MONEY AGAINST PEACEKEEPERS?
Panorama.am 14:41 31/03/06
“It is very good that w have been granted money, money is never too
much, yet I’m sure the grant has political context,” announces the
head of “New Times” political party Aram Karapetyan touching upon
the 235.65 million USD granted to Armenia by Millennium War-calls
Corporation. The politician is sure that “American subdivisions will
be located near the northern border of Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The other political figure invited to the dispute member of
Armenian Republican Party, chairman of the NA Permanent Committee of
financial-credit, budget and economic affairs Gagik Minasyan finds no
political context in the American grant. “There are certain conditions
what countries can make use of the grant, the Deputy says and lists
the above conditions: a good democratic Governmental system, decrease
of corruption, formation of a normal civil society. The head of “New
Times” is sure all the above mentioned conditions are absent in our
country. /Panorama.am/

ABMDR TRANSPLANT ANTIBODIES LABORATORY TO BE GRANTED
INTERNATIONAL QUALITY CERTIFICATE
Armenpress
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS: The transplant antibodies laboratory of
the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) will be granted the
certificate of international quality by the European Immune-Genetic
Federation.
ABMDR executive director Sevak Avakian told a news conference on March
30 that the decision was made based on the report of two experts from
the European Federation who visited Yerevan to get acquainted with
ABMDR’s work. ABMDR has now around 10,000 registered donors.
Because of unique genetic make up of Armenians, it is nearly impossible
to find suitable matches among the existing international registries
and hence a great number of Armenian children and adults have lost
their lives due to the lack of compatible donors. To address this
imbalance, a volunteer donor registry for bone marrow transplant has
been established in Armenia to help to overcome this difficulty.
The ABMDR is a member of the World Marrow Donor Association, sharing
its database information with other registries around the world and
cooperates with several international medical centers, including
the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust in England, St Jude Hospital in
Memphis and Glendale Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles.

POLISH DELEGATION TO VISIT ARMENIA ON APRIL 3-4
Amenpress
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS: A delegation of Poland’s Senate,
headed by its chairman Bogdan Borusevicz, will pay a two-day visit
to Armenia to start on April 3. The delegation will also include
government members and businessmen.
On April 3 the Poles will be received by president Robert Kocharian,
prime minister Andranik Margarian, Catholicos Karekin II. They will
also visit the Genocide Memorial the same day and meet with members
of the tiny Polish community of Armenia. On April 4 they will meet
with parliament chairman Arthur Baghdasarian and Armenian businessmen.

PRO-RUSSIAN POLITICIAN SAYS ARMENIA HANDING NEW ENERGY FACILITIES TO RUSSIA
Armenpress
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS: A senior member of Armenian
parliament has dismissed today allegations by a local pro-opposition
newspaper-Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Time) that the fifth unit of
the biggest Armenian thermal power plant in central Armenian town of
Hrazdan will be handed over to Russia.
Gagik Minasian, head of a parliament commission on financial and
economic issues, a guest speaker at a discussion on energy security
of Armenia with Aram Karapetian, the leader of pro-Russian Nor
Zhamanakner (New Times) party, described the report as ‘rumors.’
Minasian argued that when construction of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
would be accomplished, when domestic energy production potential
would be used fully and when the Yerevan thermal power plant would
be modernized and the fifth unit of Hrazdan thermal power plant
would be operative Armenia’s power grid would be diversified and
more independent.
He said all these measures would help increase power production by
power generating facilities other than the nuclear power plant from
current 1.8 billion kilowatt/hours to 3.7 billion in ten years. He
said IAEA experts agree that Armenia needs to replace its Soviet-style
nuclear power plant by a new one.
Construction of a new nuclear power plant would cost more than $1
billion. He argued that the parliament must revise an old law on
atomic energy to allow private investments.
Minasian refrained from denying or confirming rumors that 45 percent
of shares in Iran-Armenia gas pipeline can be sold to Russia, but Aram
Karapetian described it as a ‘forgone conclusion,’ adding that the
fifth unit of Hrazdan plant will also be given to Russia. “If these
facilities should be sold they must be sold to Russians only,’ he said.

HAYRUSGAZARD CONFIRMS DOUBLED PRICE FOR RUSSIAN GAS
Armenpress
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS: Russian-Armenian Hayrusgazard natural
gas operator has confirmed today that Russia will be selling gas
to Armenia at $110 per one thousand cubic meter. The rise becomes
effective from April 1.
Shushan Sardarian, a spokeswoman for the company, said nevertheless,
Armenian and Russian officials continued talks, but refused to
elaborate. The Armenian energy ministry said executives from Russian
Gazprom were in Yerevan negotiating with Armenian party, but likewise
refused to flesh out.
State regulators have already sanctioned a 50 percent rise in the
cost of gas supplied to individual consumers to become effective from
April 9.

Armenian foreign minister, UN officials discuss Karabakh
Arminfo
1 Apr 06
Yerevan, 1 April: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan held
meetings with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President of the UN
General Assembly Jan Eliasson and head of the UN Development Programme
Kemal Dervis on 30-31 March.
Oskanyan informed the UN Secretary-General and the president of the
UN General Assembly about the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement process
and frequent cease-fire violations, the Armenian Foreign Ministry
press service told Arminfo.
Oskanyan expressed Armenia’s concern about the bellicose statements by
the Azerbaijani leadership, saying that direct consequence of these
statements were cease-fire violations by Azerbaijani soldiers on the
contact line [between the Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces].
[Passage omitted: Oskanyan told the UNDP head that Armenia was
determined to develop rural regions]

Government makes “deal” with Russian company to get cheap gas – Armenian paper
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
31 Mar 06
Excerpt from report by Ayk Gevorkyan in Armenian newspaper Aykakan
Zhamanak on 31 March headlined “Another crime”
Reliable sources say that Armenia and Russia have make another shameful
deal, according to which the fifth block of the Razdan power plant
and the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline will be handed over to Russia
[for management]. This took place to avoid a hike of the Russian
gas price for Armenia. The [Russian company] Gazprom delegation has
been in Armenia since yesterday [30 March], and this [deal] confirms
[Armenian Defence Minister] Serzh Sarkisyan’s statement that the gas
price will hike not that much as has been predicted.
The price for Russian gas remains the same on the [Armenian] border:
110 dollars per 1,000 cu.m. But the cost of the fifth block of the
Razdan power plant for the Russians will be almost equal to the hike
of the gas price. That is to say, Armenia sells the power plant’s
fifth block to Gazprom free of charge. Over a certain period, Gazprom
does not pay [for the fifth block] and sells gas cheaper than it was
predicted. As our source from the [Armenian] Energy Ministry says,
the figures will be finally settled in several days, and the fifth
block will be handed over to Russians for 250m dollars.
This is simply shameful as Armenia has been planning to reach an
agreement with Iran regarding the exploitation of the fifth block
of the Razdan power plant, according to which Iran would allocate a
150m-dollar credit for new equipment at the power plant and Armenia
would repay the credit with electricity produced by the fifth block. In
that case, the fifth bloc would remain Armenia’s property. [Passage
omitted: reiteration]
But now we give our property to Russia for having cheap gas during two
and a half years. Iran has also been planning to allocate a 400m-dollar
credit for the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline and the construction of a
new high-voltage Iran-Armenia power line without gaining the right
for property. All these projects are annulled now.
Theoretically, Iran may obstruct this deal with Gazprom, but in
fact, it would hardly do this. According to certain information,
Iran has agreed to stay neutral so that in future Russia not hinder
the fulfilment of Iran’s nuclear programme.
The agreement with Russians again shows that our authorities are
unprincipled and populist. The point is that the aforesaid two and a
half years come to an end precisely when [Armenian President Robert]
Kocharyan’s presidential term expires.

Russia to sell Armenia gas at 110 dollars – minister
Arminfo
31 Mar 06
Yerevan, 31 March: Russia will sell gas to Armenia at 110 dollars
per 1,000 cu. m. from 1 April 2006, Armenian Minister of Finance and
Economy, Vardan Khachatryan, told journalists today.
He said that the [Armenian] consumers of the Russian gas would l pay
the old price until 10 April. He went on to say that according to a
decision by the public services coordinating commission, domestic
gas prices would be increased from 10 April. The government might
compensate for the price rise from the budget, Khachatryan said,
adding that there were some options for giving compensation which
would not be a burden for the budget.
Khachatryan refused to comment on Aykakan Zhamanak newspaper’s report
that Russia would take over the fifth block of the Razdan power plant
and shares in the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline in exchange for a freeze
on the gas price in the next 30 months.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
[In a separate report at 1327 gmt on 1 April 06, Arminfo quoted
businessmen Mikael Bagdasarov as saying that Russia would supply gas
to Armenia for 68 dollars per 1,000 cu. m. He said the price still
might change, but would not exceed 70 dollars per 1,000 cu. m.]

Price for Russian gas doubles in Armenia, talks continue
By AVET DEMOURIAN
AP Worldstream; Apr 01, 2006
Armenia began paying about twice the previous price for Russian
natural gas on Saturday, but talks continued on rates and ways to
ease the blow for the small Caucasus Mountain nation, officials said.
Russia’s state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom, which has
been raising prices for ex-Soviet republics, initially demanded that
Armenia pay US$110 (A90) per thousand cubic meters as of Jan. 1,
but later agreed to hold off on the increase until April 1.
Officials at Gazprom’s Armenian subsidiary and the Energy Ministry
said that while the increase took effect Saturday, the two sides were
still discussing prices and potential measures to lessen the impact
on the nation, which relies entirely on Moscow for its gas supplies.
The delay allowed Armenia _ Russia’s chief ally in the strategic
Caucasus Mountain region, partly thanks to its acceptance of a
Russian military base on its territory _ to get through the cold
winter without a price increase. But the rate hike appeared set to
result in higher bills for Armenian consumers and companies.
As of April 10, the price of a cubic meter of gas is set to rise by
about 52 percent for domestic consumers and by about 85 percent for
industrial users. The country’s main electric power station, which is
largely controlled by Russia, wants to raise its rates by 90 percent,
which would likely lead to hikes in electric bills.
“You don’t need to be an economist to figure out how much this chain
reaction will affect the (pocketbooks) of citizens,” said Ashot
Aramian, editor of an Armenian economic magazine called Basis. He
said the government might have to revise the 2006 budget.
Meanwhile, government opponents worry that the government will seek
to ease gas prices by handing further control over Armenia’s energy
infrastructure to Russia _ including an under-construction pipeline
that is to carry natural gas to Armenia from neighboring Iran.
Gazprom has sharply raised prices recently for Ukraine, Georgia and
Moldova, arguing that it is merely ending subsidies to ex-Soviet
republics and bringing the rates closer to market prices but drawing
fire from critics who say the Kremlin is using Russia’s energy wealth
as a political weapon.

YOU ARE INVITED TO
A SYMPOSIUM AND WORKSHOP
ON
Genocide denial & healing: The case of the Genocide of the Armenians
On
Friday, 7 April 2006 -7 PM
at
Fordham University, 113 W 60th St., (Off 9th Avenue) NYC
12th Floor Faculty Lounge
Professor Staub: Recipient of 2006 AASSSG Outstanding Achievement
Award
Professor Ervin Staub, Professor of Psychology at the University ofMassachusetts
“The roots of evil, denial and
healing” and a presentation by
Professor Elif Shafak, Professor of Literature, University of Arizona
“Silence and Secrets in Women’s Stories: Tracing the Effects
of the Massacres and Deportation of Armenians in 1915 in Contemporary
Women’s Culture in Turkey.
Family Constellations by
Dr. Sophia Kramer-Leto and Dr. Chiara Hayganush Megighian Zenati
Special Performance by: Armenian Dance Group from Long Island
Armenian Dances from Historic Western Armenia
Chairperson: Dr. Anie Kalayjian, Fordham University and President of
AASSSG &
Association for Disaster & Mass Trauma Studies.
KRIEGER Essay Contest winners will be announced and awards given
Hosted by: Armenian American Society for Studies on Stress & Genocide
(AASSSG), Fordham Psychology Association, SPSSI NY, Association for
Disaster & Mass Trauma Studies, and Fordham Psi Chi
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED
Admission: $10 donation (free with Fordham ID)
For information contact Dr. Kalayjian E-mail: [email protected],
visit: , or phone: 201 941-2266
AASSSG
139 Cedar Street
Cliffside Park, NJ 07010-1003
Wesite:
Dr. Anie Kalayjian
Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress
Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Fordham University
President, Association for Disaster & Mass Trauma Studies
Board of Directors, United Nations, NGO Human Rights Committee
Treasurer, American Psychological Association International Division
President, Armenian American Society for Studies on Stress & Genocide
139 Cedar Street
Cliffside Park, NJ 07010-1003
Phone: 201 – 941-2266
Page: 917 – 269 – 2803
Fax: 201 – 941- 5110
www.internationalpsyc hology.net