ITAR-TASS, Russia
March 12 2004

Georgian leader goes to Yerevan for talks on cooperation

YEREVAN, March 12 (Itar-Tass) – Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili arrives on Friday in Yerevan for a two-day official visit
aimed at discussing bilateral cooperation.

That is Saakashvili’s first visit to the Armenian capital after he
was elected president. The main agenda of his talks with Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan is cooperation in the sphere of transport
and the energy sector, as well as cultural cooperation, the press
secretary of the Armenian leader told Itar-Tass.

Armenia supplies the neighboring republic with electricity.
Meanwhile, the Armenian economy almost fully depends on the transit
or cargoes via Georgia, and Yerevan puts much emphasis on the issue
concerning the organization of and payment for those shipping
operations.

Kocharyan hails the level of relations with Georgia. Good personal
relations between the leaders of the two countries give an impetus to
a better development of good-neighborly relations, he stressed.

The programme of the visit includes tete-a-tete talks of the two
presidents, talks in an extended format, Saakashvili’s talks with the
parliament speaker, with the prime minister, as well as with
representatives of the Georgian diaspora in Armenia.

Catholicos Garegin II will also receive the new Georgian leader.