PRESIDENT AND CHIEF TAXMAN DISCUSS CRACKDOWN ON SHADY AND FRAUDULENT DEALS
Armenpress
Apr 18 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS: President Robert Kocharian and chief
of taxation service Felix Tsolakian discussed today the service’s
performance in the first quarter of the year, as well as ways to cut
shadow deals in mining and construction businesses and other tax fraud.
Kocharian’s press office quoted Tsolakian as saying that tax revenues
in the first three months of the year amounted to 43.2 billion
drams, by 8 billion drams more from a year ago. The higher portion of
income and profit taxes in the aggregate volume of taxes was singled
out. Tsolakian said tangible progress was made in collecting mandatory
social payments which made in the reported time 15.3 billion drams,
2,4 billion drams up from a year ago.
Tsolakian said as a follow-up of Kocharian’s instructions concerning
fight against shadow deals in mining and construction sectors tax
revenues from non-ferrous mines rose in the first quarter to 700
million drams from 400 from a year ago.
Tsolakian said also his agency was now drafting the list of those
companies whose paid taxes do not seem to be adequate to their
operation. He also said his agency sent 45 cases on fraudulent
transactions to prosecutors, who opened 19 legal actions.

ARMENIAN BOXERS TO PARTICIPATE IN AN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT IN CZECH REPUBLIC
ArmrRadio.am
18.04.2006 15:00
An international boxing tournament will start today in Czech
Republic. Five boxes of Armenia – Hovhannes Danielyan, Edgar Manukyan,
Hrachya Hovhannisyn, Andranik Hakobyan and Artak Mamulyan – will
participate in the championship.
The tournament will come to an end on April 23.

YOUTH TOURNAMENT OF RA CHESS FEDERATION CUP STARTED IN YEREVAN
ArmrRadio.am
18.04.2006 15:33
Youth tournament of RA Chess Federation Cup started today at
“Cilicia” tennis-courts. Over 30 tennis players will participate in
the tournament.
Deputy Executive Director of the Tennis Federation of Armenia told”
Armenpress” correspondent that contests will be held in all age groups.
Following that the Tennis Federation Cup will pass the baton to
international contests to be held May in Yerevan. Armenian tennis
players are expected to participate in a number of tournaments out
of Armenia.

THREE-DAY EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN HISTORIC AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS
ArmrRadio.am
18.04.2006 15:48
“Nikol Aghbalyan” Students’ Union of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation is organizing a three-day exhibition of Armenian historic
and cultural monuments, which are currently on the territories of
neighboring countries.
A similar exhibition was organized also in 2005. The former and
current state of Armenian monuments in Azerbaijan, Nakhijevan,
Georgia and Western Armenia and Iran is presented at the exhibition.

AZERI MFA: OSKANIAN-MAMMADYAROV MEETING NOT PLANNED IN MOSCOW
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 19:42 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There was no offer yet regarding arrangement of the
meeting between Foreign Ministers (FMs) of Azerbaijan and Armenia Elmar
Mammadyarov and Vartan Oskanian in Moscow, reported Tair Tagizadeh,
Head of Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA) of Azerbaijan. Mr. Tagizadeh said Elmar Mammadyarov,
the FM of Azerbaijan, was to leave for Moscow on April 20 in order to
partake in the next session of CIS Council of FMs scheduled for April
21. There are no arrangements made as of April 18 regarding possible
meeting in Moscow between Mr. Mammadyarov and Vartan Oskanian,
his Armenian counterpart, which means there will be no meeting,
he added. Alongside Mr. Tagizadeh stated the visit agenda includes
some meetings Mr. Mammadyarov will have with counterparts from other
countries.
To remind, yesterday Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri
Merzlyakov reported April 21 he was going to meet with Armenian and
Azeri FMs Elmar Mammadyarov and Vartan Oskanian, who will take part
in the session of the CIS Council of FMs.

MEMORIAL TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS PROFANED IN LYON
Yerkir
18.04.2006 16:45
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Seven days before the commemorations of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915, the steles of the Armenian Memorial set up in the
town of Lyon (France), which must be inaugurated by President Jacques
Chirac, were profaned with inscriptions of insults and negationists:
“There never was genocide of the Armenians”.
This act of vandalism followed upon the consecutive racist drifts with
the ultra nationalist Turkish demonstration of last 18 March. Armenian
associations and organizations (CCAF – CDCA) call the authorities
of Police force to seek and sanction the persons in charge for these
intolerable attacks to human dignity.

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN TO PARTAKE IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 20:07 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ombudsman of Armenia Armen Harutyunyan will
partake in an international conference titled the Role of
Ombudsperson Institution in Strengthening Democracy, planned in
Istanbul April 26-27, reports the Press Service of the Ombudsman of
Armenia. Ombudspersons of Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
(BSECO) member states – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine,
Moldova, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and
Albania – will take part in the conference organized by the BSECO
Parliamentary Assembly. During the event matters of activities of
ombudspersons, their role in strengthening processes of development
of democracy will be discussed. Armen Harutyunyan is expected to
address the conference.

ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSIONS ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE HELD IN SLAVYANSK-ON-KUBAN
Yerkir
18.04.2006 12:21
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Round-table discussions dated to the anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey will be held in the Slavonic
State Pedagogical Institute, reported Yerkramas, the newspaper of
Armenians of Russia.
Representatives of political and public organizations of
Slavyansk-on-Kuban will discuss the following issues: the Armenian
Genocide as a crime against humanity, international recognition
of the Armenian Genocide, official acknowledgment of the crime by
Turkey, the pan-turkism ideology as a challenge to Europe and world,
ways of fair liquidation of consequences of the Armenian Genocide,
Hat Dat decision on the basis of international law.
The event participants will be shown a film titled “I condemn” shot
by Yerkir Media TV Company and dated to the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. A resolution will be passed upon completion of
the discussions. The discussions were welcomed by a number of Russian
political figures including Russian State Duma member Sergey Shishkarev
(United Russia faction).

BAKU KEEPS CLAIMING SAFAROV EXTRADITION
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 20:41 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Extradition of Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan is
possible and I hope it will take place.
This is possible only after a repeated consideration of the case by
Hungarian Court of Appeal though,” Safarov’s lawyer Adil Ismaylov
said. “According to the Strasbourg Convention of 1983, a person,
who has committed a crime abroad, can be extradited for serving his
sentence in his fatherland, provided that the punishment will not be
changed and he will not be released or pardoned,” he said.
In the Azeri lawyer’s words, consideration of the complaint of the
defense by the Court of Appeal may take a year and only after a
decision is passed “extradition may become possible.”
Ismaylov called “unfair” the decision of the Hungarian judge, who
sentenced Safarov to life imprisonment without the right of pardon
within 30 years. “Already at the first trial we felt Hungarians’
sympathy towards the Azeri officer. However, later the judge agreed
to screening a video material, which showed the headless corpse of
Gurgen Margaryan, which created a negative image of Safarov. The
judge also made a mistake, when he stated that Hungary can provide
a forth interpreter to Safarov (at that time he had interpreters
from Hungarian into Russian, Turkish and Azerbaijani), as he may
face life imprisonment. We were also discontent with the results of
two examinations, the conclusions of which did not always coincide,”
Adil Ismaylov specially stressed.

RUSSIAN DEPUTY FM ARRIVED IN YEREVAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.04.2006 21:05 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Russian Deputy FM, State Secretary of
the Russian MFA Grigory Karasin arrived in Yerevan. During his
visit to Yerevan the Russian diplomat will take part in a regional
conference of Russian Ambassadors to Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Turkey. Besides, Karasin is scheduled to meet with Armenian leaders
in Yerevan, reports RIA Novosti.