CENN – JULY 22, 2005 DAILY DIGEST
Table of Contents:
1. Second Meeting with the representatives of
Guesthouses<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
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2. <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
“urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Azerbaijan,
Georgia to Sign Agreement on Synchronizing Energy system
3. Armenia: Answers Demanded on UES Energy Deal
4. Japanese Tour Operators arrive in Armenia
5. There is no Organized System of Waste Management
6. Announcement of Caspian Ecological Program
7. Second International Conference on Sustainable Planning &
Development
1. Second Meeting with the representatives of Guesthouses
On July 15, 2005 in Public Informational Center of Bakuriani second
meeting was held between the representatives of Caucasus
Environmental NGO Network (CENN) and of small and medium guesthouse
owners of Bakuriani. Participants of this meeting discussed creation
of the Tourist Informational Center and association of small and
medium guesthouses. Also was discussed the charter of Bakuriani
guesthouses and other tangible questions. Among them the letter to
Gamgebeli of Bakuriani that is about the alienation of the part of
Bakuriani park.
Also was discussed the outline of web site and it’s content. The
participants of the meeting were pleased with the represented web
site.
The guesthouses owners consider that the main problem in Bakuriani is
the problem regarding electricity supply. To highlight this and other
existing problems the visit of journalist is planned to Bakuriani.
The next meeting is planned on July 22, 2005 in the office of
Environmental Informational Center of Bakuriani.
Address:- 2, Agmashenebeli Str, Bakuriani
Prepared by CENN
Public Environmental Informational Center of Bakuriani
2. AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA TO SIGN AGREEMENT ON SYNCHRONIZING
ENERGY SYSTEMS
Source: State telegraph agency of the republic of Azerbaijan,
Azertag, July 13, 2005
Georgia and Azerbaijan are planning to sign an agreement for
synchronizing the two countries’ energy systems, Nika Gilauri, the
Georgian Minister of Fuel and Energy said at a news briefing.
He said the Georgian government expects the agreement to be signed
soon. Further work on the details continued during the Azerbaijani
experts’ visit to Tbilisi on July 1. The minister stressed that both
countries’ energy systems are making technical preparations for the
winter, which will enable them to launch their parallel work.
During a recent meeting in Baku, both countries admitted that for the
last five years their collaboration in the power industry has been
ineffective due to problems stemming from legal obstacles that
appeared several years ago and have not been settled thus far. At
present, Gilauri said, a special working group is studying the
possibility of restoring and improving energy cooperation between
Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The parallel mode can be used to deliver Georgian power to
Azerbaijan, which is possible in the summer, and for Georgia to
receive energy from Azerbaijan during the winter, the minister said.
Another issue currently on the agenda is the prospective construction
of a new 330 kilovolt power transmission line connecting the energy
systems of Georgia and Armenia. Currently, three power transmission
lines connect the two energy systems: Ashotsk-Ninotsminda (110kw),
Lalvari (110kw), and Alaverdi (220kw).
Gilauri said the Georgian government is allocating between $10
million and $12 million in order to finance the construction. Funding
will come partly from the Millennium Challenge Fund, which includes
essential spending for Georgia’s energy field. “This [construction]
is one of the priorities of the energy field for today,” the minister
said.
3. ARMENIA: ANSWERS DEMANDED ON UES ENERGY DEAL
Source: EinNews, July 14, 2005
Uncertainty surrounds a reported deal with Russia’s Unified Energy
Systems that would grant the company ownership of Armenia’s main
electricity company. After stating several months ago that it had
purchased the utility, the Russian energy giant on July 13 reversed
itself, claiming that it had only secured a management contract. The
transaction, shrouded in secrecy, has already sparked strong
criticism from one international financial organization, which faults
the Armenian government for refusing to answer questions on the
topic.
On June 30, the Russian energy giant Unified Energy Systems (UES)
announced that Interenergo, an offshore subsidiary of UES, had
purchased 100 percent of the shares of Armenian Electricity Network
(AEN) for $73 million. One of Armenia’s most successful companies,
AEN had been (and may still be) owned by the British-registered firm
Midland Resources Holding, Ltd. In 2004, AEN ranked as Armenia’s
fourth-largest corporate taxpayer, according to the Armenian-European
Policy and Legal Advice Center, and earned revenues of some 70.67
million drams (about $106.6 million).
If the AEN purchase by UES is confirmed, Russian companies would be
poised to take full control of Armenia’s energy industry following
more than two years of steady expansion. In 2003, within the
framework of Armenia’s assets-for-debt program with Moscow, the
Hrazdan thermal power plant, the largest such plant in Armenia, was
transferred to Russia for $31 million. [For additional information
see the Eurasia Insight archive]. UES also was named “financial
manager” of the Armenian nuclear power plant Metsamor. To pay for the
delivery of nuclear fuel to Metsamor, the Sevan-Hrazdan hydroelectric
power station cascade was transferred to Russia in 2003. The same
year, GazProm, the Russian energy conglomerate, became the chief
supplier of natural gas to Armenia. The company also holds 45 per
cent of shares of “ArmRusGasProm,” which holds a monopoly on
distribution of natural gas in Armenia.
Under existing legislation, the sale of one-quarter or more of AEN
shares requires the approval of the government and the Commission on
Regulation of Public Services. The Armenian government has declined
all comment on the issue.
Controversy over the possible sale continues to build. Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty quoted a UES spokesperson as saying that
Interenergo was only “the beneficiary of a management contract” that
would give the Russian energy company day-to-day control of AEN,
rather than owning the Armenian firm outright. Information in the
company’s annual report that UES had purchased AEN was not correct
and has been removed from the UES website, the company spokesperson
said.
In a July 11 statement, an AEN spokesperson, who requested not to be
named, told EurasiaNet that the company’s shares had not been
transferred to Interenergo management. The spokesperson denied that a
sale had occurred, and stated that he was not authorized to release
information about the size of the deal.
With no ready explanations from the government, the patience of one
international financial organization appears to be running thin. In a
July 8 press conference, Roger Robinson, chief of the World Bank’s
Armenia mission, said that the organization, Armenia’s largest
creditor, is dissatisfied with the government’s failure to provide
information about the deal. “The electricity distribution networks
are one of the largest and [most] profitable spheres that is of a
great strategic value for each Armenian, and I consider the regular
provision of transparent and official information on events
concerning this sphere as very important,” Robinson said. On July 13,
PanArmenian.Net reported Robinson as saying that he would meet with
members of the government if the situation was not rectified “within
several days.”
Reports about AEN’s sale first appeared in February 2005, when the
Yerevan-based newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak reported that a deal had
been brokered whereby UES would purchase the company for $80 million.
Midland Resources Holding has held AEN since 2002 when it won a
privatization tender for the then state-owned utility for $40
million.
Reaction to the report was swift. On February 22, UES Chief Executive
Officer Anatoly Chubais confirmed that an offer had been made, but
stressed that “[a]ny decision is possible only . . . when it is
coordinated with the Armenian leadership,” the Russian news agency
RIA Novosti reported. It is not known, however, whether those
consultations ever occurred and, if so, with whom.
“It is clear that the situation is not [the] best,” Robinson said.
“The Armenian government and the Commission on Regulation of Public
Services must explain to the nation and to me what is going on.”
One political analyst believes that the reason for the government’s
silence is political. “In April and May of the current year, the
leadership of Armenia was seriously concerned about the possibility
of revolution in the country and saw the only way out in the support
from the outside. That’s why Yerevan was encouraging Vladimir Putin’s
[March 24-25] visit to Armenia,” said Stepan Safarian, research
coordinator at The Armenian Center for National and International
Studies in Yerevan. The fact that news of RAO UES’ interest in
purchasing AEN immediately followed Putin’s visit led Safarian to
conclude that “[t]he transfer of shares was the price that Armenia
paid for Putin’s visit.”
Chubais, the UES chief, enjoys close ties with the Kremlin and has
made no secret of his desire for expansion in the South Caucasus and
Turkish energy markets. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive]. The company also controls Georgia’s electrical power grid.
[For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
A representative of the ruling party coalition says that any deal
with UES would have more to do with economics than politics. “After
the privatization of the Armenian Electricity Network, some
conversations about the possible resale of the company have
periodically [taken place]. Naturally, the state is interested in
making the possible deal the most profitable for Armenia,” said
Galust Sahakian, leader of the Republican Party parliamentary
faction, a member of Armenia’s ruling coalition. “I’d sound rather
strict, but we would not like the Electricity Network to be sold to,
for example, a Turkish company.”
Sahakian also claimed that the AEN deal remains in the negotiations
stage, with nothing finalized to date. “I am a politician and I would
have information if the sale of the company took place,” he said.
4. JAPANESE TOUR OPERATORS ARRIVE IN ARMENIA
Source: ArmenPress, July 19, 2005
Within the framework of Familiarizion trips to Armenia, five Japanese
tour operators and one travel writer arrived in Armenia on July 16,
2005 to discover Armenia’s eclectic cultural treasures, ancient
monasteries and natural wonders, and to become acquainted with
Armenia’s hospitable people.
For the last four years the Armenian Tourism Development Agency
(ATDA), in cooperation with the local tourism industry, has organized
over 12 “familiarization trips” for foreign tour operators, travel
agents and travel writers with the goal of increasing Armenia’s
tourism awareness globally, and positioning Armenia as a new and
attractive travel destination. Armenia was presented to the Japanese
audience for the first time ever in 2002 and again in 2004 at the
JATA (Japanese Association of Travel Agents) International Tourism
Exhibition in order to increase the small number of Asian tourists
visiting Armenia. As a positive outcome of the JATA exhibition, the
ATDA in cooperation with the Armenian tourism industry, hosted the
Japanese tourism professionals in Armenia.
Air travel was provided by “Aeroflot” Russian Airlines and ground
excursions to the southern and northern regions of Armenia were
provided by Saberatours Svan, Armentour travel agencies and the
Armenian Tourism Development Agency. The Familiarization trip is sure
to secure promising increase in the number of Asian tourists for the
coming tourist season and promote Armenia as an unrevealed tourism
destination.
The Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA) has proactively
encouraged the development of Armenian tourism, both locally and
globally since 2001. Today, the Government of the Republic of Armenia
charters ATDA, with funding from Hovnanian International.
5. There is no Organized System of Waste Management
SOURCE: “SAKARTVELOS RESPUBLICA”, (“GEORGIAN REPUBLIC”), JULY 21,
2005
The seminars cycle on the theme: “How to take care of Waste?” was
started by Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia.
The reason of the seminar is to seek for the ways of cooperation
between non-governmental, governmental and business sectors to find
the way out from the problems existing in waste management.
Such first seminar has been already held in the guesthouse “Tori”.
Participant non-governmental organizations declared that almost every
inhabited regions lack the organized system of waste management.
Because of that population is forced to put garbage in every possible
place.
They consider that after the “Rose Revolution” this problem
aggravated. The head of the NGO “Lobo” Lasha Chkhartishvili calls
government for approval and activation of the “Law on Waste”. Also –
to prepare first the National Strategy of waste management, and then
– regional and locals plans.
He also thinks that the system of hazardous wastes solitarily
collation and transportation system, also there safe disposals and
neutralize installations should be considered.
6. Announcement of Caspian Ecological Program
Caspian Ecological Program invites volunteers for one month with the
knowledge of English language and computes skills.
Contact person: Aiten Shirinova
MPPA Azerbaijan (UNDP-GEF)
E-mail: ashirinova@caspian.in-baku.com
Room 108, Government Building
40 Uzeir Gadjibekov Street
Baku 370016 Azerbaijan
Phone: 99412 497 17 85, 493 80 03
Fax: 99412 497 17 86
E-mail: ashirinova@caspian.in-baku.com
7. Second International Conference on Sustainable Planning &
Development
Second International Conference on Sustainable Planning & Development
will be held on September 12- 14, 2005 in Bologna, Italy. Conference
is organized by Wessex Institute of Technology, UK and Sponsored by:
WIT Transactions on Ecology & the Environment
Following the success of the First International Conference on
Sustainable Planning and Development held in Skiathos, Greece in
2003, the decision was made to reconvene the second conference in
Bologna from 12 to 14 September 2005.
The Conference will address the subjects of sustainable planning and
regional development in an integrated way as well as in accordance
with the principles of sustainability. It has become apparent that
planners, environmentalists, architects, engineers, policy makers and
economists have to work together in order to ensure that planning and
development can meet our present needs without compromising the
ability of future generations.
In recent years, there has been in many countries, an increase in
spatial problems that has lead to planning crises. Planning problems
are often connected with uneven development, deterioration of the
quality of urban life and destruction of the environment. The
increasing urbanisation of the world coupled with the global issues
of environmental pollution, resources shortage and economic
restructuring demand that we make our cities places worth living in.
On the other hand, problems of environmental management and planning
are not restricted to urban areas. Environments such as rural areas,
forests, coastal regions and mountains face their own problems that
require urgent solutions in order to avoid irreversible damages. The
use of modern technologies in planning, such as geographical
information systems and remote sensing, give us new potential to
monitor and prevent environmental degradation.
Effective strategies for management should consider planning and
regional development, two closely related disciplines, and emphasise
the demand to handle these matters in an integrated way. This
conference provides a common forum for all scientists, specialising
in the range of subjects included within sustainable planning and
development.
For additional information visit the site:
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CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)
Tel: ++995 32 75 19 03/04
Fax: ++995 32 75 19 05
E-mail: info@cenn.org
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