Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation but the governments of the two states should seek for
ways to establish diplomatic relations, according to the U.S. Charge
d’Affairs in Armenia.

"Some progress was fixed after the Armenian presidential election. This
could be a good basis for a compromise," Mr. Joseph Pennington said
when opening the NATO Week in Armenia today.

"Yerevan and Ankara should work jointly to reach a compromise while
the United States will help the process," he said.

PACE SUMMER SESSION KICKS OFF IN STRASBOURG

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.06.2008 13:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An urgent debate on the functioning of democratic
institutions in Turkey, to which Turkey’s Foreign Minister has been
invited, a general policy debate on the situation in China, and a
special debate on the state of democracy in Europe, involving guest
speakers from civil society, are among the highlights of the summer
session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
taking place in Strasbourg from 23 to 27 June 2008. Serbian President
Boris Tadic will also address the Assembly on Thursday 26 June.

Other topics to be debated include the functioning of democratic
institutions in Azerbaijan, the fight against harm to the environment
in the Black Sea, empowering women in a modern, multicultural society
and the abandonment of children at birth.

There is also a proposal to hold an urgent debate on the functioning
of democratic institutions in Armenia – but only if the Assembly’s
co-rapporteurs judge, after visiting the country on 16-17 June, that
the Armenian authorities have made insufficient progress in fulfilling
the Assembly’s demands following the February 2008 post-electoral
violence.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt will present the communication
from the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe’s executive
body currently presided by Sweden, on Monday 23 June and answer
parliamentarians’ questions.

The Assembly will finalize its agenda only at the opening of the
session.

EVERYTHING WILL BE DONE TO HOLD OPPOSITION RALLY PEACEFULLY, SUREN SURENIANTS SAYS

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 20, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The June 20 rally of the National
Movement will be held in the territory near Matenadaran, though the
Mayor’s Office has declined the application of holding a rally in that
place. As Suren Sureniants, a member of the Hanrapetutiun (Republic)
party’s Political Board, said at the June 20 press conference, in
political respect Armenia has traditional places of holding rallies,
Liberty Square and territory near Matenadaran. Besides, holding of
the rally near the Hrazdan stadium authorized by the Mayor’s Office
is not expedient, as, according to S. Sureniants, that place is very
small and inconvenient in the respect of communications.

According to S. Sureniants, they will do their best to hold the rally
peacefully. And if the policemen block the way leading to Matenadaran,
according to him, the rally will be held where the way will be blocked,
"and it will once more record that Armenia is a police state."

According to S. Sureniants, the organizers are ready to cooperate
with the Police to ensure the normal process of the rally. He said
that he will conduct the rally, Levon Ter-Petrosian, Chairman of the
Hanrapetutiun (Republic) party Aram Sargsian, PPA Chairman Stepan
Demirchian will make speeches.

He also said that no march and sit-down strike is envisaged after
the rally.

SERZH SARGSYAN OFFICIALLY INVITES GURBANGULY BERDYMUHAMMEDOV TO YEREVAN

arminfo
2008-06-20 17:06:00

ArmInfo. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov received
a message from Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. The message was
published in the Turkmen press on June 20.

As Turkmenistan.ru correspondent in Ashkhabad reports, in his message
the Armenian leader invited the president of Turkmenistan to pay
an official visit to Yerevan. ‘I am sure that this visit will give
a chance to maximally activate development of our relations in all
spheres of interstate cooperation and serve for the welfare of our
nations in the best way’, Sargsyan said. ‘The history of the friendly
relations between our nations date back to high antiquity, and let
me express confidence that there is a huge and unperformed potential
of cooperation between our states’, Sargsyan stressed in his message.