NEW AND OLD CHURCHES IN STEPANAKERT
Lragir.am
5 May 06
On May 9 the foundation of St. Astvatsatsin Church will be laid in
Stepanakert. The Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church
has provided 140592000 drams for building. The total cost is 765
million drams. The church is reported to be built in the center of
Stepanakert. The old building, as well as some other houses nearby will
be pulled down after the new building of the polyclinic is ready. In
this houses a number of people are registered, and pulling them down
will bring about tremendous costs.
There is not a traditional church in Stepanakert. The believers attend
the church in the building of the House of Culture. In another part of
the city a small church is being built on the funds of a sponsor. In
the old part of Stepanakert there is an ancient church which is said
to have been built under King Vachagan. Other historians say the
church was built in the 18th century. This church is not operating
and is in private land.

BALANCE CAPITAl OF ARMENIAN CREDIT INSTITUTIONS GROWS BY 5.1% IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2006
Noyan Tapan
May 04 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The overall assets of Armenian credit
institutions increased by 5% in the first quarter of 2006 and made 8
bln 267 mln 886 thousand drams (about 17.7 mln USD). In the period
under review, the actual authorized capital of these institutions
declined by 6.5% to about 4 bln 453.1 mln drams, 2.9 bln drams of
which was the share of nonresidents. This index exceeded by 2.43%
the index registered in late December of last year. According to
the Central Bank of Armenia, the overall balance capital of Armenian
credit institutions grew by 5.1% in the first quarter of 2006, the
time liabilities of legal entities – by 6.6% and the time liabilities
of natural persons – by 15.4%. The total amount of credits provided
to legal entities declined by 4.3% to about 1.88 bln drams, while
credits to natural persons – by 5.1% to 2.89 bln drams.

FUNERAL TO TAKE PLACE IN ARMENIA SUNDAY FOR VICTIMS OF AIR CRASH
ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 4 2006
MOSCOW, May 4 (Itar-Tass) – A funeral will be held on Sunday, May 5,
at cathedrals of the Armenian Apostolic churches all around the world
for those were killed in the A-320 plane crash over the Black Sea,
said Vartan Pogosyan, spokesman for the Russian and Novo-Nakhichevan
Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
In Moscow the memorial service will take place in the Armenian
Apostolic Church at the Vagankovo cemetery at 12.00 Moscow time on
May 5, Pogosyan told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
Armenia has declared May 5 and May 6 a national day of mourning to
commemorate those were killed in the air crash near Sochi.
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan signed a decree to this effect
on Wednesday, the presidential press service reported.
Twenty-eight Russian citizens were aboard the crashed Airbus belonging
to the air company Armavia. The list of passengers placed in the hall
of the Yerevan international airport Zvartnots showed it.
These are mainly people of Armenian origin.

OVERALL ASSETS OF 21 ARMENIAN COMMERCIAL BANKS GROW BY 5.8% IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2006
Noyan Tapan
May 04 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The actual authorized capital of the
21 Armenian commercial banks grew by 0.4% in the first quarter of
2006 and made about 60 bln 547 mln 882 thousand drams (about 135 mln
USD), 31.589 bln drams of which was the share of nonresidents. This
index increased by 2.7% compared with the respective index of late
December 2005. The overall balance capital of the banks grew by 4.7%
to 99 bln 252.6 mln drams. According to the Central Bank of Armenia,
the on-call liabilities grew by 12.4% in the first quarter of 2006 and
amounted to 163 bln 133 mln drams, while the time deposits of natural
persons grew by 9.2% to 73.214 bln drams. The time deposits of legal
entities declined by 12.4% to 43.042 bln drams in the period under
review. The total amount of credits provided to legal entities by the
banks grew by 4.5% to 108 bln 926 mln drams, credits given to natural
persons – by 10.5% to 81 bln 550 mln drams. The overall assets of the
banks increased by 5.8% to about 466 bln 152 mln 320 thousand drams,
while their undistributed profit made 4 bln 41 mln drams. Standard
credits accounted for 97.5% of all credit investments of the banks
in the first quarter of 2006, there were no bad loans.

ARMENIA PREPARING FOR THE VISIT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Lragir.am
5 May 06
After the demolition of the medieval Armenian khachkars in Old Djolfa,
on an initiative of the Armenian party a group of representatives of
European organizations will be visiting the region this summer to find
out how many monuments there are in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan
and their origin. On the eve of this “audit” the government of Armenia
decided May 4 to allocate 2 million 308 thousand drams for locating,
mapping and photographing the Azerbaijani graves and historical,
cultural monuments in Armenia and Artsakh. Under a decision made on the
same day 72 million 862.5 thousand drams was allocated to the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs to prepare and hold the third Armenia-Diaspora
Conference in Yerevan in September 2006.

AMBASSADOR WAS UNREACHABLE FOR GEORGIA
Lragir.am
5 May 06
Reliable sources report that the Armenian ambassador to Georgia
was unreachable both on the phone and physically after the Georgian
government had announced to the representative of the Armenian state
that they would willingly provide the recording of the conversation
of the Georgian dispatchers and the pilots of the Armenian plane,
which had crashed near Sochi. The air line Yerevan-Sochi mostly runs
via Georgia and naturally not without cooperation with the Georgian
dispatchers.
The recording of the conversation of the Armenian pilots and the
Georgian dispatchers may help to reveal the circumstances and causes
of the crash.

IN CONSEQUENCE OF POURING RAINS, TWO VILLAGES SUFFERED, THREE BRIDGES DESTROYED IN APARAN REGION
Noyan Tapan
May 04 2006
ASHTARAK, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. As the Noyan Tapan correspondent informs
from the region of Aparan, Aragatsotn marz, in consequence of pouring
rains and thaw of the recent days, the bridge connected the village
of Saralanj to the city of Aparan was destroyed by which the only
road towards the village passes.
Two bridges of Lusagyugh were also destroyed because of the water
stream. To prevent future ravages, employees of the Aragatsotn
marz rescue department initiated corresponding events jointly with
inhabitation of the community.
Sizes of the damage were studied and checked by the commission
constantly acting at the Aragatsotn Governor’s Office, and the RA
Government was informed about it to allocate means and liquidate
consequences of the disaster. “But, before showing the expected
assistance, corresponding structures of the Governor’s Office
implement works in the direction of improving the subsidiary road
through the field connecting the village of Saralanj with the outer
world,” Aragatsotn Governor G.Gyozalian mentioned.

THERE IS NO MILITARY OPTION
Lragir.am
5 May 06
Addressing the conference “Council of Europe and Armenia Five Years
of Membership,” Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanyan said the
peace settlement of the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh is a commitment
to the CoE. Vardan Oskanyan said the word “peace” is the most important
word, and there can be no military settlement.
At the same time, Vardan Oskanyan said the Azerbaijani party is making
more and more militaristic statements, which causes deep concern not
only in Armenia but also in Europe. “If Azerbaijan has such intentions,
it would be difficult to suggest that it is likely to compromise.”
The Secretary General of the PACE Terry Davis addressed a message
to the conference. The message touches upon the issue of Nagorno
Karabakh. “The simultaneous accession of Armenia and Azerbaijan to
the Council of Europe in 2001 raised the expectation that these two
countries would, by coming together in the European family, be able
to find a resolution to the bitter conflict between them.
Unfortunately, no break-through has yet been reached. 2006 is a year of
hope. However, hope is not enough. Sustained effort from both sides is
needed. Under the European roof there is no place for enmities. Peace
and co-operation with neighbours will not only increase security,
but also increase prosperity. This is the lesson Europe has learned.”
Vardan Oskanyan announced that in Europe they think the meeting of the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan would not hinder the resolution
of the issue, and suggest holding such a meeting in June.
However, the place and the time have not been decided yet. Vardan
Oskanyan thinks they openly told Ilham Aliev in Washington that there
can be no military settlement of the Karabakh issue, and Armenia
commends this.

ARMENIAN JOURNALIST ORGANIZATIONS MARK WORLD DAY OF PRESS FREEDOM
Noyan Tapan
May 04 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. At the beginning of the press conference
convened at the Armenian Journalists’ Union on the occasion of the
World Day of Press Freedom those present stood in silence in memory of
the victims of the crashed A-320 plane of Armavia airline. Touching
upon the event of the day, Union Chairwoman Astghik Gevorgian
said that freedom of speech is one of the greatest achievement of
RA independence. According to Yerevan Press Club Chairman Boris
Navasardian, May 3 in the whole world is considered not so much a
holiday as an occasion to raise issues connected with freedom of
press and speech. In particular, UNESCO that has announced May 3
as the World Day of Press Freedom put forward the role of press in
poverty reduction as the main problem.
And the World Association of Newspapers as the main problem mentioned
protection of the journalists who are in prisons. According to
B.Navasardian, only in 2005, 500 journalists were imprisoned. The
Yerevan Press Club, the Armenian Journalists’ Union, the Internews
NGO and the Committee on Protection of Freedom of Speech made a
statement, in which they raised a number of problems of the Armenian
media. The legislative reforms in the sphere of mass media, raising
of the role of press in fighting corruption, in struggle against
violation of citizens’ rights, assistance to free and transparent
political disputes and unbiassed coverage are among them. The first
prize-winner of the prize set by the above-mentioned organizations in
connection with the World Day of Press Freedom became editor of the
“Aravot” newspaper Aram Abrahamian.

AIR CRASH RESCUE EFFORTS FOCUS ON FINDING FLIGHT RECORDERS
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 4 2006
SOCHI (Southern Russia), May 4 (RIA Novosti) – Rescue teams continued
throughout Thursday to search for the flight recorders of an Armenian
airliner that crashed early Wednesday into the Black Sea, killing
all 113 people on board.
French experts who had arrived in the Russian resort of Sochi to help
with the rescue efforts said they had picked up a radio signal that
could be coming from the black boxes of the crashed Airbus plane.
“The signal was found almost immediately after the search started,
but is very weak,” an emergencies ministry official said.
European aircraft producer Airbus said the radio signals had been
included in the design of the plane to make it easier to identify
the location of the flight recorders after a possible crash.
Early on Wednesday, an Airbus A-320 belonging to Armenia’s Armavia
Airlines flying from the country’s capital, Yerevan, crashed about six
kilometers (3.7 miles) off the Russian coast en route to an airport
in Adler, which services Sochi.
Hopes of finding the flight recorders rose after a rescuer said that
large pieces of the passenger jet had been found on the seabed with
the help of radars.
“It is possible that the discovered parts will contain the black
boxes,” the rescuer said.
“In the next few hours, we will identify the location (of the plane
parts) and summon all the deep-sea special equipment to the site,”
he said.
Transportation Minister Igor Levitin said that the fragments of the
plane were lying at a depth of 680 meters (2,230 feet), and that
southern Russia did not have the necessary equipment to recover them.
“There is an experimental model in the north of the country, and we
will try to deliver it to the operation site,” he said. “It can work
at a depth of 500 meters [1,640 feet].”
Levitin also said Russia would ask other countries with experience
in deep-sea recovery operations for help in retrieving the fragments.
Sergei Kudinov, the head of the southern regional center of the
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, echoed Levitin in saying that
international technologies would be used to lift the black boxes.
“We will employ international technologies, in particular, from France,
the U.S. or Norway,” he said.
In the morning, the Emergency Situations Ministry said that the main
part of the aircraft’s fuselage and the tail had been recovered.
Meanwhile, officials from Georgia neighboring Russia and Armenia
said the airliner was nearing the Russian border when it was warned
of bad weather conditions at Adler airport, and the pilot decided to
return to Yerevan. Later, however, he received a communication from
air traffic control saying that conditions had improved and decided
to resume his course. Ten minutes later the plane crashed.
So far, rescuers have recovered 48 bodies, of which 20 have been
identified.
Officials also continued to study the recorded conversations between
air traffic controllers and the crew before the crash.
Levitin said the extensive recovery operation, which had continued
through the night, involved 500 rescue workers, about 40 boats,
deep-sea vehicles, and a B-200 amphibious aircraft searching the
coastal line. He added that recovery teams had reached Loo, a town
15 kilometers (9 miles) from Sochi and would now move back to Adler.