Author: Tambiyan Samvel

SLAIN ARTHUR SARDARYAN FAMILY TO APPEAL TO EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.04.2008 14:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Relatives of Arthur Sardaryan, an Armenia-native,
who was killed in Moscow in May 2006, intend to appeal to the European
Court of Human Rights based in Strasbourg.

"We will issue a complaint within two weeks. There is still a chance to
seek justice in Russia but we need the prosecution’s petition. Neo-Nazi
attitude of mind has stuck in the society. The jury could include
people sharing these views," said Simon Tsaturyan, the Sardaryans’
attorney.

According to human rights advocate Karina Moskalenko, there is a
chance to find understanding in Strasbourg.

"If the relatives send a complaint to the European Court they have a
possibility to prove the prosecution’s incapability to convince the
jury of the guilt of the suspect," she said.

Last Friday, the RF Supreme Court upheld the verdict of not guilty to
Roman Polusnyak, accused of murder of 19-year-old Arthur Sardaryan,
thus enabling the February verdict of the jury.

AUTHORITIES HAMPER OPPOSITION’S HOLDING ANY EVENTS, LEADER OF HNCHAKIAN PARTY’S YOUTH ORGANIZATION STATES

Noyan Tapan
April 11, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, NOYAN TAPAN. "The year 1937 rages in Armenia,"
Narek Galstian, the Chairman of the Sargis Tkhruni youth union of the
Hnchakian Social Democatic Party, stated to journalists on April 11,
commenting upon the refusal of the Ani Plaza hotel’s administration to
provide a hall for holding a conference dedicated to Armenian-Turkish
relations.

According to N. Galstian, the reason of refusal is the fact that
an opposition political force is the organizer of the event. He
reminded to journalists that nearly a weak ago the Sargis Tkhruni
union received an analogous refusal to hold a conference dedicated
to adoption of a resolution on Nagorno 7Karabakh by UN. In his words,
the authorities hamper opposition’s holding any events.

"We condemn such measures, it is quite obvious that pressure is exerted
upon hotels’ administrations by the authorities. The things worsened so
much that in essence holding of events dedicated to Armenian-Turkish
relations and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is prohibited,"
Narek Galstian stated.

He expressed bewilderment with the fact that the authorities, who
constantly call for holding a dialogue between various political
forces, in practice hamper events, in which representatives of
both power and opposition forces could take part. Galstian said
that representatives of more than 20 NGOs and youth wings of various
parties, including the Republican Party of Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutiun,
Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law), Armenian National Movement,
Zharangutiun (Heritage) had been invited to the conference. He assured
that all invitees had given consent to take part in the conference.

RA DEPUTY FM, UAE MFA REPRESENTATIVE DISCUSS THE ISSUE OF OPENING UAE EMBASSY IN YEREVAN

armradio.am
08.04.2008 17:44

On April 8 RA Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanyan received
the Director of the Department of Asian and African Affairs of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Ahmed
Abdulla Al Musally, who is in Armenia to participate in the swearing
in ceremony of RA President-Elect.

During the conversation the parties turned to the current level of
bilateral political and economic relations and the perspectives of
their development.

Later the interlocutors exchanged views on regional developments.

Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibjanyan and Ambassador Al Musally
discussed the issue of opening the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates
in Armenia.

RUSSIAN POLITICAL SCIENTIST SERGEY MARKEDONOV: "RUSSIA’S POSITION ON KARABAKH ALWAYS DIFFERED FROM POSITIONS ON OTHER CONFLICTS"

Today.Az
/politics/44123.html
April 8 2008
Azerbaijan

Russia’s position on Karabakh always differed from positions on other
conflicts, said Russian political scientist Sergey Markedonov.

"As for Nagorno Karabakh, Russia’s position on this de-facto state
always differed from the position on Abkhazia, South Ossetia and
Transdniestria. In particular, Karabakh was not mentioned while
adopting a new appeal of the State Duma to the President, regarding the
unrecognized republics", said Markedonov during an online conference
"Policy of Russia in the Caucasus".

He said this is because Russia considers relations with Azerbaijan
not only important but also more successful than Russian-Georgian
relations and therefore "tries to avoid making any stiff assessments,
which may hurt the Azerbaijani leadership".

"Besides, official Moscow considers that all issues regarding Karabakh
can be settled via Yerevan. In this case I don’t say whether it is
right or wrong. It is merely a point of view", Markedonov said.

According to the political scientist, Russia’s position on
Transdnestria may also change, as Kishinev is ready to Moldovan
neutrality and recognition of Russian property on the right bank
of Dniester.

"As for Georgia, I think Moscow will stop on the factual support of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia without formal legal recognition of these
formations", the Russian political scientist said.

BR LOOKS TO AZERI AND ARMENIAN MARKETS

The FINANCIAL
April 7 2008
Georgia

The FINANCIAL — Bank Republic (BR), the Georgian bank belonging
to Societe Generale Group, is looking at expansion opportunities in
neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"We have a worldwide strategy for development abroad and we are aiming
to seek control of banks in both Azerbaijan and Armenia as soon as
possible," Gilbert Hie, BR CEO, told The FINANCIAL.

As Hie stated, though the Armenian market is limited, BR is already
having talks with the neighbour. As for Azerbaijan, the bank’s target
is to take control of already-opened banks there.

"The Azeri market is much more attractive, because it is bigger,
and the annual growth of the country is 30-35%," declared Hie.

Last year TBC Bank announced its intention to enter three post Soviet
countries in the next year and a half. As Mamuka Khazaradze, TBC Bank
Founder and Supervisory Board Chairman, stated, the bank will invest
USD 30-40 million initial financing in each of the new markets.

TBC Bank’s regional expansion took start with the acquisition of
Azeri micro-financing institution Soa Credit in 2007.

Ukraine is also a target market for Georgian banks and vice versa. In
October 2007, Bank of Georgia announced that it had successfully
completed the acquisition of a 98.77% equity interest in Universal Bank
of Development & Partnership ("UBDP"), a mid-sized bank in Ukraine .

In May 2007 Ukraine ‘s PrivatBank entered the Georgian market after
buying into 75% of shares of the small Georgian Tao Bank for USD
25 million.

As for the local market, BR is continuing regional expansion in 2008
by opening a Rustavi branch. As soon as there’s market demand the bank
intends to launch a second one in the city. BR’s plans for the near
future envision opening new branches in: Signagi, Telavi and Kvareli.

"The new Rustavi branch will be very important. The 20 people employed
there will include both local staff and human resources from Tbilisi as
the latter is so close to Rustavi. In total Bank Republic is planning
to recruit 300 persons, which is an increased number compared to 2007,"
BR CEO, told The FINANCIAL.

On April 4, 2008 Bank Republic officially opened the Rustavi Branch at
the address: #20 Megobroba Avenue, Rustavi, Georgia. The ceremony was
attended by Bank Republic Management, clients of the Rustavi Branch
and invited guests.

According to Hie, the BR aim is to be among the top leaders of the
Georgian Banking industry in the years to come. It has a long term
strategy to develop an extensive network of 80 branches throughout the
country, to be closer to its customers and provide the best products
with the highest quality of service.

"One of the strategic priorities of Bank Republic is the aggressive
expansion of its branch network in the whole of Georgia, hence the
opening of at least one branch per month," claimed BR CEO.

Rustavi Branch is the twelfth outlet opened in Georgia by Bank Republic
since last year, after its integration with Societe Generale Group. The
bank plans to open eleven more branches and service centres by the
end of 2008.

"We chose Rustavi because it is a very promising city which the top of
central administrations of the government are moving to. For us it’s
necessary to be in Rustavi as according to the policy development
of the government the city is to become even more attractive in the
future," said Hie.

In his words, the second reason could be the growing number of BR
clients from Rustavi. It’s always better to be closer to the customer.

"I believe we will make the local population happy with high quality
product and service offers. The Rustavi branch will develop both
corporate and retail banking activities. We must use the advantages
which we have from Societe Generale Group. Bank Republic would like
to get more and more involved in import, export and foreign exchange.

These are our competitive advantages which we must use," noted Hie.

As he later added, Bank Republic was recognized last month as the
most active bank in Georgia in terms of stock exchange. Its trader
has been awarded as the most active chief trader in Georgia.

"The new Rustavi branch will offer customers a full service package.

We will serve physical persons, small and large scale businesses and
provide services, all of which are provided in other large cities. BR
is employing 16 people in this new branch, 11 of the employees are
from Rustavi, the others from Tbilisi ," Aleko Lemonjava, Manager of
Rustavi Branch, BR, told The FINANCIAL.

Building up a universal banking concept, BR is striving to enhance
both corporate and retail banking activities. In terms of corporate,
they are extending a strong, long lasting relationship with key large
companies and a diversified portfolio of SMEs in various sectors
of industry.

Fully integrated into a worldwide banking group, BR is promoting
imports and exports with a high level of expertise to finance
international trade with a natural competitive edge compared to the
other local banks and aims to be the leader in foreign trade financing
with a tailor-made solution.

"We are the first company to form credit with the new Rustavi branch.

Bank Republic is a strong bank, with high quality services, and
we trust them. The opening of this new branch is good not only for
banks, but also for business," Natia Japharidze, Head of PR, GIT,
told The FINANCIAL.

"We have a very wide and large range of product offers in more than
50 countries. I think that the most successful bank in Georgia in
the coming year will be the bank that offers products and services
best adapted to the local market’s needs," BR CEO said.

Bank Republic is a leading commercial bank with rapid expansion of
operations in retail and financial services in Georgia. Employing
more than 750 staff, it serves its clients through 36 branches and
service centres.

Bank Republic owns an 11% market share in deposits and 7% in loans.

Bank Republic is also the second most profitable bank on the Georgian
market, achieving an average return on equity of 9% in 2005. Bank
Republic now controls 30% of the Georgian credit card market.

Bank Republic entered into agreement with Societe Generale Group and
EBRD on purchasing 60% and 10%, respectively, of shares of BR on 29
September, 2006.

In retail banking, BR is offering international standard quality
of products to individual customers (deposits, personal banking,
mortgage loans, consumer loans, plastic cards, transfers, electronic
banking) and a high quality of customer service, warm welcome and
truly professional attitude to each customer.

BR’s target is to provide high added value to the Georgian economy
and to be a participant in credit distribution to priority sectors of
the economy to help the Government of Georgia to successfully reduce
poverty. BR is participating in the "Cheap Credit" program.

IN ARMEN ASHOTIAN’S OPINION, FUTURE GOVERNMENT SHOULD KEEP AWAY FROM POLITICS

Noyan Tapan
April 4, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The goal of the new political format,
the quadrilateral coalition, formed in Armenia is public, political
stabilization, as well as redistribution of rights and duties inside
the ruling clique. Armen Ashotian, a member of the RA National Assembly
RPA faction, stated at the April 4 press conference. He said that the
new government should be formed by the professional principle. "Being
a result of political negotiations, it should keep away from politics
as far as possible," the deputy from RPA said.

In A. Ashotian’s opinion, the future Prime Minister should
be a representative of the political team, but should be not
politicized. "The Prime Minister should be a member of the team,
he should be a skilful leader, a skilful manager," he said.

Touching upon a dialogue of political forces, A. Ashotian said that
"if your interlocutor obstinately keeps silence, a dialogue turns
into a monologue."

According to him, not leaders of radical opposition, but their
electorate should be a target for a dialogue. According to him, if the
leaders of the other team refuse to hold a dialogue, the authorities
have nothing else to do but to understand their electorate’s problems
and to solve them.

VARTAN OSKANIAN RECEIVES DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF UKRAINE

Noyan Tapan
April 4, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Receiving the deputy foreign minister
of Ukraine Konstantin Yeliseyev on March 4, the Armenian foreign
minister Vartan Oskanian expressed satisfaction at the high level
of relations between Armenia and Ukraine. K. Yeliseyev in his turn
expressed gratitude for opening the exhibition dedicated to 90th
anniversary of Armenian-Ukrainian diplomatic relations.

According to the RA MFA Press and Information Department, the
willingness of the two countries to promote cooperation in the
spheres of economy and culture was pointed out at the meeting. The
sides also discussed the process and prospects of solution of the
Nagorno Karabakh problem.

VALERY OVSYANNIKOV APPOINTED DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ARMENIAN VTB LEASING

arminfo
2008-04-03 15:54:00

ArmInfo. Valery Ovsyannikov is appointed Director General of Armenian
VTB Leasing Credit Company. VTB Leasing CJSC press-service told
ArmInfo that Armenian Central Bank Council registered and licensed
VTB Leasing on March 28. The company is the subsidiary of Russian
VTB-Leasing Company.

The source reports the mission of the given company is to help
reequipping the dynamically growing enterprises in Armenia and
making them competitive through provision of an effective and
accessible mechanism of acquiring and modernizing the main production
facilities. The company’s goal is to increase the client base of the
subsidiaries of VTB-Leading OJSC and VTB-Group, in general, as well as
to get a leading position in the Armenian market of leasing services.

To recall, V. Ovsyannikov has been occupying the post of Director
General and Chairman of VTB-Bank (Armenia) Directorate since early
March 2007.

By data of VTB Leasing, VTB-Leasing OJSC is a universal
leasing company. VTB Bank OJSC holds the 100pct stake in the
company. VTB-Leasing OJSC capital totaled $146 million in 2007 in
conformity with IFRS. The company’s assets exceeded $3.46 billion,
and net profits totaled $77.9 million. Fitch Ratings and Standard&Poor
gave the company BBB+/Stable credit rating. VTB-Leasing OJSC has
regional structural offices in 11 cities in Russia and subsidiaries
in the Ukraine, Cyprus, Belarus and Armenia. Before registration
of VTB Leasing CJSC, there were 2 leasing companies in Armenia:
ACBA Leasing and Agroleasing. The summary credit portfolio of these
companies made up $9.7 million, total assets – $12.5 million, total
capital – $3.6 million as of January 1 2008.

COMPLETION OF CE MONITORING IN AZERBAIJAN DEPENDS ON FULFILLMENT OF TAKEN COMMITMENTS: HEAD OF AGO MONITORING GROUP

Trend News Agency
April 3 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 3 April / corr. TrendNews I. Alizade/ The completion
of the monitoring of Council of Europe in Azerbaijan depends on the
fulfillment of taken commitments, PACE decision and processes ongoing
in Azerbaijan. Pier Sorden, the chairman of Cabinet of Ministers of
the Council of Europe and Head of the AGO Monitoring Group said in
his interview with media in Baku Airport named after Heydar Aliyev
on 2 April. Sorden has arrived in Baku within the framework of his
visit to the South Caucasus.

The Head of the Monitoring Group said that his visit aims at studying
the process of fulfillment of commitments taken by Azerbaijan.

As to the ongoing processes in Armenia, Sorden’s response was terse.

He only stated that monitoring was held in Armenia in connection with
the latest developments in Yerevan and the situation in the judicial
system. He did no divulge the results of the study as it has not been
completed yet.

"We will disclose our position after the facts regarding the hunger
strike by the Armenian politicians will be studied. There are no
concrete results in this regard yet," Sorden said.

SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS TO STATE BUDGET INCREASE BY 9.4%, OTHER REVENUES DECLINE BY 51.7% IN JANUARY-FRBRUARY 2008 ON SAME PERIOD OF 2007

Noyan Tapan
April 3

YEREVAN, APRIL 3, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA state budgetary revenues from
compulsory social security payments made over 13.5 bln drams (about
43.7 mln USD) in January-February 2008, which made up 60.7% of the
quarterly program of these revenues. Compulsory social security
payments grew by 9.4% or 1.2 bln drams as compared with the same
period of 2007.

According to the RA ministry of finance and economy, official grants
of 14.6 mln drams were received in the first two months of 2008 and
transferred to off-budget accounts of state institutions.

Other revenues of the state budget amounted to over 3.6 bln drams in
the indicated period, or 84.4% of the quarterly programmed index. This
relatively high index was ensured mainly thanks to distribution of
temporarily available budget resources and the revenues received as
a a result of the excess of incomes of the State Committee of the
Real Estate Cadastre over its expenditures, as well as thanks to
overfulfilment of the program of interest paid on deposits. Other
revenues declined by 51.7% or 3.9 bln drams as compared with the
same period of 2007. It was conditioned by the sum paid under the
reconciliation agrement signed with ArmenTel CJSC in 2007. Without
this sum, other revenues increased by 30% on the same period of 2007,
mainly due to a growth of revenues from off-budget incomes of state
bodies and fines paid for various offences.