TSARUKYAN ADVISES NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN "BJNI" AUCTION

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[09:09 pm] 23 December, 2008

"I have been Khachik Sukiasyan’s friend and business partner. I
will never participate, nor will I advise anyone to participate in
the auction. As far as the issue of documentation is concerned, the
director and accountant are guilty because they are paid for making
sure the documents are correct," said today in parliament leader of
the Prosperous Armenia faction Gagik Tsarukyan in response to the
question on the "Bjni" mineral water factory.

Let us recall that the assets and the rights to those assets of the
"Bjni" mineral water factory have been put up for an auction on
December 19, but there has not been any proposal made to date.

In response to the question regarding the preliminary statement of
the PACE Monitoring Committee, Tsarukyan said:

"I believe that Armenia has fulfilled all of the requirements,
but since the trial is still in progress, it is early to talk about
that. Nobody knows how the trial will end."

But Armenia faces the danger of losing voting rights. To that,
Tsarukyan said that nobody can deprive Armenia of its voting rights
until the trial ends. "What does political prisoner mean? Is anybody
in jail as a political prisoner? Let’s just wait until the trial ends."

The next question referredto the rumors flying around that Armenia
will see a new prime minister and that it could be him.

"I have always said and still say that I did not form a political
party to come to power, but rather I did it for the country. I have
done everything for the benefit of Armenia."

Gagik Tsarukyan advised the prime minister: "The Prime Minister
must take steps and the people have to see those steps. As for Tigran
Sargsyan, he has been holding his post for a short while and must prove
to the people that he can do a better job than what he used to do."

As far as the global economic crisis is concerned, the Prosperous
Armenia party convened a session this morning during which that issue
was discussed.

"We find that it is necessary to give our businessmen opportunities
and to evade lay-offs. Besides that, we have stated that it is time
to think about helping businessmen. That is why our faction is against
the taxing deal. The only reason that Armenia survived the first wave
of the crisis was because our banking system didn’t work well. But
the second wave is on its way. Prices are going up and down and it
is a serious issue."

Does the government have certain plans?

"There are programs. We have our proposals and present our plans, but
I don’t know if they will be approved. In any case, I have assigned
my faction members to propose their own programs."

Journalists also asked Tsarukyan if he sees the out-of-turn
parliamentary elections possible.

"In today’s conditions, we must do everything to keep everything calm
and try to get out of the crisis. The important thing is to work and
avoid lay-offs."

In the end, Tsarukyan expressed his wishes for the New Year:

"I want Armenia to be the country that I would like to see. I would
like to see my country stable. This year was difficult for Armenia;
the events of March 1 were tragic and the deaths had a negative
impact. The crisis was the result of 10-15 years of growth and now
we need time to get things back in order."