Agency WPS
The Russian Oil and Gas Report (Russia)
March 16, 2005, Wednesday

ARMENIA STARTS CONSTRUCTION OF GAS PIPELINE FROM IRAN

Armrosgazprom (a joint venture of Gazprom and the government of
Armenia) plans to start construction of the Armenian extension of the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline in a month. On March 11, head of the
company Karen Karapetyan reported that the company had to change the
initial project a little, for example, making provisions for “some
objects” along the route. According to Karapetyan, by the end of
March the Iranian party will present the final financial calculations
to Armenia and will approve the new project.

The main contract for construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
was signed in May 2004. Construction of the pipeline between Armenia
and Iran should be completed by January 1, 2007. In the first stage
Iran should supply 1.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year to
Armenia and starting from 2019 it should supply 2.3 billion cubic
meters annually. The contract was signed for 20 years. The project is
estimated at $200-250 million. Its first phase includes construction
of 100 kilometers of pipeline on Iranian territory and 41 kilometers
on Armenian territory (Megri-Kadzharan), which will enable Armenia to
receive 1.5 million cubic meters of gas per day. The second phase
includes construction of the Kadzharan-Sisian-Dzhermuk-Ararat
extension. Armrosgazprom and several foreign companies united into a
consortium are going to participate in construction of this
extension. Negotiations are nearing completion and very soon the
Armenian government will name the contractor for construction of the
second extension of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.

In early March, Armrosgaz was named the winner of the tender for
construction of the Megri-Kadzharan extension. The Iranian company
Sanir, project contractor, already completed preparation of the
technical project, geological and mapmaking documentation. Sanir will
also supply pipes and equipment. According to Karapetyan, use of the
gas pipeline for transit purposes is not planned and the scheme “gas
in exchange for electricity” will enable Armenia to cover its
domestic needs.

Source: Vremya Novostey, March 14, 2005

Azeri leader, Council of Europe envoy discuss Karabakh conflict

Assa-Irada
16 Mar 05

BAKU

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has described as positive the
discussions held at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe [PACE] on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. He said this at a
meeting with PACE rapporteur on political prisoners Malcolm Bruce on
15 March. The OSCE Minsk Group has a direct mandate to settle the
conflict, he added. Aliyev simultaneously urged international
organizations, including the Council of Europe, to pay more attention
to the problem. Aliyev expressed confidence that the discussions held
at the PACE and the adopted documents will play an important role in
resolving the conflict.

Bruce described the latest [PACE] report on the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict as fair and said that President Aliyev’s speech at the PACE
[in 2004] played a very important role in the adoption of the
aforesaid document. The European MPs highly assessed the opinions
reflected in the speech on the fulfilment of Azerbaijan’s commitments
to the organization and on the resolution of the conflict, Bruce
added.

REPUBLIC SCHOOL COMPETITIONS

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
15 March 05

On March 13 the 2004-2005 republic competition among schoolchildren
took place at the school N 8 of Stepanakert. It was preceded by the
regional competitions the winners of which passed to the next
stage. The head of the department for programming, methods and
elementary school of the NKR Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport
Raya Musayelian said the contest was held in ten school subjects:
Armenian language, literature, mathematics, physics, biology,
chemistry, geography, history, Russian, English. The participants were
mainly 8th and 9th form pupils, and in certain subjects, such as
Armenian, Russian and mathematics, pupils of 6th and 7th form were
involved too. More than 50 out of the 251 participants took part in
the contest in the Armenian and Russian languages. R. Musayelian said
that only 2 pupils participated in the competition in literature. The
number of participants of the contest in English has also decreased
from last year; there were only 17 pupils against 40-45 in the
previous years. All the regions and the schools of the capital were
represented in the contests. R. Musayelian assured that the
competition was impartial. The envelopes with the tests were opened on
the same day, in the morning of March 13, in the presence of the
members of the commission. The winners will take part in the
competition in Armenia at the beginning of April.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.
15-03-2005

South China Morning Post
March 16, 2005

Old lady’s secret puts Armenian massacre in focus

Nicholas Birch in Istanbul

Fethiye Cetin was a student when she discovered her grandmother’s
secret. Until then, she’d always known the woman who brought her up
as Seher, the pillar of what seemed a typical Anatolian family.

The bombshell came while the two were talking one day in Ankara.
Seher’s real name was Heranush, and she was Armenian. Nine years old
when the little-known massacre of Armenians started in 1915, she had
cowered in a churchyard as the village men were murdered and thrown
in the river. Forced with the women and children onto the road to
Syria, she was abducted and handed over to a police corporal who
brought her up as his own child.

Such tales are common in Turkey’s eastern provinces. What makes
Heranush’s story unusual is that her granddaughter decided to turn it
into a book.

“She had hidden the things she told me for over 60 years,” explains
Ms Cetin, now a lawyer based in Istanbul. “I felt they needed to be
given a voice.”

But Ms Cetin also wanted to help move the debate away from barren
disputes over statistics and terminology: 300,000 killed? No, 1
million. Genocide? No, ethnic cleansing.

Such arguments, she says, “hide the lives and deaths of individuals
and do nothing to encourage people to listen”.

Turks have certainly been listening to her. Published last November,
My Grandmother is already in its fifth edition.

Ms Cetin attributes the success to the growing impatience Turks feel
for the official discourses on Turkish identity that have
traditionally held sway in the country.

“When books like this come out, even people with very different
family histories begin to realise they aren’t the only ones to
question what they have been taught,” she says.

And nowhere is this more evident than on the Armenian issue. Five
years ago, the taboo was almost total. An account of Seher’s life,
published in an Istanbul-based Armenian newspaper in 2000, was
ignored. Now, there are Armenian cookery books and novels.

In January, an Istanbul gallery hit the headlines with an exhibition
of 500 postcards showing Turkish Armenians between 1900 and 1914.

Much of the credit for breaking the silence must go to historian
Halil Berktay, who in October 2000 became the first intellectual in
Turkey publicly to describe the events of 1915 as genocide. Today, he
is convinced the space for intelligent debate on the past is growing
rapidly.

“Beneath the bluster,” he says, referring to a recent hate campaign
against novelist Orhan Pamuk, “the Turkish establishment position is
crumbling.” He notes that unlike its nationalist predecessor, the
country’s present government has refrained from statements of denial
about Turkey’s actions in 1915.

At different stages in the past half century, Turkish diplomats were
instructed either to leave international conferences when genocide
was mentioned in connection with Armenia, to describe the
deportations as a necessary measure against Armenian treachery or to
argue that the debate should be left to historians.

Last week, senior politicians from Turkey’s main parties called for
the events of 1915 to be “researched under United Nations
arbitration. If there is a need to settle accounts with history, we
are ready”, they said.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 16, 2005, Wednesday

MILITARY BASES WILL BE OUTLAWED

SOURCE: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 14, 2005, p. 3

by Yuri Simonjan

PARLIAMENT OF GEORGIA PASSED A RESOLUTION OUTLAWING RUSSIAN MILITARY
BASES

Nongovernmental organizations of Djavakhetia (a region of Georgia
with a mostly Armenian population) staged protest actions in
Akhalkalaki, the town where one of the two Russian military bases in
Georgia is quartered. They protested against the decision of the
national parliament that outlawed Russian military bases. Organizers
of the rally are convinced that the 62nd Russian Military Base in
Akhalkalaki is a factor in stabilization. Also importantly, it is a
major employer and as such plays a vital role in the regional
economy.

On March 10, the parliament of Georgia unanimously passed a
resolution on illegitimacy of the presence of Russian military bases
in Georgia. The document gives Moscow and Tbilisi before May 15,
2005, to reach a mutually acceptable accord on the withdrawal of the
bases. The authorities of Georgia will have to demand Russia to
remove its bases from the territory of Georgia by January 1, 2006,
otherwise. “The parliament of Georgia is convinced that presence of
military bases in Georgia is a destabilizing factor. Their withdrawal
will facilitate regional security and stability and recovery and
normalization of the Georgian-Russian relations,” to quote from the
document. This airy advance to Moscow done away with, the document
proceeds to list the reasons that explain why the presence of the
Russian military collides with national interests of Georgia. The
list takes three pages.

“The resolution the parliament passed is a bit stiff, but I retain
the hope that we will make a civilized accord that will take Russia’s
interests into account and protect sovereignty of Georgia at the same
time,” President Mikhail Kasianov said. “Both parties should benefit
from the accord.”

Groups of experts began consultations in Moscow again. When Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Tbilisi not long ago, the agreement
was reached that the experts should draft suggestions on every moot
point by May 1, so that Vladimir Putin and Saakashvili will have
something to talk over in Moscow on May 9 (president of Georgia will
visit Russia to celebrate the 60th anniversary of victory in the
Great Patriotic War).

Negotiations are in a cul-de-sac

Four Russian military bases remained in Georgia when the Soviet Union
collapsed. Acting in accordance with the Istanbul OSCE summit
decision (1999), Moscow withdrew the 137th Base (Vaziani) and the
50th (Gudauta) from Georgia in 2001.

According to the Foreign Ministry, personnel of the two remaining
bases (the 62nd in Akhalkalaki and the 12th in Batumi) barely exceed
1,000 servicemen (servicemen numbered over 2,000 before 2003). On the
other hand, official figures differ from unofficial estimates. A
source in the Defense Ministry claims that the 12th Base alone
includes almost 150 Russian officers and over 2,000 contract
servicemen (most of them locals viewing a contract with the Russian
Defense Ministry as a source of income). The 145th Motorized Infantry
Division is the nucleus of the 12th Base which lacks heavy armament.

Negotiations over these two bases have been under way since 2002. At
first, Moscow claimed that it needed 11 years to withdraw the bases
and Tbilisi insisted on only 3 years. The Russians claimed by the way
that the withdrawal and re-settlement of the bases in Russia would
cost almost $500 million.

The Russian General Staff said that it was prepared to discuss
withdrawal in 7 to 9 years, a year later. These days, Colonel General
Anatoly Mazurkevich, Commander of the Main Directorate of
International Military Cooperation of the Defense Ministry, says that
the Defense Ministry is prepared to withdraw its bases from Georgia
“inside of 3-4 years”. Georgia immediately adapted to the new
situation and said that 2 years would suffice.

The latest round of the negotiations ended with nothing to show for
it in February 2005.

Translated by A. Ignatkin

ARKA News Agency – Interview
March 16 2005

COUNTRIES BUT NOT COMPANIES COMPETE IN IT INDUSTRY TODAY

Exclusive interview of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation Director
Bagrat Yengibaryan, to ARKA News Agency.

ARKA – How would you evaluate the last year for Enterprise Incubator
Foundation (EIF)?

B. Yengibaryan – Our Foundation is functioning about three years, and
this year turned out to be quite successful for us. We managed not
only to develop already operating programs, but also to achieve
exceptional success in some areas. In particular, in 2004, we opened
our first representative office in Canada and have quite good
results. Armenian Embassy in Canada rendered us substantial support
in this initiative. Through our representative office we provide
quite detailed information about information technologies (IT)
industry in Armenia. At the recent teleconference, in which 15
Canadian companies participated, we became convinced that their
entrepreneurs knew nothing about our country.

In June, OpenSource International Conference was held in Armenia. It
was an exclusive event for Armenia. 150 specialists arrived to
Yerevan from abroad to participate in the conference. Also, it’s very
important to note that in 2004 we have applied our stock
participation model for establishment of new companies: jointly with
Lycos Company we established Sorcio Company. The new company
(estimated at over $1 mln.) will be engaged in software development
for programs with open source/code. Thus, we managed to define the
priority directions we should work for establishing new companies and
combining this with foreign investments.

Up to now we were providing consulting and other services for free,
then in 2004 for the first time we received requests that required
more serious and specific assistance. These activities defined, that
we were on the right track and local companies highly evaluated EIF
experience of in directing business development in IT industry

We continue our traditional activities targeting at Armenia’s image
making abroad. In particular, we have participated in 5 expositions,
published a manual with a detailed analysis of IT field, and updated
our directory of IT-companies in Armenia. Besides, we continue
implementing our education program that comprised of 8-12 short-term
education programs on management and programming implemented each
year by EIF. In 2004, about 300 students were involved in our
programs.

I suppose our most serious achievement was the highest evaluation for
our activities we received from the World Bank. A decision has been
taken to discuss the issue of expanding the scope of our programs,
i.e. EIF activity model will be applied not only in IT industry, but
also in other fields.

ARKA- Your evaluation of IT industry in Armenia?

B. Yengibaryan – In the region, which included the CIS and Asian
states, Armenia ranks the second after Russia. We rather share the
second place with the Ukraine. Our neighbor countries: Georgia,
Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran may only dream of such results within the
next five years. In the long-term perspective Armenia may face
problems, but currently we have excellent achievements and in fact
have no potential competitors in this field. Our most serious
competitor is Russia, with whom it is difficult to compete due to the
large potential of that country.

In 2004, a 10-15% growth was recorded in IT industry. New companies
were establishes, , in particular, well-known foreign companies
started their activities in Armenian market. The results of their
activities will be obvious in the near future. I consider all this to
be serious and positive tendencies.

Especially I would like to mention the Synopsys Company’s entering
the Armenian market. I think that it’s a great achievement, since
Synopsys is not just an average company, but also one of the world
leaders. Its presence in Armenian market will not only create new
work places, but will positively influence the IT image of Armenia.

It’s also worth mentioning that such a company like Lycos doubles the
volume of its work in Armenia, closing down some offices in Europe.
In total, 10 new companies were established in Armenia in 2004, half
of which are companies with foreign capital. Today IT industry in
Armenia is a quite developed and attractive field.

ARKA- According to some specialists, IT industry in Armenia yet shows
declining tendencies. What do you think of such estimates?

B. Yengibaryan – Despite all the above-mentioned facts, in a
long-term perspective we should be careful if we want to preserve the
ambitions of an IT-developed country. If our goal is to increase the
value of IT programs from for example $50 mln. to $1 bln., we can’t
continue working in this way. One of the major problems is the issue
of human resources / IT professionals. Already now when we have
serious vacancies, they are not occupied immediately because of the
lack of professional staff. Local companies have difficulties in
`digesting’ large projects. For example, a project worth $1 mln.
cannot be implemented by any such company.

Apart from this, our neighbors realizing that they give up to Armenia
in IT industry grant serious privileges to that field. Thus, in
Turkey organizations working at Techno-parks at Universities are
exempted from any taxes. RF President also recently has promised to
grant serious privileges in IT industry. If it becomes a reality, I
expect a serious drain of our specialists to Russia. If Armenia
doesn’t take adequate measures, we will lose the regional
competition, since IT industry in Armenia has no privileges at all.
Nowadays not companies but countries compete in IT industry.

Completely, the IT industry development should be evaluated on the
background of the economic development of the specific country. Our
calculations showed that, if tasks are solved in an integrated way
with the use of IT, automation or electronics, then added value in
technological industry might be increased ten times. If proper
reforms would be introduced in Armenia in cooperation with donors and
Diaspora, then IT industry will keep developing, and by 2010 it will
have supplied $300-400 mln of income, providing 14 thsd work places.

ARKA- Many people think that ArmenTel telecommunications monopolist
is the major obstacle for the development of IT in Armenia.

B. Yengibaryan – I do not think that the problem in the
telecommunications field in Armenia is something exclusive. I do not
think that if tomorrow everything is settled in this area, IT will
prosper. ArmenTel monopoly definitely has an adverse impact, but in
general its share accounts for only 30% in total area of
telecommunications. I think that it’s wrong to ascribe all problems
to telecommunications. There are many other problems such as those
connected with radio frequency, which nobody pays attention to.

ARKA- What was the amount of investments in IT in 2004? How much was
the total value of programs implemented in IT industry in Armenia?

B. Yengibaryan – The investments made in 2004 were estimated at about
$10 mln. On the whole, I still estimate the capacity of IT industry
of Armenia at $50-60 mln of annually , though the real value of
programs is much higher (about $150 mln.). IT industry products are
exported to over 20 countries of the world. In this portfolio, shares
of USA and Canada accounts for 68% of the export. The second largest
market is Russia and the CIS (16%), followed by Europe (10%). In
2005, IT field will still ensure 2-3% of GDP of the country.

Today about 100 organizations work in IT field in Armenia and about
3-5 thsd people are employed in this industry. Annual salary of
experienced programmers ranges from $3000 to $7200, and salary of
project managers – from $6000 to $14000. By the way, salary of
Armenian programmers may compete with salary in major outsourcing
countries, such as China, India, Ireland, Israel and Russia.

ARKA- What are EIF plans for 2005?

B. Yengibaryan – In 2004 we developed a model of a venture investment
company. We hope that within a month we will put it into operation.
Such an initiative is an innovation for Armenia, and I think it will
positively influence on the development of IT sector.

We have also conducted a serious research, based on which will
develop scenarios for the development of the IT field. In particular,
we intend to introduce specific calculations regarding the
privileges, investments, changes in infrastructure and legislation
that will positively influence the development of IT industry.

EIF new premises will start operating in March. We can host there
about 10-15 organizations, provide them with high quality service
going beyond consulting one, and open up an education center. The
territory will be leased out, and currently we are holding
negotiations with four companies. In 2005, we plan to participate in
the establishment of two-three more companies, and to open
representative offices in Europe and US.

Also, we are going to introduce certification in programming CMM
(Software Capability Maturity Model) in Armenia. We will develop a
model, which if fails to assist in introducing certification itself,
then will support the local companies to apply for certification.
–0–

Voice of America
March 16 2005

NY to Continue International Arms Network Investigation
By Barbara Schoetzau
Washington

In the wake of the breakup of an international arms smuggling network
in New York Tuesday, prosecutors says they will continue to
investigate the weapons trafficking ring.

Federal prosecutors in New York say the arms smugglers were trying to
obtain anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank guns from the former
Soviet military to sell them to an FBI informant posing as a
middleman for terrorists.

Seventeen of the 18 people named in the federal criminal compaint
were arrested in New York, California, and Florida in connection with
the case. Nine are being held without bail in New York on allegations
that they conspired to transport destructive devices.

Prosecutors say the leaders of the ring were two illegal aliens,
Armenian Artur Solomonyan and South African Christiaan Dewet Spies.
Other members of the group are American, French, Georgian, and
Italian.

The arms ring sold the informer eight illegal weapons in the course
of the year-long investigation.

U.S. Attorney David Kelley says the defendants recently made a deal
to sell the FBI informer more than $2 million in weapons, mostly made
in Russia.

“We are continuing investigations,” said Mr. Kelley. “We have seized
some very dangerous weaponry. We have prevented some even more
dangerous weaponry from coming into the country. And I think we have
identified a potential pipeline. So we think it is a significant case
in light of all those developments.”

Mr. Kelley said there is no evidence to back up Mr. Solomonyan’s
boast to the informer that he could obtain enriched uranium for use
in the subway.

“Throughout this investigation, through our eavesdropping of some
15,000 conversations by the defendants or through countless
surveillances 24-7 [24 hours a day, seven days a week] by the agents
and investigators, we did not see any indication that the defendants
had any capacity to obtain uranium or other chemical or biological
weapon material. It did not happen.”

Mr. Kelley said the network was not linked to any terrorist network,
but was trading in weapons to make money.

PanArmenian News
March 16 2005

IRAN STUDIES CENTER OPENED IN RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN UNIVERSITY

16.03.2005 05:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ March 15 the opening of the Center for Iranian
Studies was held at Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University (RAU). The
Center is founded on the initiative of RAU and the Iranian Embassy in
Armenia. It has a library containing of text-books, books, methodic
manuals in Persian, disks, video materials. In the words, of Iranian
Ambassador to Armenia Ali Reza Haqiqian, `the opening of the Center
for Iranian Studies will promote cooperation between our countries
and will further make our two peoples closer.’

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 16 2005

PACE rapporteur: Resolution on Nagorno Karabakh conflict `fair’

AssA-Irada 16/03/2005 13:33

President Ilham Aliyev, receiving the rapporteur of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on political prisoners
Malcolm Bruce on Tuesday, described the recent discussions on Nagorno
Karabakh conflict at PACE as a positive step.

He said the conflict settlement is under the authority of the OSCE
Minsk Group, stressing the importance of increasing the attention to
the issue by international organizations, including the Council of
Europe.

Aliyev expressed confidence that the discussions held and documents
adopted by PACE will play an important role in resolving the
conflict.

Bruce regarded the last resolution on the Nagorno Karabakh problem as
a fair document, emphasizing the importance of President Aliyev’s
speech, made at PACE, for its adoption.

According to Bruce, Aliyev’s statements concerning the fulfillment of
Azerbaijan’s commitments to the CE and a fair settlement of the
conflict were highly appreciated by European parliamentarians.

CHILDREN OF INDIGENT FAMILIES STAY OUT OF KINDERGARTEN

Azg/arm
17 March 05

There are 225 kindergartens in Yerevan today that are financed out of
the prefectures’ budget. Most of the kindergartens both in Yerevan and
in the regions of Armenia have shortage of kids. Education minister of
Armenia, Sergo Yeritsian, said yesterday to a press conference that
only 30 percent of 5-6year olds and 15 percent of 1-5 year olds in
Armenia attend kindergartens.

The minister said that they are going to open new kindergartens in
marzes (regions) within the framework of Early Child Development
program carried out in cooperation with UNICEF. Kindergartens were
closed mainly in mountainous marzes and today there are no means to
reopen them. Proximate villages of Yerevan, such as Jrvezh, also need
infant schools, as they never had before.

According to figures from Yerevan prefectures, Davitashen borough has
today5 kindergartens against formerly 10, Avan – 7 against 10,
Shengavit has 31, Erebuni – 14. The Center borough has 22
kindergartens.

Numerous collages for 3-7 year olds sprang up lately in Yerevan and
attracted many parents. Judging from conversation with few parents,
the main reason why they prefer taking they children to collages
instead of traditional kindergarten is that kids ail more often in
kindergartens. The minister said that there are many issues concerning
heating the compounds of infant schools, food and the routine of
kindergartens. “The main purpose of our policy should be not forcing
the kid to the kindergarten but working out a free and flexible
routine enabling parents to keep children there as long as they want
and pay for that. I think that the infant school has to adapt to
parents’ working hours and kids ‘ need. The 4-hour routine should
remain, of course, to enable children gain some knowledge. Games
should prevail in the educational program”, minister of education
said.

The state allocates additional sums to the prefectures for solving
issues of early childhood protection. The minister said that the sums
will increase to overcome poverty and open doors of kindergarten to
more children.

Reforms envisaged in the preschool education for 2006 will safeguard
indigent families first of all. In several towns of Armenia – Qajaran
and Nor Hatchn – prefectures cover the expenses of needy families.

By Ruzan Poghosian