CHILDREN’S INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL IN YEKATIRINBURG
AZG Armenian Daily
30/03/2006
Press service of the Culture and Youth Affairs Ministry of Armenia
informs that on March 29-31 in Russian city of Yekatirinburg a
children’s international festival “The Earth Is Our Common Home”
will be held.
Armenia is represented in the festival in the nominations folk dance
and folk instruments.
Seda Sargsian, student of the Choreographic Collage of Yerevan,
solo dancer of “Vanush” folk ensemble, Tatul Altunian Prize-holder,
will represent the Armenian folk dance.
Sargis Davtian, Chaykovski Music School student, laureate of
republican awards, CIS’s Delphian Games prize-holder will perform in
the nomination of folk instruments.

TOMORROW’S WARRIORS IN ARMENIA
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily
30/03/2006
The British Council in Armenia in collaboration with British jazz
musicians Gary Crosby and Abram Wilson has organized a four day
workshop with talented young Armenian jazz musicians as part of the
“Tomorrow’s Warriors” education programme from 27 to 30 March.
The Armenian and the British musicians will perform at “Avant-Garde”
Folk Jazz Club. The workshop will focus on honing technique, developing
improvisation skills and broadening repertoire. The leaders of the
programme will work with the local music leaders to share knowledge
and pass on skills so that the development process may continue after
the tutors have returned to London.
“Tomorrow’s Warriors” is a non-profit organization established in
1992 by original Jazz Warriors double bassist, Gary Crosby to develop
young talented jazz musicians. The organization helped to incubate such
names as Courtney Pine, Gary Crosby, Steve Williamson and many others.
Mr. Crosby highly estimates the professional skills of the young
Armenian musicians. Today, Mr. Crosby and Mr. Wilson will perform
with Anush Apoyan, Artyom Manukian, Artur Grigorian, Artur Nazarian,
David Tatevosian, Gevorg Khechoyan, Manuk Ghazarian and Hamlet
Sharoyan. “They are brilliant musicians, they just need to develop,”
Crosby stated in the interview to Azg.
The musicians are going to perform about 10 pieces each evening. There
are pieces that will be performed exclusively by the Armenian
musicians.
As for development of jazz in the world, Mr. Crosby said that jazz
remains a club music everywhere. “Jazz is a spirit. One needs to love
it, to love the music and play it. When you play jazz your soul gets
richer,” Crosby said.
Mr. Crosby pins big hopes on “Tomorrow’s Warriors.”
“There should be individuals that want to develop and promote jazz
everywhere, ” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION. EXPO-2006” EXHIBITION TO OPEN TODAY IN YEREVAN
ArmRadio.am
30.03.2006 10:55
The third international “Construction and renovation. Expo-2006”
professional exhibition will open today in Yerevan.
Business meetings will also be held in the framework of the exhibition.
These create real perspectives for the increase of foreign
investments in the country, as well as provide opportunities to local
construction companies in regard to international cooperation and
market enlargement.

WORKS OF ARMENIAN ARTISTS TO BE EXHIBITED IN SAINT PETERSBURG
ArmRadio.am
30.03.2006 11:08
In the framework of the Year of Armenia in Russia “Treasures of
Echmiadzin” exhibition will be held April 1-20 in the Moscow State
Museum of Arts after Pushkin. MEDIAMAX Agency informs that the opening
ceremony of the exhibition will be held on March 31.
>From March 30 to April 10 exhibition of works by Armenian artists of
Saint Petersburg will be held in the Northern capital of Russia. The
exhibition will be held in the framework of the Year of Armenia
in Russia with participation of the Saint Petersburg Governmental
Committees on Foreign Relations and Tourism and Culture, as well as
the Chief Consulate of the Republic of Armenia.

NKR MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ISSUES AN ADDRESS
ArmRadio.am
30.03.2006 12:35
NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an address regarding the
failure to hold OSCE planned monitoring of the contact line of Armed
Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The address says, “During the March 29 OSCE monitoring to the South
from Seysulan settlement in NKR Martakert region the divisions of
Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the cease-fire regime, opening fire
in the direction of positions of the NKR Armed Forces. As a result
of this, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Anjey
Kasprchik took the decision to impede the monitoring for the purpose
of assuring the security of the participants.
Calling the attention of the international community to the numerous
facts of violation of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh contact line by
Azeri armed formations, which take a periodic character recently,
NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers it necessary to declare
that such activity is the result of the militant rhetoric of the
Azerbaijani leadership, which is not properly evaluated by interested
countries and organizations. The attempts of the mediators to lay
equal responsibility for the breach of the cease-fire regime on
all parties to the conflict create non-punishment prerequisites
in Azerbaijan, which is completely impermissible. In this regard,
the Foreign Ministry considers that any silent assistance to the
conflicting sides can lead to the shatter of the established balance
and create imbalance in whole South Caucasus.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SENTAORS SANTORIUM, MENENDEZ INTRODUCE BILL TO BLOCK US FUNDING FOR PROPOSED CAUCASUS RAILWAY PROJECT
Yerkir
30.03.2006 13:15
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and newly appointed
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced legislation this week that
would prohibit U.S. assistance for the building of railroads traversing
the Caucasus that circumvent Armenia, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).
The legislation mirrors a similar House measure (H.R. 3361) titled
the “South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act of 2005”,
introduced by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Joe Knollenberg
(R-MI) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) in June, 2005. The House version of
the legislation currently has 77 cosponsors.
“We welcome this effort to protect U.S. taxpayers from subsidizing an
ill-advised and over-priced railroad project that – at the insistence
of Turkey and Azerbaijan – has been specifically designed to exclude
Armenia,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.
In his speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Menendez noted the Turkish
government’s ongoing campaign to “isolate Armenia economically,
politically and socially,” citing Turkey’s 13-year blockade of Armenia
and, more recently, the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline, which also circumvents Armenia.
“U.S. policy in the South Caucasus seeks to.
In October 2005, the European Commission added its voice to the growing
international opposition to a Caucasus railroad. The Commission’s
position was articulated by the Directorate General for Transport and
Energy. In explaining why the European Union would not support the
creation of this rail line, the Directorate noted that its construction
was both unnecessary and inefficient in light of the existing railroad
connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi.

WORLD BANK GIVES ARMENIA GRANT AND CREDIT TO SUPPORT RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT
Armenpress
Mar 30 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS: The World Bank approved on March
29 a Renewable Energy Project for Armenia. The total amount of the
project is US$25.050 million, including a US$5 million International
Development Association (IDA) credit, and a US$3 million grant from
the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project will also be
supported by co-financing of US$7 million from EBRD, US$3 million
from the Cafesjian Family Foundation, and US$7.050 million from the
government and local financial institutions.
This project will assist the government to increase privately owned
and operated power generation utilizing renewable energy and to reduce
greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) emissions by overcoming barriers
to the development of renewable energy. Following the energy crisis
Armenia has achieved remarkable results in reforming the power sector
and improving its financial performance. The key remaining challenge
for the sector is to ensure sustainable and reliable power supply by:
(a) shifting reliance from costly and polluting sources of energy to
lower cost and environmentally friendly alternatives; (b) increasing
the energy diversification and achieving a higher degree of energy
security through the utilization of the indigenous renewable energy
resources.
While the overall legal and regulatory framework in Armenia is
supportive to the development of renewable resources, private
investments in renewable projects are impeded by a number of legal,
regulatory, informational, financial, and institutional barriers.
The Renewable Energy Project will provide assistance to remove the
existing barriers and debt financing, as well as technical, legal,
managerial and business support to a selected number of renewable
projects.
“The project will increase the role of renewable resources in
Armenia’s electricity generation mix in the future thereby increasing
the diversification of electricity supply and energy security,”-
said Gevorg Sargsyan, Head of the World Bank team designing the
project. “It will also generate environmental benefits by reducing
emissions and pollution.”
The overarching goal of the project is to build a sustainable
market-based capacity to develop and finance renewable energy projects
on commercial terms.
The Renewable Energy Project has two components: (i) assistance
to remove barriers and support project implementation; and (ii)
financing of investment. IDA and grant funds will be channeled through
the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund, which will provide
finance to private investors through a financial intermediary.
By the time of completion, the project is expected to contribute to
the development of about 80MW of additional renewable energy generation
capacity, adding 200GWh annual renewable generation to the electricity
generation mix. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions are expected to
be lowered by around 130,000 tons annually. The Credit will be made
to Armenia on standard IDA terms, including 40 years maturity and a
10-year grace period.
Since joining the World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, the commitments
to Armenia total approximately US $921 million for 42 operations.

BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS A MOTION TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Armenpress
Mar 30 2006
YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS: The parliament of Bulgaria turned
down a draft resolution calling for official acknowledgment of the
Armenian genocide and designating April 24 as the day of remembrance
of its victims.
The motion was initiated by a parliament faction of Ataka party
last January. Armenian ambassador to Bulgaria, Sergey Manaserian,
told Armenpress that the Bulgarian parliament is not likely to resume
debates over this issue this year. He said the motion is being strongly
opposed by another parliamentary faction- the Movement for Freedoms
and Rights- which represents ethnic Bulgarian Turks, which is also
a member of the governing coalition.
Another reason that affects the Bulgarian parliament is its active
economic and trade contacts with Turkey. In 2007 Bulgaria is expected
to become EU member and would hardly like to stir up additional
problems with its neighbors or its biggest national minority. The
Armenian ambassador said this April 24 events commemorating the 91-st
anniversary of the genocide will be held in various Bulgarian cities.

EU SHOULD ASSIST SOUTH CAUCASUS STATES FOR BETTER INTEGRATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
30.03.2006 02:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The EU should assist the states of the South Caucasus
to ensure their better integration, Lithuanian FM Antanas Valionis
said. In his words, if Turkey, which borders those states, becomes
an EU member, “the membership of those countries will become a barest
necessity to the EU.” He also remarked Lithuania and other EU members
will consider themselves secure only in case neighboring eastern
states have market economy and democracy. “Some countries, particularly
Russia, unfortunately think their security depends on strong pressure
upon neighboring states and manipulating these. Democracy in Russia
is of vital importance and I openly told it Putin,” Valionis said,
adding the same refers to Belarus, reports RFE/RL.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE DEMANDS TO DEEPEN DEMOCRATIC REFORMS IN ARMENIA
By Ara Martirosian
AZG Armenian Daily
30/03/2006
RA Finance and Economy Ministry informed that Vartan Khachatrian,
RA finance and economy minister, and John Danilovich, executive
director of Millennium Challenges Corporation, signed agreement on
March 27 in Washington. The agreement costs $236.5 million and will
last five years.
The project is aimed to reduce rural poverty by securing stable growth
of agricultural production. The investments are directed to assist
750 thousand Armenian farmers or 75% of the village residents. It is
envisaged that the project will help reduce rural poverty by 6%.
RFE/RL informed that US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice who was
present during agreement signing stated during the ceremony that
Armenia should deepen democratic reforms. She reminded the concern of
the foreign observers about the violations during the constitutional
referendum.
In this connection, RA foreign minister Vartan Oskanian said that
the Armenian authorities already take certain measures to keep the
elections in line with the international criteria.