VARTAN OSKANIAN APPRECIATES ACTIVITY OF WORLD ARMENIAN CONGRESS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Creation of the World
Armenian Congress is the imperative of time. Active participation
of this organization in solution of the most important issues only
proves actuality of its creation. Minister of Foreign Affair of Armenia
Vartan Oskanian stated about it at the sitting of the World Armenian
Congress which took place on May 16 in Yerevan. He appreciated work
of the organization directed to strengthening of ties between Armenia
and Diaspora, recognition of the Armenian Genocide, establishment of
economic ties, etc. According to the Minister, the organization has
not used yet its potential completely. Vartan Oskanian expressed a
hope that the World Armenian Congress will continue cooperating with
the RA Foreign Ministry and other structures in the affair of solving
all-Armenian problems.

ARA ABRAHAMIAN PRESENTS VARTAN OSKANIAN FORTHCOMING PROGRAMS OF WORLD ARMENIAN CONGRESS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 15 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Issues relating to
events to be organized soon in Yerevan on the initiative of the
World Armenian Congress were discussed at the May 15 meeting of
Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian with Ara Abrahamian, the
Chairman of the World Armenian Congress and the Union of Armenians
of Russia. Ara Abrahamian presented details of organizing and
expections from the “Caucasus without Conflict, Terrorism: Dialogue
of Civilizations at Caucasian Crossroad” international conference
and the sitting of the experts’ commission engaged in the Armenian
Genocide Issues.
Mentioning modernity of the issues to be discussed during the
conferences, the Minister expressed readiness concerning RA Foreign
Ministry’s participation in the events at corresponding level. Ara
Abrahamian presented his structure’s future activities and programs. As
Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press and
Information Department, the interlocuters touched upon in details the
Armenian rural communities’ development program which is the pivot of
the agenda of the Armenia-Diaspora third conference to take place in
Yerevan in September of the current year. The interlocuters touched
upon international events, regional issues.

REGULAR ISSUE OF MEDIUM-TERM COUPON BONDS TO TAKE PLACE ON MAY 16
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. A regular issue of medium-term coupon
bonds will take place in Armenia on May 16, while a regular issue
of state short-term bonds is scheduled for May 23. NT was informed
from the RA Ministry of Finance and Economy that the issue volume of
medium-term coupon bonds will make 1.5 bln drams (about 3.4 mln USD),
the annual yield of a coupon – 7%, and the minimum purchase volume –
10 thousand drams.

GRAPEVINES DAMAGED BY ABOUT 70%, AND TREE FRIUTS BY 30% IN ARMAVIR MARZ
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
ARMAVIR, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Prior to April 1, the peasants belived
that the harvest had been saved from frost, whereas now they are sure
that as a result of a drop in temperature they have lost everything
they expected. NT correspondent reported from Armavir that the
residents of several communities of Armavir marz say confidently
that the grapevines were harmed by about 70%, tree fruits – by 30%
and greenhouse plants – by nearly 50% by the frost. Head of the
Agricultural Department of the Armavir regional administration noted
that a commission has been set up to assess the damage done in the
shortest possible time. “Just imagine the state of a poor peasant
who has been waiting for the harvest for a whole year, pinning his
hopes on it as a means to make his living, not to mention the loans
taken for agricultural work and 2-3 drams for each seed,” the peasants
said. “Naturally, this year too the frost will be followed by uncertain
promises to provide aid,” they continue, adding that they know by
the experience of previous years that a bag of flour or wheat does
not matter much. The villagers are facing another problem as well:
the nitric fertilizer, which the government promised to provide to
them as aid at prices lower than the market price and for which they
paid in January, has not yet been received. NT was informed from
the Armavir regional administration that the fertilizer is being
brought into the marz stage-by-stage, and the distribution is behind
the schedule. According to the same source, in all likelihood, the
next consignement of fertilizer is expected to be tarnsported to
the marz next week and will be distributed to communities, then –
to farms. “Now we have no other thing to do but to cultivate gourds
and melons, hoping that this time they will not be damaged by hail
or drought,” the peasants said.

ABOUT 30 THOUSAND HECTARES OF LAND IN ARARAT VALLEY BECOMES DESERT AS RESULT OF SALINATION
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
ARMAVIR, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Some lands in the Ararat Valley
remain uncultivated: about 150 ha become desert here each year. NT
correspondent was informed from Sanasar Baghdasarian, Deputy Head of
the Agriculture and Environmental Protection Department of the Armavir
regional administration that some peasants were allocated saline lands
during the privatization process, and as in 1990-1991 the drenage
system was not cleaned, a double salination occured in these areas,
as a result of which peasants are not able to cultivate the privatized
land plots. For example, the Artashar community of Armavir marz has
about 500 ha, nearly 300 ha of which are saline lands. The community
cannot convert saline lands to crop lands with its own resources,
so the area of saline land is increasing each year. The peasants
claim that the land salination process could have been prevented
if the drenage system had operated. But the drenage system has not
been operating for a long time, and no cultured plants can be grown
in these areas. According to S. Baghdasarian, desalination requires
much investment, and a necessity for state assistance has arisen. He
said that about 30 thousand ha of land in the Ararat Valley has
become desert as a result of salination. Considerable work on land
desalination was carried out in the Soviet time, and before 1990,
almost 1,500 ha of land was desalinated. However, today these lands
are again facing the treat of salination.

JUSTICE FACTION CONSIDERS IT URGENT TO EXAMINE SITUATION IN CIVIL AVIATION
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly Justice faction
put in circulation a draft decision on setting up an ad hoc commission
to examine the activities of the Armenian government in the civil
aviation sector. The commission will study the current situation in the
civil aviation, including the programs to overcome the current crisis
in civil aviation. One of the commission’s purposes will be to examine
the implementation of investment programs envisaged by the contract
of Corporacion America company that assumed the trust management of
Zvartnots Airport. Tatul Manasetian, Ph.D., representative of the
Justice faction, stated this during the May 16 press conference.
According to him, the necessity to examine the implementation of
invsetment programs is conditioned by the fact that there have been
“sufficient abuses”.
Particularly, according to some documents presented by Corporacion
America, more than 10.5 mln dollars was spent on repairs of the
1,800-meter runway in Zvartnots Airport. The deputy noted that repair
work of the 3,000-meter runway with the same equipment in Dushanbe
cost only 2 mln dollars. T. Manasetrian is more than convinced that
Corporacion America’s figures are exaggerated, and taking into account
the fact thet they are not controlled, it provides an opportunity to
make superprofits. In his words, “the aviation can never operate at a
loss, it is doomed to operate at a profit.” T. Manaserian also attached
importance to the legislative basis for regulation of the indicated
sector. He underlined the necessity to promote the adoption of the
RA Air Code by the National Assembly, which will enable to regulate
the activities of the civil aviation and prevent illegal actions,
the signing of arbitrary agreements and attempts to use the aviation
for personal interests. Responding to a question of NT correspondent,
the deputy noted that his colleagues from the RA National Assembly
“are two types: sensible and partisan, many of them having a blind
mentality.” He said that the deputies with sober mentality cannot vote
against the above mentioned initiative of the faction. According to
him, the Armenian aviation with its two branches – civil and military
– is called upon not only to ensure the Armenian borders’ stability
and national security but also to promote the economic security of
the country. To recap, two and a half years ago the Justice faction
took a similar initiative that failed.

“TAGAVORANIST” TO BECOME CENTER OF TOURISM OF LORI MARZ
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
VANADZOR, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. On the initiative of the Lori Regional
Governor’s Office, employees of the RA NAS Institute of Archeology and
Ethnography started excavations in the territory of the “Tagavoranist”
historic-cultural monument of Vanadzor. As Pavel Avetisian, the
Documentary Department Chief of the Institute informed the Noyan Tapan
correspondent, this is the first case that excavations are implemented
on the initiative of the Regional Governor’s Office. Expedition head
Ruben Badalian heads the works. Unemployed people involved in the
“Paid Public Works” program help the expedition members.
According to Edik Hovsepian, the Lori Governor’s Press Secretary and
Assistant, within the framework of the 2006-2010 social-economic
development program of the Lori marz, an agreement was signed
with the Provance region of France, according to which, the first
group formed from French students will visit Vanadzor in August
to participate in the excavations. Then, within the framework of
the program on exchanging work experience, an experts’ group of the
Tourism Development Agency of France will also arrive in the marz. It
was mentioned that the excavations will last 6 months, after what it
is decided to turn “Tagavoranist” into a center of tourism.

16 VACANT POSTS AT SYUNIK REGIONAL GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
KAPAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. There are 16 vacant posts at present
at the Syunik Regional Governor’s Office. As Grigor Tadevosian,
the Deputy Head of the Governor’s Office Staff informed the Noyan
Tapan correspondent, 8 of them are in the Children Rights Protection
Department founded recently by the Government’s decision and will
be occupied soon by a competition order. Soon a competition will be
announced for the post of the Chief Specialist of the Transport and
Road Construction Department. The post of the Education, Culture and
Sports Department Chief is also vacant, for what the competition
will take place on May 19. The Health Care Department Chief’s and
3 leading specialists’ posts are vacant at the Social Security
Department. According to G.Tadevosian, though a competition was
announced for those posts, but there were no applications.

GAVAR MAYOR DECIDES TO GIVE UP PARTIAL REPAIR OF STREETS AND TO REPAIR THEM FUNDAMENTALLY
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
GAVAR, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The bad condition of the roads of the town
of Gavar has become a subject of anxiety for both the inhabitants
of Gavar and the local authorities. As Noyan Tapan correspondent
informs from Gavar, for the purpose of mitigating the situation even
the pavements are used for traffic, which is not a solution to the
problem, either. The condition of the most part of the streets with
a total length of 150 km under the subordination of the community is
also the same, the asphalt is physically worn out. The road to the
town hospital is especially in a sad condition. It almost has not
been repaired during the past 30 years. The bad condition of the road
especially hampers the work of ambulance cars. As Gavar Mayor Gurgen
Martirosian said in his interview to Noyan Tapan correspondent,
at present the town budget makes it possible only to repair the
pits. But these repairs do not justify themselves: every year the
repaired and asphalted pits again destroy in consequence of the snow
and rain-water in spring. Thus, over 40 mln drams (about 89 thousand
USD) was allocated from the town budget last year for partial repair
of streets but the repaired pits again opened. Taking into account the
experience of the previous years, Gavar Mayor’s Office has decided
to asphalt the streets only fundamentally within the limits of its
possibilities. “We had better do small work but have good results,”
Gavar Mayor said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ONE-WEEK ACTION OF MEN’S FREE EXAMINATION TO BE HELD AT A NUMBER OF MEDICAL CENTERS OF YEREVAN
Noyan Tapan
May 16 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Free medical examination of men above
45 years will be held on May 16-22 at the Urology Clinic of the
Republican Hospital.
As Armen Muradian, Head of the clinic, Adviser to RA Minister of
Health, informed the journalists on May 16, the men to be examined
during the one-week action will be registered in the clinic’s data
bank. It was mentioned that it is the third year the clinic is
coming up with such an initiative. According to him, a number of
Yerevan medical centers, Erebuni, Surb Nerses, Oncological Center,
have also joined the action this year. According to the head of the
clinic, about 2000 men were examined during the actions organized in
the previous two years. According to A.Muradian, the Armenian men do
not care for their health so much and they have not formed the habit
of applying to doctor even if once a year yet.