Sky News, UK
Aug 1 2004
BLASTS ROCK CHURCHES

At least four car bombs have exploded in quick succession outside
churches in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul killing at least
12 people.
The attacks appear to be a targeted assault on Iraq’s influential
Christian minority, police said.
The first car was detonated by a suicide bomber near an Armenian
church in Baghdad’s upmarket district of Karada, said policeman
Haidar Abdul Hussein.
Minutes later, a second car bomb exploded near a Catholic church.
Officials at the Ibn al-Nafeez hospital said 15 people had been
admitted with injuries following the attacks.
Another police officer at the scene said there were casualties, but
was unable to specify how many.
Ambulances ferried the wounded away and firemen battled the flames
and smoke.
In Mosul, 370 kilometres (230 miles) north of the capital, two car
bombs exploded outside a church in the early evening outside the Mar
Polis church in the central Mohandessin neighbourhood, said Major
Mohammed Omar Taha.
“There are casualties, but we don’t know if anyone was killed,” he
said.

Agence France Presse
Aug 1 2004
Four Near Simultaneous Car Bombs Target Iraq Churches: Police
BAGHDAD, Aug 1 (AFP) – At least four car bombs exploded in quick
succession outside churches in Baghdad and the northern city of
Mosul, in an apparently targeted assault on Iraq`s influential
Christian minority, police said.
The first car was detonated by a suicide bomber near an Armenian
church in Baghdad`s upmarket district of Karada, said policeman
Haidar Abdul Hussein. Minutes later, a second car bomb exploded near
a Catholic Syriac church.
Thick black smoke billowed in the sky above Karada, clearly visible
for miles, as ambulances screamed through the streets and firemen
battled to contain the blaze.
Officials at the Ibn al-Nafeez hospital said 15 people had been
admitted with injuries following the attacks. One of the 15 later
died, said Anas Edward, a doctor.
Another police officer at the scene said there were casualties, but
was unable to specify how many.
Nervous police officers fired into the air and an AFP correspondent
saw the gutted shells of the two cars lying in the streets.
A US military spokesman said “at least four explosions” went off in
the central Baghdad area early Sunday evening.
In Mosul, 370 kilometres (230 miles) north of the capital, two car
bombs exploded outside a church in the early evening outside the Mar
Polis church in the central Mohandessin neighbourhood, said Major
Mohammed Omar Taha.
“There are casualties, but we don`t know if anyone was killed,” he
said.

Independent Online, South Africa
Aug 1 2004
Six churches bombed in Iraq’s Bloody Sunday

By Edmund Blair
Baghdad – Car bombs exploded outside at least six Christian churches
in Iraq on Sunday, killing at least three people and wounding many
more in an apparently coordinated attack timed to coincide with
evening prayers.
“We are expecting a huge number of casualties,” an Interior Ministry
source said. He said there had been four blasts at churches in
Baghdad and two in Mosul. At least two of the Baghdad blasts were
suicide car bomb attacks, he said.
The attacks were the first to target Christian churches during the
15-month insurgency.
‘We are expecting a huge number of casualties’
Iraqis said the blasts, which scattered chunks of hot metal and
shattered stained glass windows, said they feared the attacks were
designed to stir tensions among Iraq’s diverse religious communities.
“These operations are aimed at creating strife between Christians,
Shi’as, Sunnis and others, nothing more, nothing less,” said Omar
Hussein, 25, a metalworker near the scene of a blast at the Armenian
church in central Baghdad.
Another blast happened about 15 minutes later outside an Assyrian
church in the same area, mangling cars and sending a loud boom
reverberating across the neighbourhood. Medics dragged a wounded man
from a car, his arm almost torn off by the blast.
An ambulance driver told Reuters that two people were killed in the
explosion at the Assyrian church and several wounded.
Police said at least one person was killed in one of the Mosul
blasts.
There are about 800,000 Christians in Iraq, most of them in Baghdad.
There have been a string of attacks in recent weeks on alcohol
sellers throughout Iraq, the majority of whom are Christians of
either the Assyrian, Chaldean or Armenian denominations.
Earlier on Sunday, a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle outside a
police station in Mosul, killing at least five people and wounding
53.
Witnesses said the Toyota Landcruiser raced towards a police
checkpoint as guards screamed at the driver to stop. When he didn’t,
they opened fire, killing him. But the car ploughed on and detonated
about 20 metres from the police station.
“I was waiting for a taxi when the car approached at high speed,”
said witness Younis al-Hadidi, 32. “It blew up in the middle of
everyone.”
Police said four of the five killed were police officers and the
wounded were both civilians and police. Doctors said many of the
wounded were badly hurt and the death toll could rise.
Another suicide car bomb blast outside a U.S. base in Mosul last week
killed four civilians and wounded a dozen.
Sunday’s bombings came four days after an attack outside a police
recruiting centre in Baquba, north of Baghdad, killed 70 people.
Police are frequently targeted by militants who regarded them as
collaborators with US forces.
The attacks followed another night of clashes between US forces and
guerrillas in the rebellious city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, in
which at least 10 Iraqis died and 35 were wounded, a doctor at the
main hospital said.
There were conflicting reports over the fate of three Indians, three
Kenyans and an Egyptian taken hostage in Iraq this month.
In Nairobi, Kenyan Foreign Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere had told a
news conference that guerrillas had released the seven hostages. But
the Kuwaiti firm employing the men and an Iraqi mediator who has been
negotiating their release said they were still in captivity.
Scores of hostages from two dozen countries have been seized by
kidnappers in the last four months. Most have been freed but several
have been executed N at least four by beheading.
On Saturday, militants led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
said they had kidnapped two Turkish truck drivers and would behead
them in 48 hours unless their Turkish employer quit the country.
Iraqi commandos freed a Lebanese hostage on Sunday, a Lebanese
Foreign Ministry source said, but there was no word on a fellow
countryman snatched along with a Syrian driver on Friday.

Associated Press
Aug 1 2004
2 dead, 38 injured in Iraqi church explosions
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

A series of coordinated explosions rocked five churches across
Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul on Sunday, killing 2 people
and wounding about 38 people in the first attacks targeting the
country’s Christian minority since the 15-month violent insurgency
here began.
Two explosions just minutes apart shook separate Baghdad churches in
a largely Christian neighborhood during Sunday evening services, and
two other blasts struck outside a church in Mosul at roughly the same
time, Iraqi officials said. Two churches in other areas of Baghdad
were hit as well Sunday evening, officials said.
US military officials in Baghdad’s Karada neighborhood, where the
first two churches were bombed, said they found a third bomb in front
another church that had not exploded. Karada is home to many of the
city’s Christians and many of its churches.
“We were in the Mass and suddenly we heard a big boom, and I couldn’t
feel my body anymore, I didn’t feel anything,” said Marwan Saqiq, who
was covered in blood. “I saw people taking me out with the wood and
glass shattered everywhere.”
US military officials said at least one and possibly both of the
blasts appeared to have come from booby trapped cars.
In Mosul, about 350 kilometers (220 miles), a car bomb blew up next
to a Catholic church while worshippers were coming out of Mass,
police Maj. Raed Abdel Basit said. Several rocket-propelled grenades
were also launched at the church, Bowman said.
The bomb, inside a white Toyota, blew up about 7 p.m. just meters
from the church, said Ghaleb Wadeea, 50-year-old engineer who lives
next door. Debris from the exploded car were scattered about the
site, with some hanging off a nearby electricity post.
A bridge in Mosul was also hit, Bowman said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said a total of four
churches were hit in Baghdad, two in Karada, one in the Dora
neighborhood and one in New Baghdad.
At the site of the two blasts in Karada, Iraqi police and National
Guard cordoned off the area. Fire engines and ambulances raced to the
scene.
The first blast in Baghdad hit outside an Armenian church just 15
minutes into the evening service, witnesses said. The second blast
hit a Catholic church about 500 meters (yards) away.
Stunned Iraqis ran away from the scene, holding their bleeding heads
in their hands.
“I saw wounded women and children and men, the church’s glass
shattered everywhere. There’s glass all over the floor,” said
Juliette Agob, who was inside the Armenian church during the first
explosion.
The back wall of the Catholic church, where a bomb had been placed,
was badly damaged, with bricks scattered about, revealing the graves
from a cemetery behind the building. The bomb left a hole 2.5 meters
wide in the ground.
US soldiers and Iraqi police patrolled the area as emergency workers
raced to evacuate the wounded.
Three cars were in flames in front of the Armenian Church, colored
glass was scattered across the ground. Four unexploded artillery
shells were still visible inside the booby-trapped car.
Massive plumes of black smoke poured into the evening sky over the
city and US helicopter gunships circled above. Fire fighters and
residents struggled with water hoses to put out the flames, which
leapt from the front of a tan colored church.
Relatives raced to search for loved ones.
One, Roni George, was sitting on the ground weeping after failing to
find his father, mother and two brothers who were at Mass inside one
of the churches during the blast.
Numbering some 750,000, the minority Christians were already
concerned about the growing tide of Islamic fundamentalism, so long
repressed under Saddam Hussein. The majority of the Christians are
Chaldean Roman Catholic, the rest Syrian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox
and Assyrian. Most live in Baghdad and its outskirts and some dwell
further to the north.
Islamic radicals have warned Christians running liquor stores to shut
down their businesses, and have turned their sights on fashion stores
and beauty salons. The increasing attention on this minority
community has many within looking for a way out. Many are in
neighboring Jordan and Syria waiting for the security situation to
settle, while others have applied to leave the country.

BBC News, UK
Aug 1 2004
Iraqi Christians’ long history

Iraq’s Christians comprise many rites
Christians have inhabited what is modern day Iraq for some two
thousand years, tracing their ancestry to ancient Mesopotamia and
surrounding lands.
Theirs is a long and complex history.
Before the Gulf War in 1991, they numbered about one million, but
that figures is now put at 650,000 and falling.
Under Saddam Hussein, in overwhelmingly Muslim Iraq, some Christians
rose to the top, notably the Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, and
the Baathist regime kept a lid on anti-Christian violence.
Biblical city
In the wake of the 1991 Gulf War and the imposition of sanctions,
many Iraqi Christians, who had lived in relative harmony with their
Muslim neighbours for decades, left to join family in the West.
The secular government of Saddam Hussein largely suppressed
anti-Christian attacks, but it also subjected some communities to its
“relocation programmes”.
For Christians this was particularly marked in the oil-rich areas,
where the authorities tried to create Arab majorities near the
strategic oilfields.
Christians live in the capital, Baghdad, and are also concentrated in
the northern cities of Kirkuk, Irbil and Mosul – once a major
Mesopotamian trading hub known as Nineveh in the Bible.
Most Iraqi Christians are Chaldeans, Eastern-rite Catholics who are
autonomous from Rome but who recognise the Pope’s authority.
Chaldeans are an ancient people, many of whom still speak Aramaic,
the language of Jesus.
Monasteries
The other significant community are Assyrians, the descendants of the
ancient empires of Assyria and Babylonia.
After their empires collapsed in the 6th and 7th Centuries BC, the
Assyrians scattered across the Middle East.
They embraced Christianity in the 1st Century AD, with their Ancient
Church of the East believed to be the oldest in Iraq.
Assyrians also belong to the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Chaldean
Church, and various Protestant denominations.
When Iraq became independent in 1932, the Iraqi military carried out
large-scale massacres of the Assyrians in retaliation for their
collaboration with Britain, the former colonial power.
Their villages were destroyed, and churches and monasteries torn
down.
In recent years, however, some places of worship were rebuilt.
Other ancient Churches include Syrian Catholics, Armenian Orthodox
and Armenian Catholic Christians, who fled from massacres in Turkey
in the early 20th Century.
There are also small Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities,
as well as Anglicans and Evangelicals.

Tehran Times, Iran
Aug 1 2004
U.S. Military Officers To Be Stationed Near Azerbaijan-Iran Border
Tehran Times Political Desk
TEHRAN (MNA) — Azeri military forces are stationed near the borders
with Iran will come under the command of U.S. military officers, a
news website reported on Sunday.
According to an agreement between the Azeri army and the NATO
military alliance, U.S. officers will be stationed in one out of four
prominent border posts near the Azerbaijan-Iran border, the Baztab
said in a report posted on its website.
Most of the Azeri army officers being stationed on the
Azerbaijan-Iran borders have been given special training by NATO.
In every selected border post four U.S. officers will be stationed;
each of the officers are trained in border, intelligence, security,
and military affairs. Some of the officers are members of the U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The stationing of officers near Iranian borders is taking place as
the Republic of Azerbaijan imports modern warfare equipments aiming
to regain Karabakh from Armenia.
The military equipment will be delivered to Baku following
negotiations between Azeri diplomatic delegation with Turkish, and
U.S. officials.

Tehran Times, Iran
Aug 2 2004
Iran Installs Wind Turbines In Armenia
TEHRAN (PIN) — Managing director of Sanir Company said Iran will
start installing wind turbines in Armenia as of next year.
Alireza Kadkhoda’i added that necessary studies have been carried out
and suitable location has been chosen.
`Wind farms are usually built on small scale and low capacity. The
Armenian wind farm would comprise four units with total capacity of
2.6 MW which can be developed to 20 MW,’ he noted.

Agence France Presse
Aug 1 2004
Frenchman Casoni Named As Armenia’s New Coach
AFP: 8/1/2004
MARSEILLE, France, Aug 1 (AFP) – Former French international defender
Bernard Casoni has been named as coach of Armenia.
Casoni, 43, said he had signed a one-year contract with the Armenian
football federation with the “aim of helping to structure Armenian
football, currently on the rise.”
Casoni, who has previously coached Marseille from 1999-2000,
Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel and Cannes, will be assisted by fellow
former international and close friend Bernard Pardo.
Casoni heads to Armenia on Thursday for preparations for the national
team’s first qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup, a game against
Macedonia on August 18. Armenia is currently ranked 118th in FIFA’s
world rankings.

Baghdad, 6 July 2004 (RFE/RL)
Iraq: Tiny Ethnic-Armenian Community Survived Hussein, Making It In Postwar
Times
By Valentinas Mite
The ethnic Armenian community is one of the smallest in Iraq. It is not
involved in the country’s political life and is doing its best to survive
the country’s postwar hardships. The community has learned the art of
survival and keeps a low profile amid the strife engulfing Iraq’s other
ethnic and religious groups. RFE/RL correspondent Valentinas Mite visited
with members of the ethnic Armenian community in Baghdad and filed this
report.
Baghdad, 6 July 2004 (RFE/RL) — The Armenian Apostolic Church in Baghdad’s
Al-Jadirya district is full of worshippers on a recent Friday morning. The
faithful pray to God to bring them peace and security and to give them
strength to survive these difficult times.
Nareg Ishkhanian is a pastor at the church. He tells RFE/RL that the
Armenian community in Iraq is small and spread across the country.
“We are more than 20,000 Armenians, starting from Zakhu [a town on the
border between Turkey and Iraq] to Al-Basrah. Zakhu, Mosul, Baghdad,
Al-Basrah, and Kirkuk — in each place, we have a priest. Most of the
Armenians are living in Baghdad — about 10,000 to 12,000 Armenians [are]
living in Baghdad.”
Armenians began arriving in Iraq several centuries ago from Iran, first
settling in the south and gradually moving to Baghdad.
Armenians began arriving in Iraq several centuries ago from Iran, first
settling in the south of the country and gradually moving to the capital,
Baghdad. The biggest wave came at the start of the 20th century when ethnic
Armenians fled Turkey after a massacre by Turkish soldiers in the final
years of the Ottoman Empire. Armenia claims as many as 1.5 million people
were killed, a figure that Turkey disputes.
Now, many ethnic Armenians in Iraq work as — among other professions —
merchants, doctors, engineers, goldsmiths, and photographers. The tiny
Christian community is not involved in Iraqi politics.
Says Ishkhanian: “We, as a small community, agree with everything, and we
say to everybody, ‘Salam Alaikum’ (Peace be upon you).”
He says Armenians do not suffer from sectarian problems in predominately
Muslim Iraq. However, they suffered under the regime of Saddam Hussein, as
he says all Iraqis did.
Two decades ago, Karabed Agoub Gidigain — who is in his 80s — was one of
the richest traders in Baghdad. His company imported timber, plastics, and
clothing. In 1992, after the regime ran out of money after the first Gulf
War, Gidigain says he was ordered to give all of the money he had in his
foreign accounts to the Hussein government. When he refused, he says he was
tortured and that most of his company’s assets were confiscated.
Gidigain says he is too afraid and too old now to start everything anew.
Making even one rich man poor is a blow to such a small community. However,
behind the low profile the community keeps there is a variety of activity.
Ishkhanian says the Armenians in Baghdad have four cultural and sport clubs.
But he says such activities as singing folk songs and dancing or theater
performances have temporarily stopped because of security concerns.
Other activities — such as teaching the Armenian language — have never
stopped. Ishkhanian says every Armenian in Iraq learns the native language
from early childhood.
He notes that Armenia itself offers little assistance to the Iraqi
community. The community hopes to receive aid from Yerevan, but nothing is
available at the moment.
“We had good contacts with Armenia. [Armenia] had an embassy in Baghdad, and
they left in March 2003. Until now, they are not back. And the house of the
embassy belongs to the Armenian church. We gave it [to Yerevan] free of
charge.”
Ishkhanian says it is a pity the ethnic Armenian community in Iraq does not
enjoy more support from Yerevan. He says some financial support trickles in
from Armenians living in the West — in the United States, Britain, or
Germany.
Ishkhanian says the main achievement of the ethnic Armenian community in
Iraq is that it has managed to keep its language alive and maintain strong
solidarity. He says the community never leaves its members in trouble.
Gladys Boghossian is the president of the Armenian Women’s Association for
the Relief of the Poor in Iraq, an organization that works closely with the
Armenian Apostolic Church. The association was founded in 1927.
Boghossian says the numbers of those in need in Iraq is greater now than
ever before: “Now, we have too much [work] to do because of this war. We
started to give them food and medical treatment.”
She says the association is taking care of some 300 families — almost 1,000
people. Among the benefits, Boghossian notes that every poor Armenian can
get free medicine in pharmacies serving the community.
Eglantine Simon Geloian works for the association. She says that when her
own family was in need, it received significant assistance from the
association.
“We are a very poor family,” she said. “The church has provided work for my
husband. He works in the church. Not only me — any person who asks the
church for help is given help. The church never hesitates to give help.”
On the surface, life in the ethnic Armenian community in postwar Iraq seems
fairly comfortable. However, some members of the community — speaking on
condition of anonymity — say it is only a facade that hides deep divisions.
They say some Armenians cooperated with the former regime and lost trust
among the people but remain in leading positions. Armenians in Iraq also
bitterly accuse their leaders of corruption, especially in dealing with
financial help coming from abroad.

The Union Leader
News – August 1, 2004
Trade: Risks go with growth opportunities
By JERRY MILLER
Sunday News Correspondent
NEWINGTON – Armenia, Kyrgystan, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Georgia.
These are the once captive nations of the `Evil Empire,’ the name given to
the former Soviet Union by President Ronald Reagan.
Their part of the world is known as `Eurasia,’ because these countries lie
between what is now Russia and China.
When the U.S.S.R. and communism fell in 1990, these nations, along with what
is now Russia, were left with virtually nothing except the desire to get out
from under the yoke of the government that repressed their rights and
desires for more than a half century.
The fall of communism brought with it severe economic dislocation. The
ruble, the Soviet Union’s common currency, was deemed worthless and the
banking systems were as worthless as the currency.
Jobs, once guaranteed by the government, disappeared en mass, with the
wholesale closing of government-owned factories, leaving millions with only
their wits to survive.
The elderly, once assured of government pensions, learned there was no money
to make good on the promises.
The industrial infrastructure, about which Soviet leaders boasted about
incessantly – Nikita Khrushchev once bragged `We will bury you’ – was left
in deplorable condition.
The legal system, which favored the state, had to be replaced.
For these countries, the transition to a more market-oriented economy has
certainly been harsh.
Initially, governmental bureaucracies, which controlled the economy, were
all that was left.
Fourteen years later, these nations, with hard to pronounce names, are still
in an economic struggle to survive.
Banking systems have been slowly recreated and new business laws have been
passed.
Industrial infrastructure is being built, a difficult task, given the
problems in getting international credit.
The ruble crisis, which began in 1998, is still a factor in several places.
Money, know-how
Perhaps the region’s greatest need is for investors, not only for the hard
currencies they bring, but also for their business expertise.
One way to attract investors is to engage in trade – and that’s why
representatives from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Ukraine were in New
Hampshire last month at the International Trade Resource Center looking for
trading and joint venture partners.
`These countries are now all independent. They’re trying to make their way.
They’re in the process of transitioning to market economies and toward
democracy,’ said Ellen House, an international trade specialist with the
U.S. Department of Commerce Business Information Service for the Newly
Independent States in Washington, D.C.
`They’re all struggling with economic development and are trying to create
environments attractive to investors.’
The challenges
Getting to where they want to be hasn’t been easy. Old habits die slowly, if
at all.
In a few countries, what’s left of the former Soviet bureaucracy is still
sucking out the air, although in some places the sucking sounds are less
audible than in others.
Taxes are often confiscatory, while Soviet style corruption is alive and
well.
Banking systems remain weak, credit is limited and financing is hard to come
by, while accounting systems are often basic, if not rudimentary, when
compared to the West.
The demise of government controlled economies and the often painful
transition to market economies have also seen many nations’ Gross Domestic
Product figures plummet. In Moldova, the GDP is only one-third of what it
used to be
A middle class, critical to building consumption, is also hard to come by.
And in other places, there is double-digit inflation, draining what little
disposable income the people have.
The risks
Getting paid can also present challenges for U.S. businesses, according to
House.
`It can be a problem. You should be very cautious. It’s an issue that
requires a lot of attention.’
Some of these countries are still experiencing `political instability,’
according to House. However, there are no major separatist movements in the
region.
Asked about privatization, House responded, `It varies from country to
country.’
However, there is a good amount of progress being made, especially among
small and medium sized operations. Still, there is `some reluctance’ to
privatize major industries, including telecommunications, transportation and
oil and gas. Agriculture has also been slow to privatize.
In at least one nation, Belarus, little if any effort has been made to adopt
democratic principles or a market oriented economy, while Turkmenistan was
characterized by House as being `even worse.’
Why try?
So, in light of these difficulties, why do business in Eurasia? The answer
is simple. On the one had, they need everything. On the other hand, they
have a lot to sell.
The region also boasts an inexpensive yet well-educated workforce,
especially in the sciences, many of whom speak English, while literacy is
nearly universal.
American companies now do little business in the region. Between 1992 and
2003, U. S. investments in Moldova amounted to only $790 million.
In Kyrgyzstan, last year, foreign investments totaled only $157 million,
most of it coming from Russia, its largest trading partner, with smaller
amounts from Switzerland, Germany, England and China.
`This may not be the first region you might look at, but there are good
opportunities for experienced exporters who are looking for new markets,’
said House, whose duties include serving as country manager for Armenia and
Georgia. `They have a lot of needs, but not a lot of money.’
Hydro opportunties
`Our imports always exceed our exports,’ said Asel Sulaimanova, who works
for BISNIS in Kyrgyzstan, a nation with 5 million people wedged between
Russia and China, which is looking for places to ship locally made products.
Sulaimanova said her country is actively seeking hydropower investors, given
its number of rivers and the importance of hydroelectricity for
infrastructure development.
Kyrgyzstan is also hoping to attract tourists from the United States and
Europe.
Moldova, a country with 4.3 million residents, sandwiched between Romania
and Ukraine, is putting priority on its infrastructure and is seeking
joint-venture agreements with building equipment suppliers.
`Building equipment is very hot,’ according to Iulian Bogasieru, the BISNIS
representative there.
In Ukraine, a nation the size of Texas, once known as the Soviet Union’s
`bread basket’ because of its rich farm lands, opportunity areas include
agribusiness, food packaging, medical equipment, computers and building
materials.
Andriy Vorobyov, the BISNIS rep working in the capital city of Kiev, said
parts of the Soviet legacy remains. `There is much bureaucracy. It is
strong.’
There is also an `underdeveloped’ legal system that makes it difficult for
foreign investors to protect their interests, according to Vorobyov.
Still, international investments are growing in the Ukraine, led by American
and British companies, followed by The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. An
American chamber of commerce chapter now boasts more than 300 members.
`Business confidence in general is good, especially among small and medium
sized companies,’ Vorobyov added.
Ashland company
While the Granite State remains largely unrepresented in Eurasia, at least
one company, HydroSource, is giving the region a look. The Ashland-based
operation explores for and develops high yield ground water sources,
critical to agricultural, industrial and infrastructure development. Its
clients are primarily foreign governments and U.S. cities and towns.
Joe Ingari, a principal in the company, said while he has concerns about
political stability, worker safety and crime, the region, given its
industrial, agricultural and infrastructure needs, presents a growth
opportunity.
With experience in places such as Trinidad and Tobago, Montserrat, Antigua,
China, Sudan, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates – countries that include
significant Muslim populations – Ingari said it’s best to `keep a low
profile and don’t announce yourself.’
Given the threat of terrorism directed at foreign workers in several Muslim
nations – as well as Muslim annoyance at this nation’s invasion of Iraq and
its pro-Israeli foreign policy, Ingari said, `In general, we take more
precautions. We must make sure we know what’s going on, before we leap in.’
Risks, opportunities
Despite concerns, Ingari said for any company looking to boost its bottom
line, overseas work – including projects in places less than friendly to
American workers – is vital.
`If you want to find work,’ he said, `you run the risk of encountering
problems.’
Ingari said the former Soviet republics represent new areas for American
companies and, at least for now, may offer serious challenges some are
unwilling to take.
`I would think there would be reluctance on the part of many to go there,
especially if you have markets elsewhere. For us, it’s an opportunity to get
into another area of the world that we’re not yet in.’