27TH FULL SESSION OF PABSEC TO START IN YEREVAN
ArmRadio.am
05.06.2006 12:43
June 6-8 the 27th full session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) will be held in Yerevan.
June 6 the 34th sitting of the PABSEC Bureau will be held at the
National Assembly, which will be followed by 27th sitting of the
Standing Committee, and the extraordinary sitting of the PABSEC
Standing Commission on Economic, Trade, Technology and Ecology Issues.
The Assembly will first adopt the agenda of the session. Reference
will be made to issues of new mandates, the memorandum of the 26th
session held November 22-24 in Tirana and the report on the activity
of the Parliamentary Assembly will be ratified.
Cultural, educational, social and financial issues are on the agenda
of discussions on June 8. The place and date of the fall session of
the PABSEC will be determined, the presidency over the Parliamentary
Assembly will be transferred to Milli Mejlis of the Republic of
Azerbaijan.
In the framework of the 27th session of the PABSEC Chairman of the
National Assembly Tigran Trorosyan will have bilateral meetings with
representatives of international parliamentary structures and heads
of national delegations.

RF SENATOR LEVON CHAKHMAKHCHYAN ARRESTED WHEN TAKING A BRIBE OF US $300 THOUSAND
ArmRadio.am
05.06.2006 14:49
Levon Chakhmakhchyan, representing the Parliament of the Republic of
Kalmikia at the Russian Federal Council, was arrested when taking a
bribe of US$300 thousand. “Vzglyad” business paper informs that the
special operation was held on June 2 in Moscow. The money confiscated
from Levon Chakhmakhchyan was marked with special matter and it did
not make difficulty for security service employees to find out the
origin of these.
According to the data of the Federal Security Service, the confiscated
cash was just part of the bribe. The rest of the sum had to be
transferred to a bank account. The whole sum totaled US$1.5 million.
“According to “Interfax,” Chakhmakhchyan declared, “he touched neither
the money nor the bag, and he did not even know what was in it.”
Chakhmakhchyan’s son-in-law, assistant to the Auditor of the Counting
Chamber was also arrested. Chakhmakhchyan considers this is also part
of the persecution against him.
The above-mentioned special operation became a new link in the circle
of resignations at the higher Chamber of the Russian Parliament. To
remind, late in May Head of the Nenets Autonomy Alexey Barinov was
also arrested. He was charged with financial machinations, which cost
the state 19 million rubles.
Following this, three senators – Boris Gutin, Alexandr Adabashyan
and Igor Ivanov prematurely terminated their liabilities.
June 2 the Federal Council terminated the liabilities of Senator Arkadi
Sargsyan, representing the Parliament of the Republic of Khakasia.

CHESS: INDIA HAS A DISAPPOINTING FINISH
Chennai online, India
June 5 2006
Turin (Italy), June 5: India had a disappointing finish at the 37th
Chess Olympiad here with the women’s team bagging the 12th spot and
the men managing to get the 30th place after the concluding round of
the meet.
Indian men yet again failed to make the most of the situation and
managed a minimal 2.5-1.5 victory over Italy ‘B’ in the 13th and
final round.
Armenia attested their supremacy in the event with a quick draw on
all four boards against Hungary and won the gold medal with a huge
score of 36 points out of a possible 52.
The silver medal went to China who came with yet another fine
performance in the final round game to beat Holland by a 2.5-1.5
margin. The Chinese men finished with 34 points.
In an amazing turn of events, pre-Olympiad favourite and top seed
Russia were thrown out of medal contention after they lost their
final round game against Israel by a 1-3 margin.
It paved the way for United States men that beat Norway 3.5-0.5 to
join Israel in the third spot on 33 points and after the tie-break
was resolved US got the bronze.
Behind Israel, Hungary finished fifth overall on 32.5 points while
Russia ended sixth.
Indian men who had been given the second billing here behind Russia
finished 30th on 29.5 points after the final list was announced.
In women’s section, Ukraine won the gold after taking a draw with
Armenian eves. Ukraine ended with 29.5 points out of a possible 39
and won the gold with a 1.5 point lead over Russia, who defeated
Indian eves in the final round 2-1.
Indian eves, seeded ninth, had a better finish than their male
counterparts and tallied 23 points to finish 12th.
The Chinese women, the defending champions, had to be content with
the bronze this time. In the final round, China drew with Belarus
and ended on 27.5 points overall.
For Indian men, the final round also did not bring any good news
as national champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly was outdone on the third
board by unknown Sabino Brunello of the Italy ‘B’ team.
In fact, the Indian opposition did not have a single International
Master against four Indian Grandmasters and it was again a tragedy
of errors that failed to propel the team to a better finish.
Viswanathan Anand was expectedly rested and Krishnan Sasikiran won
his game against Niccolo Ronchetti after former World Junior Champion
P Harikrishna gave the team an early lead defeating Daniele Vocaturo.
However, Ganguly’s loss combined with a draw by Sandipan Chanda
against Denis Rombaldoni on the fourth board could yield only a
minimal victory.
The Indian women looked better placed to hold Russia with Grandmaster
Koneru Humpy settling for an early draw with Russian top player
Alexandra Kosteniuk. On the second board, Dronavalli Harika also
did well to get a half point against Natalia Kosintseva but on the
third Swati Ghate fumbled from a promising position against Nadezhda
Kosintseva — giving the Russians a 2-1 victory.

ARMENIAN MEN’S TEAM WON WORLD CHESS OLYMPIAD IN TORINO
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.06.2006 13:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia reinforced its status of chess power by
winning the World Chess Olympiad in Torino. As reported by the Armenian
Chess Federation, the Armenian men’s team garnered 36 out of 42 points
and was recognized the winner of the Tournament of Nations. The
Armenian chess players were leading from the 5th round and headed
the tournament table up to the end. It’s remarkable that the Armenian
team was among the favorites along with Russia, France and China.
The Armenian men’s team included international grand masters Levon
Aronyan (the winner of the FIDE world cup), Vladimir Hakobyan, Karen
Asryan, Smbar Lputyan, Gabriel Sargsyan and Artashes Minasyan.
China won silver with 34 points, the U.S. and Israeli men’s teams
shared the third position with 33 points.
They are followed by Hungary (32.3), Russia, Spain, France, Ukraine
and Bulgaria (32 points). As for the women’s team, their achievements
are more modest. They shared the 8-10 positions with Slovenia and
Czechia garnering 24 out of 39 possible. The women’s team included
grand masters Lilit Lazarian, Elina Daniyelyan, Nelli Aghinyan and
Siranush Andreasyan.

ACTION AGAINST KILLINGS THROUGH NATIONAL HATRED HELD IN MOSCOW
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.06.2006 13:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ June 3 an action in commemoration of those killed
by skinheads through national intolerance and hatred was held in
Moscow. As reported by the Yerkramas, the newspaper of Armenians of
Russia, the action was initiated by MSU students and tutors, the
MSU Armenian Student Association, the Union of Intellectual Youth
Interaction. It is known that the Union of Armenians of Russia refused
to participate in the action motivating its not being authorized.
To remind, May 25 Artur Sardaryan, aged 19, was killed in a train
near Moscow. The investigation considers the crime was committed
through national hatred. Two unknown beat the youth to death right in
front of dozens of witnesses. April 22, skinheads knifed 17-year-old
student Vigen Abrahamyants. His four friends were beaten. This crime
is also rated as a crime through national hatred. The search of the
criminals has not produced effect yet.

MARGARYAN: MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS DOES NOT INSPIRE BIG EXPECTATIONS
Regnum, Russia
June 5 2006
Meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Bucharest to
negotiate on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement does not inspire
big expectations, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan stated.
“However, I consider it to be possible that there will be no regress
and time will show whether progress will be recorded,” the Armenian
premier stressed. Also, he expressed confidence that the results
of the negotiations would not be able to exacerbate the Armenian
internal political situation, and, moreover, to create conditions
for conducting extraordinary parliamentary elections.
It is worth reminding that th emeeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents began on June 4 and it is still continuing. Yesterday’s
tete-a-tete meeting lasted for about 4h. The meeting takes place in
the framework of the Black Sea Dialogue and Cooperation Forum’s summit.

ARMENIANS ASSAULTED IN MOSCOW AGAIN
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.06.2006 13:23 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On Sunday in Podmoskovye 50 mailfactors assaulted
the family of rector of the Institute of Social Sciences Ernest
Grigoryan. As PanARMENIAN.Net came to know from the information
department of the Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR), the men were
beaten to loss of consciousness, women were taken to hospital with
concussion of brain. The police arrested the victims accusing them
of instigating the fight.
The situation cleared up, when at the police station the Armenians
recognized the policeman, whom they could not make way for because
of a jam an hour before. To all appearance, some of his subordinates
were among those 50 villains, who are sure of their impunity. According
to UAR press office head David Babayan, the Grigoryans intend to take
the matter into court.

WB APPROVED $6.25 CREDIT FOR ARMENIA TO FIGHT BIRD FLU
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.06.2006 14:45 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The World Bank Board of Directors has approved a
$6.25 credit for Armenia to fight bird flu, Director of the WB Yerevan
Office Roger Robinson said today. A $804 grant assigned by the Japanese
government will contribute to the implementation of the program. In
Mr. Robinson’s words, the program consists of three components.
“These are health, veterinarian measures, public awareness and
compensation to the farmers, who may be deprived of fowl in case
epidemic bursts out,” he said. Roger Robinson also informed that the
discussions on the program have been held since late 2005. He also
voiced hope that it will be ratified by the National Assembly in the
near future. The credit will be allocated for a 40-year maturity term
and 10-year grace period, reported Novosti-Armenia.

ARMENIAN CHESS PLAYERS ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD
A1+
[12:57 pm] 05 June, 2006
In the last 13th round of the 37th World Chess Olympiad In Turin the
Armenian chess players tied with the team of Hungary 2:2 and became
the winners of the Olympiad with 36 points. All the four players tied
very quickly as the Armenians needed only one point to be beyond the
reach of China.
The names of the winners are – Levon Aronyan, Vladimir Hakobyan,
Karen Asryan, Gabriel Sargsyan, Smbat Lputyan, Artashes Minasyan and
coach Tigran Nalbandyan. The first four players participated in all
the rounds celebrating a number of impressive victories. And Gabriel
Sargsyan participating in all the 13 rounds gained 10 points which
was a record in the Olympiad.
Congratulations on this unprecedented victory!
From: Baghdasarian

SEMNEBY HOPES KARABAKH CONFLICT PARTIES WILL TAKE OPPORTUNITY
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.06.2006 13:36 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “A cannot and do not want to comment on the talks
on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. Nevertheless I have
not doubt that there is a unique chance to start the real settlement
process,” Mr. Peter Semneby, the EU Envoy for the South Caucasus told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, the chance like a comet
will never come back.
“I am hopeful the parties will take this historical opportunity. The
way to peace will be hard but in a long-lasting outlook peace
and opening of the border will create the best conditions for the
prosperity of the whole region, Semneby underscored.