FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN ARMENIAN ECONOMY UP 12% IN H1
Interfax
Oct 12 2005
YEREVAN. Oct 12 (Interfax) – Foreign investment in the Armenian
economy in the first half of 2005 increased 11.6% year-on-year
to amount to $139.6 million, a source in the National Statistics
Committee told Interfax.
Foreign direct investment amounted to $78.9 million (up 4.5%),
including foreign direct investment in communications – 45.4%, in the
food industry – 15.5%, in air transport – 8.9%, in metallurgy – 7.1%
and in the construction sector – 4.7%.
The main foreign investor in the Armenian economy in the first half
was Greece – $58.3 million (up 40.3%). Lebanese investment amounted
to $23.2 million (up 14.3-fold), and Russian – $13.5 million (down
44.8%). Total U.S. investment in the Armenian economy in January-June
fell 38.5% year-on-year to $9.3 million, and investment from France
fell by 36.2%, to $8.8 million. rd
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NO PROBLEM AT CONTACT LINE
A1+
| 17:00:16 | 11-10-2005 | Politics |
In accordance with the agreement achieved beforehand with the NKR
authorities, the OSCE Mission held a planned monitoring of the
Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan armed forces’ contact-line in the
Agdam direction, in the area of the settlement of Yusifjanly.
>>From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring mission
was led by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office
(PR C-i-O) ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Poland). The group comprised
Field Assistants of the OSCE PR C-i-O Olexandr Samarsky (Ukraine)
and Harry Eronen (Finland) and head of the OSCE High Level Planning
Group Colonel Toma~^ Strgar (Slovenia).
The monitoring passed in accordance with the planned schedule, no
violations of the cease-fire regime were fixed.
>>From the Karabakh party, representatives of the NKR Ministries of
Foreign Affairs and Defense accompanied the OSCE monitoring mission.

SOCIAL SITUATION DISCUSSED
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| 16:40:23 | 11-10-2005 | Official |
Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian held a working meeting with
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Aghvan Vardanyan.
The parties discussed draft budget of social and insurance programs
for 2006 providing for a sum 9 billion AMD exceeding that of the one
allocated last year.
The Minister also presented the process of fulfilling the
recommendations on rising the pensions of military and war
veterans. From January 2006 the amount of pensions will be as well
raised.
The President and the Minister discussed the system of benefits,
pension reform strategy and new bills submitted by the National
Assembly.

EUROPE CREATES ATMOSPHERE
A1+
| 20:39:14 | 11-10-2005 | Politics |
For the first time since 2004 the parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe has not discussed any concrete issues referring
to Armenia. Today head of the Armenian delegation to PACE informed
journalists of the Strasbourg developments. He in detailed told about
the meeting with head of the Ago Group and PACE President.
Europeans stress the necessity of the constitutional process and its
successful outcome, he said. He also reminded that PACE President
Van der Linden remembered the election in Azerbaijan naming each of
the arrested and candidates, who haven’t registered yet. Head of the
Azeri delegation in his turn noted that it will be rather hard to
honor all the CoE commitments.
As it is known, the PACE Ad Hoc Committee on Nagorno Karabakh held
a sitting in Strasburg. According to Torosyan, it will not reduce
the authority of the OSCE Minsk Group, since it will deal with the
settling the problem while the CoE will “secure tolerance and creation
of atmosphere of mutual trust.”
Tigran Torosyan mentioned yesterday’s statement by Chair of the Council
Minister of the Council of Europe, who called upon the RA political
parties adopt the constitutional amendments. The Vice Speaker also
sounded discontent with the political forces speaking out against
the amendments.
“How can one prefer his own interest to the interests of the state”,
he said.
Tigran Torosyan considers that if the referendum fails, the problem
will last 4-5 years, since parliamentary election in to he held in
2007, and the turn for the presidential election will come in 2008. If
the constitutional amendments are adopted, laws will be changed as
well and the Council of Europe will not subject Armenia to monitoring
any longer.
To note, the process of Armenia’s honoring commitments to the CoE
will be discussed during the next PACE session.

NO RE-SETTLEMENT IN KARABAKH CARRIED OUT
By Tatoul Hakobian
AZG Armenian Daily #183
12/10/2005
Demographic Situation Disturbing
Azat Artsakh newspaper of Stepanakert published demographic situation
in Nagorno Karabakh for January-September of 2005. In the period of
8 months 1525 children were born in Nagorno Karabakh against the 1619
for the last year. The natality for the given period was 458 people,
67 people or 10.9 percent decrease compared with 2004. Official
figures for newcomers in January-September of 2005 were 677 and 627
for emigrants. The mechanical growth was only 50 people.
The Armenian historiography and press wrote numerous times about
Baku’s partiality in regard to demographic policy. It is already
10 years that Karabakh is out of Baku’s control and logically the
Azerbaijani authorities are not responsible for demographic situation
in the region. Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh are the only ones to hold
responsible today.
According to population census in 1989, the population of Nagorno
Karabakh was 189.085, 145.500 of which were Armenians, 40.700 Azeris
(Baku still claims that the Azeri population of Karabakh amounted
to 46.347) and the rest were people of other nationalities. On the
threshold of referendum in Nagorno Karabakh, the authorities present
their approximate figures – 145.000, i.e. as many as in 1989. The
international organizations functioning in Karabakh think this figures
exaggerated and bring their own – 100.000.
Even if the figures Stepanakert presents are real, there is no
re-settlement going on in Karabakh and surrounding territories. In
effect, population density in Karabakh is lower than in any province
of Armenia. Meanwhile natural and agricultural conditions in Karabakh
are not more tolerable than the republican average.

ARMENIA TO BE REPRESENTED AT TUNISIA SUMMIT
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily #183
12/10/2005
An Armenian delegation headed by prime minister Andranik Margarian
will represent Armenia at the summit of informational technologies
in Tunisia on October 16-18. The Armenian pavilion will present best
Armenian products of electronic content. Those will be the works
that won “Mashtots-1600” Pan-Armenian Competition in June. “The
Armenian Genocide, 1915-1923” CD from the best ten of such works
and “Aram Khachatrian: His Life and Works”, which was recognized
“best cultural CD/DVD” in world summit 2005 will be exhibited at the
Armenian pavilion.

OBSERVERS WORKING IN VAIN
A1+
| 18:54:12 | 11-10-2005 | Politics |
Yesterday during a special sitting the Central Electoral Committee
adopted a package of proposals of “It’s Your Choice” NGO. The package
provides for concretization of responsibility, that is, if an observer
makes a violation, not the organization he represents but he himself
will be called to account.
By another proposal the right of moving within the polling station
should not belong to one observing organization but to all the
observers.
This time “It’s Your Choice” organization observed the election to the
local self-government in 98 polling stations in Kotayk, Ararat, Vayots
Dzor and Syunik. By their assessments, the election that could seem
peaceful but it is not the evidence of conscious choice of the voters.
As Chairman Harutyun Hambartsumyan says, new violations were fixed
along with the old ones.
Vice Chair Khachik Voskanyan in his turn noted, “In Nor Hajn, for
example, open voting was a mass violation. We kept the election at
focus. Observers worked in 2 shifts. Cases of illegal filling the
ballot-boxes were not fixed.”
To note, the organization submitted the report to the CEC, yet in vain.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SERGE SARGSIAN: WE CANNOT REMAIN INDIFFERENT TO IRAQ AND KOSOVO
AZG Armenian Daily #183
12/10/2005
“We will possibly turn to the parliament to prolong the stay of our
peacekeepers in Iraq,” Mediamax agency quoted defense minister Serge
Sargsian as saying at the awarding ceremony of Armenian peacekeepers
yesterday. “You represented the Armenian armed forces with honor in
Iraq contributing thus to the authority of our country. On its way to
European integration Armenia cannot step back from the issues facing
the European family. We cannot remain indifferent and that’s why we
took part in peacekeeping missions in Iraq and Kosovo.”
Sargsian also stated that he will discuss issues of deepening
Armenian-American military cooperation at his forthcoming US
visit. Defense minister said no inner political issues of Armenia
will be discussed in the US: “I am not accustomed to discussing our
inner issues abroad.”
Speaking about Baku’s militant statements, Sargsian said that “certain
Azerbaijani leaders are intoxicated with oil dollars.” “Today’s
situation can be compared with that of the early 90s when the leaders
of Azerbaijan wanted to settle the Karabakh issue in a short while
by occupying Karabakh, Armenia or at least part of it. The war
showed that it was a wishful thinking, a legend that vanished on the
battlefield. Today, 11 years past the military operations, they again
sing the same old song,” Sargsian said.

OSCE STRESSED IMPORTANCE OF ESTABLISHING LASTING PEACE IN NKR
A1+
| 18:33:35 | 11-10-2005 | Politics |
On October 10, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
Masis Mayilian received head of the OSCE High Level Planning Group,
Colonel Toma~^ Strgar (Slovenia).
Toma~^ Strgar, who visited Nagorno Karabakh for the first time,
presented the activity and prospective plans of the High Level Planning
Group in the region to the Deputy Foreign Minister of the NKR.
In his turn, Masis Mayilian told about the prehistory of the mutual
relations between the NKR MFA and OSCE, noting the effectiveness of
the established cooperation. In this connection, the interlocutors
stressed the importance of the further strengthening of the interaction
for establishing long-term peace and stability in the region of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
Field Assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Olexandr Samarsky (Ukraine) and Harry Eronen
(Finland) attended the meeting.

DISCUSSION ON LOBBYING ACTIVITIES HELD
A1+
| 18:06:45 | 11-10-2005 | Politics |
Today the UN Development Program initiated a recurrent discussion on
the lobbying activities. This time the working group has invited to
the discussion the public organizations dealing with women’s issues.
Co-author of the most debatable laws of the Armenian reality, Deputy
Minister of Justice Ashot Abovyan took part in the discussion.
Many participants wondered whether the elaboration of such a bill is
actual, when there is no law regulating the lobbying activities, and
by whose order the issue is being discussed. “The creation of law is
a pubic demand”, Ashot Abovyan said. “In some 10 years the lobbyists
will form a chamber and like the chamber of lawyers will be become a
self-regulated body. Before this the Justice Ministry is likely to
form a commission on the lobbying ethics to protects the interests
of the lobbyists and at the same time the interests of the people.
Lobbyism is a simple propaganda carried out especially during the
election campaign of a candidate. The RA Constitution is the organic
law of our country and the agitation for the upcoming referendum can
serve as a perfect example of lobbyism.
To note, the bill contains a clause according to which only a citizen
of RA can be a lobbyist.