ARMINFO NEWS AGENCY
August 10, 2004

ARMENIA’S FRENCH FOOTBALL COACH PROMISES GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT

Yerevan, 6 August: “I am not a magician and we will achieve good
results gradually,” the new Armenian national football coach, French
specialist Bernard Casoni, told a news conference today. He was
appointed the head coach of the Armenian national team on 2 August
and arrived in Yerevan the night before the news conference.

Asked by an Arminfo correspondent about the chances of the Armenian
team of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany (Armenia
will play the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Finland, Romania,
Andorra and Macedonia (in their qualifying group)), Bernard Casoni
noted that it is in matches with such top teams as the Czech Republic
and the Netherlands that teams such as Armenia gain experience and
proficiency. Bernard Casoni acknowledged he knew nearly nothing about
Armenian football and the Armenian national team and in the first
qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje on 18 August he will prefer the
group of players already in the national team, at least for the time
being. The French specialist intends to consult the leadership of the
Armenian Football Federation about players. Footballers playing both
in the Armenian national football league and abroad are expected to
be in the national team. “My first impressions suggest that there are
quite a few good players in Armenia who just need to be brought on,”
Bernard Casoni said. As far as Armenia’s sports facilities are
concerned, the country lacks first-class facilities, but whatever is
in place should be developed and improved.

Asked by an Arminfo correspondent if the national team is going to
play in an attacking style or defensively, Bernard Casoni said that
every single match will define its own tactics.

“Right now, I am thinking only of our forthcoming match with the
Macedonians. I watch films of their matches and think about how to
organize the upcoming match,” said the coach of the Armenian national
football team.

In his turn, Ruben Ayrapetyan, head of the Armenian Football
Federation and a member of the Armenian National Assembly
(parliament), who attended the press conference, said that the
contract with Casoni has been signed for a year. Unlike his
predecessors, expatriates that used to train both the national team
and Pyunik, Casoni is going to concentrate only on the national team
and will give guidance to Armenia’s teenage and youth teams.

“Of course, in view of the group that we have ended up in, we do not
set the objective of qualifying for the World Cup, but we will do our
best to make sure that the national team plays good football,”
Ayrapetyan said.

YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY PREPARES FOR WINTER IN SUMMER

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9. ARMINFO. Yerevan authorities need to purchase some
1.730 tons of technical salt and 2,800 cubic meters of sand to get
prepared for winter, Vice Mayor of Yerevan Vano Vardanyan told
journalists today.

He said that by present, the reserves of technical salt in the capital
make up some 127 tons, those of sand – only 10% of the necessary
quantity. Besides, to provide road safety and to clean roads, 231 cars
are requires, but only 203 of them are ready for
exploitation. According to Vardanyan, several communities in Yerevan
are expected to buy new equipment by the end of the year, in
particular, it will be snow-collecting lorries. As regards
replenishment of salt and sand reserves, he said: “our experience
shows that it is senseless to purchase such a quantity of salt and
sand by the end of the year, as Yerevan has a plant on production of
salt, so the necessary quantity of this product can be bought there if
necessary. The same concerns sand reserves.”

IN AUGUST COMMERCIAL BANKS OF ARMENIA WILL BE ABLE TO ALLOCATE 650
CREDITS UNDER SMALL AND MIDDLE-SIZED BUSINESS MICROCREDITING PROGRAM

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9. ARMINFO. German-Armenian Fund forecasts that in
August of the current year commercial banks of Armenia will be able to
issue 650 credits worth a total of 3.0 mln euro. Senior Banking
Advisor to GAF and the German “Internationale Projekt Consult GmbH”
(IPC) firm Garik Khachatrian told ARMINFO. According to him, during
its activities in Armenia, the GAF has allocated 13,000 credits worth
a total of 80.8 mln euro, out of which 4,500 credits worth a total of
20.4 mln were placed in Jan-July of the current year. 507 credits
worth a total of 3.3 mln euro were issued to borrowers in July of this
year.

By Aug 1, 2004 GAF’s current credit portfolio had included 6,000
credits worth a total of 24.1 mln euro. Credits are distributed as
follows: trade 52.4%, production 26.2%, service sector 12.2%,
agriculture 9% and construction – 0.2%. As regards the number of
credits allocated to individual sectors, the situation is as follows:
trade sector 45.8%, the agriculture 31.7%, industrial sector – 13%,
service sector – 9.4% and construction – 0.1%.

One borrower can receive up to 33 mln drams for a period of up to
three years. Credits are repaid by monthly instalments. The annual
interest rates are 24% and 19% for the trade and production sectors
respectively. However, if a borrower has a good credit history and
applies for re-crediting, the annual interest rates can be reduced to
19% and 15% respectively. At the end of 2003 GAF has given the
partner-banks an opportunity for providing the borrowers with
microcredits by express-credits. At the end of 2003 GAF gave an
opportunity to partner-banks for giving microcredits to borrowers by
express-credits.

The GAF was founded by the Armenian and German Government in 1998
under an agreement on financial cooperation in supporting small and
middle-sized businesses in Armenia. The GAF launched the program in
September 1999. Among the GAF’s partners in the program are the
“Anelik Bank,” Armeconombank, ACBA, “Converse Bank” and
INECOBANK. Also, the GAF has its divisions in Lori region (town of
Vanadzor), Kotayk region (town of Abovian), Ararat (Artashat), Armavir
(Echmiadzin), Aragatsotn (Ashtarak), Vayots Dzor
(Yeghegnadzor). Credits are also allocated in Tavush and Shirak
regions.

According to the data of GAF, 144 credits worth a total of 1.4 mln
euro were allocated in Sept-Dec, 1999 under the program, in 2000 – 868
credits worth 4.1 mln euro, in 2001 – 1,238 credits worth 8.4 mln euro
and in 2002 – 2,470 credits worth 20 mln euro and 3,796 credits worth
a total of 26.4 mln euro were issued in 2003.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UNDP IMPLEMENTS PROJECT OF E-GOVERNANCE SYSTEM FOR TERRITORIAL
ADMINISTRATION

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9. ARMINFO. UNDP is launching the $35,000 E-Governance
System for Territorial Administration project in Armenia’s regions.

The objective of the project is to raise the public importance of the
use of e-networks between the population and local
administrations. The project coordinator Artashes Darbinyan says that
Harmony Project has set up numerous internet-centers in the country –
e-coordination between villages and regional centers is an important
but the only way to establish stable communication between the public
and the authorities. This is especially important for remote districts
So the task of the project is to coordinate the population-local
government cooperation. For this purpose UNDP is planning training
course for instructors, workshops on e-governance, e-training in the
regions for regional officials, local school directors, local NGO
representatives.

The ideal e-governance system will allow people to save time and money
on unnecessary trips to district centers giving them optimal e-access
opportunities.

The project will be launched in Kotayk this month and will be finished
in Shirak in Dec.

GROSS EXTERNAL ASSETS OF ARMENIA’S CENTRAL BANK DECREASED BY $235,000
DURING SECOND QUARTER OF 2004

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9. ARMINFO. Gross external assets of the Central Bank
of Armenia decreased by $235,000 during the second quarter of the
current year – from $489.908 mln to $489.673 mln. ARMINFO was informed
in the press service of the Central bank of Armenia, in the structure
of gross external assets the international reserves decreased from
$489.872 mln to $489.638 mln. SDR in IMF during the second quarter
increased by 2.8 mln SDR ($4.0 mln), totaling 12.076 mln SDR or
$17.707 mln.

The net external assets decreased by $9.3 mln in the second quarter
and reached $248.512 mln, from which the share of freely convertible
currency was $248.509 mln.

It should be noted that by Jan 1, 2004 gross external assets totaled
$510.155 mln, including international reserves – $510.121 mln. The
amount of SDR in IMF was $18.762 mln (12.672 mln SDR). Net external
assets totaled $272.443 mln, from which the share of freely
convertible currency was $272.440 mln.

NO CENTRAL HEATING EXPECTED IN YEREVAN THIS YEAR

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9. ARMINFO. No central heating is expected in Yerevan
thus year, Vice Mayor Vano Vardanyan told journalists.

He said that in July, the city authorities leased boiling-houses to
the private sector. Thus, the authorities intended to attract relevant
specialists, who would fulfill the idea of local heating in Yerevan.

As a reuslt, 9 applications were received. After business-plans of 9
economic entities are studied, agreements will signed. In the first
year after signing of the documents, 250 dwelling-houses can be
provided with heating, while in the third and the last year on the
contact, this number will total 500 dwelling-houses, Vardanyan said.

To heat schools, kindergartens and medical establishments, relevant
electric heaters will be purchased. It should be noted that last year,
only 111 buildings received local heating. 102 of these buildings were
residential. This year, another 8 buildings will be added to them (4
in Sayat-Nova avenue and 4 in Surenyants street).

TOTAL CAPITAL OF ARMENIA’S BANKING SYSTEM WILL GREW BY 25% BY 2005

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9. ARMINFO. Total capital of Armenia’s banking system
will grew by 25% or by 12.2 bln drams in the current and will reach
61.1 bln drams by 2005. Such is the forecast of commercial banks based
on their strategic plans of development. In particular, a 60.2% growth
of the total capital will be secured due to the expected increase in
the undistributed profits to 14.4 bln drams, which totals 23.5% of the
capital, and 25% due to the raising of the authorized capital, which
will total 39.1 bln drams by 2005. Thus, according to forecasts,
investments by non-residents into the authorized capital will make up
2.4 bln drams within 2004, as a result the share of foreign capital in
the authorized fund will increase by 2.4 per cent reaching 45.7%. The
tendency towards growth of foreign capital in the authorized one will
continue till 2007, reaching 49.2%. Alongside with this, a 33.6%
growth in the undistributed profits is expected, which will reach 21.2
bln drams by 2007.

By 2007, the total capital of Armenia’s banking system will reach 89.6
bln drams, in particular, as compared to the beginning of 2004, the
growth of this indicator will total 83.4%, 34% of which will be the
share of the authorized capital, 57.5% that of the undistributed
profits. In the given period of time, total capital of six commercial
banks will exceed $10 mln, that of the two banks $8-10 mln, the
capital of four banks will total $6-8 mln, that of the remaining 6
banks – $5 mln.

Capital-aggregate assets ratio will reach 18.1% by 2005 and 21.5% by
2007, meanwhile, this indicator was 17.1% at the beginning of 2004.

ARMINFO NEWS AGENCY
August 10, 2004

MEASURES ARE TAKEN TO RELEASE SOLDIER TAKEN PRISONER BY ARMENIANS

BAKU, AUGUST 9. ARMINFOI-TURAN. The State Commission for prisoners of
war, hostages and missed persons is making efforts to release soldier
Anar Misha oglu Samedov. He was taken prisoner by Armenians on Terter
section of frontline last Saturday.

The state commission’s press release reads that Armenia informed the
International Committee of the Red Cross about capture of Samedov.
Measures are taken to release Azeri soldier.

Anar Samedov, born 1983, was drafted to the Army in January of this
year.–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 10 2004

US Supports Azerbaijan

Baku Today 10/08/2004 18:48

On August 9, Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan received an
American delegation led by Senator Ted Stevens, AzerTag reported on
Tuesday.
The parties discussed bilateral relations in political, economic and
military fields.
`The USA has an important role in the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict as a co-chair of OSCE’s Minsk group,’ Aliyev said.

Stevens focused at Azerbaijan’s involvement in anti-terrorist
coalition in Iraq. He stressed the importance of cooperation between
the USA and Azerbaijan to develop the power resources in the region.

While Deputy Spokesperson at the US State Department, Adam Ereli,
stated that the US doesn’t recognize Nagorno Karabakh as an
independent country, Azertag reported on Tuesday.

`The future status of Nagorno-Karabakh depends on the ongoing
negotiations led by the OSCE’s Minsk group,’ said Ereli. `We are
supporting territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and we don’t believe
that the August 8, elections held in Nagorno Karabakh will have an
impact on the negotiations.’

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

===============================================Monday 9 August 2004
TURKMENISTAN: WHY REGISTER WHEN PERSECUTION CONTINUES?

Despite gaining state registration under the much-trumpeted
“liberalisation” of the religion law, secret police raids and
threats against a Baptist congregation in Turkmenistan have not stopped,
Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Last Wednesday (4 August), NSM secret
police raided a meeting for prayer and bible study, arrested participants
for three hours, confiscated bibles and hymn books, and threatened a
“big problem” if meetings continued. Another state registered
community, the Hare Krsihnas, have been told by state officials that they
do not know whether the community should be allowed to operate. A wide
range of religious communities have either been unsuccessful with
registration applications, or do not want to apply because of the harsh
controls they would be subjected to. Asked about making a registration
application, one Jehovah’s Witness said to Forum 18 “Why should we
when persecution continues?”

TURKMENISTAN: WHY REGISTER WHEN PERSECUTION CONTINUES?

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

State registration as a religious community has not halted secret police
raids on and threats against a Baptist congregation. On the evening of 4
August, six National Security Ministry (NSM) secret police officers raided
a private flat in the town of Abadan (formerly Bezmein), near the capital
Ashgabad, where a small group of Baptists were meeting to pray and read the
Bible, reliable Protestant sources have told Forum 18 News Service. After
holding them for three hours and confiscating their Bibles and hymnbooks,
the secret police threatened that any attempt to meet again in Abadan would
cause a “big problem” for Pastor Vasili Korobov and other local
Baptists.

The meeting, led by Pastor Korobov from Ashgabad, had only just begun at 9
pm when six NSM secret policemen raided the apartment owned by Irina
Nazarova. The Baptists reported that they were initially “very
aggressive”, ordering Pastor Korobov and the group not to undertake
any religious activities in the town. Pastor Korobov pointed out that the
Baptists have received state registration from the Justice Ministry
(certificate number 0012, date of registration 25 June 2004), and told the
secret police that he could show them the registration documents the
following day. However, contradicting public official statements, secret
police officers Saparov and Ishanov (first names unknown) both said that,
even if religious communities have registration, they still need 500
members to be able to meet.

The secret police officers held the whole group until just after midnight
and confiscated all Bibles and hymnbooks. The Baptists reported that Pastor
Korobov told one secret police officer that he should not confiscate the
books, to no effect.

Abadan is a particular religious freedom blackspot, with local police in
June repeatedly warning Svetlana Gurkina, a member of a different Baptist
church in the town, that she would be imprisoned and her flat confiscated
if she continued to host religious meetings (see F18News 1 July 2004
). She was also told by
the town’s deputy police chief that “in Turkmenistan only two faiths
are allowed, Islam and Orthodoxy, while the rest are banned.” A group
of non-denominational Christians were fined there in June 2003, chief mufti
Kakageldy Vepaev taking part in at least four secret police raids (see
F18News 3 June and 6 June
2003 ).

Under the much-trumpeted “liberalisation” of the harsh law on
religion earlier this year, which reduced the theoretical threshold for
religious communities to gain registration from 500 adult citizens to five,
only the Baptists, Hare Krishna community and Adventists have been able to
gain registration (see F18News 3 June 2004
). Registration fees are
high by Turkmen standards: the Hare Krishna community had to pay 2,500,000
manats (roughly 100 US dollars [679 Norwegian Kroner, or 82 Euros] at the
black market exchange rate). Average salaries are roughly 1/3rd of this
amount. Contrary to international human rights agreements, unregistered
religious activity remains illegal and punishable by fines.

A wide range of religious communities would like state registration, in
order to try to function legally in the eyes of the government –
including the Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Armenian
Apostolic Church, Pentecostals, New Apostolic Church and Shia Muslims. But
all have either been unsuccessful with their registration applications, or
have declined to apply as they are unhappy with the harsh controls they
would be subjected to. (See F18News 28 June
and 13 May 2004
=320).

A Jehovah’s Witness elder from Ashgabad, asked by Forum 18 on 2 August
about his community applying for registration, said “Why should we
when persecution continues? They asked for lists of all our members –
they’ll just summon them one by one. Why should we register and go through
all this persecution? We’re not criminals.” He said that Jehovah’s
Witness congregations cannot meet, as “the police have warned those
who were fined earlier for hosting meetings not to allow more than three
believers to meet together.”

Although fines for religious activity seem to have eased in recent months,
life for religious communities is still difficult. “Our church is in a
desperate situation,” one Protestant pastor who preferred not to be
named told Forum 18 from the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi
[Türkmenbashy] (formerly Krasnovodsk) on 14 July. “The
authorities have more than once and very brutally resisted our earnest
desire to meet and preach the Gospel among the population. Our brothers and
sisters have repeatedly been interrogated and threatened by the secret
police, while many brothers and sisters have been kicked out of their jobs
for their faith.”

Other religious communities, as well as the Baptists, who have been able to
gain registration have also suffered difficulties. One Hare Krishna told
Forum 18 that although the community now has state registration, state
officials do not know whether the community should be allowed to operate.
The Hare Krishna’s have not yet been able to hold open, public religious
meetings, and are still being forced to meet privately in homes.

There also seems to be no change in the government’s strongly expressed
hostility to any form of religious freedom. The exiled Turkmenistan
Helsinki Initiative reported on 5 August that, last week, officials of the
government’s Gengeshi (Council) for Religious Affairs visited the
administrations in all the velayats (regions) of the country to meet
state-approved religious activists, heads of ideological organisations, and
elders to warn them of the threat to Islam posed by officially registered
“non-traditional” religious movements. In particular, Gangeshi
officials singled out the Jehovah’s Witnesses, even though they do not have
official registration.

According to a participant at the meeting held in the hyakimlik (town
administration) of the Mary velayat, in eastern Turkmenistan,
Turkmenistan’s central Gengeshi deputy chairman, Murad Karriyev from the
capital Ashgabad, said that representatives of other religions are far more
active in public activities than followers of Islam. Karriyev complained of
what he described as the greed of many imams, citing the case of an unnamed
prominent imam who was visited one night by a young man who had just stolen
a girl, asking the imam to conduct a religious wedding ceremony for them.
The imam tried to refuse stating that it was late, but when the young man
offered him money, the imam allegedly agreed. According to Karriyev, imams
do not regard working with the people as a priority, unlike the leaders of
the Jehovah’s Witness, Baha’i and Adventist communities who regard
“ideological and agitational activities” among the people as very
important.

In Karriyev’s emphatically expressed view, the worst aspect of this is that
many Muslims are being converted to other religions, and become such devout
followers of the religions they convert to that little can alter their
views. In one case cited at the meeting, a previously devout Muslim became
a Jehovah’s Witness and is now successfully recruiting Muslims. Officials
complained at the meeting that the ability of leaders of non-traditional
religions to convince others is hard to surpass; they successfully did that
“from the underground”. With official registration, they will now
be even more active, which therefore means more successful. Karriyev called
on imams to be more active, and to be aware of other religions which will
operate legally with state registration.

Meanwhile, intermittent protests have continued against the enforced
imposition of President Saparmurat Niyazov’s “spiritual
writings”, the Ruhnama (Book of the Soul), on mosques. Vitali
Ponomarev of the Moscow-based Memorial human rights group reported on 14
July that anonymous anti-government leaflets circulating in Ashgabad in
early July contained calls for Muslims not to go to mosques where the
Ruhnama is cited together with the Koran. Both imams and Russian Orthodox
priests are compelled to make approving references to this book in sermons,
and a mosque has been closed down by the NSM secret police for not putting
the Ruhnama on the same reading stand as the Koran (see F18News 19 November
2003 ).

For more background, see Forum 18’s Turkmenistan religious freedom survey
at

A printer-friendly map of Turkmenistan is available at
tml?Parent=asia&Rootmap=turkme
(END)

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