ARKA News Agency
Aug 9 2004

18 Armenian sportsmen to take part in Olympic Games in Athens

Second round of municipal elections to take place on August 22 in
Nagorno Karabakh

The ceremony of opening of a renovated building of Gevorgyan
theological seminary takes place in Etchmiadsin

Elections to local governing institutions to create more
opportunities for the international recognition of NKR

Education campaign on using electronic systems of regional government
in the RA communities to begin from August

A military servant of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces arrested on the
North -East part of the state border of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

Belarus session of Armenian-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission on
Trade and Economic Cooperation opens today in Minsk

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18 ARMENIAN SPORTSMEN TO TAKE PART IN OLYMPIC GAMES IN ATHENS

YEREVAN, August 9. /ARKA/. 18 Armenian sportsmen will take part in
Olympic Games in Athens, RA Government press office told ARKA.
Preliminary stage took place very successfully: all technical and
material issues were settled.
At the meeting with the sportsmen RA Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian noted that Armenia, Artsakh and Spurk with hope expect
successful performance of Armenian sportsmen. `Every single victory
of yours, raising of Armenian flag and sound of hymn will give our
people additional strength and surge of pride’, he said.
Armenian sportsmen will compete in 9 types of sports competitions.
Armenian delegation also includes official representatives, coaches
and mass media representatives. L.D. –0 –

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SECOND ROUND OF MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TO TAKE PLACE ON AUGUST 22 IN
NAGORNO KARABAKH

STEPANAKERT, August 9. /ARKA/. Second round of municipal elections
will take place on August 22 in Nagorno Karabakh, NKR Central
Election Commission. During the elections no one of 5 candidates for
mayor of Stepanakert did not collect necessary 50 and above percents
of votes. Second tour will be conducted among Ex Vice Mayor of
Stepanakert Pavel Nadjarian (43% of votes) and Chairman of Regular
Commission on Social Issues of NKR National Assembly Eduard Agabekian
(about 33%).
According to preliminary data, 61.1% of votes took part in the
elections. 41.1% of the votes took part in the elections in
Stepanakert. L.D. –0–

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THE CEREMONY OF OPENING OF A RENOVATED BUILDING OF GEVORGYAN
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY TAKES PLACE IN ETCHMIADSIN

YEREVAN, August 9. /ARKA/. The ceremony of opening of a renovated
building of Gevorgyan theological seminary took place in Etchmiadsin,
according to St. Etchmiadsin press service department. According to
the press-release, repair works were carried out at the expense of
American sponsors of Armenian origin Gevorg and Sirvard Hovnanyans.
According to the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin the Second, the
seminary always had an important mission. `With opening of the
seminary the dreams of many preceding Catholicoses came true: exactly
seminaries helped the Armenian nation to preserve its originality,
raise children according to the Armenian spirit’, he said.
About 30 members of the Hovnanians family were present on the
ceremony of opening of the seminary, as well as the members of the
Supreme Ecclesiastical Council, the Chairman of the Constitution
Court Gagik Harutyunyan, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport
Hovik Hoveyan, the Chairman of RA NAS Fadei Sargsyan.
Gevorgyan theological seminary exists already for 130 years. A.H.
–0–

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ELECTIONS TO LOCAL GOVERNING INSTITUTIONS TO CREATE MORE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF NKR

STEPANAKERT, August 9. /ARKA/. Elections to local governing
institutions will create more opportunities for the international
recognition of NKR, according to Arkadi Ghukasian, the NKR President.
According to him, the elections to local governing institutions are a
symbol of democracy. Commenting the recent statement of the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe Walter Schwimmer about the
unacceptability of holding municipal elections in NKR, Ghukasian
found the statement strange, noting that he doesn’t understand the
motivation of the protest against the lections, according to which
the reason is that NKR status is not definite yet and that it should
be defined on OSCE Minsk Group conference. `Today we do not discuss
the issue of NKR’s status, since it’s defined by our nation. We elect
governors of cities and villages, and an alternative to elections is
a dictatorship. It’s strange that European politicians and diplomats
make such statements to the detriment of democratic values’,
Ghukasian said. A.H. –0–

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EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ON USING ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS OF REGIONAL GOVERNMENT
IN THE RA COMMUNITIES TO BEGIN FROM AUGUST

YEREVAN, August 9. /ARKA/. Beginning from August E- Armenia
Foundation together with UNDP and Project Harmony office will begin
education campaign on using electronic systems of regional government
in the RA communities. As the Executive Director of E- Armenia
Foundation Levon Galstyan stated on a press conference, the
implementation of the program will begin already tomorrow in Kotaik
region, and by September Shirak region will be involved into the
program. As he said, the goal of the campaign is to introduce the
regional system of e-governance so that people had closer
communication with the authorities by means of IT.
In his turn Artashes Darbinyan, the Coordinator of the UNDP program
on democratization and IT, noted that a site of the governing
institutions of RA regions is created already in the frames of the
program. The site is at `Each region has its own
server, which is in administrative buildings of the regions, and the
information on the site is published by the workers of administrative
structures’, he said. He also noted that internet-centers adjunct to
the administrations of the regions are opened, and each person can
get information about the region.
The program is implemented by E-Armenia Foundation together with UNDP
and Project Harmony Office with the support of Swiss Development
Co-operation Agency (SDCA). It has been implemented since February
2001. UNDP has invested about $600 thsd for the implementation of the
program, and the Swiss side assigned about $525 thsd for the last two
years. The system of e-payments for utility services was introduced
with the support of CBA and ArCa in Armenia in 2003 in the frames of
the program. Besides, Armenia became the second country in the
country, which introduced the system of e-visa.
Project Harmony Office operates in Armenia since 2000 and implements
a program on Schools Intercommunication over the republic. At the
moment 270 schools are involved into the network.
`E-Armenia’ Foundation implements Armenia Development Gateway program
in the country. The Foundation contributes to e-development in
Armenia, and carries out investigations in the field of electronic
development. A.H. –0–

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A MILITARY SERVANT OF THE AZERBAIJANI ARMED FORCES ARRESTED ON THE
NORTH -EAST PART OF THE STATE BORDER OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC

STEPANAKERT, August 9. /ARKA/. On the North -East part of the state
border of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) a military servant of the
Azerbaijani Armed Forces Samedov Anar Misha, the citizen of Baku born
in 1983, was arrested by the military servants of NKR Defense Army
when he was crossing the line of demarcation. According to ARKA’s
reporter from Stepanakert, NKR State Committee on prisoners of war
and missing soldiers informed the offices of Red Cross International
Committee (RCIC) and OSCE accredited in Stepanakert about the
incident in the frames of the international commitments of NKR in the
area of human rights.
At present, the proper structures of the republic investigate the
circumstances and reasons of violation the borders of NKR by an
Azerbaijani soldier.
The authorities of the republic allowed RCIC representtaives to visit
Samedov freely. The office of RCIC is also informed of the readiness
of NKR authorities to pass Samedov to the Azerbaijani side in case
they agree to accept him back. A.H. – 0–

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BELARUS SESSION OF ARMENIAN-BELARUS INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION ON
TRADE AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION OPENS TODAY IN MINSK

YEREVAN, August 9. /ARKA/. The Belarus session of Armenian-Belarus
Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation opens
today in Minsk. The session is headed by the Gennadiy Kurochkin, the
Belarus Minister of Architecture and Construction. According to Press
Service Department of Belarus Embassy in Armenia, the sides plan to
discuss pressing issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation,
identify further steps aimed at intensification of economic relations
between Armenia and Belarus. Among the main points of the agenda are
questions related to cooperation of the two countries in spheres of
mechanical engineering, energy and energy conservation, interregional
relations and culture. The holding of the 6th joint session of the
Commission is planned for September 2004 in Minsk, in accordance with
the protocol of the 5th session of Armenian-Belarus Commission on
Trade and Economic Cooperation (October 2003). Representatives from a
number of Ministries and Departments will take part in the session,
including Ministries of Industry, Agriculture and Supply, Trade,
Committee on Energy Efficiency attached to the Council of Ministries
of Belarus, Belresursi, Bellesburprom, Belenergo and Belcoopsojuz
Holdings. L.V.–0 –