JAVAKHETI NEEDS ARMENIAN PRIESTS
Lragir.am
06 April 06
According to the news agency A-Info, the Primate of the Georgian
Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan
raised the issue of shortage of priests in Samtskhe-Javakheti. Vazgen
Mirzakhanyan informed the Synod of the Holy See of Echmiadzin that
the Diocese finally managed to raise money for the repair of
the two operating Armenian churches of Tbilisi, St. George and
St. Echmiadzin. The repair will be over this year.

GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT’S LITTLE AID TO SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI FARMERS
Lragir.am
06 April 06
The news agency A-Info informed that the government of Georgia decided
to distribute 25 kg of fertilizers to every family in the rural areas
of Samtskhe-Javakheti.
The Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia and the administration of
the representative of the Georgian president in Samtskhe-Javakheti
estimated that 1096 tons of fertilizer will be distributed to 47
844 families. The aid will first be distributed in the regions of
Akhaltskha, Aspindza, Adigeni and Borjomi, which have lower altitude,
and then in Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda.
It should be noted that 25 kg of fertilizers is too little for the
smallest farm, for an average farm needs an average of 500-1000 kg
in spring.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PROGRAM OF PEOPLE’S UNIVERSITIES IN SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI
Lragir.am
06 April 06
The news agency A-Info informed that the EU and the German Association
of People’s Universities are planning to implement a 30-month education
program in Samtskhe-Javakheti, costing 500 000 euros.
According to the director of EU projects Adriana Longon, the purpose
of this program is to defend the rights of Armenians living in
Samtskhe-Javakheti and their integration with the country’s civil
society.
It is foreseen to establish people’s universities in Akhaltskha and
Akhalkalaki, where a civic education program will be implemented.
Besides getting legal knowledge in these universities 6300 people
will attend courses of the Georgian language. There will be also
courses of handcraft to encourage small business.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MP SAYS CUSTOMS OFFICE INFLICTS MILLIONS OF LOSSES ON STATE BUDGET
Lragir.am
06 April 06
“The customs committee is an organization which permanently violates
the law. It is common knowledge that violation of the law is a
crime. Hence, the head of the customs committee is an offender,”
states MP Tatul Manaseryan.
To make this statement he gave a press conference April 6, and he also
offered reasons for his statement. The Member of Parliament assures
that certain importers of certain products are privileges for the head
of the Customs Committee. “Certain importers pay only half of customs
duties, others do not pay anything,” says Tatul Manaseryan. He made
an inquiry for data on payment of customs duties for some products
imported to Armenia. On April 6 the Customs Committee was to answer,
but failed to.
“Only in import of coffee the illegal actions of the customs inflict
losses of 10 million dollars annually on the state budget.
For instance, Royal Armenia pays 1.8 dollar, and other 9 companies
importing coffee of the same quality and origin pay twice as less. I
am not asking why Royal Armenia pays more. I am asking why the others
pay less,” says Tatul Manaseryan.
The center of the next statements against the head of the Customs
Committee was again Royal Armenia. According to him, the head of the
Customs Committee thus takes revenge for he was not offered a bribe.
“They demanded a bribe from the president of the company Gagik
Hakobyan, and he refused to bribe the customs committee. Now the
head of the customs committee Armen Avetisyan takes revenge,” says
the member of parliament.
According to him, Armen Avetisyan’s revenge is taken by the National
Security Service, and the president of Royal Armenia Gagik Hakobyan
and manager Aram Ghazaryan are illegally kept in custody for six
months now. “The decision on the custody was prolonged three times for
groundless reasons. No information can be obtained, it is impossible
to visit them. The audit of the company’s record revealed nothing. The
head of the customs committee organized a false attempt against his
life to charge Gagik Hakobyan but there was no evidence. The case
was dismissed,” said Tatul Manaseryan.
He said under the court ruling, the customs committee was to pay a fine
to Royal Armenia but it did not. He has applied to the Supervision
Service of the President, the Audit Chamber of the National Assembly
and the ombudsman, and on April 6 he will send the materials to the
Head Public Prosecutor.
Besides coffee and the example of Royal Armenia Tatul Manaseryan
balances his stricture with other examples. Particularly, he says,
according to the data of the customs committee, presently petrol
imported to Armenia I is two times less than in 1998 and 1999.
“Whereas the import of cars has doubled, and the petrol supplied for
the official car pool on the state budget has doubled against the
previous years,” says the MP.
According to him, the illegal import of petrol inflicts losses of
55 million dollars on the budget of Armenia. And the total of losses
that the budget of Armenia annually suffers is equal to 1.5 per cent
of the GDP. “I call the Office of Public Prosecutor to focus attention
on this,” says the member of parliament, although he is not convinced
that the Office of Public Prosecutor will do.
He presents a fact from the World Bank report that 46 drams out of
100 drams paid to the Customs Committee for import and export is
bribe. He urged the law enforcement bodies to accuse the experts of
the World Bank of slander against the state governmental body if their
report does not correspond to the reality. And if it does correspond
to the reality, let them accuse the head of the customs committee,
says Tatul Manaseryan.

DUBAI’S MOTEXHA 2006 TEXTILE SHOW GETS UNDER WAY
Asia Pulse
Apr 06, 2006
DUBAI, April 6 Asia Pulse – MOTEXHA 2006, the region’s largest trade
show for garments, textiles, leather and fashion accessories, is under
way in Dubai with over 250 exhibitors from 30 countries taking part.
Opening the event on Monday, Dubai’s Department of Information Director
General Sheikh Hasher bin Maktoum Al Maktoum said: “Motexha has grown
over the years and especially in the past year the show has grown by
30 per cent. This is demonstrative of Motexha’s strength in offering
exhibitors the right platform to source prospective clients in the
lucrative Gulf market. Many of last years exhibitors have also returned
to the show and are back to do more business with the Middle East.”
Motexha provides the ideal platform for international manufacturers
to do business and cost effectively sell to professional buyers,
re-exporters, retail traders and textile merchants from across the
Middle East.
The region’s fashion and textile industry is estimated to be worth
US$11.4 billion.
Dubai is one of the largest and strongest markets for textile, garments
and leather goods in the Middle East region. According to the Dubai
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the year 2004 saw the value of
the exports reach Dhs625 million (US$170 million), while in 2005,
trading of textile, clothing and footwear reached to Dhs1.9 billion.
Thirty per cent of visitors to Motexha came from the GCC and Levant
countries.
Motexha has also seen a marked increase from trade visitor attendance
from CIS countries, East Africa and the Indian Sub-continent.
Motexha is officially supported the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and by
Texmas, the 300 member strong textile merchants group and promoters
of the Dhs 220 million Dubai Textile City.
Country pavilions from China, Indonesia, Turkey, Italy, Germany,
Armenia, Portugal, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, the UAE, Lebanon,
Thailand, Cyprus, Pakistan and India are present at the show.
Government supported groups from the Aegean Exporters Association,
Turkey; Republic of Cyprus Trade Centre; APICCAPS, Portugal; Department
of Export Promotions of Government of Thailand; National Agency for
Export Development, Indonesia; Textile and Fashion Federation of
Singapore are participating at the show.

CUSTOMS UNION TO BE SET UP AFTER RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN JOIN WTO – RUSSIAN MINISTER
RIA Novosti
5 Apr 06
Moscow, 5 April: A customs union within the Eurasian Economic Community
(EurAsEC) will be created after Russia and Kazakhstan join the WTO,
Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref told
journalists on Wednesday [5 April], during a break in the second
session of the financial and economic policy council of the EurAsEC.
“First Russia and Kazakhstan will join the WTO and then we will create
a customs union,” Gref said.
According to Gref, the session of representatives of counties members
of the EurAsEC on Wednesday “noted the need for parallel work to join
the WTO and create the customs union”. Documents needed to create
the customs union should be drafted within a short timescale and
initialled, but they will be signed when Russia and Kazakhstan will
already have joined the WTO, the minister specified. At the same time
he refused to name a specific timescale within which this can happen.
Gref reported that issues to do with the economic development of the
counties of the community were discussed during the session of the
financial and economic policy council of the EurAsEC. “We agreed on a
strategy and tactics of actions, including the coordination of actions
aimed at joining the WTO and creating the customs union,” Gref noted.
He expressed the hope that “following the decisions [taken],
coordination between counties in the creation of a unified economic
space and joining the WTO will considerably increase”.
The EurAsEC comprises Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine have observer
status in the EurAsEC.

RUSSIA’S GAZPROM DOUBLES GAS PRICE FOR ARMENIA
Radio Mayak, Moscow
6 Apr 06
[Russian state-owned gas major] Gazprom and Armenia have signed an
agreement on gas delivery. Russia will sell gas to the neighbouring
republic at 110 dollars per 1,000 cu.m. until 2009.
Until 1 April 2006 gas was sold at 56 dollars per 1,000 cu.m. This
was an extension granted by Gazprom to the Armenian side, which has
now expired.
After the price increase, gas tariffs rose 50 per cent for the Armenian
population and doubled for Armenian enterprises.

OVER 100 CRIMINAL CASES ON CORRUPTION CHARGES LAUNCHED IN ARMENIA IN 2005
Mediamax news agency
6 Apr 06
Yerevan, 6 April: The Armenian investigation authorities instituted
371 criminal cases on corruption charges in 2005.
About 175 “corruption cases” were sent to courts in 2005. A total
of 223 people were charged with corruption. Sixty four of them were
officials, the press service of the Armenian Prosecutor-General’s
Office has told Mediamax.
Courts considered 157 corruption cases in 2004.

INCREASE OF GAS PRICE FOR ARMENIAN CONSUMERS WILL NOT EXCEED 10-15%
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.04.2006 20:09 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ After a working meeting at ArmRosGazprom Armenian
President Robert Kocharian stated, “along with Russia Armenia is
going to implement a large investment program to modernize the 5th
energy block of the Hrazdan thermal plant.”
“Within past 2-3 months we actively worked with Russia to find
solutions to mitigate increase of gas prices,” the Armenian leader
said. Beginning on April 1 ArmRosGazprom buys Russian gas as $110
for 1 thousand cubic meters instead of the previous $54.
“I think we found a decision, the Government is charged to formulate
the final decision in the coming few days. Along with Russia Armenia
is going to implement a large investment program to modernize the 5th
energy block of the Hrazdan thermal plant. Thus the Armenian Government
will acquire funds to compensate for the rise in the gas price in
the coming three years both for the population and business. By
implementing the program we will get electric power, using less
gas,” the Armenian President said. “The population need not worry,
the increase of the gas price for consumers will not exceed 10-15%,”
Kocharian said.
The Armenian President indicated the importance of modernization of
Abovyan underground gas-holder. “If we increase the capacity of the
gas-holder 2-3 times, we will be protected against any surprises,”
Robert Kocharian remarked, Mediamax reports.

PUMPING OF IRANIAN GAS TO ARMENIA TO START TILL END OF YEAR
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.04.2006 23:50 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The pumping of Iranian gas to Armenia will start
till the end of the year, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham
Gharibjanian stated. In his words, the agreement on the Iran-Armenia
gas pipeline construction is a priority issue for Armenia.
He also noted that the positions of Armenia and Iran on the relations
with the states of the region are alike.