World Crisis Causes Outage Of ‘Nairit Plant’ CJSC

WORLD CRISIS CAUSES OUTAGE OF ‘NAIRIT PLANT’ CJSC

ArmInfo
2008-12-16 12:52:00

ArmInfo. "Nairit Plant" CJSC which is specialized in production
of duprene rubber has announced of outage till February 1, 2009,
spokeswoman of the plant Anush Harutyunyan told ArmInfo today.

She said the plant was stopped in early 2008 as a result of the
global economic crisis which caused delay of rubber consumption and,
consequently, reduction of demand for it. She added that 99,9% of the
plant production is exported. 50% of export falls on the markets of EU
countries, over 30% – on Russia and 12% – on the USA. A. Harutyunyan
also said 2742 people were working at the plant to be inactive now.

To recall, "Nairit Plant" CJSC reduced production of rubber by 15,9% to
4,604 thsd tons over 9 months, 2008. In December, 2006, the government
of Armenia signed an agreement on sale of 90% of shares of "Nairit
Plant" CJSC at $40 mln to Rhinoville Property Limited Company, and
10% shares remained in the state property. The customer undertook to
invest $120 mln in the plant upgrading during five years. Rhin®ville
Property Limited Company was founded by Samex Polish Company, American
Intertex and Russian "Eurogas".

–Boundary_(ID_NlYiNulpvdTWR DOSj6LceQ)–

5 Armenian Gymnasts To Take Part In Mikhail Voronin Commemorative To

5 ARMENIAN GYMNASTS TO TAKE PART IN MIKHAIL VORONIN COMMEMORATIVE TOURNAMENT

Noyan Tapan

Dec 15, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. A Commemorative Tournament of
Double Olympic champion in sports gymnastics Mikhail Voronin will
be held on December 16-19 in Moscow. Vahagn Stepanian, Haroutiun
Merdinian, Vahan Vardanian, David Avetisian will represent Armenia
in men’s tournament and Astghik Gyulnazarian in women’s tournament.

http://www.nt.am?shownews=1010588

Establishing A Commission On Karabakh Conflict Caused Difference Of

ESTABLISHING A COMMISSION ON KARABAKH CONFLICT CAUSED DIFFERENCE OF OPINION

AZG Armenian Daily
16/12/2008

Establishing a commission on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the
Parliament of Azerbaijan has caused difference of opinion between
the power and opposition.

"It is important to establish a commission in the Parliament in order
to deal with the solution of the conflict from the point of view of
legislation and maintain the conflict on the focus of attention," MP
Panah Huseyn, member of Musavat group of MPs representing opposition
in the Parliament, told TrendNews.

Huseyn said that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is the basic problem of
Azerbaijan and the MPs representing both power and opposition have been
proposing sine 1995 to establish a commission on the conflict. However,
due to various reasons, these proposals have not been accepted.

"The executive power agencies deal with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,
since it is a serious problem, but there are issues which can involve
the Parliament as well," Huseyn added.

Ziyafet Askerov, first vice speaker of Azerbaijan Parliament, chairman
of standing commission on security and defense, told TrendNews that
there is no need to establish such a commission.

"Because whole people deals with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement. It is not the work of one commission, but entire
people. Therefore, I am against to create two sides here. The President
of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, holds the talks successfully, and after
concrete result, the issue will be expressed attitude and entire
people will know it," Askerov said.

Saying that the talks are being held between the Presidents and
Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Askerov stated that if
any progress or concrete results in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement, it is possible to hold discussions in the Parliament.

Anti-Corruption Conference ‘The Role Of Government, Non-Governmental

ANTI-CORRUPTION CONFERENCE ‘THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND MEDIA IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION’ IN YEREVAN

ArmInfo
2008-12-15 15:26:00

ArmInfo. Final conference was held today in ‘Congress’ hotel in
Yerevan within the frames of the programme ‘The Role of Government,
Non-Governmental Organizations and Media in the Fight against
Corruption’ being implemented by ‘Eurasia’ Partnership Foundation.

Chairman of the Civil Service Council of Armenia Manvel Badalyan,
Ambassador of USA to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch, Chairman of "Eurasia"
Cooperation Foundation George Zarubin, Chairman of "Transparency
International" Anti-corruption Center Amalia Kostanyan and other
guests took part in the conference.

Participants in the forum discussed the issues of intercooperation of
public organizations, mass media and the government authorities in
solution of one or another problems in corruption-fight. Importance
of transparency of the government authorities’ activity, as well as
a reporting and open activity of the regional public structures was
emphasized at the conference. To note, the anti-corruption programme
of ‘Eurasia’ Foundation has been implemented in 8 regions of Armenia,
moreover, US $400,000 were allocated to the local anti-corruption
organizations as assistance. Presently, As a result of the program,
10 Communities in two regions are now implementing anticorruption
strategies and 10 cases were won in administrative court.

Armenia Fourth By Cellular Communication Coverage

ARMENIA FOURTH BY CELLULAR COMMUNICATION COVERAGE

Panorama.am
19:13 12/12/2008

ComNews Research Company has published the results of its research and
figures on cellular communication in the CIS member countries in 2008.

According to the figures provided by the company, by the end
of 2008 Russia will be on top by its number of Cellular phone
subscribers. Ukraine is in the second horizontal, and is followed
by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova and Turkmenistan.

According to the research Russia and Ukraine have more cellular
communication coverage. In these countries number of the
cellular communication subscribers exceeds the number of the
citizens. Kazakhstan and Armenia are the third and the fourth
regarding the cellular coverage, then comes Belarus, Georgia, Moldova,
Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

The Time Of Dictating Conditions Over

THE TIME OF DICTATING CONDITIONS OVER
Vardan Grigoryan

Azat Artsakh Daily
10 Dec 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR

The process of re-estimating the values, which started after the
Russian-Georgian war, is accompanied by primitive manifestations
of chauvinism.

In this context the achievements of Georgian – Armenian relations is
becoming a matter of review. Because the recent events demonstrated
that it was due to those relations that the two countries maintained
their independence and security.

Due to the normal relations with Armenia during the previous years
Georgia managed to resist the powerful foreign influences. And when
the failures of the previous months became a matter of discussion
both for the political elite of Georgia and the intellectuals, the
moment of truth appeared for the two countries.

Whereas the primitive chauvinism of the Georgians, even in such
circumstances creates problems in their complex interethnic life,
and in the regional issues, including Armenia.

After the Russian-Georgian war Georgia should have appreciated the
neutrality of the Armenians, which undoubtedly required time and
efforts from our authorities to overcome the misunderstanding that
have appeared in our relations with our ally Russia. But at that
period they wrote anything that came to their minds about Armenia,
the Armenians living in Georgia, the Russian "bombers" which have never
existed in our country, and spread provocative news regarding Javakhk.

The wave of the slander regarding Armenia and the Armenians continued
even after the last visit of the Armenian President to Georgia. The
Georgian chauvinism over again hindered the realization of the
arrangements achieved during this visit. This time the conversation
is about the reconstruction of Yerevan-Batum road, the project that
is quite beneficial for the both countries, which promised to connect
the Iranian port of the Persian Gulf with the Georgian port of the
Black Sea, by a short and secure road.

This time as well the Georgian sickly chauvinism "noticed" Russian
tanks on Yerevan-Batum road. Time was required to refute this regular
ignorance and before that the problem linked with the Armenian Church
Norashen St. Astvatsatsin appeared. This new manifestation of the
complex of inferiority characteristic to the Georgian clergymen
raised the wave of protest in Armenia because it is not possible to
hide the manifestation of primitive burglary under shallow words.

A question arises here: how long are these people going to create
problems in Armenian-Georgian relations which are based on the
primitive calculation of annihilating Armenian factor in Georgia
based on the advantage of the fact of Armenian blockade. Because if
we look at the problems faced by the both countries, it is evident
that at the moment they need each other’s help more than ever.

A fter the Russian-Georgian war and the events following it, Armenia
is the only neighbor for Georgia, which is facing various problems,
because Armenia is really interested in Georgia’s stability and
development.

In such circumstances the attempts to create on-going problems
between the two countries, no matter how much they are hidden under
the initiative of the Georgian political scientists, Mass Media or
the clergymen of the Georgian apostolic Church, they can’t veil their
real authors.

By such behavior official Tbilisy breaks the balance based on which
our neighbor maintains its independence.

So the 7th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Armenian –
Georgian economic cooperation, which started in Tbilisy yesterday,
and the visit of the delegation of representatives headed by the
Armenian Prime Minister to Georgia on this occasion are aimed at
averting the attempts of creating problems in the relations between
the two countries.

The same way as Armenia depends on Georgian communications, Georgia
depends on the balancing role of Armenia in the South Caucasus. So
the breaching of this delicate calculation will be dangerous for the
both countries and the people.

Henceforth Citizens Of Armenia Can Leave For Switzerland Without Tha

HENCEFORTH CITIZENS OF ARMENIA CAN LEAVE FOR SWITZERLAND WITHOUT THAT COUNTRY’S VISA

Noyan Tapan

Dec 11, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 11, NOYAN TAPAN. From December 12 Switzerland joins
Schengen Agreement and starts providing Schengen visas. A Schengen
visa provided by the Embassy of Switzerland will permit to leave not
only for Switzerland, but also for the whole Schengen territory.

According to the report of the Embassy of Switzerland, the citizens of
Armenia, who have a Schengen visa provided by other Schengen territory
states, can leave for Switzerland without the visa of Switzerland.

http://www.nt.am?shownews=1010489

Syrian Embassy Staff Complain About Ambassador’s Abuse Of Power And

SYRIAN EMBASSY STAFF COMPLAIN ABOUT AMBASSADOR’S ABUSE OF POWER AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.12.2008 18:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The staff of the Syrian Embassy in Armenia addressed
the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian to inform him about
the inadequate behavior of the Ambassador of Syria in Armenia who
took office in August 2008, the Embassy told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The letter says,

" Dear Sir, We, the staff of the Syrian Embassy in Armenia would
like to draw your attention to an urgent issue, which has aroused
vast grievance among the employees of the Embassy.

When each of us was accepting their job at the Embassy of Syria in
Armenia, he or she was happy because they thought that they would
have to deal with serious diplomats from whom they could learn a great
deal, as well as would be able to meet their financial needs. It was
the case until 20 days ago.

Before then the working atmosphere at the embassy was mild and
friendly. The employees would work with the diplomats as with
friends. None of our rights was ever violated: the employees of the
embassy had never seen the Ambassador in underwear, female employees
had never received dating proposal from the Ambassador who threatened
them to fire immediately if they rejected. Shortly after working for
two weeks the new Ambassador dismissed the cook (female) working in
his house, as if upon her own resignation note .

The resignation note had not been written by the cook and the
reason could not be mentioned naturally. That immoral decision
was made knowing that the woman was the only one working in the
family. Moreover, just for the sake of diplomatic correctness the
author of the decision did not even wish to receive and talk to
that woman for the last time who had lost her job by a pen stroke,
who was highly virtuous, possessed higher education degree and who
fulfilled all her duties. The reason for dismissal was claimed to be
the absence of knowledge of Arabic.

Now most of the employees of the Embassy who are citizens of the
Republic of Armenia and have high sense of dignity are under the threat
of losing their jobs. Those who gave us our jobs at the embassy were
also ambassadors, and not knowing Arabic has had no role in losing
jobs so far.

We request considering all the information we have provided since it
is truthful. We have high hopes that friendly relationships between
our countries will never allow that Ambassador Abdul Hammed Sallum
change the Embassy staff due to personal needs.

We are confident that the phenomena of sexual harassment, abuse of
power, volatilities are considered unlawful, immoral and condemnable
in Syria as well and will in no way and NEVER honor that country.

We anticipate your urgent response to this matter and hope the matter
will be resolved in reasonable terms with no need to involve the
attention of local and foreign mass media.

Sincerely, Staff of Syrian Embassy in Armenia."

NKR Second President Arkady Ghoukasian Awarded With Title "Hero Of A

NKR SECOND PRESIDENT ARKADY GHOUKASIAN AWARDED WITH TITLE "HERO OF ARTSAKH"

De Facto
Dec 10, 2008

STEPANAKERT, 10.12.08. DE FACTO. On December 10 NKR President Bako
Sahakian signed a decree, according to which for exclusive services to
the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic and in connection with the anniversary
of the adoption of the NKR Constitution, the second President of NKR
Arkady Ghoukasian is awarded with the highest title of the Nagorno
Karabagh Republic, the "Hero of Artsakh" and the Golden Eagle Order. DE
FACTO received the information at the Central Department of Information
of the Office of the NKR President.

President Of Armenia Off To Bulgaria

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA OFF TO BULGARIA

armradio.am
10.12.2008 10:47

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, the
President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, is leave for
Sofia today for a two-day official visit, President’s Press Office
reported.

The same day the Armenian President will meet his Bulgarian counterpart
Georgy Prvanov. The meeting will be followed by Armenian-Bulgarian
consultations in an extended format, after which the two Presidents
will sign documents and give a joint press conference.

Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Georgy Prvanov will adopt a joint
Communiqué on the results of the visit. They are expected to sign
a protocol of organizing and conducting Days of Bulgarian Culture
in Armenia in 2009 and Days of Armenian Culture in Bulgaria in 2010,
the working plan on the cooperation in the field of state governance
between 2009 and 2014, an agreement on cooperation in the sphere
of archiving, as well as a protocol on excluding double taxation of
income and property.

The Presidents of the two countries are expected to attend the opening
ceremony of the Armenian-Bulgarian Business Forum.

During the two-day official visit the Armenian President will have a
working dinner with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Sergey Stanishev,
will meet with the President of the National Assembly of Bulgaria,
Georgy Pirinsky and will lay a wreath to the memorial to the U
nknown Soldier.

At the National Gallery for Foreign Art Presidents Serzh Sargsyan
and Georgy Prvanov will be present at the opening of the exhibition
of Sergey Parajanov’s collages.

Mr. Sargsyan will also visit the Armenian Embassy in Bulgaria.

–Boundary_(ID_w/EFPvPSXiogVmH+FTRR6w)- –