NEWSPRINT SHORTAGE MAY FORCE ARMENIAN PAPERS OFF THE STANDS

Golos Armenii, Yerevan,
Dec 2 2006

"The Armenian press is at the threshold of black Wednesday"

It is very much possible that most of the Armenian newspapers will
not be issued beginning from next Wednesday as there is no newsprint
in Armenia. "Today, about 150 t of our newsprint are in Vladikavkaz
and another seven wagons are in Ilyichevsk," Vrezh Markosyan, director
of the Tigran Mets printing house, has said.

The lion’s share of Armenian newspapers is printed at the printing
house.

"We are unable to collect the newsprint from Vladikavkaz as the
Verkhniy Lars checkpoint is closed. As for Ilyichevsk, they refuse
to load the newsprint on the ferryboat. Thus, all roads are closed
to us. Our stocks of newsprint will be enough only till 6 December,"
Markosyan added.

At first sight, such a catastrophic situation is a regular and
logical consequence of the escalation of tension in Russian-Georgian
relations. Moreover, there is an unofficial theory which proves the
political context of the story. When transporting cargo via Ilyichevsk,
Ukraine gives preference to the cargo of Georgia, its partner in GUAM
[regional alliance of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova]. The
potential of the ferry service is limited and in such a case the
Armenian cargo finds itself off the board.

This assumption seems to be true but as we were told at the Armenian
Transport and Communications Ministry, the official reason is
disagreement between two Ukrainian organizations: the state-run
company Ukrzaliznytsya, which manages the railway, and the private
company Ukrferry, which uses the Ilyichevsk-Batumi ferry service.

They have a financial conflict which has reached the court. For this
reason, the operation of the ferry service has been paralysed since 9
November. A representative of the Armenian railway, Karen Pogosyan,
said that there are currently about 200 wagons [of newspaper] bound
for Armenia in Ilyichevsk [figure as given].