SALES OF “ASHTARAK KAT” DAIRY PRODUCTS TO RISE BY 30% BY THE END OF 2006
Yerevan, June 14. ArmInfo. The sales of “Ashtarak Kat” dairy will
be increased by 30% by the end of 2006. Since January 2006 till May
inclusive, the company’s sales volume reached 703.6 million drams,
“Ashtarak Kat” Executive Director Khachatur Atanesyan told ArmInfo.
He said the company’s sales for 2005 totaled 1 billion 343 million
drams, net profit – 206 million 200 thousand drams as against 988.2
million and 120 million 800 thousand drams in 2004, respectively. Kh.
Atanesyan said the sales were increased due to the growing demand
for the company’s products.
He said to meet consumers’ needs, in the September of 2005, the
company started an exclusive production of candied cheese-curds of
four types: vanilla, chocolate, with peach jam and condensed milk
filling. In addition, the company launched production of 7 types of
yogurts and yogurt drinks. Kh. Atanesyan said the company’s products
are special due to the milk delivered from the highly mountainous
meadows in Armenia which are 2,000 m above the sea level. The company
has milk purchasing points in five regions of Armenia: Aragatsotn,
Lori, Shirak, Gegharkunik, and Syunik. Kh. Atanesyan assured
ArmInfo’s correspondent that the whole process of dairy production
is controlled in the system of up-to- date laboratories accredited
by the Armenian state standard. He said that guided by the principle
of mutually advantageous cooperation with farmers, “Ashtarak Kat”
effectively uses also the surplus milk in spring season. Thus, due
to the up-to-date technologies, whole milk power has been produced
since 2001. The ratio of nutrients in the dried milk is the same
with that in the original milk. Kh. Atanesyan said the company both
exports and uses the dried milk in the production in winter period.
To note, “Ashtarak Kat,” was founded in 1995 on the basis of the
cheese dairy plant in the village of Agarak, Aragatsotn region. The
company cooperates with 1,200 farms in 52 villages in Armenia and
employs 350 people.

CB’S POWERS OF ARMENIAN FINANCIAL MARKET MEGAREGULATOR WILL ALLOW IT SECURING OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY OF COUNTRY’S INSURANCE MARKET: LLOYD’S REPS.
Yerevan, June 14. ArmInfo. The Central Bank’s powers of the Armenian
financial market megaregulator will allow it securing openness
and transparency of the country’s insurance market. Darren Warkcup
Representative of Heritage Managing Agency Ltd. Syndicate 1200, London
Corporation Lloyd’s, and Brian Salmanpour, Representative of the
Council of London Gate Group, told ArmInfo. The representatives have
recently visited Armenia for the first time, where Armenian CB Council
member, Vache Gabrielyan, informed them of the supervision mechanisms.
D. Warkcup believes important that the powers of megaregulator were
laid on the Central Bank as the chief banker tries to transfer the
insurance market to the open field i.e. to secure transparency of
this business for potential clients. As regards the CB’s aspiration to
bring the law on insurance in the line with international standards,
it will help the market develop and attract more foreign companies to
Armenia. This, in its turn, will develop competition and create more
attractive conditions for clients. In fact, only reliable insurance
companies will maintain their positions in the market. B. Salmanpour
touched upon the prospects of introduction of compulsory insurance
in Armenia stating that it will play an important role both for
the economy on the whole and for development of insurance market,
in particular. It is first of all aimed at protection of consumers’
interests as it will allow the market become well- organized, and
the public – more aware of their demands, he said.
In conclusion, D. Warkcup stated that the stable economic growth
in Armenia will allow insurance companies extending their activity,
specifically, capitalization is in question. Due to it, new services
will be provided to clients, the competition will be increased. In
fact, only specialized stable companies will remain in the market,
others will amalgamate. Of course, the share of reinsurance of
Armenian companies in the Lloyd’s market is so insignificant that it
is not worth mentioning. The annual turnover of Lloyd’s Corporation
considerably exceeds the budget of Armenia. Nevertheless, the
corporation’s underwriter noticed Armenia and other CIS countries
which were avoided by other foreign reinsurers, D. Warkcup said.

INQUIRY COMMISSION YET ANOTHER COVER-UP
Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)
The Nation (Kenya)
Jun 14, 2006
The Commission of Inquiry established to investigate the events
surrounding the Armenian brothers is not just a case of too little,
too late, it is yet another outrageous attempt to impede proper
investigations into criminal activities.
The first step should have been to do what Parliament demanded
yesterday: The sacking of Internal Security minister John Michuki and
Immigration minister Gideon Konchella for failing in their duties,
and in order to facilitate proper investigations.
The first cover-up was in the Government’s decision to deport Artur
Margaryan, Artur Sargasyan and their accomplices even before they had
been investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted over the brazen actions
witnessed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport last Thursday.
This commission is being established when the suspects have already
being given safe passage out of the country, and are obviously out
of reach of Kenyan law.
In any case, it is obvious that those who helped them get out of the
country will not want them back to answer questions, during which the
Arturs might just give evidence that will be terribly embarrassing
to people in authority.
Questions started being asked about the two brothers as early as
March when they were accused of being mercenaries at the service of
prominent people close to Government.
Even when the Artur brothers were strutting around as if they owned
the place, and presumably deeply embarrassing their protectors, the
Government had the temerity to publicly defend them, issuing more
than one statement claiming they were bona fide investors.
It is only after things started unravelling with the actions seen at
the JKIA and the subsequent police raid on their residence that the
Government started worrying.
It started worrying, not about some individuals in the country who were
a real security risk, but that the activities of these people would
be exposed and the identities of their sponsors in Government revealed.
In the first place, an extremely serious security breach was witnessed
at the JKIA when the Artur brothers brandished guns and drove away
with uninspected luggage.
Then when police raided their house, they came across a treasure
trove of items that were obvious candidates for very vigorous
inspection. These included assault rifles with serial numbers close
to those issued to the presidential guard.
Police also found Kenya passports, police appointment cards, and
high-level security clearance passes for all airports.
Free passage out of the country
In addition, there were bags full of motor vehicle registration plates,
some for diplomatic and Government cars, as well as more than a dozen
motor vehicles, some with Government registration, others with no
number plates at all.
Also, there were uniforms and other items resembling those used by
Kenya’s specialised police units.
And what does the Government do when confronted with matters requiring
serious investigations? It gives the prime suspects free passage out
of the country.
Then when it wants to pretend to be doing something, it suspends a host
of junior officials instead of going straight for the senior officials
and wheeler-dealers who might have used their proximity to the seat
of power to sponsor actions extremely prejudicial to national security.
Setting up a Commission of Inquiry now is really closing the stable
doors after the horse has bolted. More seriously, it is an attempt
to scuttle ongoing investigations by a branch of the Police Force
that appears not to have been compromised by an obviously dangerous
parallel security apparatus and criminal network operating with
official sanction.
The inquiry might also be designed to steal the thunder from an
independent investigation planned by Parliament.
The Government has handled this whole matter very suspiciously. This
reflects badly, not just on an amorphous entity called the “The
Government”, but more directly on President Kibaki personally, whose
whole judgement and probity has been called into question.
No self-respecting individual should be proud to sit in a Commission
of Inquiry designed to be nothing more than a cover-up.

AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA SIGNAL WILLINGNESS TO RESUME TALKS OVER DISPUTED ENCLAVE
Aida Sultanova
AP Worldstream
Jun 14, 2006
Azerbaijan and Armenia on Wednesday promised to continue talks over
Nagorno-Karabakh despite two failed efforts this year by the Caucasus
nations’ presidents to resolve the disputed enclave’s status.
The two countries’ foreign ministers, along with international
mediators, met in Paris for four hours of talks on Tuesday, a week
after Ilham Aliev of Azerbaijan and Robert Kocharian of Armenia met
in Romania on the sidelines of a Black Sea summit.
Top officials from both countries also traded blame about the repeated
failures.
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said in televised comments that
Tuesday’s meeting was “as always, tense and intensive. … In any
case, the process will continue. The next step will be determined in
the near future.”
A high-ranking official with Armenia’s Foreign Ministry accused
Azerbaijan of making what he said were unconstructive steps, but said
the talks would continue. The official requested anonymity since he
was not authorized to speak for the ministry.
Russian and French mediators from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s so-called Minsk group also attended Tuesday’s
meeting.
Nagorno-Karabakh is inside Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic
Armenians, who have run it and seven contiguous districts since an
uneasy 1994 cease-fire ended six years of full-scale war. Sporadic
border clashes regularly break out.
____
Associated Press Writer Avet Demourian contributed to this report
from Yerevan, Armenia.

DONORS RAISE A10.8 MILLION TO PROMOTE PEACE IN SOUTH OSSETIA
AP Worldstream
Jun 14, 2006
International donors raised A10.8 million (US$13.6 million) Wednesday
to promote peace and reconciliation in Georgia’s breakaway South
Ossetia region.
The money will be used in social projects to bring together the
region’s Ossetian and Georgian communities, said Peter Semneby,
the European Union’s top envoy to the South Caucasus region.
“We are looking forward to the EU’s engagement in conflict resolution,”
in the region said Georgia’s Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli who
attended talks in Brussels with donor nations and EU officials.
The EU and its member states will contribute about two-thirds of the
amount, with Russia and the United States making up the rest.
Semneby was optimistic that the EU could wrap up agreements to improve
political, economic and security ties with Georgia and its neighbors
Armenia and Azerbaijan within a few months to guide the three Caucasus
republics into the EU’s “neighborhood policy.”
The EU hopes such talks will help resolve territorial disputes in
the region.

SPEAKING OF ARMENOPHOBIA IN RUSSIA NOT SERIOUS, RUSSIAN POLITICIAN CONSIDERS
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.06.2006 16:25 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Mass Armenophobia doesn’t reign in the Russian
society, advisor at the department of regional and cultural ties
at the RA President’s administration Oleg Hayrapetov stated when
commenting on the recent killings of Armenians in Russia,
In his words, a generation that was brought up in 1990-ies without
comprehension and moral intelligence burst out to the streets of
Russian cities. “I understand the concern of Armenians. Their reaction
to the recent events is quite natural. However it’s not serious to
speak of Armenophobia in Russia,” he said.
“The Russian prosecutor offices deal with each case. I know that there
are some forces in Armenia that try to represent the incidents as
fascism and mass Armenophobia,” he resumed, reported Novosti-Armenia.

TERRY DAVIS PUBLISHES REPORT ON SECRET DETENTIONS IN EUROPE
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.06.2006 17:51 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A report related to allegations of rendition flights
and illegal detentions has been published today by Terry Davis, the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, as a part of his inquiry
under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This
procedure is parallel to the investigation conducted by Senator Dick
Marty on behalf of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly.
37 of the 46 Council of Europe member states were asked to clarify
and complement the information already submitted in response to the
questionnaire of 21 November 2005, in which the Secretary General
requested explanations about the effective implementation of the
European Convention on Human Rights with respect to activities of
national and foreign intelligence services and aircraft which may
be used for rendition purposes. The governments were also asked
to provide information on possible involvement of public officials
and the official investigations into allegations of unacknowledged
detention or rendition flights.
The replies from the governments and the analysis are available on
the Council of Europe web site. The Secretary General will shortly
make recommendations to the Council of Europe governments on specific
legal measures to be taken at national and European level in order to
reinforce the existing protection against rendition, illegal detention
and the outsourcing of torture.

U.S. PLANS SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO NEW BLACK SEA FUND
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.06.2006 18:36 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The United States plans to make a substantial
contribution to the Black Sea Trust, a new multimillion-dollar fund
promoting democracy and cooperation among nine countries in southeast
Europe, President Bush’s deputy national security adviser says. The
trust will provide grants to focus on enhancing economic and security
cooperation, crisis management and democracy in Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
In remarks at the Black Sea Forum June 5 in Bucharest, Romania,
Deputy National Security Advisor J. D. Crouch said the United States
would participate in and make a significant financial contribution
to the trust in partnership with the German Marshall Fund, the
Romanian government and other donors. Crouch said the United States is
supporting other initiatives such as the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
initiative and the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative. “We want
to hear your ideas on how to cooperate more effectively to address
a broader range of issues,” Crouch added.
The German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States announced
the creation of the trust on June 5 during the Black Sea Forum in
Bucharest, Romania. The GMF said it anticipates launching operations
of the Black Sea Trust in the fall, with initial contributions
of more than $20 million, climbing to more than $40 million as the
trust matures. Contributors include the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID), the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Romanian
government and other private and public donors from the United States
and Europe.

U.S. RECOGNIZED NEWLY INDEPENDENT NATION OF MONTENEGRO
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.06.2006 18:50 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The United States has recognized Montenegro as
an independent state, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said
June 13. Montenegrins voted May 21 to end their 88-year-old union
with Serbia, becoming the fifth republic to gain independence from
the former Yugoslavia. Montenegro declared independence on June 3
after international election monitors validated the results of its
peaceful May 21 referendum. Serbia on June 5 declared itself to be
a separate sovereign state and the successor to the State Union of
Serbia and Montenegro. The European Union and numerous other states
are also issuing formal statements of recognition for Montenegro. “The
United States has formally recognized the Republic of Montenegro as
a sovereign and independent state,” Secretary of State Rice said in
a statement read aloud by State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
during the June 13 daily press briefing.
The decision to recognize Montenegro was made “following the request of
its government and consistent with the provisions of the constitutional
charter which established the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro,”
Rice said. “The charter between Serbia and Montenegro explicitly
provided means by which the people of Montenegro could express
their will with respect to independence. We congratulate the people
of Montenegro for the peaceful and democratic manner in which they
conducted their May 21 vote on independence The honor of being counted
among the free and independent states of the world brings with it
the challenge of protecting and advancing the freedom, rights and
prosperity of all the people of Montenegro and the responsibility
to make a positive contribution to the community of nations,” Rice
said. “The United States will be considering in the coming days
Montenegro’s proposal to begin a process of establishing diplomatic
relations. We look forward to continued friendship and cooperation with
the people of Montenegro,” Rice said, reported the U.S. International
Information Programs Bureau.
It should be also noted that June 12 Russian President Vladimir Putin
also recognized the independence of Montenegro.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

$213 THOUSAND TRANSFERRED TO ACCOUNT OF RELATIVES OF THOSE KILLED IN A-320 CRASH
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.06.2006 18:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 88 million 456 thousand drams ($231 thousand)
was transferred to a special bank account opened for the relatives
of those killed in the A-320 jet crash. The account N900013017026
was opened in the Armenian Ministry of Finance and Economy on
May 4 on the initiative of Armenian entrepreneurs supported by the
government. Financial assistance is also accepted from abroad in any
foreign currency, reported RIA Novosti.
To remind, on May 3 night Airbus-320 owned by Armavia national carrier
crashed in the Black Sea 6 km away from Adler airport killing all of
113 people aboard, including 6 children and 8 crewmembers. Among them
were 26 Russian citizens, one Ukrainian and one Georgian citizen,
while the rest were Armenian citizens.