A1plus

| 21:46:24 | 30-06-2005 | Regions |

BUILDING IN GYUMRI TUMBLED DOWN

Today at about 5.30 p.m. local time a building of a dormitory situated in
Garegin Nzhdeh street in Gyumri tumbled down. Fortunately there were no
causalities.

A1plus

| 19:27:24 | 01-07-2005 | Social |

THE SOCIAL MINISTRY RETREATING?

The Social Ministry has decided to compromise and has agreed to introduce
changes into the Law `On Social cards’ but they are still against the
non-obligatory principle. Today the RA Government Religion and National
Minorities Administration head Hranoush Kharatyan informed us about it.

Khachik Stamboltsyan, Aram Grigoryan and Hranoush Kharatyan met the deputy
Social Minister. After long discussions, according to Mrs. Kharatyan, `the
Social Ministry hinted that they agreed to make compromise and admitted the
necessity to introduce changes, but only part of the participants of the
sit-down strike were pleased with it. The other part was against it as they
admitted only the non-obligatory principle’.

The sit-down strike went on today.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
July 1 2005

Lahoud Says Lebanon Will Face its Requirements

Beirut, July 1 (SANA)

President Emil Lahoud of Lebanon said Lebanon is preparing for a new
stage of the political and national work that could enable it
overcome the recent difficult circumstances.

In a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan Friday,
Lahoud underlined `as soon as the Lebanese government is formed there
will be a great workshop to boost the national unity and consolidate
solidarity among the Lebanese to surpass the negative climates
prevailed the parliamentary elections thereby Lebanon could face the
forthcoming regional, internal and international requirements.’

He also underlined his country’s firm principles that call for the
achievement of a just and comprehensive peace based on the
international legitimacy resolutions.

Batoul/ Ghossoun

A1plus

| 13:09:22 | 02-07-2005 | Politics |

REFERENDUM – PRINCIPAL WAY

The referendum on changing the Constitution is declared by the President of
the republic on the suggestion or with the consent of the majority of the
parliament members. During 21 days after receiving the draft amendments the
president can draw it back to the NA with the demand for new debates with
his objections and proposals.

The coalition draft suggests the following: `If the President initiates a
referendum on draft constitutional amendments the NA puts the issue to vote.
If the majority votes for the adoption the President set the terms for
common referendum.’

How should the Constitution be changed? We addressed 100 citizens with this
question June 25-29. 48% consider that the constitutional amendments should
be adopted via referendum. `Constitution is for people and it must be
adopted and changed by the people’, a man said.

19% think that the amendments should be adopted with the suggestion of the
NA and with the consent of 2/3 of the Constitutional Court members. In the
opinion of 15% of the respondents the amendments should be inserted on the
President’s suggestion with the support of 2/3 deputies of the National
Assembly.

18% found difficulty in answering.

PEOPLE’S APPRAISAL OF THE AUTHORITIES

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
01 July 05

`The results of the election were the people’s appraisal ofthe NKR
authorities, the manifestation of their attitude,’ said Prime Minister
Anoushavan Danielian at the government meeting on June 28. He thanked
all the voters, the members of the district and divisional election
committees, all the organizations which had assisted to holding the
election. `I think I will not be mistaken if I state that we managed
to hold fair and transparent democratic elections in our country,
which is another achievement of the people of Artsakh in achieving
stability and unity and independence,’ said Anoushavan Danielian. `It
is not the necessity of the expected results that I want to emphasize
but the importance of the evaluation of the international community
for our people.This evaluation is the generalization of the opinions
of the 130 international observers, who arrived in NKR to monitor the
election, asserting the high level of the parliamentary election.’
Drawing parallels between the previous presidential, parliamentary and
local elections, the prime minister regarded the recent parliamentary
election as their continuation, defining it as the best public opinion
poll of the time. `As to the use of `administrativeresources’ by
certain political forces, I think this kind of statements should be
specified. Yes, the power (the government) possesses resources, and
this should be viewed in the context of its activities. The evidence
to this is the summary of the past 5 years, itemized in the statements
of the government, and today we inform public about the facts, as well
as the shortcomings without hesitating.=80=9D To support his words,
the head of the government provided several macroeconomic indices
which had a deciding role in the economic progress and solution of the
social problems. People still remember the recent times when the
problem ofthe payment of salaries was subject of constant discussions,
and experienced the unbearable social situation. When the new
government took office, the debtsof retirement benefit totaled 840
million drams, and the salary of teachers had not been paid for
months. The debt of payments for electricity had amountedto 1 billion
500 thousand drams, and for natural gas (only in Stepanakert) =80` 700
million drams. `This is in the past now, and the government owes
nosalary and pension debts. The teacher whose salary used to be 18-20
thousand drams is paid 50 thousand drams from the state budget, and
the energy system and Artsakhgas with continuously growing debts have
500 million and 100 milliondrams of income respectively.’ The prime
minister mentioned that the government managed to keep its word and
doubled the GDP in four years. The rates of the previous year show
that the income of the year 2005 will total 6 billion 500 million
drams. This will enable increasing the volume of construction both in
the capital and the regions. A. Danielian mentioned that the
`pre-election moods’ will hardly affect the industry and the expected
results. The prime minister asserted that the state revenues will grow
by 42 per cent this year. At thesame time he mentioned that it is
necessary to analyze critically what has been done, draw conclusions
from the results of the election and plan the future
realistically. `Through the parliamentary election the people highly
appreciated our work. And we are obliged to justify their confidence,’
said the prime minister. Then the Executive adopted more than 20
decisions on the projects and bills which had been discussed and
recommended at the consultation held on the eve. The government
particularly approved the NKR bills on insolvency (bankruptcy) and
attorneys. The government adopted decisions on the procedure of state
geological test on explored natural resources and other geological
information, the procedure of licensing tour guides and the form of
the license, the forms and procedure of submission of statements to
the authorized agency of the NKR government by companies organizing
lotteries, monthly pecuniary aid to parentless children, the procedure
of state registration of bylaws, publication of the official
periodical `NKR Official Reference’, free supply of firewood and
timber to the NKR Ministry of Defence. The government also confirmed
the procedure of drawing the maps of urban and rural settlements in
NKR, although there were disagreements on this issue. Particularly it
was mentioned that the procedure of drawing the maps of urban and
rural communities is established but no improvements of living
conditions are foreseen. Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielian mentioned
that although the map of the community is the main document of city
planning, it is often neglected by the heads of communities. He
pointed out the fact that illegal construction is going on in the
central streets of the capital city instead of repairing the roads on
the outskirts and solving the problems of sanitation on the return on
taxes on property, land and other.`It is astonishing when foreign
businessmen come to invest up to 1 million US dollars and create new
jobs, their application for land to start construction may receive no
answer for months on, and they often get disappointed and change their
minds,’ said A. Danielian. `In addition to this rumours are
circulating that the government hinders the work of the City Hall, and
the means provided by the state budget are not disbursed to the
community. I state that this is disinformation, and the subsidies are
transferred to the City Hall of Stepanakert by 100 per cent. As to the
problems coordinated by the mayor, related to the deficiency in the
work of companies providing services, in the result of which the
inhabitants of the capital city suffer, it is not correct to blame the
government,’ said the A. Danielian. According to him, it is
unacceptable that the problem of sanitation in the capital is
neglected, and the debts owed to the enterprise Sanitation & Greenery
have amounted to 38 million drams. Refuse is not collected for days,
huge piles appear in the streets and yards, causing risk of
epidemic. `I do not remember a similar situation in the capital. And
now it is becoming clear why over 30 workers of the enterprise
complained in the letter addressed to the government of bad working
conditions and an extremely low salary of 15 thousand drams,’ said the
prime minister. Whereas,if the debt of 38 million drams is collected,
the salary can be increased up to 40-50 thousand drams. The same is
with Stepanakert Water & Sewage State CJSC, where the debt of payments
for water and other services owned to the company totals 94 million
drams. In conclusion A. Danielian asked the mayor of Stepanakertto
tackle these problems with the support of all the ministries and
agencies to the community. At the same time he instructed the minister
of city planningand the mayor of Stepanakert to present a report on
the prevention of illegal construction and penalizing the owners in a
week’s time. The government also approved the procedure of working out
and instituting the models of land zoning and use and several other
issues. The executive confirmed the list of the issues to be discussed
by the government in the third quarter of 2005.

AA.
01-07-2005

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LET YOUR HOPE COME TRUE

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
01 July 05

For six years now June 29 is the Day of the Missing Azatamartiks.
Every year on this day the friends and relatives of the missing gather
at the Memorial to the missing soldiers to pay homage to their memory
and utter words of consolation, waiting for their sons to come back
one day. On June 29, 2005 again a lot of people gathered at the
memorial. NKR President Arkady Ghukassian accompanied by the top
officials of the country visited the memorial at 11 oclock. Wreaths on
behalf of the NKR government, the Ministry of Defence, the Police,
different enterprises and NGOs were laid to the memorial. In his
address the head of the department for military and patriotic training
and public relations of the NKR Ministry of Defence, Colonel Robert
Baghrian said the issue of the missing emerged on the days of the
temporary setback in June 1992 when the squad Arabo crashed near the
village of Hasanghaya, Martakert region. Their fate, as well as the
fate of hundreds of our countrymen has been unknown for 13 years
now. For those people who have lost a close person every minute of
waiting is unbearable, whereas they have been waiting for many years
now. In his address the minister of defence Seyran Ohanian said on the
way to the liberation of Artsakh and independence we had to make a lot
of sacrifices. The independence cost human lives. A lot of men were
martyred for the peoples dream to come true. Many of those who set out
on this way were destined to acquire the title of missing. It is
painful and hard that the notion of POW became part of the everyday
life of our people. According to the defence minister, the
establishment of the Union of the Missing Azatamartiks was dictated by
the time. The Union is aimed to resume and coordinate the search for
the missing soldiers and citizens, find out their exact number, create
their personal files, mediate and participate in the negotiations and
return of the POWs and hostages. In December 2000 the NKR Commission
on Hostages and the Missing was set up by the decree of the NKR
president to fill the gap in coordination of the search for the
missing. The International Committee of the Red Cross has also
assisted to the work as a mediator.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.
01-07-2005

A1plus

| 18:19:44 | 30-06-2005 | Politics |

READ AND BECOME CIVILIZED

`This book will help those, who wish to raise political culture’, associate
professor of the chair of State Management Academy , reviewer of the book
titled `Modern problems of financing and management of political market’
Vilik Yedigaryan stated at today’s presentation.

After defending a thesis on economy in 2001 Lilit Harutyunyan decided to
make a detailed analysis in political field. In her book she presented the
most important problems of political management, international experience
and touched upon the situation in Armenia paying specific attention to PR.

The book with 300 edition costs 600-700 drams, the author is going to
present the book to the people she wrote it for.

Pan Armenian News

VENTURE FOUNDATION TO BE BASED IN ARMENIA

01.07.2005 08:02

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During 2-3 months a venture foundation for information
technologies will be based in Armenia, Director of the Armenian Enterprise
Incubator Foundation (EIF) Bagrat Yengibarian stated during today’s press
conference. In his words, such capitals are the most appropriate way of
financing the IT sphere, since financing a highly dynamical field is always
accompanied by great risk. The project will be implemented within the second
EIF program. To note, the period of the project was prolonged by the World
Bank till December 2006. The development model will not undergo any
considerable changes. The EIF will go on holding business consultations,
contributing to the formation and development of new organizations and
conducting trainings for specialists. Bagrat Yengibarian also informed that
the new EIF building will accommodate 15 companies interested in cooperation
not over the low rent but the resources available in the building. To
remind, the business incubator project was launched in 2002 with the
assistance of the Armenian government and the World Bank. The authorized
fund of Enterprise Incubator Foundation made $5 million; financial flows of
Armenian private sector were also attracted.

Pan Armenian News

IT STATISTICS TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA

01.07.2005 07:37

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Starting with third quarter of 2005 the RA National
Statistical Service will hold IT statistics, Deputy Minister of Trade and
Economic Development Tigran Davtian stated during a press conference today.
The decision was taken during the sitting of the Council on Development of
Information Technologies under the RA Prime Minister. He noted that first of
all companies engaged in the sphere will be attacked to the `statistical
field’. T. Davtian expressed hope that till the end of the current year the
statistics will cover whole Armenia’s industry. When touching upon the
difficulties of the project T. Davtian noted that most problems were settled
by efforts of the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, Enterprise
Incubator Foundation (EIF) and the RA National Statistical Service. `With
the assistance by EIF the lists of respondents were enlarged’, he noted. T.
Davtian also informed that the government requested the World Bank to
allocate extra funds for the investigation of the international experience
of holding statistics in the field under the conditions of developing
market. He said he does not expect any problems with taxes, as the IT sphere
is one of the most open spheres in the republic.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News

SERGE SARGSIAN EVERYONE MINDS HIS BUSINESS AS HE CAN

01.07.2005 04:30

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `Speaking of arms race in current situation is shameful’,
the Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsian stated when commenting on the
statement by Ilham Aliyev, who said that in 2005 Azerbaijan’s defense
expenses will make $300 against $175 million last year. `Moreover I think it
is shameful to declare such things publicly. If these people wish to gain
superiority and in this way settle the Karabakh conflict, so way say about
it so loudly?’ the Minister wondered. `$300 million is not the figure to
frighten us. I reiterate that the Armenian army has no less means and
possibilities. I do not see any sense in such statements, especially now,
when all speak of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict’, S. Sargsian
stressed. `Suppose Azerbaijan brings expenses up to $400 million. But it
will not change anything It’s not the arms race between the US and USSR when
millions of dollars were spent on creation of new types of armament. But, as
it’s said, everyone minds his business as he can’, the RA Defense Minister
resumed, IA Regnum reports.