WHAT RODRIGO KNOWS
James Hakobyan
Lragir.am
20 June 06
The IMF’s Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato announced June 18 in
Yerevan that the revaluation of the Armenian national currency
sustains the economy in Armenia, relieves the consequences of high
energy prices and investments grow, reports the news agency ARKA.
However, his assessment means it is time for de Rato to take up a
course in economy rather than the necessity for revaluation of the
Armenian dram. If the revaluation of the Armenian currency helps
eliminate the consequences of the high energy prices, de Rato should
have also said for who.
It is suggested that the consequences of the high energy prices
impact two main groups of consumers: people and industries. After the
revaluation of the dram people did not start paying less for energy.
So, the consequences of expensive energy were not relieved for
people. And those people whose income is in dollars have to spend more
dollars to buy drams and pay for energy. In fact, they suffer losses
due to the revaluation of the Armenian dram. As for producers, energy
prices did not change for them either. Moreover, if they export their
products, they also suffer losses from the revaluation of the dram,
for the cost of production increases. They sold their product abroad
for x dollars, in Armenia they exchanged x dollars for 2x drams and
paid taxes, for energy, salaries, etc. Now and after every stage of
revaluation of the Armenian dram they have 1x drams instead of the
former 2x drams. Therefore, one does not need sophisticated knowledge
of economy to realize that producers need to sell their product at a
higher price abroad or to invest part of their income to produce an
equal amount of products.
In fact, we deal with an obvious decline in production. For Rodrigo
de Rato, only he knows what he deals with. His assessment is probably
based on the calculation that the revaluation of the dram cut down
the prices of imported products because if formerly x drams revenues
of importers were exchanged for 1x dollars, after the revaluation of
the x drams revenues of importers are exchanged for 2x instead of the
former 1x drams. Hence, their income grows. They will keep these huge
profits to themselves or invest in importing business again, because
we saw that local production, to put it mildly, is not profitable. We
not only saw it but we hear it from local producers. The companies,
who sell their products in Armenia, may not suffer losses. On the other
hand, however, their business will not grow unless their production
is exported. It cannot grow for the simple reason that the Armenian
market is very small. So, if Armenian production is not exported,
the Armenian economy is unable to develop, because the market is very
limited. Hence, only de Rato knows how the revaluation of the dram is
going to develop the economy. As for the question why the price of the
imported fuel does not decrease in drams despite the revaluation of
the dram, it is known to someone else, and most probably Rodrigo de
Rato has had the opportunity to ask them in Armenia, because he met
with the government of Armenia. However, probably he did not ask them
anything, otherwise he would not have announced what he announced. And
he should not have announced what he announced, because in a healthy
economy the national dram would not revaluate and foreign currency
would not depreciate by several percentage points within only a
week. Such an economy cannot attract investments, and perhaps only
Rodrigo de Rato knows who would make investments in such an economy.

WHO IS GOING TO DEFEND PILOTS?
Hakob Badalyan
Lragir.am
20 June 06
Gradually, even quite unexpectedly, the cause of the crash of the
Armenian plane is getting an official formulation. It was unexpected
because in the beginning the dynamics of the search for A320,
which crashed near Sochi on May 3, did not promise that the black
boxes of the plane would be retrieved from the bottom of the sea
and deciphered. Before lifting the recorders, they had announced
that it is impossible to lift the recorders from the bottom but very
soon the black boxes were retrieved. Before deciphering it had been
announced that it would take 2 months. However, both recorders have
been deciphered within only a month. Even official releases are made,
which directly serve the goal of confirming that the cause was the
mistake of the pilot. Why are the Russians in a hurry? And why aren’t
the Armenians in a hurry to react to the information published so
far? Does the government of Armenia have only one duty before its
citizens – to organize funerals?
Generally, the participation of Armenia to the investigation of the
plane crash is rather strange. It appears that official Yerevan was
interested in the crash on the first few days, and then everything
was managed by official Moscow. The crash was in Russia, but the
aircraft of the Armenian airlines crashed, and the passengers were
mainly citizens of Armenia.
It was notable that after the deciphering of the recorder the Russian
minister of transport Levitin announced that Armenian specialists
would also participate in deciphering because the talk of the crew
is in Armenian. Hence, the Armenian specialists’ role in deciphering
was that of a translator, and if the crew had spoken Russian, the
Armenian specialists might not even have been informed about the
deciphering. Although, maybe it is worthwhile to thank the Russians
that they informed Armenia about retrieving the recorders from the
sea, because the Armenian state and non-state TV companies stayed in
Sochi until the retrieval of the black boxes and returned home before
the retrieval. Whereas it appeared very important how many times
“the Russians threw the net” to get the recorders.
The interest of the Armenian government arouses doubts. There is
a striking contrast between the reaction on the first few days and
the present silence. The prime minister says they are informed about
the investigation but they do not tell anything because nothing was
published officially. On May 3, hours past the crash, Serge Sargsyan,
the secretary of the National Security Council, the minister of
defense of Armenia, arrived in Sochi. It is, in fact, a top-level
reaction. Whereas, now it is difficult to imagine a more figurative
silence. Whereas, defending the citizens of Armenia is concerned,
moreover, citizens who cannot defend themselves anymore because they
died in the plane crash. And the victims are blamed for the crash,
by promoting slowly but tenaciously the suggestion that the crew made
a mistake, which is already acquiring a clearly official coloring. And
the national security is concerned.
The question has already gone beyond the scope of raising funds for
the families of victims, and it appears that there is nobody competent
for this new scope. And if there is such a person, they are already
interested in another scope where a plane would not reach. It may
run out of fuel or not find the destination.

KARABAKH IS OPEN FOR IWG
Lragir.am
20 June 06
The representatives of the International Working Group /IWG/
for Search of Missing, Captives and Release of POWs are visiting
Stepanakert. The German co-chair of the IWG Bernhard Clasen told the
reporter of Lragir.am that during his meeting a number of definite
issues and the prospects of cooperation with the government agencies of
Karabakh must be discussed. Bernhard Clasen said during their meetings
with the government agencies in charge of POWs it became clear that
all the doors remain open for the IWG. He said that Azerbaijan also
knows it. In answer to the question whether they have visited placed
where POW’s might be kept, Bernhard Clasen said they do not have
such a mission. He called the families of the missing to report any
information they have to them.
The question of the missing and captives is one of the most complicated
issues in the Karabakh-Azerbaijani relations. The governmental and
non-governmental organizations of both sides present lists of thousands
of missing people. However, experts say 14 years have already passed
since the armistice and it is not probable that captives will be kept
at homes or in prison. In other words, the efforts of the international
organizations are directed at finding out the fate of the missing
rather than searching for these people.
Answering the question of Lragir.am, Bernhard Clasen, nevertheless,
did not deny that some people may still be alive but the chance to find
them is getting smaller and smaller. The German human rights defender
commended the decision of the PACE to appoint a special reporter on
the missing after 14 years. Bernhard Clasen said during his visit to
Yerevan Leo Platvoet met with their coordinator in Armenia Karineh
Minasyan. Platvoet proposed to set up a Karabakh-Armenia-Azerbaijan
committee for the search of captives. The delegation of IWG also
includes Co-Chair Paata Zakareashvili, the Azerbaijani coordinator
Avaz Hasanov and the Armenian coordinator Karineh Minasyan.

NKR SHOULD DIRECTLY PARTAKE IN SEARCH FOR MISSING AND RELEASE OF PRISONERS OF WAR
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.06.2006 13:28 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Yesterday Nagorno Karabakh FM Grigory Petrosyan
met with the delegation of the International Working Group (IWG) for
Search for the Missing, Hostages and Release of Prisoners of War in
the zone of the NK conflict. The Group comprises Co-Chairs Bernhard
Klazen (Germany) and Paat Zakareishvili (Georgia), coordinators Karine
Minasyan (Armenia), Avaz Hasanov (Azerbaijan) and Albert Voskanyan
(NKR), reports the NKR MFA Press Service.
During the meeting the current state of affairs in the IWG activities,
matters of activation of the search for the missing and graves,
problems and future plans were discussed. Georgy Petrosyan noted
that Nagorno Karabakh has continuously assisted the IWG activities
and is always open to cooperation, while Baku constantly refuses to
contact the respective NKR state commission. The Minister emphasized
that politicization of the field is inadmissible, emphasizing that
hostilities were in the territory of NK and NKR representatives
should directly and actively participate in search for the missing,
hostages and release of prisoners of war.
The IWG members agreed with the opinion of the NKR FM over the openness
of the Karabakh party and its assistance to the Group work. At the
same time Bernhard Klazen regretted that today former prisoners of
war are judged and persecuted in Azerbaijan. He remarked that the
IWG will do its best to convince Baku to refuse that practice. The
meeting participants were for active cooperation of all interested
parties in solving problems in that humanitarian field.

CMCE ADOPTED RECOMMENDATION FOR ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES ON MINORITY LANGUAGES
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.06.2006 13:36 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
(CMCE) has just adopted a recommendation for the attention of the
Armenian authorities on measures they could take to improve the
application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
in Armenia. These measures particularly include improving the presence
of regional or minority languages in education, before courts and on
radio and television. The Armenian authorities are also encouraged to
clarify whether there are any other regional or minority languages
used in Armenia apart from those mentioned in Armenia’s instrument
of ratification.
The recommendation follows the evaluation report prepared by the
Charter’s Committee of Independent Experts, using information submitted
by Armenia and by NGOs, and obtained during an on-the-spot visit by the
Committee of Experts to Armenia. During this visit, meetings were held
with representatives of the regional or minority languages spoken in
Armenia, including representatives of NGOs, as well as representatives
of the Armenian authorities, reports Council of Europe Press Service.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REPRESENTATIVE OF INTERSTATE AVIATION COMMITTEE BELEIVES CONCLUSION THAT “HUMAN FACTOR” CAUSED AIR CRASH OF A-320 AIRBUS CAN’T BE CONSIDERED TRUSTWORTHY
Moscow, June 19. ArmInfo. The conclusion that the air crash of A-320
airbus was caused by the “human factor” are not trustworthy.
BBCRussian.com informed that a representative of the Inter State
Aviation Committee said this today.
He said that they will be able to make conclusions about the causes
of the air crash only after modelling the last flight of the airbus.
The decoding results of the black boxes testify that the airbus was
technically secure. He said that the specialists will be able to
response all the questions about the air crash later.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KARABAKH: UN BELIEVES THAT THOUGH EVERYONE IS EQUAL, SOME ARE MORE EQUAL
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.06.2006 13:42 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) should be
the forth in the Agreement between Transnistria, South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, political scientist Hrazdan Madoyan stated in an interview
with PanARMENIAN.Net. “In spite of differences in details, the
common thing of those countries is important: they declared their
independence, underwent military aggression by states with large
territorial and human resources, defended their independence in
the war and now, 15 years later, they are much better formed as
sovereign states, than those, who attacked them to annex them,”
he said. In his words, no one can deprive peoples of the right to
live on their own. “There are several dozens of states with less
territory and population, however no one questions their right to
free and independent existence. The matter is that the UN believes
that though everyone is equal, some are more equal,” Madoyan said.
As of recognition of Montenegro independence by the US and Russia,
Madoyan believes that NATO geopoliticians have managed to split south
Slavs on the basis of religion. “Thus an artificial problem was formed
– the Montenegro independence, which won over half of the republic
population. Transnistria has not oil or gas pipelines, thus it is
not interesting. If it wants to live on its own – let it live. Thus,
official recognition of the TMR (Transnistrian Moldovan Republic),
after which the “M” will be omitted, is impending,” the Armenian
political scientist underscored.

OFFICIAL CONCLUSION ABOUT REASON OF AIRBUS A-320 CRASH NEAR SOCHI TO BE MADE IN JULY
Yerevan, June 19. ArmInfo. The official conclusion of the Interstate
Aviation Commission about the reason of Airbus A- 320 crash near
Sochi will be made in July, Leonid Kashirskiy, the Chairman of the
Technical Commission of IAC for investigation of Airbus A-320 crash,
told ArmInfo correspondent.
According to Kashirskiy, the Commission has already started the
complex analysis of records of objective control means, during which
it is scheduled to carry out a semi-natural simulation of a flight
on the training simulator of airplane A-320. A conclusion will be
made about the reason of air crash, upon the analysis results and
conducted investigations, and recommendations for flight safety will
be given. Kashirskiy refused to give a preliminary conclusion about
the air crash reason.
To be noted, according to the IAC press-release, spread today,
the works for decoding of records, fixed by the airborne parametric
self-recorder, and synchronization of records of the airborne and
ground means of objective control are completed June 17, 2006, in
the Interstate Aviation Committee.
Earlier, it was informed about the completion of decoding of the
airborne audio self-recorder. The airborne parametric self- recorder
had registered the information about 8 flights, including the emergency
A-320 in the period from April 30 to May 3, 2006. The total duration
of recording made up about 26 hours 20 minutes, including the whole
record of the last flight, i.e. 1 hour 26 minutes. “Base upon the last
flight decoding results, it is determined that there was no destruction
of the airplane in the air, the engines had been working up to the
moment of the airplane impact with the water surface. Moreover,
there was enough fuel on board for safe completion of the flight,
and during the last minute, the fight was in a director regime with
the autopilot switched off”, it is noted in the release.

YEREVAN-BATUMI PASSENGER RAILWAY SERVICE REACTIVATED
Yerevan, June 19. ArmInfo. After fourteen years of idling, the first
passenger train left Yerevan for Batumi, Saturday. The railroad was
reactivated to organize summer rest of Armenian tourists at Black
Sea resorts in Georgia, Georgian Minister of Economic Development,
Irakli Chogovadze said. The minister arrived in Armenia especially
to attend the opening ceremony of the railway service. The minister
said 50,000 tourists are expected to rest in Adzharia as against last
year’s 20,000. It is very important for the people to reach Georgia
in comfortable compartments, he said. I.Chogovadze said Armenia’s has
been recently actively investing in Adzharia. For instance, this year,
the first Armenian restaurant opened in Batumi in the current year,
he said.
Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Andranik Manukyan said
Yerevan- Batumi train will stop trice in the territory of Armenia
and once in Georgia. The train will undergo customs inspection
en route. The minister said the carriages are rather comfortable,
with air conditioning and television in special carriages. It is
noteworthy that the first train left with only four passengers, as
very few people were informed of the trip. The train can carry 180
passengers. Andranik Manukyan believes the tickets will be so highly
in demand in future that the parties will have to increase the number
of carriages. The minister said in Armenia like in the world, passenger
railway service is unprofitable and subsidized by the country.
To note, one ticket in double compartment costs 18,703 drams, the
ticket in four-place compartment – 9,297 drams. The tickets on the
return way from Batumi will cost tourists 21,256 drams and 10,542
drams, respectively in terms of lari.

FOURTH OF IT-SPECIALISTS IN ARMENIA INVOLVED IN EDUCATION PROGRAM OF ENTERPRISE INCUBATOR FOUNDATION
Yerevan, June 19. ArmInfo. Over one thousand of specialists who
participated in educational programs of Enterprise Incubator Foundation
(EIF) for the last three years successfully work in the sphere,
Head of EIF Bagrat Yengibaryan told ArmInfo.
He said 70% of these specialists are students of Yerevan State
University, Yerevan State Engineering University, and Armenian-Russian
(Slavonic) University, the remaining part are specialists who took
retraining courses. B. Yengibaryan said despite this high indicator,
the country’s IT sector still needs specialists.
To solve this problem, EIF intends to double the participants of its
programs, especially, those involved in long-term programs. He said
the participants of long-term programs not only master the up-to-date
technologies of chip-design but also get basic knowledge.
To note, within 4 years of its operation, EIF opened 10 specialized
branches at higher education universities of Armenia with support of
international organizations, including 6 branches independently.
These are such well-known organizations as Lycos, Intermec, Bremen
University.