PRAVDA, Russia from RIA Novosti
July 9 2004
Russia wants relations with CIS to be more practical
In his interview to Rossiiskaya Gazeta published Friday, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov promised that Russia would make its
relations with the CIS more practicable and less declarative. “I see
a clear-cut recent tendency toward abandoning slogans in relations
with the CIS nations for the benefit of vitally-important
activities,” said the minister.
In his opinion, the chief priority is to examine all the outstanding
problems with each of the CIS countries in a complex.
“They want our fuels; we want them to level the economic models, to
create favorable conditions for people-to-people contacts and for
business exchanges, to develop joint economic projects and to enable
the CIS countries that are prepared for advanced integration to
progress without being dependent on those who are not yet ready for
such integration,” noted Lavrov.
He claims this logical basis was meant when establishing the CIS and
is reflected in its charter.
“Therefore forming a common economic space (to include Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine), developing the Eurasian economic
community (incorporating Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan as well as Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine as observers),
promoting work on the establishment of a Union of Russia and Belarus
as part of a common European economic space are extremely pertinent
for pulling down the barriers that have been artificially erected to
dismember the once single economic organism,” thinks the Russian
foreign minister.
“The necessity of uniting efforts is also caused by matters of
security, protection from common threats, from terrorism and drug
trafficking in our Southern borders, which is the responsibility of
the Collective Security Treaty Organization (Russia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia),” he added.
Dealing with the presence of the United States in the region, the
minister made a point of Russia’s unwillingness to let the CIS become
an area of confrontation.
“If the U.S. presence helps settle conflicts and thus crush breeding
grounds of terrorism and tensions around Russia with the prospect of
its being surrounded by friendly states, we welcome such
developments. But when the aims of such presence are unclear for us,
we seek answers to our questions,” said Lavrov.

International Journalist’s Network
July 9 2004
Fellowships available for Internet course in the Netherlands
Journalists can apply for fellowships to attend a course in the
Netherlands on using the Internet for research, publication and
distribution of news.
The Radio Netherlands Training Center (RNTC) will conduct the course
from May 9 to June 17, 2005. Full scholarships covering travel,
accommodation and course fees, are available for journalists from
Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, and
Mongolia.
Applicants should be mid-career broadcast journalists with a
secondary or professional education and at least three to four years
of media experience. Applicants must also have a good command of both
written and spoken English and basic computer skills.
Before applying for a fellowship, candidates must apply directly to
the RNTC to attend the course. Course applications are due October 1.
Should they be accepted, candidates will receive a conditional letter
of acceptance, after which they can apply for the fellowship.
Fellowship applications must be received in the Netherlands by
January 1, 2005, but fellowship officers at Dutch embassies or
consular posts in the applicant’s country may need up to a month in
advance to process the application.
Course information and application forms are at

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
July 9 2004
Pepe: We Would Like To Share Our Experiences With Azerbaijan
BAKU – Turkish Environment and Forestry Minister Osman Pepe said on
Friday that Turkey has a great experience in forestry issues, and
added ”we would like to share our experience with Azerbaijan.”
Pepe and Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Minister
Huseyngulu Bagirov signed a Cooperation Agreement on Protection of
Environment in Baku today and held a joint press conference.
Pepe said that they encountered various problems in protecting the
environment and launched an appeal for a public support in this area.
On the other hand, Bagirov said that there were wide opportunities
for a cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan in the environment
matters. He added that the basis of this cooperation will be provided
with the agreement signed today.
Answering questions of reporters, Pepe said that cooperation among
the regional countries was very important to solve environmental
problems. ”Without cooperation” he added, ”every country should
pay a heavy price”.
Upon a question about the nuclear power plant in Armenia, Pepe
reminded that the power plant is very close to Turkey’s border. He
said however that tests were conducted in the region and it was
revealed that the radiation level was not above the accepted limits.
Answering to another question, Pepe indicated that Turkey is very
interested in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline and adding that
”meanwhile they were also focused on protection and diversity of the
environment”.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
July 9 2004
PAKISTANI PRESIDENT RECEIVES AZERBAIJAN FOREIGN MINISTER
[July 09, 2004, 21:10:54]
President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf
received at his residence Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan
Elmar Mammadyarov, July 9. During the meeting, the Pakistani
President expressed his satisfaction with results of the visit and
noted that the fruitful exchange of views on a wide range of
international and regional issues he had had with President Ilham
Aliyev would have very positive impact on further deepening of
cooperation between the two countries.
Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov updated President
Musharraf in detail on the steps the country had taken with respect
to the settlement of the Armenia – Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh noting that Azerbaijan is striving to solve the
problem on the base of the international legal norms, UN SC’s
relevant resolutions and its territorial integrity. The Minister
expressed his gratitude to the Pakistani President for supporting the
fair stance of Azerbaijan in various international organizations.
Elmar Mammadyarov also stressed the necessity to bring economic
relations between the two countries up to the level of their existing
political partnership.
President Musharraf expressed his country’s readiness for active
cooperation with Azerbaijan in oil and gas sector, light industry and
agriculture. He also expressed confidence that relevant structure of
Azerbaijan and Pakistan would take active steps in this direction.

BISNIS Trades & Tenders
07/08/2004
Dear BISNIS Clients:
BISNIS Trades & Tenders program designed to help U.S. companies secure
export transactions and take advantage of tender opportunities in the
region. Trades & Tenders summary reports are distributed via email. To
search previously distributed Trades & Tenders leads online, visit
This issue of BISNIS Trades & Tenders includes opportunities in:
1.) Automotive
2.) Computer Hardware and Peripherals
3.) Construction Materials and Equipment
4.) Medical Services And Equipment
5.) Mining and Metallurgy
6.) Telecommunications
7A.) Transportation and Distribution
7B.) Transportation and Distribution
** Companies replying to these leads should consider using the BISNIS
FinanceLink program, which distributes information about planned
transactions seeking financing to organizations open to financing
business activities in the region. Please see:
**
***************************************************************************
1.) AUTOMOTIVE – The Irrigation Rehabilitation Project Implementation
Unit, Yerevan, Armenia – Tender for Supply of Vehicles For Water Users
Association
For more information on the Automotive Sector in the NIS, please contact
Charles Raether at BISNIS at [email protected]
2.) COMPUTER HARDWARE AND PERIPHERALS – Ark Computers – Office equipment
Tbilisi Georgia
For more information on the Computer Hardware and Peripherals Sector in
the NIS, please contact Chris Christov at BISNIS at
[email protected]
3.) CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT – Comfort R&V – glue for
ceramic tiles, doors and windows, accessories for swimming pools –
Yerevan, 375028 Armenia
For more information on the Construction Materials and Equipment Sector
in the NIS, please contact Irina Mitchell at BISNIS at
[email protected]
4.) MEDICAL SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT –
Medical Equipment & Products – InterDiagnostika LLC – Used
Electrophysiological Laboratory Equipment – Yerevan, Armenia
For more information on the Medical Services And Equipment Sector in the
NIS, please contact Desi Jordanoff at BISNIS at [email protected]
5.) MINING AND METALLURGY – Armenian Ministry of Trade and Economic
Development – Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Enterprise CJSC sale of shares
For more information on the Mining and Metallurgy Sector in the NIS,
please contact Chris Christov at BISNIS at [email protected]
6.) TELECOMMUNICATIONS – Georgian National Communications Commission –
Auction for Cellular Communication Licence
For more information on the Telecommunications Sector in the NIS, please
contact Chris Christov at BISNIS at [email protected]
7A.) TRANSPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION – Railroad Equipment & Transport –
IDA Grant to Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communications – Tender
For Supply of Wooden Sleepers
7B.) Port and Shipbuilding Equipment – Poti Port – Production of naval
tugboat
For more information on the Transportation and Distribution Sector in
the NIS, please contact Irina Mitchell at BISNIS at
[email protected]
*******Note*******
These opportunities are provided solely as an informational service and
do not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Verification of these leads is the responsibility of the reader.
This report is provided courtesy of the Business Information Service for
the Newly Independent States (BISNIS). BISNIS is the U.S. Government’s
primary resource center for U.S. companies exploring business
opportunities in Russia and other Newly Independent States of the former
Soviet Union. BISNIS website:

ArmenPress
July 9 2004
ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER REAFFIRMS PLANS TO VETO TURKEY’S OSCE
CHAIRMANSHIP
YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS: In what can be described as an
explicit indication, Armenian foreign affairs minister Vartan
Oskanian reaffirmed Thursday that Armenia would use its veto power to
prevent Turkey from assuming the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2007.
Oskanian had first disclosed this plan during a talk at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington on June
14.
In response to a question what his vision of the OSCE was Oskanian
said, as was cited by California Courier online: “Armenia has the
veto power, which we will use, because Turkey has not risen to the
occasion. We cannot allow a country to be chairman in office with
which we don’t have diplomatic ties. We cannot allow a country to be
chairman in office of OSCE which negotiates the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict, and the chairman has certain rights and privileges that can
be used against Armenia, especially given Turkey’s policy in these
past 12 years towards the region, which has been extremely
unbalanced, and given its unequivocal support and solidarity toward
Azerbaijan and one-sided policy toward Nagorno Karabagh.”
Drawing parallels with the European Union, Oskanian said Thursday
in Yerevan that the chairmanship of the European Commission has to be
represented by a country that is directly involved in all EU
programs. “The announcement that Armenia would use its veto power not
to allow Turkey to take up the OSCE chairmanship is conditioned by
this circumstance and is not aimed to start trading with Turkey,”
Oskanian said.
In a reference to the weekend visit of the OSCE Minsk group
chairmen to the region Oskanian said they are not bringing new
proposals for the resolution of the Karabagh conflict, as “the
negotiations on the level of Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers and presidents have not built sufficient grounds for them
to offer written proposals.” Oskanian said the meetings in Yerevan,
Baku and Stepanakert will be of consultative character.

ArmenPress
July 9 2004
COUNCIL OF EUROPE INFORMATION OFFICE IN ARMENIA IS ONE-YEAR-OLD
YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS: On 8 July 2004, the Council of Europe
Information Office in Armenia organized a celebration of its first
anniversary and the presentation of its newly created website.
Armenian Government and National Assembly officials, heads of
diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in
Armenia, representatives of non-governmental organizations and media
attended the official ceremony that took place in the premises of the
Information Office.
Samvel Mkrtchian, Head of the European Department of the RA
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, opened the ceremony and congratulated
the Information Office with its first anniversary and its
achievements during the first year of existence.
Among other honorary guests, the CoE Information Office in Armenia
had the honor to host a representative of the ‘big CoE family’ – Ms.
Mariana Nitelea, the Director of the CoE Information Office in
Bucharest, Romania. The former delivered the address of Klaus
Schumann, the Director General of the Council of Europe Directorate
General of Political Affairs.
The Director of the Information Office in Yerevan Susan Marukhyan
thanked the guests and opened the floor for the presentation of the
newly-created Armenian-English website The website is
both informative and interactive: while the general materials on the
Council of Europe and Armenia within its framework ensure public
awareness at large, the daily media digest, press releases and
news/announcements provide up-to-date information on the CoE
developments with particular relevance to Armenia. One of the most
striking features of the website is the online virtual library that
gives the opportunity to browse and find relevant library materials
online prior to visiting the library.
The Council of Europe has established 22 Information Offices in
its 45 member States in order to facilitate the CoE-related public
awareness-raising in the native languages of the respective
countries. The CoE Information Office in Armenia was officially
opened on 8 July 2003.

ArmenPress
July 9 2004
VAYOTS DZOR PROVINCE TO SHIFT TO GRAVITY FLOW IRRIGATION IN 2006
YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS: Samvel Sarkisian, the governor of the
province of Vayots Dzor, told a news conference today that the
region’s irrigation system will shift in 2006 to what is known as
gravity flow. This will be possible after completing the construction
of two gravity flow irrigation pipelines. The new pipelines will
bring irrigation water to 2,066 hectares of lands of 9 villages which
still use pumping stations to bring it from Kechut water reservoir.
The construction of the new irrigation pipelines, supported by a
$2 million budget is already underway. When accomplished they will
help save some 5 million kilowatt/h electricity. A tender for
construction of another gravity flow irrigation water pipeline that
will take water to three villages of Yeghegis, Aghavnadzor and Yelpin
was announced. The project is backed by an $11 million budget,
provided by World Bank. It will bring water to 4,700 hectares of land
and will save 25 kilowatt/h energy.
The governor said the drinking water network is next in line for a
major repair that is also supposed to be funded by a World Bank loan.

ArmenPress
July 9 2004
TAX OFFICERS REVEAL ILLEGAL COFFEE PACKAGING WORKSHOP
YEREVAN, JULY 9, ARMENPRESS: Armenian tax officers tracked down a
Lebanese Armenian who was running an illegal workshop that was
grinding and packaging coffee. The Lebanese, Arsen Sarkisian, hired a
building in a Yerevan community and installed makeshift equipment for
roasting, grinding and packaging of coffee. After searching the
workshop tax officers found around 1,000 kg of coffee beans, 6 kg of
peas that were mixed with ground coffee. The ground coffee was packed
in paper-bags carrying the trademark of Cafe du Brazil. The tax
officers revealed also 1,300 packs of ground coffee carrying the
trademark of Knarik and Black Coffee, granted to G. Mkhchian firm.
Sarkisian admitted that he was engaged in this business since last
April without having the license. Investigators are calculating now
the amount of damages he sustained to the budget and are trying to
discover the illegally produced packs of coffee in local trade
outlets. An investigation is started into the case.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agency WPS
What the Papers Say. Part B (Russia)
July 9, 2004, Friday
NATO: MOVING FROM THE BALTIC STATES TO THE CAUCASUS
SOURCE: Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie, No. 25, July 9-15, 2004, pp.
1, 3
by Colonel Anatoly Tsyganok, Professor of the Academy of Military
Sciences
The latest NATO summit ended in Istanbul on June 29. The major issues
on the agenda were as follows: Iraq (how efforts can be pooled),
Afghanistan (how military might can be boosted), the Balkans (how to
have the European Union take over), and the preliminary results of
NATO expansion. The Russia-NATO Council met within the framework of
the summit. The meeting but enumerated the problems accumulated
between the partners without so much as an attempts to solve them.
Solution to the problem was postponed. The problems will be handled
on a different level at a different time.
As for Iraq, Washington and London demanded deployment of NATO troops
there. Leaders of France, Germany, and Turkey refused to have the
issue phrased in this manner, and participation in the coalition in
Iraq was left up to the individual countries, something every NATO
member state is to decide for itself. Neither did the summit support
the United States in the matter of training specialists for the Iraqi
army. In other words, tension and discord within the Alliance
remained a hard fact of life.
The summit voted to increase the NATO contingent in Afghanistan from
6,500 to 10,000. There are additional reports, however, indicating
that Washington intends to up its contingents attached to Central
Asian bases by 12,000 servicemen who are to be withdrawn from South
Korea.
The summit supported the assumption that NATO leaders still regard
Russia as a sort of “truncated USSR” even despite the almost 11 years
since the “Russian bourgeois revolution” of October 1993. The
impression is that documents for every new summit are prepared on the
basis of hopelessly outdated instructions.
NATO neophytes – the Baltic states particularly – are fast learners
and as such get the message. That is why Russia’s suggestions
concerning the adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty
were not noticed by NATO leaders. On the other hand, had the Duma
ratified the document, say, half a year before the summit and not on
the eve of it, it would have enabled Russia to maneuver before the
summit and given it an ace for negotiations at the summit itself.
NATO leaders were quite tough and adamant on the subject of
withdrawing Russian troops from Georgia and Moldova. Moscow was
strongly recommended to keep its promises to the OSCE summit in
Istanbul. Moreover, ratification of the modified Treaty on
Conventional Arms in Europe was tied in with Russian withdrawal
commitments. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called this approach
incorrect because “political agreements did not set the deadline.”
Moreover, these days there are new threats and challenges on the
southern borders of the Russian Federation, the ones that were absent
in the past. The matter concerns the possibility of missile launches
from the Iranian direction and expansion of the Islamic terrorism.
That is why interests of national security in the direction of the
Caucasus require Russian military presence in the region and a
considerable reinforcement of the antiaircraft defense component.
Deployment of new antiaircraft defense units in Armenia became the
first step in this direction.
It should be noted that the speech of President Mikhail Saakashvili
of Georgia at the summit was quite composed. Georgia (and other
countries of the Caucasus, it stands to reason to assume) understands
that in a potential conflict with Iran Tbilisi, Yerevan, and Baku
will find their only and powerful ally precisely in Russia.
Moscow confirmed its participation in counter-terrorism operation
Active Effort in the Mediterranean where it will be presented by two
or three ships of the Black Sea Fleet.
The summit decided to begin preparations to the membership of the
Balkans countries in the Alliance and to pay more attention to the
countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia where cooperation and
contacts were to be advanced. “Countries of the region strive for
rapprochement with the Euroatlantic structures,” NATO General
Secretary Jaap de Hoof Scheffer said. “Still, doing something behind
the back of Russia, our closest partner, will be stupid and unfair.”
In fact, similar statements were made in Brussels once when the
Alliance was preparing its expansion into the Baltic states. It
doesn’t take a genius therefore to guess what degree of importance
Moscow attaches to statements of this sort. “NATO still relies on
instructions concerning defense of its members more than on real
joint estimates of security in this or that region,” Lavrov said.
It is reasonable to assume that in the Caucasus and Central Asia the
Alliance will follow the scenario already tested in the Baltic
states. Prior to expansion into the Baltic states, NATO built three
radars there and linked the installations to the existing air control
system. It enabled NATO to monitor craft and launches in north-west
Russia. That done, the Alliance modernized the airfield near Siauliaj
in Lithuania. These days, it is the base of four Danish aircraft
patrolling borders of the Baltic states. Now that Scheffer mentioned
construction of “three bridges” (in the Mediterranean region,
Caucasus, Central Asia), it stands to reason to expect appearance of
several radar installations on the territories of these countries.
AWACS flights are not to be ruled out either – “for air corridor
protection,” of course.
It is clear that the Alliance needs all these “bridge-building” to
consolidate its military presence and, also importantly, to protect
its economic presence in the mentioned regions. This is NATO’s way of
showing to its future members (whose leaders attended the Istanbul
summit as guests) that their interests will be protected in the
course of preparations for membership.
Russia suggested closer cooperation between NATO and the Organization
of the CIS Collective Security Treaty and a collective security
concept for the Persian Gulf. In fact, it could have done better than
that. For example, it could have suggested a joint operation against
drugs in Afghanistan (within the framework of the counter-terrorism
operation there) and Central Asia to destroy poppy fields,
laboratories, and storage facilities there. Particularly since the
US-NATO contingents control the territory in Afghanistan
approximately equalling what the Soviet Army controlled in the 1980s.
Left to their own devices, neither NATO nor the Americans alone can
handle the worst threat to Europe and the world – production and
export of heavy drugs like heroin. Most poppy fields are in the
northern and central Afghanistan, the regions that do not recognize
the authorities in Kabul and where there are no foreign military
contingents. Scheffer says that more helicopters are needed for the
contingent in Afghanistan. The threat posed by drugs may be abated
only by joint effort of Russia, the United States, NATO, and their
allies in the anti-Taliban coalition.