RUSSIA, ARMENIA TO POOL EFFORTS TO STOP BRANDY FAKES
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
June 28, 2006 Wednesday
Russian Interior Ministry and Armenian police will boost cooperation
to stop the export of Armenia’s forged brandies to Russia, Interior
Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told a news conference on Wednesday.
Russian and Armenian law enforcers took more active steps of late
to eliminate forgery of consumer goods, mainly Armenia’s brandies,
he said.
The two countries have created a bank of brandies’ samples produced
in Armenia.
“At present, experts are capable of identifying brandies’ authenticity
with 100-percent certainty,” Nurgaliyev said.
“Unfortunately, there are still too many forgeries,” he said.

RF, ARMENIA AGREE TO STEP UP EXCHANGE OF OPERATIONAL INFO
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
June 28, 2006 Wednesday
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said Russia and Armenia
had agreed to step up the exchange of operational information.
“At the joint collegium Russia’s Interior Ministry and Armenia’s
police decided to step up the exchange of operational, criminalistic
and other information,” Nurgaliyev said on Wednesday.
In his speech the Russian minister pointed to a high level of
cooperation with Armenia’s police. “Russian-Armenian cooperation in
the sphere of crime control is developing effectively,” he said.
The Russian Interior Ministry and the Armenian police regularly rivet
their attention crime control. The strengthening of cooperation in
curbing illegal migration is one of the most topical problems, the
minister stressed.
Nurgaliyev deems it necessary to promote cooperation between Russia
and Armenia to combat economic crimes. “Economic relations between
our two countries are subject to the influence and close attention
of criminal circles,” the minister said. “The Collegium’s duty is to
objectively review the situation in this domain.”
Nurgaliyev noted that trade turnover between Russia and Armenia was
annually increasing. “It grew by forty per cent in 2005 as compared
to the 2004 figure. Russian capital accounts for a quarter of the
total authorised capital of the banks registered in Armenia. Several
joint large-scale projects are being implemented in the field
of telecommunications and energy,” the minister stated. More than
seventy Russian regions have economic contacts with Armenia. Moscow,
St. Petersburg, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod and Sverdlovsk Regions have
the biggest trade turnovers with Armenia, he added.
The law enforcement agencies of the two countries are constantly
exchanging information on the organisations engaged in economic
transactions between Russia and Armenia. For instance, the inter-state
databank on crimes linked with money forging and marketing of
counterfeit money is being constantly replenished, Nurgaliyev noted.
Many economic crimes, such as smuggling, fraud, and illegal
entrepreneurship were disclosed thanks to the improved exchange of
information between the law enforcement structures of Russia and
Armenia, he stressed.

NURGALIEV PRAISES COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA IN CRIME CONTROL
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
June 28, 2006 Wednesday
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev spoke at a meeting of the
Joint Collegium of the Russian Interior Ministry and the Armenian
police here on Wednesday. He pointed in his report to a high level
of cooperation with the Armenian police. “Russia-Armenia cooperation
in the sphere of crime control is developing effectively,” he said.
According to his information, the Russian Interior Ministry and the
Armenian police regularly organise meetings of the Joint Collegium,
which discuss the most topical problems of crime control. “The
problems to be discussed at the current meeting are to ensure further
strengthening of cooperation between our countries in warding off
the most dangerous crime challenges and threats,” Nurgaliev said.
According to Nurgaliev, the strengthening of cooperation in curbing
illegal migration is one of the most topical problems.

GREG REALTY TO PREPARE 4TH GEORGIA-ARMENIA POWER LINE
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Energy Newswire
June 28, 2006 Wednesday 12:36 PM MSK
The U.S. company Greg Realty has won a tender to prepare a project for
the construction of a fourth power line between Armenia and Georgia,
Levon Vardanian, director of the development and PR department at
the Armenian Energy Ministry, told Interfax.
He said that the Georgian Energy Ministry called the tender. The
project work, which will be financed by the Georgian side, should be
completed by the end of 2006.
The 400 kilo-volt line will be the only power line capable of ensuring
the parallel work of the energy systems of both countries.
Vardanian said that the cost of the project and sources of financing
are still under discussion. Initially it was planned to complete
construction by the end of 2006, but work on the project dragged out,
he said.
Armenia and Georgia are currently connected by three power lines:
two 110 kilo-volts and one 220 kilo-volts.
Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian told journalists earlier
that after the construction of the fourth line the capacity between
the two countries would amount to 650 megawatts.

RA NATURE PROTECTION MINISTRY EXPECTS EXPLANATIONS FROM GLOBAL GOLD MINING
Noyan Tapan
Jun 28 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Ministry of Nature Protection
expects some explanations from Global Gold Mining (GGM) company
regarding the concessional payment for Getik area. Head of the Earth’s
entrails protection department of the ministry Hamlet Avetisian told
NT correspondent that this payment has not been mentioned in the
documents submitted by GGM, so they asked the company to provide
explanations. Otherwise, it is not ruled out that the issue of
depriving GGM of its licence will be discused.
However, according to the GGM’s press service, the company has not
received any written inquiry from the ministry. Besides, according to
the same source, 13 mln 557 thousand drams (about 32 thousand USD) was
paid as concessional payment, and 375 thousand drams as environmental
protection payment.
To recap, in 2005, GGM purchased shares of Atelia Investment company,
which was conducting an exploration of Getik area, and thus became
a 80% owner of Getik Mining Company.

OSCE OFFICE POSITIVELY RESPONDS TO NKR FOREIGN MINISTRY’S INITIATIVE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jun 28 2006
STEPANAKERT, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Organization
issues connected with the coming monitoring of Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijani armed forces contact-line were discussed at the June 27
meeting of NKR Deputy Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian with a number
of employees of the Office of the Personal Representative of the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office.
Masis Mayilian expressed satisfaction that the OSCE Office has
positively responded to the initiative of NKR Foreign Ministry to
hold a monitoring in the border zone with Azerbaijan for the purpose
of evaluating the situation on the spot and putting an end to the
accusations of the Azerbaijani side about arsons of populated areas
under NKR’s control.
As Noyan Tapan was informed from NKR Foreign Ministry Press Service, at
the meeting OSCE Office employee Peter Key (Great Britain) introduced
Gunter Folk (Germany), newly-appointed Field Assistant to the Personal
Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office, to Masis Mayilian.
Irzhi Aberle (Czech Republic), Field Assistant to the Personal
Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office, also took part in the
meeting.

DIASPORAN ART FIGURES PERFORM IN ASHTARAK WITHIN FRAMEWORK OF ALL ARMENIAN CULTURAL FESTIVAL
Noyan Tapan
Jun 28 2006
ASHTARAK, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 27, an event was organized in
the regional center of Aragatsotn, Ashtarak, within the framework of
the “One Nation, One Culture” All Armenian Cultural Festival. Dance
ensembles of the Australian city of Sydney, Armenian communities of
Iran and Kazakhstan, a choir from Georgia, Diasporan Armenian solo
performers, “Karmravor” dance group of Ashtarak and other ensembles
performed at the concert held at the city palace of culture.

KILLINGS OF ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA UNRELATED TO ETHNIC STRIFE – MIN
by Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
June 28, 2006 Wednesday 11:37 AM EST
Killings of ethnic Armenians committed in Russia of late were not
related to motives of ethnic strife and were rather hinged on selfish
mercenary motivations, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev
said Wednesday as he addressed a conference of Russian Interior and
Armenian police officials.
He recalled that four Armenians were killed in the first quarter of
the year and Russian investigators solved two of the murders.
“Operatives and investigators didn’t expose any evidence of ethnic
or confessionary strife or any other problems related to religion,”
Nurgaliyev said.
In both cases, mercenary motivations underpinned the criminal acts,
he said.
Nurgaliyev also denounced many mass media publications on the issue
as fakes.
“There’re many people who try to use friendly relations in their
petty political purposes and under-the-carpet struggling,” he said.

WE SHOULD HAVE PREPARED FOR FESTIVAL MORE SERIOUSLY, NATIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION UNION CHAIRMAN CONSIDERS
Noyan Tapan
Jun 28 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. “We should have prepared more seriously
before organizing the “One Nation, One Culture” second All Armenian
Cultural Festival. Paruyr Hayrikian, Chairman of the National
Self-Determination Union, expressed such an opinion in his interview
to Noyan Tapan correspondent.
According to him, this festival has only a cognitive character, but
it is time to pass to practical steps. P.Hayrikian said that this year
CIS countries solemnly mark the 15th anniversary of their independence
but nothing was said about this at the “One Nation, One Culture”
festival. “The Armenians spread all over the world have gathered in
their homeland and this was an occasion for solemnly celebrating the
15th anniversary of our independence. A nation becomes united first
of all with its statehood, but this statehood is not evaluated today,”
P.Hayrikian said.

ARREST AS MEASURE OF RESTRAINT CHOSEN AGAINST ALL THOSE ACCUSED OF MILITARY SERVICE EVASION IN 2005
Noyan Tapan
Jun 28 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 28, NOYAN TAPAN. In 2005, Armenian courts examined 76
cases against 76 persons under Article 327 of the RA Criminal Code:
evasion from regular military service or training excercises. In all
cases, arrest was chosen as a measure of restraint.
Spokeswoman for the RA Prosecutor General Sona Truzian stated this
when responding to NT correspondent’s question about why arrest as a
measure of restraint was chosen with respect to the editor-in-chief of
the newspaper “Zhamanak Yerevan” Arman Babajanian. She said that the
matter concerns a crime that poses a public danger of high degree –
evasion from regular military conscription, so no other measure of
restraint could be chosed in the given case.