GOVERNMENT PROPOSES REDUCING LIST OF GOODS IMPORTED ON CONCESSIONAL
TERMS

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. At the March 23 sitting, the RA
National Assembly started discussing a government-submitted draft law
in first reading. The draft proposes making amendments to the law on
establishing the list of goods, which are imported by organizations
and private businessmen, have a zero rate of customs duty, are not
subject to excise taxation, and on which no VAT is calculated and
charged by customs bodies. The discussion will continue at the next
four-day sittings to be convened on April 10. The main speaker, RA
Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Tigran Davtian said
that the draft’s purpose is to ensure an equal competitive field for
all economic entities, bring the country’s trade and economic
legislation in line with European laws, as well as to secure the
budget revenues through administration.
By the draft, the list of goods imported on concessional terms is
reduced by almost 20%. As a result, about 80% of the goods imported
into Armenia will be taxed on the border. According to the draft’s
opponents, a draft law of similar contents was previously rejected by
the parliament, but the government ignored the proposals made by some
deputies. Particularly, Secretary of the Justice faction Victor
Dallakian urged the government not to “strangle” economic entities on
the border. Deputy Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Financial,
Credit, Budget and Economic Issues, Secretary of the “People’e Deputy”
group Vahram Baghdasarian said that the government should promote
exports instead of trying the reduce imports and establish concessive
terms for the import of modern equipment and raw materials not
produced in Armenia. He noted that the adoption of the draft will
distort the budget’s execution, since it presupposes extra revenues of
35 bln drams (about 77.7 mln USD) not envisaged by the budget.

SERGE SARGSIAN ASSURES THAT GAS PRICE WILL INCREASE LESS THAN
ENVISAGED

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The management of
Gasprom is ready to sign the appropriate agreements until late March,
which will allow the Armenian population and manufacturers to pay much
lower prices for gas than was envisaged previously. Serge Sargsian,
Secretary of the National Security Council under the RA President,
Co-Chairman of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on
Economic Cooperation, stated this during a talk with reporters on
March 22. In order to substantiate it, he referred to the answer that
he received on March 17 in response to his letter to Gasprom’s head
Alexei Miller. Not announcing the expected gas tariff, S. Sargsian
assured that “it will not be a price to affect the budgets of the
population and manufacturers.” Asked if the RA Public Services
Regulatory Commission’s decision about an increase in the gas price
was not a hasty one, Serge Sargsian replied that the decision was made
within the law.

GROWTH OF CASES OF TUBERCULOSIS REGISTERED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. March 24 is the International Day of
Struggle against Tuberculosis and its motto of this year is “To Act
for the Sake of Life to a World Free of Tuberculosis”. About 2 mln
people die from tuberculosis and about 9 mln are infected with this
disease every year in the world. Like in the whole world, in Armenia
also growth of cases of tuberculosis is noticed: in 2005 compared with
the previous year, they grew by 28.7%. As Noyan Tapan correspondent
was informed by Tatev Kostanian, Deputy Head of the “Anti-Tuberculosis
National Program”, 6455 people suffering from tuberculosis are
registered in Armenia. According to her, the number of newly-revealed
cases of tuberculosis increased by 448 in 2005 compared with the
previous year.
Meanwhile, it was mentioned that this is first of all conditioned by
the circumstance that programs aimed at revelation of cases of
tuberculosis and early prevention of the dicease are implemented
within the framework of the national program. Cases of death from this
disease increased by 13% in 2005 compared with the previous year:
thus, 148 people died from tuberculosis in 2004 and 167 people in
2005.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address:  Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact:  Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel:  (374 10) 517 163
Fax:  (374 10) 517 301
E-Mail:  [email protected]
March 23, 2006
His Holiness Karekin II Receives Hermitage Director
On March 22, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
All Armenians, received Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State
Hermitage Museum (Saint Petersburg) in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. 
He was accompanied by Ms. Armenika Kivirian, Director of the Southern
Caucasus branch of the Caucasus Institute for Democracy.
His Holiness welcomed Dr. Piotrovsky to the spiritual center of the Armenian
people, offering his blessings and best wishes, and stated, `We proudly
utter the `Piotrovsky’ surname from our lips, highly commending the services
that you and your family have provided for our people, contributing greatly
to our national cultural life.’  His Holiness also reflected on the recent
exhibition in Moscow of the `Treasures of Holy Etchmiadzin’, which was
organized under the auspices of the `Year of Armenia’ in Russia programs for
2006.  The Catholicos also expressed his happiness for the continuing
cooperation between the Hermitage and Holy Etchmiadzin, through which there
are ongoing plans to present Armenian national treasures to the world.
Dr. Piotrovsky thanked His Holiness for the warm reception and noted,
`Armenia and Russia have always had close ties, and we are proud that the
exhibition year of 2006 was inaugurated in Saint Petersburg with the
presentation of the sacred museum artifacts of Holy Etchmiadzin.’  The
Hermitage director also spoke of his deep emotional ties to Holy Etchmiadzin
and Armenia, and fondly recalled his past meetings with His Holiness in
Saint Petersburg.
During the meeting, His Holiness also presented the upcoming plans for
renovating and restoring three of the four museums located on the grounds of
the Monastery of Holy Etchmiadzin.

AVET DEMURIAN’S “SECRETS OF INTERVIEW” HANDBOOK PUBLISHED

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. At present there is lack of necessary
education handbooks for teaching future journalists in the
institutions of higher education of Armenia. Astghik Gevorgian, the
Chairwoman of the Journalists’ Union of Armenia stated about this at
the March 22 presentation of the “Secrets of Interview” book authored
by Avet Demurian, the Deputy Chairman of the Yerevan Press
Club. According to Boris Navasardian, the Chairman of the Yerevan
Press Club, that handbook in which Russian and Western journalism’s as
well as the author’s own professional experience is presented, will be
useful for journalists from the viewpoint of not only holding an
inteview but in general for getting acquainted with the methodology of
getting information. As Avet Demurian mentioned that creation and
publication of the “Secrets of Interview” handbook as well as of his
“I State News” book published before that were financed by the
U.S. Embassy to Armenia. He expressed hope that the Embassy will also
finance works of creating the “Reporting as Genre” book to be
published in 2006. The “Secrets of Interview” handbook was published
with print run of 1500 copies 1000 of which in the Armenian, 500 ones
in the Russian languages. The most part of the print run will be
freely given to institutions of higher education having departments of
journalism. A.Demurian has worked for many years as the Armenian
bureau head and personal correspondent of the Russian RIA “Novosti”
agency, is the founder of the Armenian “Arka” agency, and is the
correspondence of the “Associated Press” agency in Armenia at present.

PRESS OFFICER FOR THE EUROPEAN BUREAU STATE DEPARTMENT HAVE NO
INFORMATION OF DATE OF AMBASSADOR EVAN’S RECALL
WASHINGTON, MARCH 23. ARMINFO. US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans
will head the diplomatic mission to Armenia until President Bush makes
a decision to replace him, Press Officer for the European Bureau State
Department Terry Davidson told ARMINFO.
He said the policy of appointment and recall of the heads of American
diplomatic missions cannot be changed depending on separate
cases. Last week, a number of US Department of State representatives
in Yerevan stated that Ambassador Evans serves and represents the US
President at the Embassy in Armenia until he is dismissed and
replaced, T. Davidson says. However, he had no information on the
exact date of Ambassador Evan’s recall.
In its turn, The Los Angeles Times published an article on Wednesday
touching upon the possible recall of John Evans. The newspaper
mentioned that in February 2005 during his meeting with the Armenian
community at the California University Berkeley, Ambassador Evans
recognized the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. –

Jon M. Huntsman Joins Board of Beaumont Foundation of America

Business Wire; Mar 22, 2006
Jon M. Huntsman, founder and Chairman of Huntsman Corporation, the
nation’s fourth largest chemical company, has joined the Board of
Directors of the Beaumont Foundation of America (BFA), a charitable
foundation dedicated to the use of technology to enhance the lives of
America’s underprivileged. Mr. Huntsman was the 2003 recipient of the
Humanitarian of the Year Award from CNN’s Larry King. He has served
the past eight years as a member of the Board of Governors of the
American Red Cross and as Chairman of its Biomedical Services
Committee (America’s blood supply). Among countless donations he has
given to homeless and underprivileged people around the world were the
significant funds he gave to rebuild the country of Armenia following
the devastating 1988 earthquake.
Mr. Huntsman and his wife, Karen, are perhaps best known for their
$225 million donation to establish and fund the Huntsman Cancer
Institute and Hospital at the University of Utah, one of America’s
premier cancer centers, dedicated to finding cures for cancer based on
genetic research.
Wayne Reaud, Chairman of the BFA Board, commented, “Jon Huntsman is
widely recognized as one of America’s foremost concerned citizens and
philanthropists. His experience, guidance and direction will be a
tremendous asset to the work of the BFA.”
Established in 2002, the Beaumont Foundation of America supports the
use of computer technology to enhance and advance the lives of
underprivileged individuals and populations in all 50 states and the
District of Columbia.
Initiatives the BFA has funded include donations to the Salvation Army
and Boys and Girls Clubs of America. More than 500 schools have
received BFA computers, as have the children of military personnel who
lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the BFA has
delivered computers to such organizations as affordable housing,
children’s hospitals, college and university scholarship programs,
faith-based initiatives, foster care and mentoring programs for
children, persons with disabilities, restart programs for released
offenders, and senior citizens.
To date, the Beaumont Foundation of America has granted and delivered
computer equipment valued at over $63 million.for Beaumont Foundation
of America Eric Wetzel, 800-469-0661 [email protected]

Germany too strong for Armenia
Tuesday, 21 March 2006
by Steffen Potter
from Frankfurt
Germany recovered from conceding an early goal to the
Armenia senior team to win their latest warm-up match
for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship 3-1 in
Ahlen.
Slick football
Having been beaten 2-1 by a Latvia side who qualified
for UEFA EURO 2004′ last month, Dieter Eilts’s side
got back on track by performing impressively at the
Wersestadion, despite Aram Hakobyan putting the
visitors ahead in the seventh minute. Germany
initially struggled to regroup, but were playing some
slick football by the time 1. FC Nürnberg’s Stefan
Kiessling converted a David Odonkor cross in the 36th
minute.
Fine finish
Germany assumed full control after the break and
created plenty of scoring opportunities. Captain
Christian Schulz led by example in the 58th, scoring
with a drive from range which left Armenia goalkeeper
Gevorg Kasparov without a hope. Malik Fatih made it
3-1 with eleven minutes remaining, ensuring a
comfortable end to the game for the home side.
‘Room for improvement’
Eilts said: “We saw the team change its approach
during the match, and once we found our groove we
showed considerably more spirit. However, there is
still room for improvement.” Germany next tackle
fellow finalists the Netherlands on 17 May, a week
before both teams depart for Portugal.
©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.

Armenpress
HNCHAKIAN PARTY TO EXPAND ACTIVITY IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: Parliament chairman
Arthur Baghdasarian received today Sedrak Ajemian, the
chairman of the central board of Hnchakian
(Social-Democratic) party, and two other senior
members of the party.
Together with the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation/ Dashnaktsutyun and Ramkavar Azatakan
(Democratic Liberal) Hnchakian is one of the three
so-called ‘traditional’ Armenian parties. Before the
collapse of the Soviet Union these parties operated
only in the Armenian Diaspora. The press office of the
parliament said Hnchakian party leaders informed
Baghdasarian officially that the party which has
chapters in 14 countries has revised its strategy and
decided to increase its presence in Armenia.
Baghdasarian was said to welcome the party’s decision.
Hnchakian party was established by a small group of
Armenians in Geneva in 1887. It was the first Armenian
political organization with a national and
international structure and a detailed political
program.

Armenpress
OSKANIAN TO VISIT USA, RUSSIA AND SYRIA

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign
ministry said minister Vartan Oskanian will pay a
working visit to the USA on March 26-31.
The ministry said on March 27 Oskanian and US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend the
signing OF the $235 million Millennium Challenge
Compact, recently awarded by the U.S. government to
Armenia. On the same day Oskanian is expected to meet
with Steven Mann, the US cochairman in the OSCE Minsk
group. On March 27, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian will address Armenian-American activists
gathering in Washington.
On March 29 he will leave Washington for New York
where on March 30 he will meet with UNDP coordinator
Kemal Dervis and the UN General Assembly chairman Jan
Eliason. Oskanian is also scheduled to meet with Kofee
Anan. On April 6-7 Oskanian will be in Moscow to meet
his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and Russian
security council secretary Igor Ivanov.
On April 7-9 Oskanian will be in Syria where he
will meet with Syrian president Bashar Asad and
foreign minister Valid Mualim. On April 9 Oskanian
will attend a ceremony in Syrian Aleppo dedicated to
the centenary of the Armenian General Benevolent Union
and the 75-th anniversary of foundation of the
Armenian Youth Union.