RA AND RF FOREIGN MINISTERS DISCUSS CURRENT ISSUES ON AGENDA OF COOPERATION BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES
MOSCOW, APRIL 7, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On April 7, RA Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian met with RF Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at
the RF Foreign Ministry’s official delegations detached
house. S.Lavrov expressed satisfaction with the level of strategic
cooperation formed between Armenia and Russia in the last decade and
positive dynamics of development of interstate contacts which is
manifested in 2006 by the political dialogue, holding of various trade
and economic, cultural, scientific and educational events within the
framework of Year of Armenia in Russia. Then, according to RA Foreign
Ministry Press Service, the sides thoroughly dwelt on the current
issues on agenda of Armenian-Russian cooperation paying attention to
the issues of cooperation implemented between the two states in the
political and strategic spheres. From point of view of increase of
trade and economic circulation volumes, extension of direct contacts
between the Armenian and Russian regions and practical use of the
transit potential of the South Caucasus the interlocutors discussed
the issue of relaunching of the Abkhazian part of the Russian-Georgian
railway. The current process of Nagorno Karabakh settlement was
discussed at the meeting. Then the sides discussed issues of
cooperation at international and regional structures. They exchanged
thoughts about cooperation carried out by the two states within the
framework of CIS, CSTO, Eurasian Economic Cooperation, OSCE and
UN. Mentioning that the two countries hold the same opinions around
international and regional processes, the sides expressed readiness to
strain efforts for creating an atmosphere of mutual confidence and
establishing cooperation in the South Caucasus.

ARTUR BAGHDASARIAN AND PITER SEMNEBY ATTACH IMPORTANCE TO HOLDING UPCOMING ELECTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH DEMOCRATIC STANDARDS
YEREVAN, APRIL 7, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A wide range of
issues regarding EU-Armenia relations, development of democracy and
assistance to civil society in Armenia, organization of preelection
and election processes, fighting corruption, legislative changes made
after amending the Constitution was discussed at RA NA Speaker Artur
Baghdasarian’s April 7 meeting with the delegation led by newly
appointed EU Special Representative to the South Caucasus Piter
Semneby. Both sides attached importance to the holding of the upcoming
state elections in accordance with the democratic
standards. Ambassador P.Semneby presented NA Speaker his viewpoint
about interrelations with EU mentioning that EU pursues the goal to
develop relations with the South Caucasus and Armenia and to promote
deepening of democracy, which is the basis of progress. He also spoke
about the powers of his mandate, within the limits of which he will
carry on the mission of the Special Representative. RA NA Speaker
provided him thorough information about the above-mentioned issues
highlighting the importance of EU-Armenia relations in the respect of
deepening and development of democracy. Establishment of regional
security and peaceful settlement of conflicts, in which EU plays an
important role, was also mentioned as important. The reforming of the
Electoral Code was spoken about. It creates good grounds for holding
elections corresponding to the democratic standards, the importance of
which is great in the respect of Armenia’s future.

tem_of_a_down_rally_in_dc
Rollingstone.com
Back to _System of a Down Rally in D.C._
ystem_of_a_down_rally_in_dc
System of a Down Rally in D.C.
Hard rockers rally for recognition of Armenian genocide
System of a Down will launch a three-day campaign for Armenian
Genocide recognition in Washington, D.C., beginning April 24th. The
Grammy-winning band, whose members are all of Armenian descent, plan
to urge Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and various Congressional
leaders to recognize Turkey’s Armenian genocide by taking part in a
rally outside of the Turkish Embassy.
The band also plans to hold a screening of Screamers, a documentary by
Carla Garapedian about System’s ongoing campaign for the cause.
The Armenian Genocide occurred during World War I, between 1915 and
1923, when the Turkish government killed more than one-and-a-half
million Armenians, driving hundreds of thousands more from their
homes. It is considered by many to be the first genocide of this
century, but the United States has not officially acknowledged it as
such. In 2000, a House Resolution was slated to change that, until it
was withdrawn by Hastert at the request of President Clinton.
“It’s important for people to be aware of the Armenian Genocide,”
frontman Serj Tankian said in a statement. “History does and will
repeat itself, unless we stop that cycle.”
>From their inception, System of a Down has campaigned tirelessly to
raise awareness of the historical tragedy and to raise money for
political organizations like Amnesty International, Center for the
Prevention of Genocide and Axis of Justice — which Tankian co-founded
with Audioslave’s Tom Morello. The subject has also found its way
into songs like “P.L.U.C.K. (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly
Killers),” from the band’s self-titled 1998 debut, which states “A
whole race of Genocide/Taken away all of our pride/A whole race of
genocide/Taken away, watch them all fall down.”
In order to increase awareness, since 2000, System of a Down have
staged an annual “Souls” benefit show. This year’s performance,
however, was cancelled for undisclosed reasons.
System of a Down’s latest album, Hypnotize, the companion album to
their top-selling Mezmerize, debuted at Number One last November. The
Los Angeles quartet will headline this summer’s Ozzfest tour alongside
Ozzy Osbourne and Disturbed, opening July 1st in San Francisco.
DANE SMITH
Posted Apr 04, 2006 1:47 PM

FIDE’s April 2006 ratings without Kasparov
03.04.2006 For decades we have been used to see him at the top of
every chess rating list. Now, a year after his retirement from
competitive chess, Garry Kasparov has been taken off the FIDE rating
list. His successor is the current FIDE world champion Veselin
Topalov, just one point ahead of VishyAnand.
Here are the top rankings.
FIDE April 2006 Rating Lists
For the first time in decades FIDE publishes a rating list without
Garry Kasparov, not at the top nor anywhere in the list. Kasparov has
been removes due to inactivity, as required by the ratings conventions
and announced in advance by FIDE. The above chart makes clear who the
“crown princes” are: Veselin Topalov, the current FIDE world champion;
and Viswanathan Anand, the former FIDE world champion and 1995 title
challenger in New York of Garry Kasparov.
Topalov and Anand are almost 50 points ahead of the nearest rival,
Armenian GM Levon Aronian, who has just won the Morelia/Linares
tournament. In place four we find Peter Svidler, who had some very
disappointing results and lost 22 points, but had enough on his
account to maintain his ranking – taking into account that Kasparov
vacated one place. Five points behind Svidler are Peter Leko and
Ruslan Ponomariov. The latter gained 15 points to move from tenth to
joint fifth place. Alexander Morozevich gained 9 points to climb back
into the top ten. Classical chess world champion Vladimir Kramnik lost
12 points, mainly due to illness, and dropped from sixth to eights
place.
It is interesting to note, in our age of child prodigies and teenage
grandmasters, that the average age of the top ten is over thirty.
Top 100 Players April 2006
Rank Name Title Country Rating Gms Born 1 _Topalov, Veselin_
( tml?id=3D2900084) g BUL 2804 27 1975 2 _Anand,
Viswanathan_ ( 5000017) g IND 2803
13 1969 3 _Aronian, Levon_
( l?id=3D13300474) g ARM 2756 27 1982 4 _Svidler, Peter_
( l?id=3D4102142) g RUS 2743 28 1976 5 _Leko, Peter_
( l?id=3D703303) g HUN 2738 27 1979 6
_Ponomariov, Ruslan_ ( 14103320) g UKR
2738 16 1983 7 _Morozevich, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4116992) g RUS 2730 10 1977 8 _Kramnik, Vladimir_
( html?id=3D4101588) g RUS 2729 11 1975 9 _Gelfand,
Boris_ ( 2805677) g ISR 2727 13
1968 10 _Ivanchuk, Vassily_
( tml?id=3D14100010) g UKR 2723 28 1969 11 _Adams, Michael_
( tml?id=3D400041) g ENG 2720 15 1971 12 _Grischuk, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4126025) g RUS 2719 3 1983 13
_Radjabov, Teimour_
( tml?id=3D13400924) g AZE 2717 14 1987 14 _Polgar, Judit_
( l?id=3D700070) g HUN 2711 0 1976 15 _Bacrot, Etienne_
( tml?id=3D605506) g FRA 2708 30 1983 16 _Akopian,
Vladimir_ ( 13300032) g ARM 2706
19 1971 17 _Bareev, Evgeny_
( ml?id=3D4100140) g RUS 2701 11 1966 18 _Shirov, Alexei_
( ml?id=3D2209390) g ESP 2699 10 1972 19 _Mamedyarov,
Shakhriyar_ ( 13401319) g AZE 2699 23
1985 20 _Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter_
( es.phtml?id=3D1202758) g ROM 2695 3 1976 21 _Sasikiran, Krishnan_
( html?id=3D5004985) g IND 2692 27 1981 22 _Malakhov,
Vladimir_ ( 4120787) g RUS2691 11
1980 23 _Rublevsky, Sergei_
( ml?id=3D4115309) g RUS 2687 11 1974 24 _Lautier, Joel_
( ?id=3D600016) g FRA 2682 3 1973 25 _Harikrishna, P._
( d=3D5007003) g IND 2680 7 1986 26
_Georgiev, Kiril_ ( 2900017) g BUL
2677 28 1965 27 _Sokolov, Ivan_
( ?id=3D14400030) g NED 2676 16 1968 28 _Jakovenko, Dmitry_
( ml?id=3D4122356) g RUS 2675 24 1983 29 _Kasimdzhanov,
Rustam_ ( 14200244) g UZB 2673 3
1979 30 _Dreev, Alexey_
( ml?id=3D4100107) g RUS 2673 20 1969 31 _Karpov, Anatoly_
( tml?id=3D4100026) g RUS 2672 0 1951 32 _Kamsky, Gata_
( ?id=3D2000024) g USA 2671 13 1974 33 _Korneev,
Oleg_ ( 4156803) g RUS 2671
79 1969 34 _Zvjaginsev, Vadim_
( l?id=3D4113403) g RUS 2670 11 1976 35 _Azmaiparashvili, Zurab_
( l?id=3D13601326) g GEO 2669 17 1960 36 _Tiviakov,
Sergei_ ( 1008013) g NED 2669 23
1973 37 _Short, Nigel D._
( d=3D400025) g ENG 2668 11 1965 38 _Bologan, Viktor_
( ml?id=3D13900048) g MDA 2666 22 1971 39 _Vallejo Pons,
Francisco_ ( 2205530) g ESP 2666 23
1982 40 _Eljanov, Pavel_
( l?id=3D14102951) g UKR 2665 11 1983 41 _Naiditsch, Arkadij_
( tml?id=3D4650891) g GER 2664 25 1985 42 _Nakamura, Hikaru_
( ml?id=3D2016192) g USA 2664 14 1987 43
_Efimenko, Zahar_ ( 14107201) g
UKR 2662 18 1985 44 _Smirin, Ilia_
( ?id=3D2801990) g ISR 2662 0 1968 45 _Moiseenko, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D14102560) g UKR 2662 18 1980 46 _Karjakin,
Sergey_ ( 14109603) g UKR 2661
22 1990 47 _Motylev, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4121830) g RUS 2660 33 1979 48 _Volokitin, Andrei_
( ml?id=3D14107090) g UKR 2660 9 1986 49 _Areshchenko,
Alexander_ ( 14109530) g UKR
2660 19 1986 50 _Navara, David_
( l?id=3D309095) g CZE 2658 13 1985 51 _Almasi, Zoltan_
( ml?id=3D702293) g HUN 2657 13 1976 52 _Van Wely, Loek_
( ?id=3D1000268) g NED 2655 13 1972 53
_Kobalia, Mikhail_ ( 4119150) g
RUS 2654 0 1978 54 _Najer, Evgeniy_
( tml?id=3D4118987) g RUS 2653 14 1977 55 _Bruzon, Lazaro_
( ml?id=3D3503739) g CUB 2652 24 1982 56 _Krasenkow,
Michal_ ( 1113100) g POL 2650 11
1963 57 _Onischuk, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D14101025) g USA 2650 0 1975 58 _Izoria, Zviad_
( l?id=3D13601733) g GEO 2647 16 1984 59 _Dominguez, Lenier_
( ml?id=3D3503240) g CUB 2647 9 1983 60
_Nielsen, Peter Heine_ ( 1400355)
g DEN 2646 2 1973 61 _Asrian, Karen_
( l?id=3D13300490) g ARM 2646 13 1980 62 _Carlsen, Magnus_
( ml?id=3D1503014) g NOR 2646 13 1990 63 _Timofeev,
Artyom_ ( 4140419) g RUS 2646
9 1985 64 _Miton, Kamil_
( l?id=3D1111914) g POL 2646 0 1984 65 _Jobava, Baadur_
( ml?id=3D13601520) g GEO 2646 22 1983 66 _Gashimov, Vugar_
( l?id=3D13400630) g AZE 2644 13 1986 67
_Gurevich, Mikhail_ ( 200930) g
TUR 2643 13 1959 68 _Tkachiev, Vladislav_
( phtml?id=3D618438) g FRA 2643 3 1973 69 _Khalifman, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4100115) g RUS 2640 20 1966 70
_Delchev, Aleksander_ ( 2900394) g BUL
2640 11 1971 71 _Alekseev, Evgeny_
( ml?id=3D4138147) g RUS 2640 9 1985 72 _Bu, Xiangzhi_
( html?id=3D8601445) g CHN 2640 9 1985 73 _Zhang, Zhong_
( l?id=3D8600694) g CHN 2640 8 1978 74
_Bauer, Christian_ ( 603767) g
FRA 2638 30 1977 75 _Ibragimov, Ildar_
( l?id=3D4102878) g USA 2637 15 1967 76 _Sakaev, Konstantin_
( .phtml?id=3D4104226) g RUS 2637 12 1974 77 _Seirawan,
Yasser_ ( 2000032) g USA 2635
0 1960 78 _Cheparinov, Ivan_
( ?id=3D2905540) g BUL 2635 29 1986 79 _Aleksandrov, Aleksej_
( tml?id=3D13500139) g BLR 2634 14 1973 80 _Fressinet,
Laurent_ ( 608742) g FRA 2633 19
1981 81 _Avrukh, Boris_
( l?id=3D2803895) g ISR 2633 0 1978 82 _Huebner, Robert Dr._
( id=3D4600010) g GER 2632 0 1948 83 _Granda Zuniga, Julio E_
( =3D3800024) g PER 2631 0 1967
84 _Sutovsky, Emil_ ( 2802007)
g ISR 2628 10 1977 85 _Sokolov, Andrei_
( ml?id=3D627089) g FRA 2628 10 1963 86 _Atalik, Suat_
( ?id=3D14401487) g TUR 2627 22 1964 87 _Zhang,
Pengxiang_ ( 8600970) g CHN 2623 9
1980 88 _Beliavsky, Alexander G_
( =3D14602377) g SLO 2622 13 1953 89 _Milov, Vadim_
( l?id=3D1304364) g SUI 2622 19 1972 90 _Vescovi, Giovanni_
( html?id=3D2100789) g BRA 2622 13 1978
91 _Istratescu, Andrei_
( ml?id=3D1200372) g ROM 2621 3 1975 92 _Volkov, Sergey_
( ml?id=3D4122763) g RUS 2620 30 1974 93 _Sadvakasov, Darmen_
( ml?id=3D13700464) g KAZ 2619 9 1979 94
_Lputian, Smbat G_ ( 13300024) g
ARM 2619 3 1958 95 _Hjartarson, Johann_
( ml?id=3D2300044) g ISL 2619 0 1963 96 _Galkin, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D4120426) g RUS 2618 9 1979 97 _Korotylev,
Alexey_ ( 4119142) g RUS 2618
9 1977 98 _Movsesian, Sergei_
( ml?id=3D310204) g SVK 2618 9 1978 99 _Paragua, Mark_
( ?id=3D5201241) g PHI 2617 8 1984 100 _Timman, Jan H_
( =3D1000012) g NED 2616 7 1951 101
_Vladimirov, Evgeny_ ( 13700014) g
KAZ 2616 0 1957
Top Women April 2006
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year 1 _Polgar, Judit_
( l?id=3D700070) g HUN 2711 0 1976 2 _Koneru,
Humpy_ ( 5008123) g IND 2548 25
1987 3 _Kosteniuk, Alexandra_
( phtml?id=3D4128125) g RUS 2540 20 1984 4 _Cramling, Pia_
( id=3D1700030) g SWE 2520 35 1963 5 _Xu, Yuhua_
( l?id=3D8600635) wg CHN 2517 13 1976 6
_Chiburdanidze, Maia_ ( 13600036) g GEO
2504 8 1961 7 _Stefanova, Antoaneta_
( phtml?id=3D2902257) g BUL 2502 23 1979 8 _Kosintseva, Tatiana_
( tml?id=3D4133471) m RUS 2489 15 1986 9 _Hoang Thanh
Trang_ ( 12400149) m HUN 2487
10 1980 10 _Zhu, Chen_
( ?id=3D8600546) g CHN 2483 19 1976 11 _Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman_
( .phtml?id=3D5004098) m IND 2472 6 1979 12 _Cmilyte,
Viktorija_ ( 12801259) m LTU 2470 20
1983 13 _Galliamova, Alisa_
( l?id=3D4129725) m RUS 2470 13 1972 14 _Kosintseva, Nadezhda_
( html?id=3D4134974) m RUS 2469 11 1985 15 _Lahno, Kateryna_
( html?id=3D14109336) m UKR 2468 15 1989
16 _Qin, Kanying_ ( 8600350)
wg CHN 2465 6 1974 17 _Socko, Monika_
( ml?id=3D1106619) m POL 2465 2 1978 18 _Dembo, Yelena_
( ml?id=3D723916) m GRE 2464 12 1983 19 _Kovalevskaya,
Ekaterina_ ( 4116704) m RUS 2460
28 1974 20 _Matveeva, Svetlana_
( html?id=3D4119827) m RUS 2454 21 1969 21 _Mkrtchian, Lilit_
( l?id=3D13300601) m ARM 2453 6 1982 22 _Krush, Irina_
( l?id=3D2012782) m USA 2447 0 1983 23
_Korbut, Ekaterina_ ( 4144228)
wg RUS 2442 11 1985 24 _Dzagnidze, Nana_
( ?id=3D2012782) m GEO 2442 13 1987 25 _Pogonina, Natalija_
( html?id=3D4147855) wg RUS 2440 20 1985 26
_Radziewicz, Iweta_ ( 1108166) m
POL 2439 28 1981 27 _Paehtz, Elisabeth_
( phtml?id=3D4641833) m GER 2438 13 1985 28 _Sebag, Marie_
( l?id=3D617822) m FRA 2434 25 1986 29 _Zatonskih,
Anna_ ( 14101572) wg USA 2433 0
1978 30 _Gaponenko, Inna_
( ?id=3D14101181) m UKR 2430 21 1976 31 _Khurtsidze, Nino_
( ?id=3D13600320) m GEO 2426 28 1975 32 _Zhukova, Natalia_
( tml?id=3D14101513) wg UKR 2425 141979 33
_Ciuksyte, Dagne_ ( 12800619)
wg LTU 2423 16 1977 34 _Skripchenko, Almira_
( ml?id=3D13900145) m FRA 2423 13 1976 35 _Zhao, Xue_
( id=3D8601283) wg CHN 2423 19 1985 36
_Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan_ ( 13600168) m
GEO 2423 14 1968 37 _Hunt, Harriet_
( tml?id=3D403512) m ENG 2422 0 1978 38 _Danielian, Elina_
( l?id=3D13300210) m ARM 2422 22 1978 39 _Kachiani-G.,
Ketino_ ( 4623614) m GER 2421
0 1971 40 _Muzychuk, Anna_
( ?id=3D14111330) wg SLO 2419 171990 41 _Zaiatz, Elena_
( l?id=3D4139518) m RUS 2417 2 1969 42 _Maric, Alisa_
( l?id=3D904180) m SCG 2415 0 1970 43
_Javakhishvili, Lela_ ( 13601458) m
GEO 2410 22 1984 44 _Peptan, Corina-Isabela_
( iles.phtml?id=3D1201930) m ROM 2408 12 1978 45 _Xu, Yuanyuan_
( html?id=3D8601089) wg CHN 2405 0 1981 46 _Zimina,
Olga_ ( 4132190) wg ITA 2404 20
1982 47 _Vajda, Szidonia_
( html?id=3D723894) m HUN 2403 0 1979 48 _Lomineishvili, Maia_
( ?id=3D13600656) m GEO 2399 19 1977 49 _Ushenina, Anna_
( ?id=3D14110911) wg UKR 2397 4 1985 50
_Peng, Zhaoqin_ ( 1004786) g
NED 2395 14 1968 51 _Vasilevich, Tatjana_
( tml?id=3D14101610) m UKR 2395 0 1977 52 _Ovod, Evgenija_
( html?id=3D4131827) m RUS 2395 11 1982
Top 20 Juniors April 2006
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year 1 _Radjabov, Teimour_
( tml?id=3D13400924) g AZE 2717 14 1987 2
_Harikrishna, P._ ( 5007003) g IND
2680 7 1986 3 _Nakamura, Hikaru_
( ml?id=3D2016192) g USA 2664 14 1987 4 _Karjakin, Sergey_
( ml?id=3D14109603) g UKR 2661 22 1990 5 _Volokitin,
Andrei_ ( 14107090) g UKR 2660 9 1986
6 _Areshchenko, Alexander_
( phtml?id=3D14109530) g UKR 2660 19 1986 7 _Carlsen, Magnus_
( ml?id=3D1503014) g NOR 2646 13 1990 8 _Gashimov, Vugar_
( l?id=3D13400630) g AZE 2644 13 1986 9
_Cheparinov, Ivan_ ( 2905540) g
BUL 2635 29 1986 10 _Guseinov, Gadir_
( l?id=3D13401378) g AZE 2610 10 1986 11 _Pantsulaia, Levan_
( l?id=3D13602071) g GEO 2609 0 1986 12 _Wang,
Hao_ ( 8602883) g CHN 26059 1989
13 _Wang, Yue_ ( 8601429) g
CHN 2598 9 1987 14 _Wojtaszek, Radoslaw_
( html?id=3D1118358) g POL 2597 25 1987 15 _Tomashevsky, Evgeny_
( ml?id=3D4147235) g RUS 2595 20 1987 16
_Balogh, Csaba_ ( 718939)
g HUN 2576
16 1987 17 _Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime_
( ml?id=3D623539) g FRA 2576 21 1990 18 _Savchenko, Boris_
( l?id=3D4147332) m RUS 2568 17 1986 19 _Predojevic,
Borki_ ( 930849) g BIH 2566 25
1987 20 _Nguyen, Ngoc Truongson_
( phtml?id=3D12401110) g VIE 2555 16 1990
Top 20 Girls April 2006
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year 1 _Koneru, Humpy_
( l?id=3D5008123) g IND 2548 25 1987 2
_Kosintseva, Tatiana_ ( 4133471) m RUS
2489 15 1986 3 _Lahno, Kateryna_
( html?id=3D14109336) m UKR 2468 15 1989 4 _Dzagnidze, Nana_
( ?id=3D2012782) m GEO 2442 13 1987 5 _Sebag, Marie_
( l?id=3D617822) m FRA 2434 25 1986 6
_Muzychuk, Anna_ ( 14111330) wg
SLO 2419 17 1990 7 _Melia, Salome_
( ml?id=3D13602446) wg GEO 2393 191987 8 _Huang, Qian_
( ?id=3D8602689) wm CHN 2391 9 1986 9 _Zawadzka, Jolanta_
( tml?id=3D1122320) wg POL 2389 11 1987
10 _Mongontuul, Bathuyag_
( html?id=3D4900758) wg MGL 2378 18 1987 11 _Tania, Sachdev_
( tml?id=3D5007844) wg IND 2375 0 1986 12 _Ruan, Lufei_
( l?id=3D8602727) CHN 2370 4 1987 13
_Kadziolka, Beata_ ( 1119990) wm POL
2359 11 1986 14 _Harika, Dronavalli_
( .phtml?id=3D5015197) wg IND 2358 0 1991 15 _Gunina, Valentina_
( phtml?id=3D4167570) wf RUS 2352 9 1989 16 _Chistiakova,
Tamara_ ( 4140370) wf RUS 2351
9 1986 17 _Hoang, Thi Bao Tram_
( ?id=3D12401102) wm VIE 2349 9 1987 18 _Tairova, Elena_
( l?id=3D13503383) wm RUS 2342 221991 19 _Arutyunova,
Diana_ ( 14107244) wg UKR 2338 10
1988 20 _Kursova, Maria_
( l?id=3D4129709) wm RUS 2333 15 1986
All data by courtesy of FIDE (_ () ).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian defence minister, EU envoy discuss Karabakh conflict, ties
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
6 Apr 06

Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan received EU envoy for the
South Caucasus Peter Semneby today. The two men said that the
resumption of military actions between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot
be allowed as this prevents the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh
conflict from being continued.
Serzh Sarkisyan and Peter Semneby also discussed the elaboration of
Armenia’s action plan within European Neighbourhood Policy and
Armenia’s relations with its neighbours.
[Video showed meeting]

PROPERTY FOR DEBT 2. THE SHOW MUST GO ON
Lragir.am
07 April 06
After the meeting of the government Minister of Energy Armen Movsisyan
stated April 6 that the government approved the agreement signed with
Gasprom on subsidizing gas.
Minister Armen Movsisyan, the representative of the government in the
negotiations with Gasprom, also announced that Russia committed not to
not increasing the price of gas for the next three years. The
government of Armenia has allocated about 188 million dollars for
subsidizing. The subsidy funds were raised from the sale of the fifth
generating unit of the Thermal Power Plant of Hrazdan to Gasprom. The
generating unit was sold at 248 million dollars.
Besides, Gasprom committed to invest 140-160 million in the fifth
generating unit of the Thermal Power Plant.
The minister of energy says Russians committed to finishing the
construction of the fifth generating unit within three years. The
commitments are set down in the agreement, and sanctions are foreseen
in case they fail to carry out their commitments, says Armen
Movsisyan. He did not give more details. He said the details are
commercial secrets.

Armenian politicians upbeat on ties with USA
Mediamax news agency
6 Apr 06
Yerevan, 6 April: Armenian politicians discussed prospects for the
development of Armenian-US relations at the National Press Club today.
The leader of the opposition Constitutional Right Union, Grant
Khachatryan, assessed positively the US role in the region, Mediamax
has reported.
He said that the struggle between the USA and the European Union for
influence on the South Caucasus was of great significance for the
development of democratic processes in the countries of the region.
Kiro Manoyan, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation –
Dashnaktsutyun, said that “realities in our region” were the main
obstacle to the development of Armenian-US relations. Meanwhile, he
said that Armenia was the second country in the world for the volume
of the US aid per capita. Manoyan added that the USA was the only
country which provided the direct government aid to Nagornyy Karabakh
every year.
The leader of the Christian Democratic Party, Khosrov Arutyunyan,
wished that Armenian-US relations might strengthen Armenia’s role in
the South Caucasus. Meanwhile, he said: “Armenia should proceed from
its national interests, not jeopardizing its relations, especially
ties with Iran.” The leader of the National Democratic Party,
Shavarsh Kocharyan, said that the US administration was interested in
the development of relations with Armenia and the safeguarding of the
republic’s energy security. He did not rule out the construction of a
modern nuclear power plant in Armenia with the US support.

Armenian minister, Russian security supremo discuss ties
Arminfo
6 Apr 06
Yerevan, 6 April: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan and
Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov discussed the current
level of relations between the two countries and prospects for their
development in Moscow last night.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed regional security, the
press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.
Oskanyan also met the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group,
Yuriy Merzlyakov, on 6 April. They discussed prospects for the
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.
[Passage omitted: Oskanyan met Armenian entrepreneurs living in
Russia] The Armenian foreign minister is to meet Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov on 7 April.

Armenian minister in Russia says gas price rise may have political effect
ITAR-TASS news agency
6 Apr 06
Moscow, 6 April: An increase in payments for Russian gas may have
political consequences in Armenia, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan stated in Moscow today.
He said: “We have started to pay 110 dollars for 1,000 cu.m. of
gas. This issue cannot be viewed outside politics.” “The increase in
the price of Russian gas in Ukraine has had political consequences. I
think this is also possible in our country,” he noted. [Garbled
passage omitted].

International session on fight against corruption starts in Armenia
Arminfo
6 Apr 06
Yerevan, 6 April: A two-day international conference to discuss the
fight against corruption and the establishment of the Armenian
national branch of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against
Corruption (GOPAC) started in the Armenian National Assembly today.
The speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, Artur Bagdasaryan, said
in an opening speech that Armenia’s accession to GOPAC was quite
complicated. However, Armenia’s membership of the organization will
facilitate a more efficient fight against corruption.
“Membership of GOPAC supposes a more active involvement of civil
society and political forces in the fight against corruption, which,
in turn, will help its quicker elimination,” Bagdasaryan said.
He said that corruption, shadow economy, bribery and the untransparent
work of state agencies are obstacles on the path of development of
democracy and the economy in Armenia.
[passage omitted: Bagdasaryan said everyone is equal before law; large
amounts of money returned to state budget as a result of criminal
cases]