ARMENIA TO START PRODUCING MOZZARELLA AND MOZZARELLA-PIZZA ITALIAN CHEESE IN SEPTEMBER
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 30, 2006
YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. Armenia is to start producing Mozzarella
and Mozzarella-pizza Italian cheese in September 2006.
Ashot Tamrazyan, director of Dili farm, told journalists on Wednesday
that the farm also intends to start producing some kinds of Armenian
cheese.
In his words, the farm’s key aim is to produce a pure cheese up to
bio-standards through.
Tamrazyan also said that the farm is going to produce
up-to-European-standards milk. Milk output is planned to reach 3
thousand liters a day.
120 German pedigree cows and German and Italian milk-processing
equipment will make it possible to retain the same output throughout
entire year and will ensure high quality of the milk and dairy.
Tamrazyan also added that 42 million invested in the farm by founders
with assistance of some European banks, laid necessary financial ground
for creating 50 jobs with average salary of AMD 50 thousand ($128).
Dili farm is set up in Dilijan, Armenia, in mid-2005.

DILI FARM DIRECTOR: ARMENIAN DAIRY MARKET UNDERDEVELOPED
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 30, 2006
YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. Armenian dairy market is underdeveloped,
Ashot Tamrazyan, Dili farm director, said Wednesday at a press
conference in Yerevan.
In his words, import makes 45% of the products consumed in the country.
He views it necessary to develop local dairy industry.
Tamrazyan thinks proper equipment and conditions are needed for
producing high-quality dairy.
He said the farm intended to start producing Mozzarella and
Mozzarella-pizza Italian cheese and some kind of Armenian cheese in
mid-September.

ARMENIAN BANKS BUY CONTROLLING SHARE IN EQUITY OF ACRA CREDIT
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 30, 2006
YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. Over 52% of ACRA credit bureau’s shares
belong to Armenian commercial banks today.
ACRA Credit Reporting CJSC told ARKA News Agency on Wednesday that as
a result of lengthy negotiations, 11 Armenian commercial banks – ACBA,
Anelik Bank, ArmSwissBank, Armenian Development Bank, Artsakhbank,
BTA InvestBank, HSBC Bank Armenia, InecoBank, Melat Bank, Prometei
Bank and VTB Bank-Armenia – jointly have bought 50.1% of shares in
equity AQCRA Credit reporting CJSC.
Earlier Converse Bank (in June 2005) and ArmEconomBank (in May 2006)
became shareholders of ACRA each owning 1% of ACRA’s equity.
ACRA credit bureau was set up in 2004 by the U.S. Credential Inc.and
with the assistance and involvement of Dun&BradStreet Inc.
As of today, 14 of 21 Armenian banks, i.e. the banks representing
76% of banking assets and 75% of all the loans in banking sector,
have become either ACRA’s shareholders or its members.
Besides, 9 largest credit organizations – Aregak, Finka, First
Mortgage Company, Cascade Credit, Horizon, Kamurj, SEF International,
Shen Aniv and Washington Capital – working in Armenia are also the
members of ACRA.
According to preliminary agreement with the Central Bank of Armenia
and Union of Banks of Armenia, it is expected that the Central Bank
will become one of the largest shareholders of ACRA soon.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SEEKS NO MEMBERSHIP IN POLITICAL PARTIES
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 30, 2006
YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA – Novosti-Armenia/. Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan seeks no membership in political parties, presidential
spokesman Victor Soghomonyan said Wednesday at a press conference
in Yerevan.
In his words, the president has never wanted to join any party.
Soghomonyan also said he would remain non-partisan as well. He said
presidential staff will do the same.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO TRAVEL TO GERMANY, KAZAKHSTAN SOON
Arka News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 30, 2006
YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan is to
travel to Germany and Kazakhstan before the end of 2006 for routine
visits, Victor Soghomonyan, presidential spokesman, told journalists
on Wednesday.
He said the head of state would also attend CIS summit in Minsk.
In his words, prospects for French, Romanian and Slovenian presidents’
visits to Armenia are under discussion now.
Commenting on French president’s upcoming visit to Armenia, Soghomonyan
said it will give a new impetus to bilateral relations development.
He added, however, that the information given to the media is
preliminary.

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN IS AGAINST SERZH SARKISIAN AS KOCHARIAN’S SUCCESSOR?
Today, Azerbaijan
Aug. 30, 2006
Armenian President’s press secretary Viktor Soghomonian gave a press
briefing in Yerevan.
Kocharian’s press secretary was also asked to comment on a recent
report published in the “Iravunk” weekly, which, citing its sources,
suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin had openly spoken
against Armenia’s powerful defense minister Serzh Sarkisian as
Kocharian’s successor.
“I haven’t discussed publications of that type with the president
for a long time, because very often they are so absurd that even do
not deserve discussing,” Soghomonian said.
He said the relations between Kocharian and Sarkisian were normal and
that there was no conflict between Armenia’s ruling Republican Party
and Prosperous Armenia, a newly established pro-government party led
by tycoon Gagik Tsarukian, RFE/RL Armenian service informs.
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KOCHARIAN SPEAKS AGAINST ‘ALL-PROPORTIONAL’ ELECTION
By Ruzanna Khachatrian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 30, 2006
President Robert Kocharian is against the ‘all-proportional’ system
of representation in parliament, his press secretary announced on
Wednesday, disproving a series of recent newspaper reports claiming
the opposite.
In a press briefing Viktor Soghomonian explained that the president is
against reconsidering the agreement reached by the coalition forces
regarding the distribution of proportional and majoritarian seats in
the Armenian legislature – which is currently 90 to 41.
“It would be wrong to cut a deputy off his constituency at this
stage of our democratic development,” Soghomonian said, advocating
the preservation of 41 seats for deputies elected directly from
single-mandate constituencies.
Kocharian’s press secretary was also asked to comment on a recent
report published in the “Iravunk” weekly, which, citing its sources,
suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin had openly spoken
against Armenia’s powerful defense minister Serzh Sarkisian as
Kocharian’s successor.
“I haven’t discussed publications of that type with the president
for a long time, because very often they are so absurd that even do
not deserve discussing,” Soghomonian said.
He said the relations between Kocharian and Sarkisian were normal and
that there was no conflict between Armenia’s ruling Republican Party
and Prosperous Armenia, a newly established pro-government party led
by tycoon Gagik Tsarukian.
Speaking of international relations, Soghomonian said that Armenia
does not intend sending peacekeeping troops to Lebanon first because
of peacekeepers’ unspecified mandate and secondly because of the large
presence of ethnic Armenians in Lebanon. “We don’t want to create
problems for the local Armenian community in the event of clashes.”
Soghomonian also didn’t rule out that President Kocharian may meet
his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliev by the end of the year. “Days ago,
the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met to try to prepare
a meeting for the presidents. This meeting may take place if the
presidents have enough material to discuss.”

TROUBLED MINISTER EMBROILED IN FRESH CORRUPTION SCANDAL
By Hovannes Shoghikian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug. 30, 2006
Environment Minister Vartan Ayvazian on Wednesday brushed aside the
accusations of an American company exploiting gold reserves in Armenia
that said he had demanded a bribe in exchange for certain preferences.
The accusations were made public after newspaper reports revealed that
representatives of the Global Golden Corporation ostensibly provided
evidence substantiating their claims to the Armenian authorities.
Meanwhile, Ayvazian denies even having met the company’s people in
the period when they claim he demanded a $3-million bribe from them.
“It is a good plot for a detective story,” Ayvazian said. “But why
do they remember it only a year after the incident allegedly happened?
We didn’t even have meetings in the last year, we only exchanged
correspondence.”
Earlier this month Ayvazian was accused of condoning illegal
logging, poaching, mining and other activities after a six-month
inquiry conducted by the Prosecutor-General’s Office this year found
“serious violations” in the operations of the Ministry led by him. In
particular, the prosecutors said the Ministry and its territorial
divisions have failed to take meaningful action against the continuing
destruction of forests and other green areas across the country,
while the few individuals caught for illegally cutting trees usually
get off with minor fines or are not punished at all.
The fresh accusations of corrupt activities only stoke renewed
speculation that Ayvazian may soon be relieved of his duties.
Director of the Global Golden Corporation’s Armenia Office Ashot
Poghosian said to RFE/RL: “There is corruption in the country, we all
know about it, and it also exists in the Ministry of Environment. We
presented everything clearly and in a simple. I don’t want to comment
on it while it is still in process.”
On January 25, the American gold mining corporation stated that it
had purchased 27 square kilometers of land in Armenia’s northeastern
Gegharkunik province. Information on the official website of the
company suggested that it was going to extract uranium in the
mentioned territory. The company had purchased the exclusive right
to the territory and its geological research from Armenia-registered
Attila Investment. But the Armenian law does not give the company
the right to extract uranium without an explicit permission from the
Environment Ministry.
The Ministry demanded explanations from the company on that account.
“They gave us a cynical answer saying that they could also look for
radioactive substances. We warned them that they must respect the
laws of this country,” Ayvazian said.
Poghosian does not deny that the company is interested in finding
uranium in Armenia: “We expect the presence of uranium in the Getik
territory. Researches are being carried out within the framework of
the general license for researches issued to us by the Environment
Ministry.”

ICRC: 3.286 AZERBAIJANIS, 834 ARMENIANS AND 12 FOREIGN NATIONALS ARE MISSING DUE TO THE NK CONFLICT
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 30, 2006
The International Day of the Disappeared, 30 August, is when we
remember those who have been abducted, are held in clandestine places
of detention, tortured and, in some cases, killed.
We also recognize the uncertainty suffered by their families,”
International Committee of the Red Cross representative office in
Baku said on the International Day of the Disappeared.
The report reads that the fate of people missing as a result of the
Nagorny Karabakh conflict continued to be the major focus of the
ICRC’s work in Armenia and Azerbaijan. More than ten years after
the ceasefire, thousands of families remain without news of their
relatives. To help resolve this issue, the ICRC is continuing its
efforts to foster dialogue between all parties, reminding them of
their obligations under IHL. In 2005, the ICRC addressed a memorandum
to the parties, outlining concrete proposals for addressing the issue.
“In February 2004, the ICRC presented the list of the missing to
Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities and de-facto authorities of
Nagorny Karabakh. This list contains 4,132 missing, 3.286 Azerbaijanis,
834 Armenians and 12 foreign nationals.”
The ICRC proposes standardizing the collection and management
of information on missing persons; cooperate on the recovery and
identification of the remains of missing Persons, step up support for
the families of missing persons. Both the Armenian and the Azerbaijani
authorities welcomed this initiative, and the ICRC is pursuing its
dialogue with them on implementation of the proposals.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SAFAR ABIYEV: “AZERBAIJAN’S DEPLOYING PEACEKEEPERS TO LEBANON HAS NOT BEEN DISCUSSED”
Today, Azerbaijan
Aug. 30, 2006
“Azerbaijan’s deploying peacekeeping forces to Lebanon inside
international peacekeeping contingent is not topic of discussion,”
Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Safar Abiyev told journalists.
The Minister said Azerbaijan has not been offered related to deployment
of peaceful contingent to Lebanon, APA informs.
Mr.Abiyev also said that Azerbaijani Army will not need the held of
Turkish Armed Forces if war breaks out with Armenia.
“Azerbaijani Army is strongly prepared and can carry out all
operations,” he underlined.
The Minister also said the issue on establishing united armed forces
staff is not being discussed. Stating that establishing GUAM military
groups is being considered, Abiyev refused to talk about this in
detail.
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