Number Of Commercial Legal Entities Grows By 5.1%, Of Private Busine

NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL LEGAL ENTITIES GROWS BY 5.1%, OF PRIVATE BUSINESSMEN BY 11.2% IN ARMENIA IN ONE YEAR

Noyan Tapan
March 19, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, NOYAN TAPAN. According to data of the State
Register of Legal Entities and Private Businessmen of the RA Ministry
of Justice, 247 commercial legal entities and 1,277 private businessmen
were registered in January 2008, with their total number making 56,752
and 52,247 respectively in Armenia as of February 1, 2008. According
to the RA National Statistical Service, 53,975 legal entities and
52,247 private businessmen were registered as of February 1, 2007. The
number of legal entities grew by 5.1%, that of private businessmen –
by 11.25% in one year.

19 legal entities and 89 private businessmen were wound up in
January 2008.

247 legal entities, which were registered in January 2008, made
investments of 245.47 mln drams (over 792 thousand USD). Investments
of 52.11 mln drams were made in 28 enterprises founded with foreign
capital, including investments of 0.45 mln drams in 9 enterprises
founded by foreign legal entities and citizens only and investments
of 51.66 mln drams in 14 joint ventures.

Armenian Ex-President’s Supporters Intent To Fight On

ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENT’S SUPPORTERS INTENT TO FIGHT ON

Mediamax
March 17 2008
Armenia

Yerevan, 17 March: The [political] parties that support former
President Levon Ter-Petrosyan have said they wereready "to fight
for Armenia’s liberation from the authorities". This was said at
a meeting of thepolitical council of the parties held on 15 March,
Ter-Petrosyan’s press service has told Mediamax.

"Participants at the meeting reaffirmed their determination to fight
against the kleptocratic system. They said that this struggle had
escalated into an all-national fight for honour and freedom. The
leaders of all parties said thatthe society was determined about
liberation from the current authorities through lawful and democratic
methods,"Ter-Petrosyan’s press service said.

US Urges Dialogue In Armenia

US URGES DIALOGUE IN ARMENIA

The Times
id=727289
March 14 2008
South Africa

WASHINGTON – The White House has expressed concern about Armenia’s
crackdown, including arrests of opposition figures, and called for
political dialogue to end the crisis there.

"We continue to follow with concern the current situation in Armenia,"
spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters.

"The government of Armenia needs to uphold the rule of law, lift the
state of emergency and restore press freedoms. We urge a political
dialogue between the government and opposition to resolve the situation
quickly," he said.

The Armenian capital Yerevan is under a state of emergency until
March 20 following clashes between riot police and anti-government
protesters on March 1 that left seven civilians and one police officer
dead. Dozens more were injured, many from gunshot wounds.

"The United States has condemned the violence of March 1 and 2 that
resulted in a loss of life and subsequent government crackdown, that
included arrests of members of the opposition, curtailed the freedom
of press as well as public assembly," said Fratto.

The unrest was sparked by police efforts to disperse thousands
of protesters who had rallied for 11 days against the results of
a February 19 presidential election won by Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkisian, outgoing President Robert Kocharian’s handpicked successor.

The opposition claims the election was rigged to secure victory for
Sarkisian over Ter-Petrosian, who came a distant second. Foreign
observers, however, said the vote had by and large met international
standards.

http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?

Press And Information Department Of The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs

PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

AZG Armenian Daily
15/03/2008

Overwhelming Majority of UN Member States Do Not Support Azerbaijan’s
Position on Nagorno Karabakh

On Friday March 14, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a
draft resolution introduced by Azerbaijan in which Azerbaijan attempted
to secure international support for its own desired outcome for the
Nagorno Karabakh resolution process.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries – US, France and the Russian
Federation – voted against the resolution as did Armenia and a few
other countries.

Over 150 countries abstained or did not vote. Only 39 countries
supported the resolution, out of organizational affinity with either
GUAM or the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Although the non-binding resolution passed the General Assembly, the
rejection of Azerbaijan’s position by an overwhelming majority is a
barometer of the mood of the international community on this issue.

"I hope Azerbaijan got the message from the international
community. Taking the lead of the co-chairs, a majority of member
states repelled the one-sided approach," said Armenia’s Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian.

Minister Oskanian characterized the resolution as hypocritical. "On
the one hand, in an effort to disinform member states, the resolution
included a paragraph that supports the OSCE Minsk Process. On the
other hand, Azerbaijan blatantly ignored the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
position. The co-chair countries had made clear they would not support
the resolution and in fact voted against the resolution."

"Now we wonder what Azerbaijan’s next move will be," he said. "We
question whether this resolution was intended to derail the negotiating
process or whether they got the clear message and will return to
the negotiating table to work on a negotatied, compromise lasting
solution."

At a press conference earlier in the week, Minister Oskanian had
stated that President-Elect Serge Sargisian would be prepared to
meet with the Azerbaijani President at the earliest possibility,
if the co-chairs find this useful and if Azerbaijan accepts. "This
opportunity exists," Oskanian said.

"The ball is clearly in Azerbaijan’s court."

"Rejecting Azerbaijan’s resolution, the international community
has indicated its support for the negotiating document on the table
today which has successfully managed to reconcile the two seemingly
contradictory principles of the Helsinki Final Act — people’s right
to self-determination and territorial integrity," explained Armenia’s
Foreign Minister.

"This document presents a unique opportunity for Azerbaijanis and
Armenians to move forward. This is precisely what sets the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict apart in our region and in Europe and makes it
sui generis, not only because of its legal and historical context,
but also because of the innovative negotiating approach to finding
a realistic, lasting resolution."

Earlier the same day, had met with the co-chairs of the Minsk Group,
who had discussed the possibility of the resumption of talks, the UN
resolution and the situation on the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line
of contact.

Armenia-Millenium Challenges Approves Application To MCC

ARMENIA-MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES APPROVES APPLICATION TO MCC

ARMENPRESS
March 12, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS: The governing council of the
Armenia-Millennium Challenges Foundation, chaired by its chairman,
prime minister Serzh Sarkisian, has discussed and approved today a
package of documents that will be submitted to the Washington-based
Millennium Challenges Corporation (MCC) to seek the 7-th disbursement
of MCC funds.

The government press office said the package comprises the application,
the quarterly financial report and other relating documents.

The press office said the government of Armenia expects to receive
$11.4 billion from the MCC and wants to use these funds, earmarked
for the second quarter of this year, on rehabilitation of rural roads,
irrigation systems, as well as to finance the monitoring and assessment
and program management and control components of the program.

The government press office said also by 2007 December 1, Armenia
received a total of $11.261,000 from the MCC. Part of these funds
were utilized to launch the restoration of 24.5 lm long road from the
second-largest town of Gyumri to Armavir, another part was used to
accomplish feasibility studies for restoration of a number of pumping
stations and gravity flow irrigation systems.

Yet some of the money was used to organize training courses on improved
agricultural management for over 5000 framers, including 1085 women.

The sitting today discussed and approved also a number of other
relating issues, the government press office said.

Seminar-Consultation Dedicated To Medical-Psychological Problems Of

SEMINAR-CONSULTATION DEDICATED TO MEDICAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF SPORTSMEN OF ARMENIAN NATIONAL TEAM PREPARING FOR BEIJING 2008 TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
March 11, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. A seminar-consultation dedicated to
the medical-psychological problems of sportsmen preparing for Beijing
2008 Olympic Games will be held on March 12 in the business center
of the American University of Yerevan (Alek Manoogian, 7). Renowned
doctors and psychologists will make reports at the event. Senior
and chief trainers of RA national, youth, juvenile national teams,
private coaches, teams’ doctors, masseurs, responsible representatives
of sport have been invited to the event.

YouTube Blocked In Armenia?

YOUTUBE BLOCKED IN ARMENIA?

Google Blogoscoped
-10-n27.html
March 10 2008

A source from Armenia who likes to remain anonymous here emailed in
this (linked):

Thought it’d be interesting for you to know that YouTube has been
blocked in Armenia, since our president has declared a state of
emergency in the capital on March 2. Under this state, no media is
allowed to broadcast any information except official announcements.

You can read about the protests and the state of emergency in Armenia
on Google News, just do a keyword search for ‘armenia’ and browse the
latest. We are having a real censorship here for the opposition, and
although I would never think that the government would get its hands
on YouTube, its unreachable through any Armenian ISP! The domain does
resolve, however the destination host is unreachable.

http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-03

Putin Called To Use Political Tools To Resolve Armenian Crisis

PUTIN CALLED TO USE POLITICAL TOOLS TO RESOLVE ARMENIAN CRISIS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.03.2008 17:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s Prime Minister and President-elect Serzh
Sargsyan had a phone talk with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin today,
the RA government’s press office reported.

The RF President once again congratulated Serzh Sargsyan on election
President of Armenia and invited him to Moscow for a detailed
discussion of the Armenian-Russian relations.

He stressed the necessity to use political tools to resolve the crisis
in Armenia and to establish dialogue with the opposition.

AAA: Armenia’s Constitutional Court Renders Decision

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
March 10, 2008
Contact: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434

ARMENIA’S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RENDERS DECISION

Armenian Assembly Continues to Emphasize Importance of Democratic
Principles, End to Violence

Washington, DC – While the Constitutional Court has issued its ruling
upholding the election results as announced by the Central Election
Commission, the Armenian Assembly of America continues to be concerned
about the restrictions imposed by President Robert Kocharian’s
Administration, including respect for freedom of speech and freedom of
assembly, as well as ongoing arrests and detentions. We urge that the
basic civil rights protections be upheld.

No one wishes to see a repetition of the events of March 1, 2008, and
we urge that any further violence be avoided at all costs. It is
imperative that the rule of law prevail, and that the media fairly and
accurately cover the developments.

We are also keenly aware that the political divisions that have been
created in Armenia have already begun to impact the Diaspora. We
continue to receive calls from across the country from supporters and
friends alike who have voiced their strong concerns and expectations.

There is no doubt that this is a critical time for the future of
Armenia and its citizens. The need for political dialogue is great, as
many have expressed their strong dissatisfaction and disappointment
with what the OSCE has called "implausibly" high voter turnout at
specific Precinct Election Commissions.

We note that the Prime Minister has discussed the need to heal the
country and called for reconciliation. We also note that Armenia’s
Ombudsman has issued a statement, which called for political
dialogue. We appreciate these statements. We encourage continued
participation of Armenia’s electorate and urge ongoing engagement in
the process to ensure open, honest and sincere dialogue with all
political forces involved with the presidential election to heal the
country for the betterment of all Armenians.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public
understanding and awareness of Armenian issues.  It is a 501(c)(3)
tax-exempt membership organization.

NR#2008-028

www.aaainc.org

NATO-Armenia Consultations In Brussels

NATO-ARMENIA CONSULTATIONS IN BRUSSELS

armradio.am
10.03.2008 12:27

The delegation of RA Ministry of Defense left for Brussels today to
participate in the sitting of the Strategic-Political Committee in
Armenia-NATO format at NATO’s headquarters. The delegation comprises
RA Deputy Defense Minister Ara Nazaryan, Head of the Department on
International Military Cooperation and Defense Programs, Colonel David
Tonoyan and acting Head of the Division on Cooperation with NTO Ara
Mesropyan, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Seyran
Shahsuvaryan informed.

During the sitting members of the Armenian delegation and
representatives of NATO member states will discuss the concise
Planning and Review Report worked out during the visit of the NATO
Assessment Mission to Armenia on February 4-8 and the amended purposes
of partnership, the progress in the fulfillment of the aims included in
the second part of the Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan.