Author: Vasilian Manouk

Xinhua, China
Feb 19 2008

Feature: Armenians enthusiastic about presidential elections

2008-02-20 00:50:20
By Liu Yifang

YEREVAN, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) — Armenians on Tuesday crowded into
polling stations and queued to cast votes to choose the country’s new
president from nine candidates.

As early as 6:45 a.m. local time (0245 GMT), an hour and a
quarter earlier than the official opening time, working staff at a
polling station in the No. 24 school in downtown Yerevan began their
preparations. Several voters waited quietly in the room.

In the street outside the school, a big orange plastic board
emblazoned with "9/11" was noticeable, indicating the 9th electoral
district and the 11th polling station.

Voters could find their numbers on the list posted on the right
side of the glass wall. On the left side was a poster with photos and
brief profiles of the nine rivals in the Armenian language.

The quiet inside the room was broken by reporters. Dozens of
cameramen, photographers and other journalists crowded into the small
room and waited. Outgoing President Robert Kocharian and two
frontrunners, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and former President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, were expected to cast their ballots here.

As time passed, more and more voters came and formed a queue in
front of the polling station.

Vanran Guroglyan took his 9-year-old son along and let his little
boy do the last step for him — inserting the folded ballot paper
into the box. "It’s an important day in Armenia, I’d like my son to
experience it," he said.

A 62-year-old woman who gave her name as Aida told Xinhua that
her family has six eligible voters who support different candidates.
Another elderly lady, Armaya, said she and her son both voted for the
prime minister "because he is the best choice."

"We have made our choice for a long time. I get to know my
favorite from the TV and newspapers, but it’s a secret and I’ll not
tell anybody," a girl said on condition of anonymity when walking out
of the polling room, adding that "my ballot is very important."

However, some people do not care that much about the elections."I
haven’t decided yet. It’s the same to me no matter who is elected
because I don’t trust anybody," Susan, a hotel receptionist, said at
her work place in the morning.

"Until now everything is normal, but I’ll continue to keep an eye
on it," Salik Tonoyan, an observer at the No. 11 station, told Xinhua
at noon.

At another polling station in the Chekhov English Specialized
School in the north of the city, dozens of people were waiting
outside in clear but cold weather.

"Why we are waiting here? We believe that everything will be
good," said Grigor, a Ter-Petrosyan supporter who moved back from
abroad 10 years ago. "Levon will bring us change."

Kristina Gevorkyan, an Armenian-Georgian from the observation
group "Against Violation of Law," was carefully counting voters while
they entered the room.

"We are here to see whether it’s smooth and transparent. I came
before 8 a.m., and after the polling station is closed at 8 p.m., we
will stay until ballot counting is finished," she said.

At the nearby No. 22 polling station, a bit smaller than the
others, the ballot box was one-third full by 3 p.m. and voters were
still trickling in to cast ballots.

"Voters are very active. People came early in the morning and you
can see how many people are still waiting outside," a regional
electoral official said.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Armenia holds presidential election

19 Feb 08

YEREVAN (AFP) — Armenians voted for a new president on Tuesday with
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, the outgoing leader’s most trusted
ally, seen as the frontrunner after a bitterly fought campaign.

Voters went to the polls on a windy day in Yerevan, capital of the
mountainous ex-Soviet republic of three million people. Polls were
to close at 8:00 pm (1600 GMT) and first results were expected early
Wednesday.

By 2:00 pm, voter turnout had reached 36.48 percent, the Central
Elections Commission reported. Armenia has no law on minimum turnout
for the vote to be considered valid.

Pre-election polls showed Sarkisian well ahead of his eight rivals in
the race to replace President Robert Kocharian, who is constitutionally
barred from taking a third five-year term.

But analysts said Sarkisian may struggle to win the more than 50
percent required to avoid a risky second round run-off.

His two main rivals are former president Levon Ter-Petrosian and
former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian. Both have accused the
Sarkisian campaign of abusing state resources, a charge the prime
minister denies.

"The most important thing is not how many rounds there are, but that
the election is conducted well and that its results are trusted by
the people," Sarkisian said after voting.

Ter-Petrosian also predicted victory, despite what he said were major
violations on election day.

"I will win in the first round," he said, adding that his campaign
team had already gathered concrete evidence of vote-rigging.

"Very dirty things are happening," he said.

Opposition candidates have warned they will call street protests if
they believe the vote is unfair, raising fears of unrest.

At one Yerevan polling station Roland Serobian said he voted for
Sarkisian because of the prime minister’s promises to improve living
standards.

"I trust him. He’s a man of his word," the 76-year-old said. "Look
how much he has already done."

Others accused the government of being corrupt and authoritarian and
said they supported opposition candidates.

"Only Levon can win and free us from this regime," said 45-year-old
Sos, declining to give his last name. "We’ve had enough. It’s time
for them to go."

Kocharian hand-picked the 53-year-old prime minister to succeed him
after Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia swept parliamentary
polls last May.

The two are long-time associates, both hailing from Azerbaijan’s
rebel Nagorny Karabakh region.

Together they have been credited with ensuring relative stability
and strong economic growth.

Analysts predict Sarkisian will follow in Kocharian’s footsteps,
pursuing close ties with Moscow and a hawkish stance in relations
with neighbouring Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The latter two have cut diplomatic ties and sealed their borders with
Armenia over its support for Armenian separatists in Nagorny Karabakh.

Ankara has also been angered by Yerevan’s campaign to have the World
War I-era mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire recognised
as genocide.

Ter-Petrosian has called for a more conciliatory approach with
Azerbaijan and Turkey, saying the government has left Armenia deeply
isolated.

Pre-election polls showed Sarkisian hovering at around 50 percent
support, with Ter-Petrosian and Baghdasarian trailing at 10-15 percent.

About 600 foreign observers were monitoring the vote and the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was to
issue a report on the election Wednesday.

Monday Morning, Lebanon
Feb 18 2008

Interview with the Swiss ambassador Francois Barras: `Culture is the
best reply to war’

Other activities for subsequent years will be more developed, for the
benefit of both Swiss art and Lebanese art.

To the question: `Where did this idea come from?’, Ambassador Barras
replied, `Switzerland has always had very good relations with
Lebanon. There have always been Swiss projects and programs… Hardly
had I arrived in Lebanon when the July war broke out. I was struck by
the wide scale of this aggression against Lebanon. I returned to
Switzerland and spoke with those responsible for the cultural section
at the Foreign Ministry, in particular with those in charge of
Pro-Helvetia, a foundation for the promotion of culture, explaining
to them that the best response to war was by means of culture because
it is essential to support the artists and creators, who are
completely lost in that situation.
`We began by looking for the necessary resources. Naturally this took
time and it’s only now that the project has taken concrete form. The
program extends over the whole of 2008 and is financed by
Pro-Helvetia, the Swiss cultural foundation’, the ambassador
explained.
Pro-Helvetia is a foundation of public law tasked with encouraging
cultural outreach of a general interest to Switzerland. Set up in
1939, it is wholly financed by the Swiss Confederation. Its budget
for 2005 was 33 million Swiss francs.

Inter-cultural dialogue
The foundation works to ensure that Swiss cultural actors enjoy the
best possible conditions to create and to make their creations known.
It helps them present their work in a convincing way, both in
Switzerland and abroad, and gives them the possibility of meeting
cultural figures of other countries.
Pro-Helvetia also sets up programs in fields in which it seeks to
enhance an understanding of popular culture and dance. The law
enacted concerning Pro-Helvetia in 1965 regulates the organization
and the assets of the foundation. Roula Kobeissi is the administrator
of the program.
`In elaborating this program, we were particularly interested in
reaching out to young people as part of our program of exchanges.
Once here, a Swiss musician or artist must have the opportunity to
meet Lebanese counterparts. A youthful public and a dimension of
exchange constitute a double gain, making Switzerland’s cultural
diversity better known and, above all, developing exchanges between
Swiss and Lebanese creators’.
To this end, a brochure entitled `Le Culturel’ will be published each
month to give an overview of the activities. Swiss films will be
presented each month at the `Ziko House’ and at the German Cultural
Center in Jounieh.
Other independent events will be included in the program. Among them
will be a concert by the ambassador’s daughter, at which she will
perform together with a Lebanese tenor, Mark Raïdy, at the Thétre
Abou-Khater.

Projection of Grounding
In the cultural framework scheduled for this month, it is hoped that
Michael Steiner’s film Grounding will be shown. This film relates the
last days of the Swissair company, the famous `grounding’ of October
2, 2001, as well as everything that led to this disaster. It records
the repercussions of these events on the fate of Mario A. Corti, the
unlucky last CEO of the once-prestigious airline, but also on that of
all the others unfortunate enough to be caught up in the event,
losing not only their jobs and homes but also faith in their
homeland.
This will be followed on February 27 by a concert at the Emile
Bustani Auditorium in the Al Bustan Hotel given by the Amar Quartett.
On this occasion this innovative group will be acquainting a new
public with its remarkable interpretations from the royal genre of
chamber music. The quartet works on interdisciplinary projects of
high quality involving ballet, multi-media theater and jazz. The Amar
Quartett first made its name in Switzerland by presenting
extraordinary performances such as Homage to Hindemith.
On February 28, at the Art Lounge on the Corniche du Fleuve, there
will be a presentation of Armenographie, by Stephen Kristensen and
Anna Barseghian. Armenographie is the result of encounters in
Armenia, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon. Each context bears witness to a
different way of being Armenian, even of becoming Armenian.
Armenographie bears witness to a precarity of existence, but also to
a vibrancy of life, in Armenian communities in various parts of the
diaspora.
The events, which are free of charge, are subject to change.
Switzerland’s encounter with Lebanon, a rich cultural season for
2008, placed under the patronage of the Culture Ministry, is the best
expression of the solidarity of a country and a people with Lebanon.

Swiss films

Here is a list of Swiss films to be shown in 2008. The name of the
director is shown in parentheses.

– February: Grounding. (Michael Steiner, T. Fueter).

– February (in the framework of lectures on the Swiss political
system): Mais im Bundeshaus/the Helvetic political genius
(Jean-Stephane Bron).

– March: Jeune homme (Christophe Schaub).

– April: Sieben Mulden und eine Leich (Thomas Hammerli).

– May: Sternenberg (Christophe Schaub).

– June: Straehl (Manuel Flurin Hendry).

– October: Voltaire et l’affaire Calas (Francil Reusser).

– November (in the framework of the European Film Festival):
Herbszeitlosen (35mm – Bettina Oberli).

– December: Nachbeben (Stina Werenfels).

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb 18 2008

Azerbaijan Stands Ready to Fight against Kurdish Terrorists: Foreign
Ministry’s Press Secretary
18.02.08 15:02

Azerbaijan, Baku, 18 February /corr. Trend News S.Agayeva /
Azerbaijan calls upon the international community to seriously react
to the placement of Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist bases
Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia.

`The information on re-deployment of PKK military bases in
Nagorno-Karabakh should be accepted seriously,’ the Press Secretary
of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s Press Service, Khazar Ibrahim,
briefed the media on 18 February.

Israeli Special services confirmed the information on the placement
of terrorist groups in Nagorno-Karabakh after Turkey’s military
operations at the border with Iraq.

According to Ibrahim, Azerbaijan cannot independently control the
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by Armenia.

Khazar Ibrahim brought three key reasons for Azerbaijan’s appeal to
the international community. `Firstly, Azerbaijan cannot
independently control the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by
Armenia, secondly Armenia is well-known as a country possessing wide
experience in terrorism, thirdly the PKK is an active terrorist
organization,’ he said. According to Ibrahim, all this may bring
significant harm to stability in the whole region. ` Azerbaijan,
itself or in political contact with other states, may fight against
the PKK in Nagorno-Karabakh,’ he added.

The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in
1988 due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia
has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since
1992, these territories have been under the occupation of the
Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire
agreement at which time active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding
peaceful negotiations.

Azat Artsakh Tert, Nagorno Karabakh Republic
Feb 18 2008

A visit to military unit

On the occasion of 20th anniversary of Artsakh movement, on
February 17th the NKR Prime Minister Ara Haroutyunian met with the
host of central subordination’s military unit of NKR DA. Welcoming
the officers and soldiers, the head of the government touched briefly
upon the national-political phenomena, which had laid obstacles in
the path of normal vital activity and progress of Artsakh people and
had been the cause, that the population stood up for national
struggle, having the main aim: to create a state unit of armenian
people and conditions of free development.
After the speech, A.Haroutyunian went round in military unit’s
buildings, got acquainted with soldiers’ conditions of life. He
expressed gratification, that the military unit eventually was
getting modernized and was growing stronger.
The Minister of Defence, general-lieutenant Movses Hakobian
accompanied the Prime Minister.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER COUNTRY FOR EUROPE
Tim Hames

The Times
February 18, 2008

In this season of extraordinary American politicians, it is worth
remembering one who, albeit accidentally, put his finger on the
upheaval that has been Europe over a century. Strom Thurmond sat in
the US Senate until shortly after his 100th birthday in 2002. In his
final stretch in that chamber he was a prominent member of the Senate
Armed Services Committee. Towards the end of the 1990s the committee
was hearing testimony from the Hungarian Ambassador to Washington.

After he had spoken, the senator apparently took him to one side and
whispered: "When I was at school, you and Austria were one country,
when did the two of you split up?" It had been eight decades earlier.

Before that divide much of Central and Eastern Europe was controlled
by the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian or Ottoman empires. It
is a geography quite unrecognisable from the Europe of today, and
one that will change again as Kosovo declares its independence and
becomes the seventh member of the former Yugoslavia to become an
established nation.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought forth six states broadly
acknowledged to be part of Europe, four others whose status is more
contestable (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan) as well as
the dilemma of where to place Russia itself.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia engaged in their velvet divorce 15
years ago. Membership of the European Union has more than doubled
since that date. It has been a fantastic two decades for those who
make flags or sell maps but it has been a thoroughly confusing period
otherwise. There are today, if one includes some of the smaller
entities such as Andorra and San Marino, some 50 or more states in
this continent.

It is tempting to conclude that all this change is simply the impact
of the end of the Cold War upon one half of Europe. Yet this would
not be accurate. The shock has been more subtle west of what was once
the Iron Curtain but no less substantial.

It has led to the rise of regionalism in Italy via the Northern
League. It has produced radical devolution in Spain, not only to the
Basques but the Catalans and the Balearics. Belgium cannot divine
whether it is one, two or three countries. In the United Kingdom, it
has produced serious devolution in Scotland, a semi-detached Northern
Ireland and a more autonomous Wales. Even Germany, which would seem
the exception, is actually more fragmented in many respects and both
economically and politically weaker as a consequence of unification.

Perhaps the only sizeable nation in Western Europe that appears
culturally comfortable within its borders is France – and even there
many observers would contend that tensions have been exacerbated in
the past 20 years.

It is a paradox of politics that while small convulsions often prompt
massive comment, more seismic shifts pass by almost ignored. That
is the case for Europe. If anyone had predicted in these pages in
February 1988 that the atlas would look as it does now, they would
have been dismissed. The notion then that Kosovo would become an
independent nation would have been regarded as laughable.

Yet such a prophecy, while seeming wild, would not have been
ridiculous. If one looks at the maps of Europe over the centuries –
best set out in Norman Davies’s incomparable Europe: a History –
what is striking is the trend of that cartography.

Over time, two very different sorts of Europe can be identified. One
is of a "micro-Europe", a continent with a large number of small,
independent states, some of which are so tiny as to be almost
illogical; the other is a "macro-Europe", where there is a smaller
number of larger states, either explicitly through empires or
implicitly via the kind of domination that the Soviet Union held over
its nominally "free" allies in the Warsaw Pact.

The story of Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall has been one
of yet another reversion from macro-Europe to micro-Europe. And
significantly, this may prove to be a durable transformation.

Macro-Europe developed as the result of outright force or the threat of
conquest. Micro-Europe is what seems to occur if armies are left out of
the equation. We live in what is a natural mosaic of a continent. If
the various Balkan conflicts that led to the break-up of Yugoslavia
were, as there is reason to hope, the last destined to happen on our
soil, then more micro-Europe rather than less of it is surely to be
the pattern of the future. If Gibraltar, for instance, is not to be
a British dependency 50 years hence, then it is less likely to be
submerged into Spain than evolve into a new form of Monaco.

This momentous move from a macro-Europe to a micro-Europe prompts
one over-arching question that few across its political elite care
to address at this moment. Its implications for the European Union
should be seminal, but political leaders seem unwilling to acknowledge
this candidly.

For the EU is, in many respects, a rather tragic institution. The
macro-Europe vision that its founders had for it made eminent sense,
to be fair to them, in the 1950s. Not merely the legacy of the
Second World War but the need to compete with the Communist bloc
made supra-nationalism an appealing concept. In the context of a
micro-Europe, though, the model appears desperately outdated.

The new Europe that has emerged so suddenly demands something closer
to a modern Hanseatic League than a Brussels-based one-size-fits-all
formula. One last fact sums up the scale of what is taking place around
us. In the many years that passed from when Senator Thurmond was at
school to when he died, the map of the United States was amended but
twice when Alaska, then Hawaii, achieved statehood.

With Kosovo, like Montenegro before it in 2006, departing from the
jurisdiction of Serbia, Europe’s increasingly complicated atlas has
altered twice in fewer than two years.

ARMENPRESS

110 PATIENTS TO HAVE FREE HEART OPERATIONS AT NORK-MARASH CENTER

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS: Some 110 Armenians with serious
heart problems will be operated on this year free of charge at
Nork-Marash Medical Center in Yerevan. As many patients with heart
problems were also eligible to this free medical service in 2007.
Nork-Marash Center director, Mrs. Lydia Muradian, said to
Armenpress that the government has released 170 million drams, as much
as in 2007, to cover the cost of these operations. Six patients have
been already operated on this year.
The privilege is reserved for patients from low-income families who
are recipients of poverty allowances.
Mrs. Muradian said the Center has asked the government to lower the
ceiling of eligibility as last year they had to reject 20 patients
with serious heart problems.
Overall last year some 860 heart operations were performed by
doctors of this center. The mortality rate is very low-3-6 percent,
Mrs.. Muradian said.

EurasiaNet, NY
Feb 16 2008

AZERBAIJAN: WASHINGTON, BAKU CONCERNED ABOUT PKK CELLS IN CAUCASUS

Ron Synovitz 2/16/08
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL

Azerbaijan’s government has raised concerns with US officials that
militants from Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are expanding
from northern Iraq into the Caucasus and could be setting up cells in
Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov tells RFE/RL that the
PKK issue was the main focus of his talks on February 14 with
visiting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State on Terrorism Frank
Urbanchik.

"We suggested that this issue be watched closely," he says. "These
issues will be more broadly discussed, I believe, in the next round
of talks between Azerbaijan and the United States."

Like Turkish officials, Azimov describes the PKK as a "terrorist
group." But Azimov stops short of confirming Turkish state media
reports that allege the PKK has already moved from northern Iraq into
the Azerbaijani districts of Fuzuli and Lachin. Both of those
districts have been occupied since the early 1990s by ethnic-Armenian
forces who waged a separatist war in Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

But Azimov does suggest that PKK fighters are moving closer to
Azerbaijani territory. "Lately, we have been watching [PKK]
activities…very closely," he says. "Due to the problems that Turkey
is facing, we have been very vigilant. According to the information
we are receiving from different sources, the activities of this
organization are approaching our country."

More specifically, Azimov says the PKK is building "close relations"
with "terrorist groups and organizations" that are enemies of both
Turkey and Azerbaijan — a remark seen in Baku as a reference to
Armenia or ethnic-Armenian forces.

Government officials in Yerevan have consistently denied Turkish
media reports that PKK militants have moved into the districts of
Azerbaijan that are occupied by ethnic Armenians.

Independent and opposition media in Azerbaijan also report that PKK
militants are now active in parts of Azerbaijan. Those reports
alleged that ethnic-Kurdish officials in Azerbaijan’s government have
been backing the PKK — a claim that Baku also denies.

US Regional Concerns

Jonathan Henik, a public-affairs officer at the US Embassy in Baku,
confirms that the United States and Azerbaijan have been discussing
the threat of PKK militancy. He says most of Washington’s previous
discussions on the issue had been with Turkey or with European
governments.

But Henik says the United States is increasingly concerned about what
appears to be growing ties between the PKK and other groups in the
Caucasus that have been deemed terrorist organizations. He says
Washington is also worried about the threat the PKK poses to energy
infrastructure in the Caucasus.

Those concerns focus on a 1,770-kilometer pipeline that carries
Caspian oil from Baku through Georgia and on to southeastern Turkey’s
Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

About 20 million ethnic Kurds are scattered mainly in northern Iraq,
Syria, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. Describing themselves as the
world’s largest stateless minority, most live in southeastern Turkey,
where the PKK has fought an insurgency since 1984. More than 30,000
people have been killed in that fighting, most of them ethnic Kurds.

Though the PKK declared a cease-fire in 1999, fighting by separatists
resumed in southeastern Turkey in 2004. Authorities in Ankara fear
that the Kurds in northern Iraq plan to set up their own state — a
move that would stir tensions and lead to increased calls for
autonomy by Turkish Kurds.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul raised the issue during talks at the
White House in early January with U.S. President George W. Bush.
After that meeting, Bush told reporters he supported Turkey’s efforts
to fight the PKK militants in northern Iraq.

"Relations between the United States and Turkey are important for our
country. And we have worked hard to make them strong," Bush said.
"And I believe they are strong. We deal with common problems. One
such problem is our continuing fight against a common enemy — and
that’s terrorists. And such a common enemy is the PKK. It’s an enemy
to Turkey. It’s an enemy to Iraq. And it’s an enemy to people who
want to live in peace."

Editor’s Note: RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service correspondent Alekber
Raufoglu contributed to this report from Baku.

ARMENIAN MEDIA CHIEF CRITICAL OF UK FIRM’S SURVEY AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL POLLS

Mediamax News Agency
Feb 14 2008
Armenia

Yerevan, 14 February: President of the Yerevan Press Club (YPC)
Boris Navasardyan today cast doubt on the report of the British ECHO
Research Company, prepared following the results of a media monitoring
in Armenia during the first week of the election campaign.

Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today, Boris Navasardyan
noted that "seven days is a quite short period for determining the
degree of objectiveness and independence of the Armenian media".

Besides, he noted, the used indicators of the research do not give
basis to argue that the given data are unambiguous.

Boris Navasardyan stated that the ECHO Research held a mixed analysis
of the broadcast and print media of Armenia, "which radically differ
as to the degree of independence and freedom".

"We repeatedly noted that the newspapers are freer from the
authorities’ pressures than the electronic media, and one cannot
compare these two completely different types of media. This is the
same thing as mixing oranges with pears," the YPC president stated.

La Prensa, Panama
15 de febrero de 2008

Eurnekian hace oferta a Exxon Mobil

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
REUTERS

El grupo empresario argentino Eurnekian, asociado con el brasileño GP
Investimentos, hizo una oferta de compra por todos los activos que
tiene la petrolera estadounidense Exxon Mobil en América Latina,
publicó ayer un diario argentino.

De acuerdo con el reporte del periódico Clarín, la operación rondaría
los 2 mil millones de dólares y el proceso de revisión de libros
podría cerrarse en los próximos 20 a 30 días. "Le comentamos a la
presidenta Cristina Kirchner la oferta que estamos haciendo", publicó
el diario, citando a Ernesto Gutiérrez, socio de Eurnekian.

Las propiedades de la petrolera estadounidense en la región están
también en la mira de la brasileña Petrobras, la venezolana PDVSA
-interesada por el negocio de Exxon Mobil en Argentina-y la
anglo-holandesa Shell.

Exxon Mobil Corp. tiene operaciones en Argentina, donde controla el
13% del mercado de combustibles; Brasil, donde posee el 7%; Chile,
Uruguay y Paraguay. No había nadie inmediatamente disponible en las
empresas para referirse a la información publicada.

El grupo Eurnekian tiene concesiones de aeropuertos en Argentina,
Italia, Ecuador, Armenia y Uruguay y, además, busca ingresar en el
negocio de los ferrocarriles, con el tren trasandino que unirá a
Argentina y Chile a través de la Cordillera de los Andes.

GP Investimentos es un fondo que administra más de 3 mil millones de
dólares y que adquirió 45 compañías de 14 sectores diferentes, como
tecnología, petróleo, seguros, centros de compras, supermercados y
ferrocarriles, entre otros.

Gutiérrez dijo a Clarín que el grupo estaba trabajando en la
proposición desde hacía cinco meses.

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