Agence France Presse
14 novembre 2004 dimanche 4:35 PM GMT

Des députés UMP marseillais pour un geste d’Ankara sur le génocide arménien

MARSEILLE 14 nov 2004

Des députés UMP de Marseille ont souhaité dimanche, lors d’un
déjeuner privé avec le président Jacques Chirac, que “la Turquie
fasse un geste de reconnaissance du génocide arménien” avant des
négociations sur son entrée dans l’UE, a indiqué à l’AFP le maire UMP
de Marseille Jean-Claude Gaudin.

L’entrée de la Turquie dans l’UE et la Constitution européenne ont
notamment été évoquées au cours de ce déjeuner, au domicile de M.
Gaudin, a précisé le maire. A propos de la question arménienne, le
chef de l’Etat “a dit que la Turquie essaie d’avoir de meilleures
relations diplomatiques avec l’Arménie”, a indiqué M. Gaudin.

Marseille compte la deuxième communauté arménienne de France après
Paris, avec 80.000 membres.

Au même moment à Marseille, la police évacuait une vingtaine de
militants de la cause arménienne aux abords de la bibliothèque
marseillaise de l’Alcazar, que devait inaugurer M. Chirac. Selon la
police, ces militants reprochant au président de la République sa
position sur l’entrée de la Turquie dans l’UE, scandaient “Chirac,
négationniste”.

Cette intervention s’est déroulée sans incident, selon la police.
Mais Patrick Mennucci, vice-président PS du conseil régional de PACA,
qui a assisté à la scène, a déclaré à l’AFP qu'”ils ont été frappés
avec une extrême violence”. Il a déploré cette intervention à l’égard
de “représentants connus d’associations arméniennes de Marseille”.

Auparavant, lors d’un forum avec des jeunes, le président de la
République avait affirmé que l’adhésion éventuelle de la Turquie à
l’Union européenne était “une chance extraordinaire pour l’Europe de
se renforcer”, estimant que “nous sommes tous des enfants de
Byzance”.

M. Chirac a partagé une bouillabaisse au domicile de M. Gaudin, avec
les cinq députés UMP de Marseille, la députée européenne UMP
Dominique Vlasto, ainsi que le secrétaire d’Etat aux Affaires
étrangères Renaud Muselier et l’ancien ministre marseillais de la
Santé Jean-François Mattei.

ROUND-TABLE ON THE PROBLEMS OF FORMER PRISONERS OF WAR

NKR MFA Web-site

On November 13, in Stepanakert, the Karabakh non-governmental
organization “Center of Civil Initiatives” (CCI) held a ’round-table’
called “The Problem of the Adaptation, Social Rehabilitation and
Reintegration of Former Prisonersof War and Hostages into the Society
in the Context of the Karabakh Conflict”. Leaders of the NKR
non-governmental organizations, representatives of the Parliament and
Government, a priest, journalists, psychologists, lawyers,
sociologists, and former prisoners of war took part in the
’round-table’.

CCI Director Albert Voskanian introduced the programs on the
rehabilitation of former prisoners of war and hostages implemented in
Nagorno Karabakh. In particular, he noted that under the aegis of the
International Working Group on the Search of Missing People, Liberated
Prisoners of War and Hostages (IWG), and “The Center of Civil
Initiatives”, a group of former prisoners of war, hostages and their
family members studied computer, got legal consultationsof qualified
lawyers, had talks with priests and ICRC representatives,
etc. According to Albert Voskanian, in the frameworks of the mentioned
programs, about 60 people got juridical and psychological aid in
Karabakh.

In the course of the discussion, factors hampering the full
rehabilitation and reintegration of former prisoners of war and
hostages into the society were noted, issues of rendering actual
assistance to psychologically vulnerable citizens, as well as the
problem’s legal aspects were discussed. The importance of the
cooperation between the governmental and non-governmental
organizations in implementing adaptation programs was emphasized.

A1 PLUS
| 22:39:32 | 15-11-2004 | Social |

TURKISH BUSINESSMEN TO TOUR SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHK SOON

Turkish businessmen are expected to visit Georgia’s Armenian-dominated
region Samtskhe-Javakhk on Nov 25 to discuss the related to cooperation with
local businessmen, A-Info news agency reports.

The business congress will be held in Borjomi and a memorandum will be
signed in Akhaltsikhe.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY IN ARMENIA

Story and Photos Adapted from ‘The Stone Garden Guide to Armenia and
Karabagh,’ By Matthew Karanian and Robert Kurkjian, reprinted with
permission

Yerevan Times (Armenia)
November 12, 2004

Since the 1990s, Armenia has been grappling with how to resolve its energy
shortages. Nuclear power delivers about 35 percent of Armenia’s energy
needs, but a government study several years ago determined that it might
be possible to develop alternative sources of energy to replace nuclear as
early as 2004.

If sufficient alternative sources were developed, then the nuclear power
plant could be shut down, according to an official who was the spokesman
for Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian at the time.

People sometimes hear what they want to hear, however, and so the
scuttlebutt for years was that Armenia had made a promise to decommission
its Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant by this year. They did, sort of. The
catch, of course, was that sufficient alternative sources had to be
available, first. The year 2004 is almost over, but those alternative
sources have not been developed – at least not to the extent necessary to
serve as an alternative to nuclear power. Some progress is being made,
however, especially with wind and solar-generated projects.

WIND

Renewable energy is cleaner than the traditional sources such as nuclear
and thermal power. Solar and wind power do have an impact upon our
environment, but they don’t pollute the atmosphere – unless one considers
the pollution that is emitted when the solar panels or wind turbines are
manufactured.

Armenia doesn’t have a wind stream that is comparable to the Gulf Stream
that exists in the US, but there is nevertheless some wind potential.
Armenia is a mountainous country, and strong winds frequently develop on
mountain ridges or on the saddles of mountain passes. Some of these local
wind currents are legendary.

At present, the economically viable capacity for wind energy is
approximately equal to that of nuclear, about 500 MW, but wind energy
development in Armenia is in its infancy. Still, wind energy is a strong
contingency plan for Armenia. Testing is ongoing, but if wind power proves
to be feasible, then Armenia could add wind-generated electricity to its
power sources.

Start-up costs for establishing wind as an alternative energy source would
be insignificant compared to the cost of building a new nuclear power
plant. Building a wind farm with a 10 megawatt capacity could cost $10
million to build, and another $1 million in legal fees. A new nuclear
power plant might easily cost $1 billion. Plus, storing the radioactive
waste – it cannot be `disposed’ of – is an expensive and risky business.

Start-up costs are only part of the equation, however. In order to be
economically feasible, a site must have consistent annual wind speeds of
roughly 8 meters per second. After the infrastructure is built, the price
of wind power depends on the wind speed at the site. At 6 meters per
second, it cannot compete with nuclear, coal or gas. But an annual wind
speed of 8 meters per second beats coal, and starts to compete with gas
and nuclear energy. At 9 meters per second wind beats them all. At this
wind velocity, wind turbines can generate electricity for as little as
three cents per kilowatt-hour, which is quite inexpensive.

But whereas nuclear energy might continue to be a major contributor to
Armenia’s energy needs, wind might contribute no more than five percent of
the country’s electricity. Wind is therefore just one important
alternative among a portfolio of energy sources.

SOLAR

Energy from the sun is more affordable than wind power for individual
residences when the power does not get added to the country’s electric
grid. This is because the photo voltaic cells needed for solar power are
far too costly to be used for the national electrical grid but they are
more economical in areas that the electric grid doesn’t reach.

Artak Hambarian, the director of a solar energy project in Yerevan,
estimates that it could take a business 20 or 30 years to earn enough
savings in energy costs to pay for its investment in solar panels that are
used to create electricity.

Solar is especially economical for heating water, however. This is where
solar power beats wind power. Solar energy generation capacity in Armenia
is currently around 650 MW, but estimates for future capacity are as high
as 3,500 MW. Unfortunately, says Hambarian, `this could take decades to
achieve.’ Hambarian is the Director of the Engineering Research Center
(ERC) at the American University of Armenia (AUA).

Hambarian says it could take $10 billion to convert all of Armenia’s
energy generation capacity to solar – assuming that anyone wanted to do
that. `In the future it could all be solar,’ he says. `But it would be too
expensive.’

Limited practical applications of solar energy have proven cost-effective
for AUA, however. This University is supplied with hot water and with
heating and cooling by a project that its academic engineers from ERC are
working on.

A solar photovoltaic system, also installed on the roof, provides
electricity to a solar driven electric system that makes the University
building independent from the electric grid and which serves to back-up
the University internet servers.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM ALTERNATIVE ENERGY?

The thermal, nuclear and hydro facilities that Armenia inherited from the
Soviet Union generate so much electricity that Armenia has been able to
sell some of it to the Republic of Georgia. How might the cost of wind or
solar energy compare with the cost of the existing nuclear energy program
in Armenia? Could electricity generated by wind or solar be sold
commercially, at a profit?

It’s difficult to compare the profitability of wind and nuclear generated
energy in Armenia, because the nuclear energy that the country generates
and sells is from a plant that was already here when the country gained
independence. Wind-generated power would include start-up expenses that
nuclear didn’t have.

What this means is that wind might not be exploitable today, but that it
might become a better bargain when, or if, Armenia scraps nuclear power.
Over time, wind and solar productions may attract more and more donor
support from the government and from others.

Wind power generates about 13,000 megawatts of electricity worldwide, with
much of the increases of the past few years attributable to new
installations in Germany and Spain. At the current rate of new
construction, wind may surpass nuclear energy in total world capacity in
just a few years.

THE STONE GARDEN GUIDE TO ARMENIA, WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY TWO INSIDERS

The photographers and authors of this story – Robert Kurkjian and Matthew
Karanian – have traveled extensively in Armenia and have just released a
new book about the region, `The Stone Garden Guide: Armenia and Karabagh.’

The travel guide highlights conservation efforts in Armenia, including
efforts at adopting renewable energy technologies, among its 304 pages.
The guidebook is unique among Armenian-subject guidebooks for its
beautiful color photography, its 25 color maps, and for the insider
perspective of its authors.

`The Stone Garden Guide: Armenia and Karabagh’ is available by mail order
from booksellers such as Amazon.com for $24.95. It is available in Yerevan
from Artbridge Café on Abovian Street. More information about the book is
available from

THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 11, 2004

Americans feel upbeat, poll finds

By Jennifer Harper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

America’s mood is upbeat: The Harris Poll’s annual “Feel Good Index” finds
the nation happy with home, family and friends – with the biggest increase
in positive feelings emanating from “morals and ethics.”
Life, in fact, seems downright harmonious, with 98 percent reporting
they’re pleased with their family relations, according to the poll, which
surveyed 1,016 U.S. adults Oct. 14-17.
Ninety-five percent feel good about their homes, 92 percent praised the
quality of their lives overall, 91 percent were positive about their social
lives, 88 percent said they were happy about their health and 85 percent
gave thumbs up to their standard of living.

All of the figures are increases from last year’s poll results by as much as
six points.
In addition, two-thirds of married respondents reported they were happy
with their spouses – up seven points from last year, and the highest number
in the history of the survey itself, which dates back to 1997.
The survey reflected one concern that proved paramount during the
presidential election last week.
It found that 77 percent felt positive about “the morals and values in
their community,” up seven points since last year and 12 points since 1997.
Another 55 percent applauded “the morals and values of Americans in
general,” up 8 points since last year, and 21 points since 1997.
Those numbers represent “the highest point ever” for values
measurements, the survey noted.
Election Day exit polls revealed to many stunned Democrats that 22
percent of voters identified the importance of “moral values” as their
primary motivation in the voting booth – an issue cited more than any other
concern, including the economy and terrorism.
These so-called “values voters” supported President Bush over
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry 80 percent to 18 percent.
Forty-three percent of the respondents in the Harris survey said they
felt good about the nation’s economy, up eight points from last year’s
polls. The figure stood at it highest point – 68 percent – in 1999 and 2000.
Its lowest point was 39 percent in 2002 .
The survey reflected other financially based attitudes: 60 percent were
happy with their jobs, down four points from last year. Sixty-two percent
felt good about their financial security, up three points from last year.
The actual “feel good” index is 74 when all the numbers are averaged, up
four points from last year and the same as it was in the pre-September 11
days of 1999. The highest number on record was 75, in 1998.
Meanwhile, the United States is a relatively satisfied nation, at least
according to the most recent “World Values Survey,” conducted 1999-2001, a
massive poll charting social and political change in 65 countries over three
years by a consortium of sociologists and academics here and abroad.
They advise that “factors that make people happy may vary from one
country to the next” in the survey, which is conducted every four years.
The latest numbers rank the United States the 16th-happiest nation on
the planet.
Nigeria was the happiest country, followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El
Salvador and Puerto Rico. The least happy were Russia, Armenia and Romania.

PRESS RELEASE
Hairenik Online Radio Station
80 Bigelow Ave
Watertown, MA 02472
Contact: Jirayr Beugekian
Tel: 617-9263974 / 617-9263976
Fax: 617-9265525
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Hairenik Association Inc. launches Hairenik Online Radio Station

Watertown, MA — The Hairenik Association Inc. today formally launched
its new internet radio station, Hairenik Online Radio Station, which
broadcasts Armenian music and news about Armenia, Artsakh, Javakhk and
the Armenian Diaspora 24 hours a day.

The station began broadcasting with a music-only format on August 10,
2004, and has since been updating its musical selection and conducting
small promotions to test the interest of listeners. “The response
from our listeners has been overwhelmingly positive”,- stated Jirayr
Buegekian, Programming Director. The number of listeners is increasing
steadily and emails of encouragement are pouring in. We have regular
listeners in more than 35 countries!” A measure of that popularity
was reflected in a recent report, which appeared on the website of
California’s Fresno Bee newspaper, citing the unique programming
provided by the station.

Hairenik Online Radio will start broadcasting an expanded format on
November 20, 2004. “We are currently broadcasting music 24 hours a
day. Based on listener requests, we will be expanding the format to
also include some news, interviews and special programs for children.”
stated Buegekian.

However, the station will still keep music at the heart of its
programming. Prior to launching the online radio station, the
Hairenik Association worked with Bentley College in Massachusetts to
undertake a study on the viability of the launching of an internet
radio station. Based on the findings of the Bentley team, Hairenik
Online Radio will reserve at least 80 percent of its airtime for
Armenian music. “Although we think our listeners will enjoy the
expanded format, we remain committed to broadcasting lots and lots of
music,” stated Buegekian.

The Hairenik Online Radio can be accessed via the web site of the
Hairenik Association (), which also includes an online
bookstore and the online versions of its two newspapers, the Armenian
language “Hairenik Weekly” and the English language “Armenian Weekly.”
Hairenik Online Radio can also be accessed at
and selecting the media player of your choice.

November 16, 2004

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijani minister wants more anti-terrorist cooperation with Russia

15.11.2004 10:56:00 GMT

Baku. (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mamedyarov has spoken for intensifying cooperation with Russia in
resisting terrorism.

“It is one of our main tasks to intensify cooperation because it is
virtually impossible to fight terrorism single-handedly,” he told
Interfax.

“The spread of the threat can be stooped only through joint efforts,”
he said.

“Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia are at a sufficiently good
level and advancing steadily,” Mamedyarov said.

Speaking of a settlement in Nagorno Karabakh he said: “Russia has very
good possibilities to promote the speedy settlement of our conflict
with Armenia.”

“Russia has declared many times and at different levels its support
for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and we look forward to
Russia’s role inthe conflict settlement increasing,” he said.

Armenian president not optimistic about Karabakh settlement

15.11.2004 10:55:00 GMT

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenian President Robert Kocharian is not
optimistic about prospects for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

“At present I am not very optimistic about that, but we keep trying,
together with Azerbaijan, to search for a mutually acceptable solution
to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” Kocharian told a news conference on
Monday.

He said the non-participation of the Karabakh side in the negotiating
process impeded the settlement, since Azerbaijan was only engaged in
talks with Armenia. “The situation does not reflect the essence of the
conflict,” Kocharian said.

Besides, Baku refuses to cooperate with Armenia prior to settling the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which, according to the Armenian leader,
makes it impossible to develop regional cooperation in the South
Caucasus.”

Kocharian is convinced that “an effective and speedy solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem can only be achieved through creating a
favorable atmosphere by means of cooperation.”

He said he didn’t share Baku’s criticism of the OSCE Minsk group
acting as a mediator in the conflict, adding that the group’s
co-chairmen representing the United States, Russia and France provided
an optimal format and framework for handling the Nagorno-Karabakh
crisis.

Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh during the bloody conflict
with Armenia in the 1990s. The UN Security Council, in its resolutions
on Nagorno-Karabakh, condemned the occupation of the Azerbaijani
territory anddemanded an Armenian troops withdrawal. The co-chairmen
of the OSCE Minsk group are attending to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

Armenian, Estonian culture ministers sign cooperation accord

Public Television of Armenia
Yerevan 15 Nov 04

[Presenter] It was very pleasant to get acquainted with the life and
activity of the great master. I wish the Armenian people success and
prosperity, Estonian President Arnold Ruutel wrote in the visitors’
book of the Sergey Paradzhanov museum. He is the ninth CIS president
to visit the museum. The Armenian and Estonian ministers signed the
first cooperation agreement in the museum.

[Correspondent over video of museum] The Estonian delegation, led by
President Arnold Ruutel, visited the Paradzhanov museum and got
acquainted with the sections of the museum which showed exhibits on
Paradzhanov’s life and activity in Tbilisi and a collection of his
collages made during his imprisonment.

Zaven Sarkisyan, the director of the museum, presented two of
Paradzhanov’s films to the Estonian president.

[Estonian president, captioned, in Russian with Armenian voice-over]
We have not seen Paradzhanov’s films. He is little known in
Estonia. There are interesting approaches to reality in his
art. Paradzhanov looks at the world quite differently, not as a usual
man.

[Correspondent over video of signing ceremony] The Estonian president
signed the visitors’ book.

It is symbolic that the Armenian and Estonian culture ministers signed
the first cooperation agreement in the cultural sphere in the
Paradzhanov museum. The ministers noted that the two countries have
great untapped potential in the cultural sphere.

[Estonian Culture Minister Urmas Paet, captioned, in Russian with
Armenian voice-over] We in Estonia did not know what was happening in
Armenian cinema in the last 10-15 years. Every year we hold film
festivals in Tallinn in November and I am waiting to see an Armenian
film in our film festival next year.

[Armenian Culture Minister Ovik Oveyan, captioned] This is the first
agreement in the cultural sphere that we have signed. I hope that we
shall continue our talks in this sphere.

Nune Aleksanyan, Arman Garibyan, “Aylur”.

Transport problems restrict trade with Russia, says Armenian PM

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow
11 Nov 04

The cost and unreliability of road transport are holding back the
expansion of Armenian-Russian trade, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Markaryan has said. Talking about the difficulties caused for Armenia
by Russia’s recent closure of the border crossing to Georgia,
Markaryan said that in negotiations “we got the feeling that Russia’s
leadership had a definite appreciation of this problem”. Markaryan
told Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta that Russian investment was
now present in almost all sectors of the Armenian economy. He noted
that Armenia had met all its obligations to transfer property to
Russia in repayment of its debts, but that “for a number of technical
reasons connected with domestic procedural issues, the Russian side
has to this day not written off Armenia’s indebtedness for the sum of
the transferred property”. The following is the text of Viktoriya
Panfilova’s interview with Andranik Markaryan in Russian newspaper
Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 11 November headlined “Armenia on list of
debtors: Armenia suffers losses due to Russian fight against
terrorism”; subheadings inserted editorially:

In the last few years, Russia has significantly expanded its
investment presence in Armenia. Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan
spoke to NG [Nezavisimaya Gazeta ] about the dividends Yerevan has
seen from collaboration with Moscow.

Transport restrictions hold back Armenian-Russian trade

[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] Mr Prime Minister, Iran and Belgium lead in the
volume of trade with Armenia, even though in recent years entire
branches of local industry and major enterprises have become Russian
property. What is the reason for this?

[Markaryan] From my point of view, the problem lies in the market’s
accessibility. Today the only type of transport linking Russia and
Armenia is motor vehicle transport, which is expensive and dependent
upon several subjective factors out of our countries’ control.

As for the volume of trade, Russia is one of Armenia’s leading
partners in its foreign economic activity. In the period 2002-03,
Russia came second after Belgium in the export of Armenian output,
although Russian output continues to account for the largest volume of
imports into Armenia. For example, results from the first nine months
of this year show Russia leading in the total trade between our
countries with 12.6 per cent. And among CIS [Commonwealth of
Independent States] countries, this index was 62 per cent. At the same
time, I would like to note that the Armenian enterprises that have
transferred to Russian ownership are still operating only at a
fraction of their production capacities and cannot have a substantial
influence on the level of foreign trade between Russia and Armenia.

Actually, at a recent meeting of the co-chairmen of the international
economic cooperation commission held in Yerevan in mid-October it was
decided to draw up proposals for so-called urgent measures to ensure
the full functioning of enterprises transferred to Russian ownership.

[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] Recently Armenia found itself almost completely
isolated due to the closing of the Russian-Georgian border. And there
are no guarantees that a similar situation won’t recur. Under these
kinds of conditions, can we really talk about prospects for developing
bilateral relations?

[Markaryan] I don’t think we need to draw any far-reaching conclusions
from situations like the closure of the Verkhniy Lars border
crossing. Especially if we bear in mind that the Russian side had not
made a political decision to damage relations with Armenia. We know
that the Russian-Georgian border was closed due to the stepping-up of
the antiterrorist struggle. It remains to be seen how all this will
affect Armenia’s economy and how much the Russian side, having decided
to take this step, took the interests of our republic into
consideration or how the economic losses are being borne and will be
borne by Armenia, which is already under a tough transport
blockade. On this subject I can say that during the negotiations we
got the feeling that Russia’s leadership had a definite appreciation
of this problem. We conducted active negotiations simultaneously with
the Georgian authorities as well as Russia’s leadership in order to
find alternative communication routes. Fortunately, the situation was
settled very quickly and today everything has fallen into place. This
hardly means we are satisfied, though. As we speak, we are continuing
to search, in concert with the region’s states, for mechanisms for
creating new, mutually advantageous, efficient transport schemes.

Conflict settlement key to regional development

[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] What needs to happen to establish lasting peace
and stability in the Caucasus?

[Markaryan] First of all, I would say, the peaceful settlement of all
the conflicts in our region, including the one in Nagornyy
Karabakh. It’s no secret that a fair solution to this problem would
create the prerequisites for opening all communications routes and
lifting the transport blockade around Armenia and Nagornyy
Karabakh. This would allow all the states in the region to establish
normal economic relations among themselves so that they can develop
and allow others to develop as well. I’m convinced that the
restoration of peace and stability in the Caucasus would be
facilitated as well by the implementation of regional programmes in
which all the countries of the region participate equally.

Russian capital has most effect in Armenia’s energy sector

[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] In what branches of the Armenian economy is the
presence of Russian capital most tangible today? Are there spheres
that Russian business would like to invest in but cannot for various
reasons?

[Markaryan] Today Russian investments in Armenia have a very
diversified structure and are present in virtually every branch of the
economy. It’s noteworthy that as of 1 January 2004 there were 589
companies registered in Armenia that had some Russian capital – nearly
24 per cent of the total number. As for any possible subjective
reasons why investments might not be able to be made in specific
spheres of the economy – there aren’t any. The government has an open
door policy with respect to foreign investments. The legislation of
Armenia offers the most favourable conditions possible for all
investors and also ensures the protection of all forms of property. So
that Russian enterprises, just like the enterprises of other
countries, are free in both their economic activity and the
decisionmaking process.

As for the branches in which the presence of Russian capital is felt
the most, this would be primarily enterprises in the fuel and energy
complex, which is strategic from the standpoint of the republic’s
development. In particular, this is the ArmRosgazprom
[Armenian-Russian gas industry] enterprise and the Razdan heat and
power station. The Armenian nuclear power station has been handed over
to the Russian side for safe operation. There is Russian capital as
well in Armenian industry: Mars, the machine-building enterprise; and
Armenal, which produces aluminium. I would point out that our states
have a mutual interest in rapidly restoring those scientific and
production sites which have been transferred to Russian
ownership. Some of them – the scientific research institute of the
military-industrial complex, for example – are functioning actively
today. The problem is to get them operating at full capacity in the
near future – by attracting much more investment and orders and by
increasing the productive potential of these enterprises. Both Armenia
and Russia stand to gain from this, I’m sure.

Armenia seeking to encourage foreign investment

[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] Which Russian financial and economic groups are
most active in Armenia? Do they have problems in their relations with
local authoriti es?

[Markaryan] Through legislation, the government of Armenia is
stimulating foreign investments in all spheres of the country’s
economy, both in the practical and the financial sectors. Thus, of the
20 banks now operating in Armenia, nine involve Russian capital.

As for relations with local authorities, we take a unified approach to
both Armenian and foreign business. Moreover, we are trying to
stimulate foreign investments. In addition, attesting to the
favourable atmosphere for business and the absence of any
differentiated approach is the continuing increase in the presence of
Russian capital in Armenia. In particular, in early 2004, Russia’s
Vneshtorgbank acquired the controlling packet of shares in Armenia’s
Sberbank [Savings Bank]. And if enterprises in their current activity
do run into any problems, then they are the same for everyone,
including Armenian enterprises.

[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] Armenia’s economic legislation is considered to
be fairly liberal. How does this affect foreign investments? Does more
money come to the country from Russia or from the West? And which
investments are given preference?

[Markaryan] Indeed, the economic and especially the financial
legislation of our country is one of the most liberal and, even more
important, one of the most stable in the post-Soviet states. True, the
mere presence of liberal legislation is not enough for foreign
investments. I want to point out that the country’s leadership is
working specifically to support political stability in the country,
develop market infrastructures, and reform the structures that operate
directly with entrepreneurs, as well as on several other efforts
included in the strategic programme to combat corruption and reduce
various risks.

We can judge the favourable investment climate from the increase in
investments in the country’s economy. For example, in the first six
months of this year total investments in Armenia’s economy rose by 41
per cent, while direct foreign investments rose by nearly 80 per
cent. If we compare this to previous years (1997-2003), then among the
10 partner countries making investments in Armenia’s economy, nearly
26 per cent came from Russia. As for the issue of preferences, we
welcome all investments that will stimulate the country’s economic
development.

Armenia has met all obligations to transfer property to Russia

[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] In 2002, an agreement was signed between our
countries on repaying Armenia’s state debt by transferring shares in
Armenian enterprises to Russian Federation ownership. However, the
Russian draft budget for next year once again includes as Armenia’s
debt the same sum that Armenia already repaid when it transferred
those factories to Russia. How are we to interpret this?

[Markaryan] Indeed, Armenia has met all of its obligations to transfer
property (on 5 August 2003, property worth US 63 million US dollars
was transferred to Russian ownership and in January 2004 property
worth 31 million dollars). However, for a number of technical reasons
connected with domestic procedural issues, the Russian side has to
this day not written off Armenia’s indebtedness for the sum of the
transferred property. Before the end of this year, an
intergovernmental commission is supposed to hold joint consultations
during which this issue should be resolved.

Parliament to decide on sending Armenian contingent to Iraq

[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] Recently Yerevan decided to send 50 military
medics and sappers to Iraq to assist the coalition forces. However the
leaders of Iraq’s 20,000-strong Armenian community, concerned that in
that event Armenians would become the next target of international
terrorists, sent an appeal to Yerevan to reject this decision.

[Markaryan] As we know, the final decision on sending an Armenian
military contingent to Iraq will be taken by the National Assembly of
Armenia. The problem is that there was a preliminary agreement with
Poland about our participation in Iraq as part of the military group
of this country. Lately, though, Poland itself seems to have had
doubts about the wisdom of its military presence in Iraq. Naturally,
we will have to keep changes in this and several other conditions in
mind as we make corrections to our position and clarify certain issues
before the matter is submitted to parliament. Of course, in
discussions of this issue, we are also keeping in mind the interests
and security issues of our state and the opinion of Iraq’s Armenian
community of many thousands. In any event, I can say that if such a
decision is taken, then a small number of military drivers, medics and
sappers will be sent to Iraq but will not take part in military
actions.