Author: Torgomian Varazdat

RIA OREANDA
Economic News
October 27, 2006 Friday
Board of Directors Approves Acquisition of Additional Shares in
Armrosgazprom
Moscow. OREANDA-NEWS. The Board of Directors of Gazprom approved
Gazproms acquisition of additional shares in ArmRosgazprom.
As a result, the share of Gazprom in ArmRosgazprom will grow from 45
to 58 per cent.
ArmRosgazproms major business line is natural gas supply to Armenias
internal market. In addition, ArmRosgazprom is engaged in natural gas
transmission, storage, processing, distribution and marketing, gas
transmission system and UGS facility upgrading and expansion in the
Republic of Armenia.
The Board of Directors also agreed on Gazprom (UK) Ltds acquisition
of shares in UrdanetaGazprom-1 S.A. and UrdanetaGazprom-2 S.A.
(Venezuela).

7 years after the terrorist act in the Natonal Assembly

ArmRadio.am
27.10.2006 10:10
Seven years ago on this day a terrorist group pierced into the
National Assembly, murdering eight state and political figures,
including the Chairman of the National Assembly Karen Demirchiyan and
Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan. On the occasion of the `Justice’ block
will hold a number of mourning events.
Members and the leadership of the block will lay a wreath of flower at
the graves of the political and public figures that fell victims of
the terrorist act.
It should be noted that representatives of other opposition parties,
and relatives of the victims also participate in the annual mourning
events organized by the `Justice’ block. As for the official
parliamentary events, these are usually held at the memorial to the
victims in the yard if the National Assembly.

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Oct 26 2006
1000 LARGEST ARMENIAN TAX PAYERS TRANSFER AMD 136.7BLN TO STATE
BUDGET IN 3RD Q 2006
YEREVAN, October 26. /ARKA/. Armenia’s 1000 largest tax payers
transferred about AMD 136.7bln to the state budget in the third
quarter 2006. According to the official list, issued by the State Tax
Service, the tax service officers collected AMD 76.7bln, and customs
officers – AMD 60mln.
The five leaders still top the list. The Zangezur copper and
molybdenum factory ranks first. It paid the taxes for a total of AMD
13.4bln in January-September 2006. Then comes ArmenTel
Telecommunications Company – AMD 8.3bln, and the third is the
ArmRosgasprom Company, which paid the taxes for AMD 5.6bln.
“Flash” oil trader company and Armenian Electric Networks Company
rank 4th and 5th. The paid AMD 4bln and 3.4bln respectively.
The first hundred of the largest tax payers in the list are such
well-know enterprises as the Canadian joint enterprise Grand Tobacco
(almost AMD 2.2bln), International Masis Tabak (AMD 2bln), the
Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (AMD 1.86bln), “Armenia International
Airports” CJSC (AMD 1.25bln),
Armenia-Lada (1.17bln), MIKA Armenia Trading (935.7mln), and also the
Yerevan Brandy Factory (845.1lmln), HSBC Bank Armenia (640.5mln),
Armenian Railways (487.6mln), Coca Cola Hellenic Bottlers Company
(426.9mln). ($1 – AMD 380.37). R.O. -0–

Lragir, Armenia
Oct 26 2006
SERGE SARGSYAN WANTS FREE, FAIR AND TRANSPARENT ELECTION IN 2007

I can say one thing, we did not give the Iran-Armenia pipeline to
anyone, said the minister of defense, the chair of the
Russian-Armenian interstate commission Serge Sargsyan October 25 to
news reporters. `I can say one thing: we did not give the
Iran-Armenia pipeline to anyone. The director of Armrusgasard has
told about it in detail. There is not a document. I promise you once
again that I will ask the director of Armrusgazard to talk to you
about the details of these problems,’ said Serge Sargsyan to the news
reporters, who were literally pursuing him.
They asked different questions to the defense minister on different
developments. For instance, Serge Sargsyan was asked why Robert
Kocharyan did not receive the U.S. envoy to the OSCE. `Why are you
asking me that,’ answered the defense minister.
In answer to the question if he will become president of Armenia, the
defense minister said, `If you help to hold a good, transparent, free
and fair parliamentary election in 2007, I will make a decision.’

NEW SAUDI RULES ON SUCCESSION: WILL THEY FIX THE PROBLEM?
By Simon Henderson
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, DC
Oct 25 2006
On October 20, 2006, eighty-three-year-old King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia announced changes to the kingdom’s “Basic Law”-effectively its
constitution-that appear to formalize procedures for the selection of
future kings. However, it is difficult to know how much the current
system of succession will actually change. For the foreseeable future,
it is most likely that the world’s largest oil exporter and the
center of the Islamic world will still be led by an octogenarian,
with the probability that his successor will be of similar age,
and perhaps even infirm.
Rules of Succession
The system of succession in Saudi Arabia is different from the
primogeniture model followed by other Middle Eastern monarchies. When
the founder of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, died in 1953, he was indeed
succeeded by his eldest son, Saud. However, Ibn Saud also named
his second-eldest son, Faisal, crown prince. Since then the throne
has passed from elder brother to the next in age-and Ibn Saud had
thirty-four sons who survived him, born to seventeen of his twenty-two
wives. After Saud came his half-brother Faisal, then Khaled, then
Fahd-who died last year-and, now, Abdullah. After Abdullah’s younger
half-brother Sultan, there are another twenty-one surviving sons. All
are now probably grandfathers, if not great-grandfathers.
The new rules still restrict the throne to the sons and more than
one hundred grandsons of the kingdom’s founder, over the other
approximately 6,000 princes of the larger al-Saud family, including
the so-called “cadet branches” that have held occasional power in the
260-plus years since the al-Sauds initially seized power in central
Arabia. In reality, though, the pool is smaller: those sons who are
not genetically Arab are handicapped (at least five of Ibn Saud’s
sons had Armenian mothers); character, experience, popularity, and
an appropriately pious practice of Islam also count.
Prior to the new rules, kings and crown princes were chosen by secret
family conclaves of uncertain structure. On one occasion (Saud in
1964), such a conclave even deposed a monarch deemed unsuitable. In
1992, King Fahd declared that the monarch alone should choose the
crown prince. Now, future crown princes will have to be approved by an
“allegiance commission” made up of Ibn Saud’s sons, the eldest sons
of the brothers who have died since Ibn Saud’s death, as well as the
sons of the current king and crown prince. This suggests a membership
of around thirty-five (at least one brother did not produce a male
heir). The decisionmaking will still happen in secret.
The king will suggest three candidates; in the event of disagreement,
there will be a vote. Apparently mindful of the precarious health
of some of the princes, the new system also calls for a temporary
council of five princes to lead the country if neither the king nor
the crown prince is deemed fit to rule for medical reasons-though
defining such ill health could be a problem.
The Next Kings
Observers have long tried to guess the identity of the next in line-the
crown-prince-in-waiting. The new rules open up the field. A few years
ago, the guessing game was easy. Fahd was prime minister, Abdullah
was first deputy prime minister, and Sultan was second deputy prime
minister. But the latter post was not reassigned when Abdullah became
king and made Sultan his crown prince. Indeed, the main challenger for
that position, Interior Minister Prince Nayef-a reportedly mercurial
character-appears to have been sidelined shortly after Fahd’s death. It
is said that the other senior princes permitted Nayef to retain his
ministerial title while operational control of the powerful ministry
itself was handed to his son, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef.
Now one is left to wonder whether or not King Abdullah has managed
to outmaneuver the so-called Sudairi faction, which includes Sultan
and Nayef as well as the former King Fahd. The largest group of full
brothers among the sons of Ibn Saud, the Sudairis have often been
seen as a factor restricting the authority of Abdullah (who has no
full brothers), especially in 1995-2005 when he was crown prince
and de facto monarch after Fahd fell sick. Yet the position of the
Sudairis appears to remain strong. The new rules-which essentially
call for a vote to decide the most suitable crown prince if there is
disagreement with the king’s choice-will not apply until after Sultan,
age eighty-three and recovering from cancer, becomes king.
With Nayef out of the picture, the most obvious contender for the
throne-despite a reported heart condition-is seventy-year-old Salman,
another Sudairi (the name is that of the mother’s tribe) and the
long-serving governor of the giant Riyadh province, where the capital
is located.
Immediate Saudi public comment on the new rules is, as might be
expected, laudatory: “momentous,” “it will remove the uncertainty,”
“it will ensure the continuity of the ruling family.” The announcement
suggests both King Abdullah’s concern about the kingdom’s future
leadership and his confidence in his current power within the al-Saud
family. Safeguarding the king’s grip on the new commission will be
its secretary-general, the U.S.-educated Khaled al-Tuwaijeri, who is
also Abdullah’s private secretary.
Time may test the patience of Ibn Saud’s grandsons. Which ones will
emerge as contenders remains to be seen. Ibn Saud’s youngest son,
Miqrin, sixty-three, is a former air force pilot and currently heads
the Saudi external intelligence service. If he ever became king, the
move to the next generation might be twenty years off. Of Ibn Saud’s
grandsons, arguably the most prominent, Foreign Minister Prince Saud
al-Faisal, is plagued by poor health. Prince Turki, an ambassador in
Washington, D.C., and former intelligence chief, is one possibility.
Prince Bandar, now serving as secretary-general of the Saudi national
security council, is probably disqualified because his mother was
a slave girl; he also suffers from depression, according to a new
biography. Sons of Fahd, Abdullah, Sultan, and perhaps Salman are
also likely to hope for the role.
Saudi Policy Debates Will Remain Veiled
Although Washington has grown accustomed to the glacial pace of
change in the kingdom, it will want to see more steps taken to open
up Saudi politics. Yet, under the new system, as under the old, Saudi
policymaking is an exclusively royal prerogative, so changes will
probably be part of the debates and negotiations undertaken by the
new commission. Washington will have few ways of knowing about-and
little chance of affecting-those discussions. This is a matter of
concern because Saudi oil policy has worldwide implications, as
does the kingdom’s approach to its leadership role in the Arab and
Islamic worlds.
Simon Henderson is the Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and
Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute. His publications
include the 1994 Institute Policy Paper After King Fahd: Succession
in Saudi Arabia.
teC05.php?CID=2526

OSKANYAN BRIEFS ON DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION
Panorama.am
20:04 25/10/06
1939 map was taken as a base for drafting the border of Armenia and
Georgia. It is the only comprehensive document, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanyan told at the parliament today. He said at
some parts Armenians have entered Georgian territories and at others
Georgianshave violated 1939 map. We have to find golden middle,
Oskanyan said.
Oskanyan said he is going to meet Elmar Mamediarov once against on
November 14 in Brussels. “It is not a secret that return of territories
is part of package deal,” Oskanyan said. However, he said, that may
be reflected only “when a final clarification will be made about the
self-determination of Nagorno Karabakh and it future status.”
Speaking about Javakhk, Oskanyan said we must be utmost careful in
the question of Javakhk as it may become a “critical point under the
tense situation in the region and Georgia.” He said only 3 out of 30
citizens are now under arrest among those Armenians who were indicted
in violating Georgian-Abkhaz border.

UN ARMENIAN OFFICE SENDS MESSAGE OF CULTURAL VARIETY TO CHILDREN
Noyan Tapan
Oct 25 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, NOYAN TAPAN. On October 25, UN Armenian Office
celebrated UN Day sending children UN family’s message of cultural
variety. “This concert gives an excellent opportunity to speak with
children about UN family and to show them variety of cultures existing
in the world through traditional dances and various national songs,”
UN Resident Representative Consuelo Vidal said in her speech. As Noyan
Tapan was informed from UN Armeian Office, the concert was organized
for 300 children, among which there were children of orphanages,
boarding schools, as well as disabled children.” Children of Sofi
Devoyan’s Spirit and Dance Theater, as well as International Charity
Fund after Spivakov performed at the concert. Parallel with showing the
talent of Armenian children, the concert also had the goal to inform
children about UN and its role of promoting peace and tolerance in
the whole world. “It is children who should succeed us in the future
and we want them to know that UN with its variety is the family where
there is room for everybody,” C.Vidal said.

WHAT WILL BRING ARMENIA AND BELARUS CLOSER?
By Ara Martirosian
AZG Armenian Daily
25/10/2006
Prime Ministers of Armenia and Byelorussia Point out Number of Issues
for Fruitful Cooperation
The delegation of statesmen headed by Sergey Sidorski, Prime Minister
of Byelorussia, is currently paying a working visit to Armenia.
Before meeting with RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, the
delegation of Belarus statesmen met with RA President Robert
Kocharian. After the meetings, both delegations signed a number
of memorandums.
After signing the memorandums, the Prime Ministers of both
countries touched upon the results of the meetings at a joint press
conference. Andranik Margarian said that they have shaped stable legal
grounds for fruitful cooperation between our countries. He added that
the sides have signed about forty agreements.
Sergey Sidorski stated that the goods turnover between our countries
is gradually growing. As of January-July, 2006, it made $ 14 million,
as compared with the indicator of the last year that totaled to
$15 million. He added that after the last visit of RA PM to Belarus
five years ago, the goods turnover between our countries grew by 6,4
times. At the same time, Mr. Sidorski stated that there are still
great capacity for developing the cooperation between Armenia and
Byelorussia, taking into account the fact that the total annual
commodity turnover of Belarus surpasses $30 billion.
Besides, Mr. Sidorski pointed out the spheres that his country is
interested in. In particular, he mentioned the spheres of jewelry,
brandy production, IT and machinery production. He informed that
“Belshina” company is going to sign an agreement with its Armenian
partner. Moreover, the office of Belarus producers of medical equipment
and medicine are going to open their office in Armenia, soon. The
Belarus “Belaz” tracks are used in the mining industry. The center
for their technical service will also be opened in Yerevan. The sides
are to cooperate in the sphere of energetics, as well. Mr. Margarian
also emphasized the importance of the Belarus agricultural equipment
for Armenia.

BRITISH JOURNALIST CHARACTERIZES THE EVENTS OF 1915 AS “ARMENIAN HOLOCAUST”
ArmRadio.am
24.10.2006 13:27
During an event organized in the Kensington district of London
correspondent of the “Independent” newspaper in the Middle East Robert
Fisk came forward with a speech dedicated to the “Armenian Holocaust,”
as he characterized it.
The recent book by Robert Fisk titled “Great War for Civilization”
includes a chapter on the Armenian Genocide titled “The First
Holocaust.” The author presented his own activity for gathering facts
about the Armenian Genocide.
Fisk told how he found an Armenian common grave in Syria. For this
activity he was exiled from Turkey in early 1990s. Fisk attached great
importance to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, considering
it as a precondition for Turkey’s accession to the European Union. The
book will soon be published in Turkey, and the author has already been
cautioned that he may be called to responsibility in compliance with
Article 301 of the Penal Code. The journalist declared it will be a
great honor for his to defend his correctness before the Turkish Court.

ARMENIAN BUSINESSWOMEN DO NOT YIELD TO MEN BY THIER ACTIVITY, USAID
OFFICIAL SAYS
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian businesswomen do not yield
to men by their efficient activities, and there are no problems of sex
discrimination in this respect. Gary Kilmer, USAID DAI-ASME director,
said this during the discussion of Armenian businesswomen “Along
the Path of Success” on October 20 held within the framework of the
national exhibition “Armenian Businesswoman 2006”. In the opinion of
experienced businesswoman Tagui Chenterechian, the shortest and most
efficient way to win recognition, enter the competition field and find
means of selling production is to participate in such exhibitions. She
noted that “Armenian Businesswoman” provides with an opportunity to
present new products, as well as to find new partners and develop
new programs of cooperation.