RENOVATED BUILDING OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OPENED IN YEREVAN
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 5 2006
YEREVAN, June 5. /ARKA/. The renovated building of the RA National
Center of Small and Medium Business has been opened in Yerevan.
Executive Director of the Center Ishkhan Karapetyan reported that
the Center implements programs in all ten regions of Armenia.
“The center is the principal structure implementing the government
policy of small and medium business development,” he said.
According to him, the Center is implementing various programs
of supporting small and medium businesses, holds consultations
for beginners, introduces new technologies and provides credit
guarantees. Karapetyan stressed that the programs are mostly
implemented in Armenia’s regions, particularly in borderline regions.
On December 2, 2004, the RA Government approved a program of small
and medium business facilitation for 2005. A total of AMD 300mln were
allocated for the implementation of the program from the RA state
budget.

ARMENIAN PM SATISFIED WITH BUDGET FULFILLMENT IN 2005
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 5 2006
YEREVAN, June 5. /ARKA/. Armenian Premier Andranik Margaryan is
satisfied with the budget fulfillment in 2005.
According to him, the budget was not 100% fulfilled under a number
of budget expenditure programs.
“However, it does not mean that these programs were not implemented.
The expenditures, made by means of the agency for government purchases
just allowed expendable funds to be decreased,” Margaryan said.
He pointed out that besides this, some programs, which were implemented
mainly in the healthcare sector due to credit funds, were not completed
in 2005. “The implementation of these programs was postponed and
completed in 2006,” Margaryan said.
“Terms for receiving some financial sources do not depend on the
government. Protraction of these tranches for objective and subjective
reasons results in incomplete implementation of these programs,”
the premier pointed out and added that such programs are not numerous.
Actual incomes of the stage budget totaled AMD 374.7bln against planned
AMD 375.2bln. At the same time, AMD 363.1bln were own incomes, and
AMD 11.6bln are official transfers received from foreign sources. Tax
incomes totaled AMD 304.3bln.
Compared to the indicators of 2004, the state budget incomes increased
by 24% or AMD 72.5bln. State budget expenditures in 2005 totaled AMD
417.5bln that is 25% higher than the indicator of the corresponding
period of the previous year.
Economic growth totaled 14% in Armenia in 2005. It exceeded the
programmatic indicator by 6%, and the indicator of 2004 – by 3.5%.
Armenia’s GDP in 2005 totaled AMD 2.244bln, and the GDP deflator
index totaled 103.2.
The level of Armenia’s GDP exceeded the indicator of 1989 by 14.1% in
2005. GDP per capita totaled $1524 in the period under report. ($1 –
AMD 426.37)

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS ISSUED JOINT STATEMENT RELATED TO BUCHAREST TALKS
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 5 2006
“The solution of Nagorno Garabagh conflict is urgent and it is possible
to achieve it”, this opinion has found its reflection in the joint
statement signed by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on settlement of
Nagorno Garabagh conflict after Bucharest talks.(APA).
The co-chairs have stated that 2006 is of significant period for
settlement of the conflict. “We are sure that proposed solution
variants to conflicting sides will help reaching of mutual agreement.
We feel regret for the sides not reaching an agreement on these issues
so far.”

VISIT PROGRAM OF AGO GROUP TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN ON JUNE 13 ANNOUNCED
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 5 2006
The Ago Group from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
will be visiting Baku from June 13 till 14.
The group composed of ambassadors of six countries (Germany, France,
Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Romania) is headed by Germany’s
permanent representative at the Council of Europe, Ambassador Roland
Wegener. The Committee of Ministers secretariat told APA’s Europe
bureau that the visit aims at monitoring of Azerbaijan’s compliance
with commitments it undertook when joining the Council of Europe. The
discussions will also focus on the Nagorno Garabagh conflict. Ago
Group’s main intention is to get information about the results of the
recent meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents, Ilham Aliyev
and Robert Kocharian in Bucharest. They will also focus on the issues
concerning political prisoner and election practices.
During their stay in Azerbaijan, the Group will have talks with
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, head of President’s Executive
Office Ramiz Mehdiyev, Justice Minister Fikret Mammadov as well as
parliamentary delegation to PACE, NGO representatives and popular
opposition parties. The visitors are also expected to meet President
Ilham Aliyev. The European ambassadors will hold a press conference.
The Ago Group will fist visit Armenia on 8 June. It will draw up a
large report after ending the visit to the region. The report, which
will be made by stages will be published in a form of recommendations
before the June session of PACE.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MAMMADYAROV: “THE SIDES COME TO CLOSURE ON THE DISCUSSED ISSUES”
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 5 2006
“Not any serious advancement has achieved in the meeting of Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharyan”,
foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov has told journalists.
According to him, discussions held in the level of co-chairs and
presidents level in the meeting which lasted for 5 hours. “I can
say that there is any advancement. Presidents make precise their
positions. The two sides’ position should be appropriate to each
other. Though the meeting in the level of Presidents completed,
but co-chairs stayed in Bucharest. Today or tomorrow if they adopt
a decision on holding meeting in the level of foreign ministers,
we can hold one more meeting.” According to the minister all the
issues should be thoroughly discussed. “We have to continue talks on
the issues that we do not agree on the points. We have not reached
an agreement on some issues, but talks should be continued. I hope
that we shall come to an agreement in the end of the talks; the sides
come to closure on the discussed issues. That is why we think that
we have chance to continue Prague talks. You know that a conflict is
of sensitive matter. Therefore it is impossible to solve it difficult.
Now we work on this problem and try to solve it.” As concerns
holding of the meeting, Elmar Mammadyarov stated each meeting to be
important. He said that the arguments forwarded by Armenians are not
based on international law: “If we really want to place permanent
peacekeepers to the region then decisions to be adopted should be
to international law. This is of importance for the future. After
10 or even 50 years later, no one can say that this decision is
against law. That is why we think that any agreement should be within
international law norms. Occupied territories, 1 million refugees and
displaced people are of Azerbaijan. Armenia has implemented ethnic
cleansing. All these are facts. On the other hand Armenia wants
integration to Euroatlantic area. There is diversity between word
and deed of Armenia, regularly international community understands
it”.

RUSSIA PULLS OUT TANKS, MACHINE GUNS FROM GEORGIA
ITAR-TASS, Russia
June 6 2006
TBILISI, June 6 (Itar-Tass) — Another trains loaded with military
hardware and ammunition withdrawn from the Russian military base in
Akhalkalaki has left the Georgian settlement of Tsalka on Tuesday,
heading for Russia. The train has ten T-72 tanks, machine guns and
spare parts on board. The train is to cross the Georgian- Azeri border
on Tuesday afternoon.
The train that is running from Georgia to Russia across Azerbaijan is
a fourth in succession after the hardware withdrawal began on May 15.
The next train with hardware on board withdrawn from the Russian base
in Georgia is scheduled to leave Georgia on June 13.
There is no railway terminal in Akhalkalaki; the military hardware
withdrawn from Georgia is brought to the regional centre of Tsalka
fifty kilometers from Akhalkalaki.
In accordance with the Russo-Georgian agreement, the Russian military
base should be withdrawn from Georgia in 2007. The main hardware is
being transported to the Russian territory by rail, and part of the
hardware is brought by trucks to the Russian base in Gyumri, Armenia.

PEACEFUL RESOLUTION TO CONFLICT OVER NK IS ‘IMPERATIVE AND ACHIEVABLE’ – OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS STATEMENT
Author: À.Mamedova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
June 6 2006
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs remain of the opinion that a peaceful
resolution of the issues is both imperative and achievable, and that
2006 remains the favorable window to achieve such progress. The
Co-Chairs continue to believe that the basic principles they have
identified and proposed to the parties for settlement of the conflict
offer an equitable basis for such a resolution, says the statement
by MG Co-Chairs issued following their June 4 meeting in Bucharest
with the presidents and foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Co-Chairs continue to believe that the basic principles they have
identified and proposed to the parties for settlement of the conflict
offer an equitable basis for such a resolution. They regret that the
parties have not yet come to agreement on these principles.
The statement says also at 4 June Bucharest meeting the discussion
covered the full range of issues relating to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. On June 5, the Co-Chairs and the Presidents, with their
Foreign Ministers, conducted a second meeting.
–Boundary_(ID_iuacJF9uC9LX49jugXSsrg)–

N. MAMMADOV: AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO MEET AGAIN THIS YEAR
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 6 2006
“Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian
are expected to meet again this year,” said Novruz Mammadov head of
President’s Executive Office international relations department.
Commenting on the lack of detailed information about the recent meeting
of the Presidents in Bucharest, Mr.Mammadov said the talks are on
such a stage that it is unadvisable to give detailed information on it.
“After the first day of meeting, it was decided to continue the
negotiations next day. It means certain issues are being considered.
On the other hand, it is difficult to reach an agreement. Thus,
Armenia’s position is unacceptable. They want Nagorno Garabagh to be
given independence. President Ilham Aliyev making Robert Kocharian’s
position go to fall, stressed that the conflict should be solved only
in the frames of territorial integrity. There can be ten or fifteen
Armenian states if Armenians living in different parts of the world
establish a state,” Mammadov underlined.
The state official refused to say concretely what issue was agreed
upon in Bucharest meeting.
“The agreements on small details are consolidated, and a final
principle is determined. There is nothing new in the latest statement
by Kocharian. As a president, he needs to be careful while making
statements. His saying “Armenians should be given independence wherever
they are” sounds ridiculous,” he underlined.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LITTLE PROGRESS MADE AT KARABAKH TALKS – AZERBAIJAN FM
RIA Novosti, Russia
June 6 2006
BAKU, June 6 (RIA Novosti) – The latest round of Azerbaijani-Armenian
presidential talks over Nagorny Karabakh has failed to bring the sides
any closer to a resolution of the long-standing dispute, Azerbaijan’s
foreign minister said Tuesday.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart,
Robert Kocharyan, discussed the conflict on the sidelines of a Black
Sea summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, June 4 and 5. Their
previous round of talks in France in February also ended in failure,
despite the involvement of international mediators.
“I cannot say that much progress was made at the [Bucharest] talks,”
Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov told reporters following the
meeting. He said it was important, however, that the sides continued
working toward a negotiated solution.
Another senior Azerbaijani official, in charge of international
relations in the Aliyev administration, told a news conference that
the Aliyev-Kocharyan talks had been taking place “in a very tense
atmosphere.”
Novruz Mamedov said the two leaders may meet up for further talks
before the end of this year.
The talks in Bucharest came just a week after Armenia and Azerbaijan
both claimed fatalities in border clashes near Nagorny Karabakh
and accused each other of breaching a 1994 ceasefire agreement. The
ceasefire ended six years of hostilities that broke out after the
Azerbaijani region with a largely Armenian population proclaimed
independence from Azerbaijan in a bid to join Armenia.
The conflict claimed 30,000 lives on both sides between 1988 and 1994,
and another hundred since the ceasefire was brokered.

US AGREE TO SUPPORT DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS DEVELOPMENT IN AZERBAIJAN – ASSISTANT TO US SECRETARY OF STATE
Author: R. Abdullayev, À. Mamedova
TREND Info, Azerbaijan
June 6 2006
In the course of recent talks held by Azeri president Ilham Aliyev
in Washington, Us Government agreed to development of democratic
institutions in Azerbaijan, reportedly said Matthew Bryza, Assistant
to US secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs.
“Democracy is each country specific and Washington just supports each
country’s efforts in this sphere”, – Bryza said.
As to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, US official said the year
2006 is very important for the conversation process. “The agreement
is possible but big courage is needed both from Azerbaijan and
Armenia. This will be a very decisive step for conversation process”,
– Bryza concluded.
–Boundary_(ID_XU0DSOCz8f9Rpz9TUV+Rqg) —