Author: Toganian Liana

La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
30 juin 2004

Championnat d’Europe de racer au pylône ;
La base de loisirs de Payré va accueillir du samedi 3 au dimanche 11
juillet, une soixantaine de compétiteurs pour la treizième finale du
championnat d’Europe et le trophée de l’Arc Atlantique.

Le racer au pylône est une discipline très spectaculaire des modèles
réduits de bateaux. Le prototype est animé par un moteur à explosion
deux temps qui est alimenté par un carburant à base d’alcool
méthylique et d’huile de ricin.

Lors de son apparition aux Etats Unis, les courses se disputaient en
ligne droite. Les moteurs devenant de plus en plus performants, ce
genre d’exercice devenait dangereux. On a eu alors l’idée de relier
le racer par un cble à un pylône, d’où le nom de ces compétitions.

Le racer au pylône a été importé en France en 1935 et a connu le
succès parce que cette forme de modélisme est économique, puisqu’il
n’y a pas de radio commande ni d’appareillage compliqué, que l’engin
est sobre en carburant et qu’un bassin de 40 x 40 m est suffisant
pour pratiquer.

Le modèle tourne sur un circuit d’un peu plus de quinze mètres de
rayon et sa vitesse est chronométrée sur cinq cents mètres, soit cinq
tours, dès l’instant où le concurrent estime que son engin a atteint
sa vitesse maximum, les vitesses réelles peuvent atteindre les 280
km/h. Les compétiteurs sont classés par catégories selon la vitesse
et en deux spécialités : hélice marine, et hélice aérienne.

Les Iles-de-Payré sont habituées à accueillir des compétitions de
haut niveau. Le premier rendez-vous européen avait réuni en 1997
seulement trois nations : le Royaume-Uni, l’Arménie et la France.

Cette année, le club organisateur, le Modèle circulaire marin France
va accueillir une soixantaine de passionnés représentants seize
nations. Il y aura là plusieurs détenteurs de différents titres
européens et mondiaux, qu’ils soient Arméniens, Ukrainiens, Bulgares,
Russes ou encore Anglais ou Italiens. Cette semaine servira également
au club de répétition en vue de la réception en 2005 des championnats
du monde.

Parmi les favoris, on peut citer l’Arménien Hratchia Shahazizian,
ingénieur à la Cité des Etoiles de Moscou, recordman du monde, les
Russes Vadislav Subbotin et Alexander Ivanin ou le Bulgare Jivko
Tcatcankov, champion de monde 2003.

Jim Free, champion d’Angleterre, Giovanni-Baptista Frare, ancien
champion d’Italie seront présents et la France comptera sur Pierre
Barbotin, 3e des championnats du monde 2001 et recordman de France
avec 242 km/h, et les juniors Etienne Blaud, champion de France 2003
et Julien Kantardjian, recordman de France (212 km/h).

Chez les féminines on suivra avec intérêt le duel entre la Bulgare
Diana Ubinova, championne du monde 2003 et l’Arménienne Gayane
Shahazizian, trois fois championne du monde juniors.

Le programme

– Samedi 3 et dimanche 4 juillet : de 14 heures à 19 heures, accueil,
enregistrement et entraînements.

– Lundi 5, de 10 heures à 20 heures, et mardi 6 juillet, de 9 heures
à 20 heures, manches de compétition.

– Mercredi 7 juillet : repos.

– Jeudi 8 et vendredi 9 juillet, de 9 heures à 20 heures, suite des
manches.

– Samedi 10 juillet, à 10 heures, remise des prix.

GRAPHIQUE: Image: Hratchia Shahazizian, champion du monde toutes
catégories et recordman du monde.

The Times (London)
June 28, 2004, Monday

Wherever you go people want to bend your ear. Erica Wagner takes up
the tale

by Erica Wagner

Thought the festival season was over? Think again. Sure, you’ve done
books at Hay-on-Wye and mud at Glastonbury. But don’t give up yet
-the best is yet to come, with festivals and performances that bring
something out of the ordinary across the country.

This year’s Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival in
the Vale of Glamorgan (July 2-4, 01446 799100) promises to be another
corker. Last year was this wonderful festival’s tenth anniversary,
but its directors clearly have no intention of resting on their
laurels.

Every year the gorgeous setting of St Donats Castle (home to Atlantic
College) hosts a remarkable gathering of storytellers from all over
the world -artists of the revival of this vibrant form as well as
bearers of living oral tradition.

Within the castle’s walls, and in the beautiful landscaped gardens
that surround them, you will be able to experience the art of Ai
Churek, a female Tuvan shaman from southern Siberia. She will be
working with Karashay (below) -Tuvan throat singers collaborating
with Steven Kent, master of the Australian Aboriginal didjeridu.
Praline Gay-Para, a one-woman whirlwind, tells stories from all over
the world, including Freeze-Frame Beirut, a guided tour of her native
city which, she says, has forgotten its true identity.

Mike Burns is an Irish storyteller and aikido master living in
Montreal; he tells stories heard from his father in Gaelic and Irish
English. He is funny, magical, mysterious. There will also be the
“Young Storyteller of the Year” competition, presided over by Jan
Blake, one of Britain’s premier tellers, and talks by Professor
Ronald Hutton, an authority on myth and shamanism, and Jeanette
Winterson. More wondrous tales can be found at the latest series of
Stories within Stories at the Barbican Pit in London (July 7-9, 0845
1207598). This summer you’ll be able to catch a real masterpiece: the
Company of Storytellers (Hugh Lupton, Pomme Clayton and Ben Haggarty)
are reviving their astonishing adaptation of the Grimm tales, The
Three Snake Leaves.

Book early -then head back to the countryside for the 13th annual
Festival at the Edge in Much Wenlock, Shropshire (July 16-18, 01939
236626). This festival takes place in a lovely greenfield site and
includes workshops, story rounds and sessions for those who want to
take part.

Here you’ll find A Spell in Time, a unique British-Bulgarian
performing arts company comprising Moni Sheehan, storyteller and
dancer, Ivor Davies, musician, and Dessislava Stefanova, singer, who
perform works including The Dark-Eyed Warrior, a gripping tale of a
man who finds a bride but loses his heart.

Also appearing are Vergine Gulbenkian, a young British storyteller of
Armenian origin; Hugh Lupton, one of Britain’s finest storytellers;
and the wonderful, unpredictable TUUP -The Unorthodox, Unprecedented
Preacher. A children’s festival runs in parallel with the Edge, so
there’s something for everyone.

Afterglow Circus Arts, a group of young stilt-walkers, jugglers and
unicyclists, will also be appearing at the Festival at the Edge -but
if circus arts and street theatre are your passions, you might want
to try the Winchester Hat Fair, now in its 30th year (July 1-4; 01962
849841). It began as a buskers’ festival in Covent Garden, but one of
the performers, Jonathan Kay, took it to his home town. Hat Fair
brings Winchester to life with its breathtaking stunts, specialist
circus acts, clowning and world music. Highlights include the UK
premiere of Producciones Imperdible’s Mirando Al Cielo from Andalucia
-they are an innovative dance company who will perform on a glass
stage while the audience is seated comfortably below. What’s more,
the whole festival is free.

* For information on national storytelling events, contact the Crick
Crack Club, [email protected]

27 June 2004

Bush Has Productive Meetings in Turkey, Senior Official Says
President meets with Turkish government, religious leaders

By David Anthony Denny
Washington File Staff Writer

Istanbul, Turkey — President George Bush had “very good meetings” with
Turkey’s president and prime minister in Ankara June 27, according to a
senior administration official.

Briefing the press on background at the Conrad Hotel, the official said that
Bush’s meetings with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdowan “show that from this moment forward, Turkey sees its
aims in Iraq as parallel and consistent with” the United States. The
official said the leaders discussed territorial integrity of Iraq, and Bush
said the subject was of critical importance to the United States.

The leaders also talked about PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) terrorists,
which operates out of Kurdish-occupied northern Iraq. Bush agreed that the
PKK is a terrorist organization, and said the United States wants to work
with Turkey to combat the group.

Bush expressed sympathy over the three Turkish workers kidnapped in Iraq
recently, the senior official said. Bush told the Turkish leaders that the
kidnapping “demonstrates the kind of enemies we’re dealing with” — those
who “seek to export chaos” to Iraq and elsewhere. International community
needs to unite to combat this threat, according to the senior official.

On the subject of Cyprus, which is now in its 30th year of division into
Greek and Turkish enclaves, Bush thanked Turkey for its “extraordinary”
efforts, the senior administration official said. United Nations Secretary
General Kofi Annan had come up with a good plan to end the division, and the
Turkish government and Turkish Cypriots “did a lot to promote this plan,”
though it was rejected by Greek Cypriots, the official said.

The U.S. and Turkish officials also discussed the Broader Middle East
Initiative, the senior official said. He noted that Erdogan had gone to the
Group of Eight summit in Sea Island, Georgia, to support the initiative.
Turkey’s a secular democracy with a Muslim majority, the official said, and
while perhaps not a model for the entire Middle East, the country
demonstrates that secular democracy can flourish in a Muslim society.

After leaving the Turkish capital and flying to Istanbul, Bush met with
several of the ancient city’s religious leaders, said the senior official.
Included in the group were the government’s general director of religious
affairs, an Islamic mufti, the chief rabbi, and Assyrian, Armenian, and
Greek Orthodox metropolitans. He said the meeting with religious leaders
also went very well. Its purpose was to recognize the contributions to the
city’s life by religious minority groups, some of which have been part of
Istanbul for centuries.

Afterward, Bush met with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. This
was, in the senior official’s words, “a terrific meeting.” He added that the
Summit was “closing in on a number of really strong” positive
accomplishments. He predicted that they may include:

— A NATO statement announcing agreement on training mission in Iraq,
containing a positive answer to last week’s request from Iraqi Prime
Minister Ayad Alawi for NATO to train Iraqi troops;

— Expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for
Afghanistan, moving outside of Kabul with Provincial Reconstruction Teams
(PRT’s).

— An Istanbul Declaration on how NATO’s expanding to meet challenges of
21st century;

— A NATO contribution to President Bush’s Broader Middle East Initiative;
and

— NATO will mark the coming termination of its mission in Bosnia after nine
years.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information
Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: )

Burbank Leader , CA
LATimes.com
June 26 2004

Officials keep parade date
Burbank on Parade keeps date, but will consider move in 2010 and
2021 to avoid overlap with Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

By Jackson Bell, The Leader

BURBANK – Burbank on Parade will continue its tradition of running on
the fourth Saturday in April, but will reopen talks of rescheduling
the parade the next time it conflicts with Armenian Genocide
Remembrance Day on April 24.

Keeping the fourth Saturday in April is necessary because other
events and holidays – including Fire Service Day and National Police
Week, school band competitions and Easter weekend – make it difficult
to permanently switch the parade, event Chairwoman Joanne Miller said
Friday. But the parade will consider rescheduling in 2010 and 2021,
the next two years the occasions coincide.

The somber day of remembrance is a time when many of the city’s
estimated 10,000 Armenian-American residents spend the day at homes,
churches or rallies throughout the area, remembering victims who died
during the 1915 massacre, local Armenian leaders said. The parade
this year was on April 24 and drew criticism from the Armenian-
American community.

“My personal opinion is that this is the best decision because the
parade will go in a normal fashion without upsetting every other
community event or school event,” Miller said. “And at the same time,
it’s not offending the Armenian-American community by disregarding
their day of mourning.”

Miller met with about a dozen parade organizers, leaders of the
city’s Armenian-American community and city officials Thursday to
discuss the parade organizers’ decision.

Some Armenian-American leaders, however, felt the parade’s proximity
to April 24 still will exclude many in their community who are
usually active in various activities to commemorate the genocide.

“It’s very ironic that it is supposed to be an opportunity to bring
all Burbank together and the net result is to exclude some 10% of the
community,” said Garen Yegparian, chairman of community relations for
the Armenian National Committee’s Burbank chapter.

The controversy started in mid-February, when organizers failed to
consider the conflict when setting this year’s parade to run April
24.

The planning gaffe upset the Armenian-American community and prompted
Mayor Marsha Ramos to have a meeting April 1 to open dialogue between
the two sides.

Planning was too far along to change the date, because $25,000 was
already spent and the parade was already being publicized when the
error was discovered, officials said.

Ramos said Thursday’s meeting ended the three months of dialogue to
resolve the conflict.

“Both sides came to the terms they discussed very thoroughly,” she
said. “Because they were involved in the decision-making process,
there is a clear direction for the future.”

ArmeniaNow.com
25 June 2004

Drams and Drama: Armenians bet EuroCup is a cash championship

By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter

Football fever means gambling fever in Armenia, as EuroCup 2004 brings
out the bettors in numbers that would defy impressions of a country
suffering economic hardship.

“In the streets of Yerevan people talk only about money won or lost as a
result of betting,” says 46-year-old engineer Albert Arakelyan “They say
people win from $20,000 to $50,000. I have no idea whether I should believe
or not as I myself have hardly won $40 and then on a bet that was a little
less than that sum.”

Throughout the capital, storefronts that might once have been cafes or shops
have been turned into gambling parlors since June 12, when the first round
of European Championship play began. Punters are invited to risk their drams
at places called “Toto”, “Eurofootball”, “Vivaro” or “Parimatch”.

“It took a little time (almost three years) for this new phenomenon to
successfully find a place in lives of Armenians, especially within the last
time period,” says the manager of one of the Vivaro parlors. “And then when
they are opened and begin functioning it means that it is done exactly at
the proper time and people need them.”

During every football match gambling parlors turn into small football fields
with passionate fans and game-addicts. Ten to 15 minutes before a match
begins (which, here, means midnight) people queue to get to a person who
registers their bets. After that heavy smoke of cigarettes begins gently
curling in the air and throughout the hall the smell of beer mixes with the
smoke and the noise of hope riding on the feet of foreigners.

Vardan Sargsyan, 31, says he prefers watching matches at gambling parlors
with his friends, because at home there’s a struggle for the TV with women
and children of the house.

“Of course, I make my bets but I don’t bet for money. I like watching
matches. And when you bet you get all excited in watching matches,” he says.

This EuroCup season (it occurs every four years), Armenians have also
discovered on-line betting ().

Artur Lazarian, manager of an Internet club in Echmiadsin, says 40 visitors
a day come to check their winnings and loses in cyberspace.

Plenty of places for betting on football
“Many of them visit the club many times a day. And often when they see they
lost they begin to curse, forgetting where they are,” Lazarian says.

Though emphatically a male-dominated environment, a few brave Armenian women
have cracked the gender boundaries of football gambling.

Lianna Manukyan, 25, says she was infected with football fever by her
husband, Ashot. They make bets together and are fairly successful.

“It is easy money. You win without spending, of course, it is necessary to
make bets constantly,” she says.

Football gamblers are offered a variety of betting opportunities, including:
Which side would win, which side would score, in what minute a team would
score, who would score the goal, would there be a penalty kick, would there
be yellow card . . . Every bet has its odds.

Anahit Margaryan, 40, complains that under age children, including her 13
year old son, become involved in football wagering.

A note “bets are not taken from those under age of 18” is attached in every
such gambling parlor. However, the reality is different.

Anahit’s son, Vahe, says if parents give him 100 drams (about 2 cents) he
together with his friends runs to make bets.

“Sometimes we win, and go to eat ice cream,” he says.

OSCE mediators concerned over truce violations on Azeri-Armenian border

Arminfo
25 Jun 04

YEREVAN

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group for the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict are concerned over the situation on the
border between Armenia’s Tavush Region and Azerbaijan’s Qazax
District.

The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, has
said in an interview with Regnum news agency that the OSCE co-chairs
are concerned over the situation in the area of the water reservoir
[on the border]. “In our assessments we are guided by the reports of
Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the OSCE’s
chairman-in-office, who monitored the contact line between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces on 12-15 June,” Merzlyakov
noted. The co-chairman said that on the basis of his reports, the
envoys of the OSCE Minsk Group countries in Baku and Yerevan had
informed the presidents about their concerns and called on them to
prevent the escalation of tension. “The conclusion is as follows –
the cease-fire is being violated, and this has to be stopped as soon
as possible,” the Russian co-chairman noted.

Newly-formed agency to ensure security of Armenian MPs

Mediamax news agency
24 Jun 04

YEREVAN

Beginning from 1 July the Armenian National Assembly building’s
security will be provided by employees of the state guard service
(SGS), the chairman of the standing parliamentary commission on
defence, national security and internal affairs, Mger Shakhgeldyan,
said today.

The parliamentarian said that the SGS is being formed on the basis of
the 10th department of the National Security Service under the
Armenian government, which is responsible for the security of the
president, parliament speaker, prime minister and other top officials.

According to Shakhgeldyan, the SGS is formed in accordance with the
law “On provision of security for persons subject to special state
guard” adopted at the end of last year.

The Halifax Daily News (Nova Scotia)
June 17, 2004 Thursday

Cheer for the Salseros;
Talented performers and food vie for attention at the Multicultural
Festival

by Gee, Skana

This show could be brought to you by the letter S … sassy, sexy
salsa stylings by the Halifax Salseros, at this week’s Nova Scotia
Multicultural Festival.

“It’s such a great festival and it’s going to be nice to add some
local salsa dancing to it,” says Cindy Davis. “We do something called
rueda. It’s like square dancing – there’s a caller, there are set
moves, but it’s to salsa music.”

A longtime dancer who caught the Latin groove a few years ago, Davis,
26, is also co-ordinator for the Halifax branch of Salsa Team Canada.

“It’s fun music – people like to move to it – and it’s a good partner
dance; it’s very social. And it’s different from the Latin dance
sport, which is very technical and strict. This is more forgiving,
it’s fun, it’s energetic.”

The Salseros join dozens of acts gracing Alderney Landing during the
festival, which kicked off last night and continues through Sunday,
June 20. There’s everything from tai chi demonstrations, Irish step
dancers and Sudanese thumb piano, to Polish folk dancing, Brazilian
percussion and South Asian pop. As well, the Myungji Traditional
Dance Company visits from Korea, along with Haik!, a children’s dance
troupe from Armenia.

To top it off, there are 50 exhibit booths, 28 food booths – forget
that diet, there’s no resisting! – a kids’ activity area, and a beer
tent.

The event, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, is a major
highlight for the more than 40 cultural groups that take part.

“This is the biggest event in their cultural life here – they try to
present their past,” says festival chairman Mukhtyar Tomar, who came
to Canada 36 years ago from India. “People want to learn about other
cultural communities. And the food is the biggest draw.”

This will be the third year Sue Woo of Baan Thai restaurant has
volunteered in the food tent with the Thai Association.

The preparation takes days – spring rolls and spicy noodles are on
the menu – but she says it’s worth it: “Everybody knows Chinese food,
but some people say ‘What is Thai food?'”

Woo loves it when fest-goers ask questions because “that means
they’re interested in Thai culture.”

The festival was born in 1984 when the Multicultural Association of
Nova Scotia celebrated its own 10th anniversary with an evening of
ethnic food and performances, recalls Tomar.

“People enjoyed it so thoroughly, we were looking for something to do
year after year,” he says.

The festival started small the following year at the Technical
University of Nova Scotia, moving to the Dartmouth waterfront in
1987. It’s been there since – except for an experiment at the
Garrison Grounds in 1993 – growing to the point where it draws more
than 40,000 people.

Along with expanding to five days, the fest has also started a Focus
on Youth Day, expected to attract hundreds of school kids tomorrow.
It’ll feature music, performances, a spoken-word workshop with HFX’s
Shauntay Grant, crafts, and, of course, food.

“We’re celebrating 20 years of diversity and friendship – I am so
thrilled,” says Tomar.

Admission is $6 for adults, $5 students/seniors, $1 for kids five to
12. Visit

Envoy Vague On Reported U.S. Push For Karabakh Peace
By Hrach Melkumian and Karine Kalantarian 18/06/2004 11:14

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
June 18 2004

U.S. Ambassador John Ordway stopped short Thursday of explicitly
confirming or refuting reports that the United States is pushing for
a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that would require an
Armenian pullout from occupied Azerbaijani lands before agreement on
the disputed region’s status.

Armenian opposition leaders and some media have claimed over the past
week that Washington has suggested that Azerbaijan lift its economic
blockade of Armenia in exchange for getting back three of its seven
districts surrounding Karabakh which were occupied by Armenian forces
during the 1991-94 war. They said the plan was put forward by Steven
Mann, the U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, during a visit to
Yerevan late last month.

The speculation was heightened by Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian’s
talks in Washington this week with U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell and President George W. Bush’s top national security adviser,
Condoleeza Rice. The U.S. State Department said Karabakh topped the
agenda of the talks.

Asked by RFE/RL to comment on the claims, Ordway said: “The [U.S.,
French and Russian] co-chairs have not made any specific proposals in
this most recent round of discussions and negotiations. Normally it’s
not my role or responsibility to comment on the work of the co-chairs.
So I think that’s the best answer I can provide to you and still
not start going into the details of the negotiations, which is not
appropriate for me to do.”

“But if [my interpreter] has done his job and you look at it very
carefully, I think you will find the answer to your question,” he
added without elaborating.

Azerbaijani officials had said earlier that the conflicting parties and
the international mediators are discussing the possibility of reverting
to the so-called “step-by-step” strategy of conflict resolution,
preferred by Baku. Armenian officials have not explicitly denied this,
while making it clear that they still stand for a “package” peace
accord on all contentious issues, including Karabakh’s status. Oskanian
and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mamedyarov, are scheduled to
meet in Prague on June 21 for the third time this year.

Ordway said it is up to the conflicting parties to choose between
the package and phased formulas. “Either variant would be fine with
us if it produced a settlement,” he said.

The Prague talks will take place against the backdrop of an escalation
of tension on the westernmost section of the heavily militarized border
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Armenian military has reported
that one of its officers was shot dead in a clash with Azerbaijani
forces last week. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry admitted on Wednesday
that its troops also sustained casualties.

“But the enemy suffered more,” the ministry spokesman, Ramiz Melikov,
told RFE/RL. “We don’t want to talk about numbers. They are not
important.” Melikov denied Armenian claims that the Azerbaijani army
violated the regime of ceasefire in the area by occupying a hill
in a no-man’s land overlooking a major water reservoir in Armenia’s
northeastern Tavush region.

But Colonel-General Mikael Harutiunian, chief of the Armenian army
staff, insisted on Yerevan’s version of events according to which
Armenian units had to dig in closer to the Azerbaijani positions to
forestall any damage to a facility which pumps irrigation water to
nearby villages. Harutiunian was due to visit Tavush later on Thursday.

Ordway described the fighting as “very worrisome” and urged both
sides to exercise “restraint.”

Armenian Proposals For Extra U.S. To Be Ready ‘Next Month’
By Gevorg Stamboltsian 17/06/2004 03:45

Radio Free Press, Czech Republic
June 17 2004

Prime Minister Andranik Markarian said on Wednesday the Armenian
government will finalize by the end of next month its proposals for
the use of additional U.S. government assistance which it will likely
receive under Washington’s Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
program.

Markarian spoke after chairing the first meeting of an ad hoc
commission of senior government officials which is tasked with
assessing the country’s urgent needs, discussing possible ways of
meeting them with the promised extra U.S. aid and submitting a
relevant plan to the American side.

Under the terms of the MCA, Armenia and 15 other developing nations
selected by the U.S. government last spring must themselves specify
how much money they need and how they would use it. Top executives
from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which runs the scheme
visited Yerevan late last month for the first discussions on the
subject with Armenian officials.

They made it clear that the aid allocation to Armenia is not a
forgone conclusion and will depend on the quality of the proposals.
According to senior U.S. diplomats, it will also be contingent on the
improvement of Yerevan’s “poor” human rights record.

Speaking to journalists, Markarian said that the government would
like to primarily spend the MCA funds on the reconstruction of the
battered infrastructure of the country’s impoverished rural regions
that have hardly benefited from recent years’ economic growth. He
said that would mean rebuilding schools, countryside roads and
irrigation networks. “All of these programs must be in line with our
[12-year] poverty reduction strategy,” he said.

Asked how much the Armenian side expects to get from the MCC, he
said: “It is too early to talk about sums [of money]. But according
to our preliminary estimates, [the government will ask for] between
$500 million and $600 million in the next five years.”

Finance and Economy Minister Vartan Khachatrian came up last week
with an even more ambitious aid target: $700 million, of which $100
million should be made available as early as this year. But he was
more cautious and vague in his comments on Wednesday. “Even [the MCC]
don’t know what will happen,” he said.

Khachatrian reiterated that the government commission in charge of
the MCA is open to proposals from Armenian non-governmental
organizations. He complained that it has received only two aid
projects so far.

Armenia has already received over $1.5 billion in regular U.S.
assistance since independence. It will get at least $78.4 million
worth of further assistance in the course of this year.