Author: Chaltikian Arsine

Azerbaijan reports highest GDP growth rate for January

RosBusinessConsulting Database
May 6, 2005 Friday

In January 2005, Russia was ranked seventh among CIS members rated
on its GDP growth of 4 percent from the first quarter of 2004, the
Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS has reported. In 2004,
Russia shared the ninth position with regard to the GDP growth with
Kyrgyzstan.

According to the Committee’s statistics, over the given period,
Azerbaijan (10.8 percent) and Belarus (9.6 percent) demonstrated the
highest GDP growth. Tajikistan and Armenia ranked third with the GDP
growth of 7.8 percent, and in Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan the rate stood
at 5.4 and 2 percent respectively. The average GDP growth for the
CIS was determined at 5 percent.

A1plus

| 17:28:25 | 06-05-2005 | Politics |

SUPERPOWERS USE THE FACT OF GENOCIDE FOR THEIR OWN PROFIT

The political powers have expectations from the meeting Kocharyan-Erdoghan
on May 16. For example, the Revolutionary Federation considers that any kind
of dialogue, especially with Turkey, can have positive results for the two
countries.

Levon Lazarian simply wants for the meetings to be organized not with the
aim of entering Euro structures, but for the neighbor Turkey really
understand the necessity of both the diplomatic relations and the opening of
the borders. But in this connection he is not so optimistic and the basis
for this is the serious preaching realized in connection with this meeting.

The Orinats Yerkir Party reminds us that not the Armenians but the Turks
have closed the border and they themselves must have the desire to establish
diplomatic relations and open the border.

Republican Party head Galoust Sahakyan answered the question laconically,
«The more meetings there are organized, the more quickly the processes will
be».

And Justice bloc secretary Viktor Dallakyan represented a historical glimpse
of the reasons of the Armenian Genocide noting that the Armenians and the
Turks have not had genetic, religious or other kinds of incompatibility.
Simply that was the program of the Ottoman empire after the Russian-Turkish
war.

He also added that at the beginning of the previous century both Russia and
France and Germany had their profits from the massacres of Armenians. The
same is done today when the superpowers use the issue for their profits. The
intensive process of recognizing the Genocide shows that the process is
connected with the desire to hinder Turkey’s entering the EU.

By the way, Dallakyan announced that no one and especially not the Armenians
nation has given Robert Kocharyan the right to announce by the Russian TV
that the Armenian nation does not have demands from Turkey and the
recognition of the Genocide is a moral matter. He could at least announce
that the issue must be looked upon from the international point of view.
«And the rest of what he could have said I will say when I take his place»,
concluded Viktor Dallakyan.

–Boundary_(ID_Vy5EoBmQBVKkLbaMFlrYPg)–

STRONG DRAM: SIGN OF STRONG ECONOMY?
By Ara Martirosian

AZG Armenian Daily #081, 05/05/2005

Finances

According to a notification by the Central Bank of Armenia, national
currencies of 22 CIS and East European countries, including Armenia,
have surged up. Dollars faltering against euro and inflow of funds into
these countries stands for the reason of strengthening. The Central
Bank informs that strengthening of national currencies in Eastern
Europe began in 2002 whereas in CIS countries it started in 2004.

The Central Bank informs that stabilization of national currencies
in states living through transitional period speaks well for the
well-known thesis that high pace of development in such countries
results inevitably in strengthening of national currency. If there
is no rise in prices then the nominal value will also surge.

Outside View: Russia’s Georgia strategy
By Anatoly Belyayev, Outside View Commentator

Washington Times, DC
May 4 2005

Moscow, Russia, May. 4 (UPI) — The foreign ministers of Russia
and Georgia have announced their countries might soon agree on the
timeframe for the withdrawal of Russian troops and equipment from
Georgia, to begin this year and end by Jan. 1, 2008.

This only looked like a sensation at first sight. In fact,
this decision corresponds to changes in Russia’s strategy toward
post-Soviet states. These changes are the logical element of the
“curtailment” of Russia’s geopolitical ambitions in the post-Soviet
era, that were crowned with the symbolic and unconditional closure
of Russian military bases in Cuba and Vietnam at the beginning of
President Vladimir Putin’s first term.

That decision formalized the new reality: unlike the Soviet Union,
Russia as a global power could not maintain foreign policy competition
with the United States and had to limit its foreign policy activity
and influence to the Commonwealth of Independent States countries.

At the same time, though too late, Russia began a policy of creating
conditions for developing economic relations with friendly CIS
countries, designed to accelerate integration in the bloc under
Russian auspices. This policy took the form of special economic
relations with Belarus, the collection of valued added tax in the
country of destination for the countries of the Common Economic Space,
and other actions.

But internal political developments in several neighboring states
removed the elite groups on which Moscow relied in the advance of its
integration projects. It appears the Russian leadership has become
wary of supporting the really and formally friendly elite groups in
the other neighboring states.

Unfortunately, Russia is not nurturing friendly elite groups in the
other countries because it does not have a relevant strategy or a
system of foreign policy and financial support for such a project. In
this situation, its only hope is a policy of differentiated foreign
economic relations with the post-Soviet states, which calls for
gradually eliminating the foreign policy legacy that prevents this
new policy from being implemented consistently.

The development of relations with Georgia could become a pilot project
of the new Russian foreign policy in post-Soviet countries. >>From the
military-strategic viewpoint, bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki do
nothing more than mark Russian military presence in the Caucasus
region. They could be an element of the system of support for the
serious and politically important presence of Russia in Armenia
but can hardly fulfill this function because they are located in
unfriendly Georgia.

An agreement with Georgia on the status of these bases during the
withdrawal period and especially after it could give Russia a chance
to establish more appropriate and equitable economic relations with
Georgia. That country is financed by Russian energy supplied at prices
that are several times lower than global rates. Georgia might threaten
to establish an energy and foreign trade blockade of Armenia, which
is friendly with Russia, if Russia refuses to deliver cheap energy
to Georgia. But an attempt to turn this purely economic issue into
a foreign policy problem would spotlight the anti-Russian nature of
the policy.

A consistent policy pursued by Russia, the weakening of President
Mikhail Saakashvili’s regime, and the presence of a hostile neighbor
could create a situation where Georgia would be unable to develop
without Russia. This would show any Georgian government, if it wants
to remain in power for a long time, should maintain good relations
with its northern neighbor.

—

(Anatoly Belyayev is the head of analysis for the Center for Current
Politics in Russia. This article is reprinted by permission of the
RIA Novosti news agency. The opinions expressed in this article are
those of the author and may not necessarily represent the opinions
of the RIA Novosti editorial board.)

Schroeder pressures Turkey on EU reform, stresses non-Muslim freedoms

EUbusiness (press release), UK
May 4 2005

Document Actions 04/05/2005

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Wednesday urged Turkey to fully
implement the democracy reforms it adopted to achieve European Union
norms and called for more freedoms for Christian communities in this
Muslim-majority country.

Schroeder, a staunch supporter of Turkey’s EU membership bid, assured
Ankara that the bloc was determined to open accession talks with
Turkey on schedule on October 3.

“The dynamics of reform should continue,” Schroeder told reporters
after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The
constitutional and other legal amendments should be put into practice.”

Referring to concerns that France will vote down the European
constitution at a May 29 referendum and plunge the EU into crisis,
the German leader said: “No referendum anywhere in Europe will affect
Turkey’s EU process.”

Schroeder also renewed EU demands from Turkey to expand the freedoms
of its non-Muslim comminuties, mostly Orthodox Christians and Jews.
“Religious freedom is a European principle,” Schroder said. “It is
indisputabe and is valid for Turkey as well. People should freely
practice their religions.”

Turkey is under pressure to remove legal obstacles for non-Muslim
religious foundations to fully exercise their property rights and to
open a Greek Orthodox seminary in Istanbul closed down more than 30
years ago.

Schroeder also backed a Turkish proposal to Armenia for the creation
of a joint commission of historians to study allegations that the
Ottoman Turks committed genocide against their Armenian subjects
during World War I.

“We want Turkish-Armenian relations to improve,” Schroeder said.
“Germany is ready to do its best to help in this issue and open
its archives.”

Germany and the Ottoman Empire, from which the present-day Turkish
Republic was born, were allies during World War I, when the Armenian
massacres occured.

Turkey has come under mounting international pressure to recognize
the 1915-1917 killings as genocide; some EU politicians, including
the German opposition, argue that Ankara should address the genocide
claims if it wants to join the European bloc.

Erdogan denounced an appeal issued by the German parliament last
month calling on Ankara to face up to its history.

He said he “conveyed our serious concerns and expectations” on the
issue to Schroeder.

The two leaders said they also discussed the Cyprus conflict, a major
stumbling block to Turkey’s EU membership bid.

Schroeder pledged he would work for the release of a 259 million
euromillion dollar) EU aid package earmarked for the breakaway Turkish
Cypriot community and the activation of measures aimed at easing trade
restriction imposed on the island’s Turkish sector. The EU promised
the aid last year as a reward for the strong support Turkish Cypriots
gave to a UN peace plan, which was killed off by an overwhelming “no”
by the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot side.

The measures have been blocked, however, because of opposition by
the Greek Cypriots, who joined the EU in May 2004.

Schroeder’s Social Democrats-Greens coalition has been a staunch
supporter of Turkey’s EU aspirations, but Germany’s main opposition
Christian Democratic Union advocates a special status for Turkey
rather than full membership.

Germany is Turkey’s largest trading partner and home to the largest
Turkish immigrant community in Europe, some 2.5 million people.
Schroeder is scheduled to meet President Ahmet Necdet Sezer before
heading to Istanbul later Wednesday, where he will visit the spiritual
leader of the Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I,
and attend a meeting of Turkish and German business people.

US MILITARY TO ASSESS ARMENIA’S POSSIBILITIES

A1plus
| 19:12:01 | 03-05-2005 | Official |

Today Secretary of the National Security Council under the RA
President, RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan received US Ambassador to
Armenia John Evans and a delegation led by Michael Andersen, the head
of the working group conducting a defense monitoring of the Armenian
armed forces.

The parties discussed the works to be carried out within the frames
of the monitoring.

THAILAND: K-TECH’S MANAGING DIRECTOR BOB KEVORKIAN DIES

Thai Press Reports, Thailand
May 3, 2005

Section: Corporate News – The Thai business community mourned the
passing of Bob Kevorkian, managing director of K-Tech Construction &
Engineering and a key player in the country’s real estate sector,
The Nation reports.

Kevorkian, a British national of Armenian origin, died early Tuesday
morning, aged 65, said Pritpal Singh Gill, who heads urban projects
at Golden Land.

“His death came as a shock to us all,” said Gill, whose friendship
with Kevorkian goes back 16 years to when they worked together on
the President Park residential site.

“Bob was a self-taught, self-made man,” said Gill, who recalled how
the builder founded “from scratch” the Thai Bauer construction firm
in the late 80s, before joining Philip Holzman.

A large, jovial, rotund man, Kevorkian was a powerful player in the
local construction scene over the past two decades, when the real
estate market expanded to staggering new heights, before collapsing
during the 1997 financial crash.

“Remarkably, it was during the worst period of the property fallout
in 1997 that Bob was able to form K-Tech with a formidable team of
professionals,” said Gill.

Today, the firm is involved with several major projects, including
the Northshore condominium project in Pattaya and the Central Group’s
new office tower.

Nigel Cornick, chief executive of Raimon Land, said Kevorkian’s death
was a ‘big loss’ as he had been a key player in the real estate scene.

Cornick, whose ties to Kevorkian go back 10 years, said K-Tech had been
instrumental in finishing his firm’s luxury condominium – The Lakes –
last year. Kevorkian was also constructing Raimon’s Northshore project,
due to be completed at the end of this year.

His passing should not affect K-Tech’s contracts, however, as Kevorkian
was a good organiser who was able to place capable managers to oversee
respective sites, said Cornick and Gill.

When asked to describe Kevorkian’s key trait, Cornick said: “His
presence and his ability to stick to his commitments.” Gill said:
“Bob was an affable man” whose warm character could quickly gain the
confidence of partners and customers.

Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of CB Richard Ellis Thailand,
was also shocked by the news of his passing.

“I will always remember him as a kind and nice man,” she said. “Bob
ran a professional show.” Gill said Kevorkian had been committed to
his work and was a devoted husband to his British wife, Linda. They
have two sons, a daughter and an adopted Thai son.

Apart from his huge portfolio of projects – which include the new
Bt6-billion Royal Phuket Marina project on the eastern coast of Phuket
– Kevorkian also spent much of his time on charity work.

He set up an Aids home in Bangkok and another in Armenia.

“When the tsunami struck in late December, Bob mobilised his men to
help in the rescue effort and to clean up the beaches at no cost,”
said Gill.

IN GYUMRI COMPUTER TOMOGRAPHIC CENTER OPENED

A1plus
| 15:48:51 | 02-05-2005 | Regions |

After the capital the computer tomographic equipment has for the first
time been installed in Gyumri. It gives the possibility to reveal
the tumors early. If many people had to come to Yerevan because of
the absence of the equipment, now there will be no such problems.

The computer tomographic equipment brought to Gyumri in 2004 October
by the support of the French regional council was put into practice in
March 15 this year by the French specialists. The diagnostic center,
however, had been opened only recently.

6000 people a year will have the possibility to be investigated in
the center. By now 60 citizens have passed free investigation. An
operation has also been carried out connected with spine illnesses. The
possibilities of the center are high but the technical problems do
not give the possibility to serve many people.

The specialists find that in case of solving the technical problems
the equipment will notably improve the health service in the region.

A1plus

| 13:28:40 | 29-04-2005 | Official |

ANDRANIK MARGARYAN EXPECTED IN BELARUS

On the invitation of Belarus Prime Minister Sergey Sidorski, the delegation
with RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan at the head will leave for Belarus
on official visit on May 2-4.

Within the frames of the official visit the RA Prime Minister will meet
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka, Prime Minister Sergey Sidorski, as
well as will visit the productive union `MAZ’ and the factory `BELAZ’. The
head of the Armenian Government will take part in the Armenian-Belarus
business conference in the CIS executive committee building, and in the
opening of the exhibition of the Armenian products.

Within the frames of the visit Days of Armenian TV will be organized in
Belarus. Andranik Margaryan will visit the Victory square, the monument
`Khatin’, and will meet the representatives of the Armenian community.

During the visit several documents are to be signed.

Azeri Finance Ministry, Prosecutor’s Office to audit NGOs

Azadliq, Baku
29 Apr 05

Text of ATV report by Azerbaijani newspaper Azadliq on 29 April
headlined “The authorities are starting an attack on the NGOs”

The Finance Ministry and the Prosecutor-General’s Office have decided
to audit non-governmental organizations operating in the country. The
purpose of the audit is to check the main financial sources of
NGOs. The inspection will be carried out on the basis of information
provided, the prosecutor’s office said.

However, they said that the audit would not be confined to
this. Special attention will be focused on the NGOs that have an
uncertain position on statehood and maintain close contacts with
Armenia.

The Finance Ministry said that most of the 400 NGOs operating in the
country exist only on paper and grants allocated to them are
misspent. The ministry said that according to the law, all NGOs should
report to the ministry once a year and notify the ministry every time
they receive a grant. The ministry has doubts about the transparency
of these reports. They also said that the transparency of the
financial sources of the NGOs would be one of the main areas of the
audit.

The ministry and the prosecutor’s office stressed that the audit would
not hamper the activities of the NGOs.