Author: Topchian Jane

RAFFI HOVHANISSIAN BELIEVES THAT OPPOSITION SHOULD MAKE ANALYSES NOT TO REPEAT MAY 12 POLITICAL MISTAKE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Noyan Tapan
Jun 15 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The opposition should make a serious
analysis not to repeat the political mistakes of May 12 in the
presidential elections, that is to say, taking part in the elections
separately. This was announced by Raffi Hovhannisian, the head of
the "Zharangutiun" (Heritage) party and the homonimic parliamentary
faction, at the June 15 press conference.

Stressing that the "Zharangutiun" (Heritage) party is a pro-Armenian
opposition force, he said: "We want our country to be free, our
government to be accountable to the Armenian people and the public
servants to devote all their efforts to their work."

R. Hovhannisian declared that the "Zharangutiun" (Heritage) party
will decide its position concerning the issues raised in the National
Assembly through public discussions and debates. In his opinion, "it is
a little bit artificial when the heads of the factions express modelled
points of view on behalf of their colleagues." Raffi Hovhannisian
believes that public debates will give the people an opportunity to
take part in the process of making important political decisions.

He mentioned that the faction will actively take part in the sittings
of the National Assembly from September, introduce a number of
legislative bills, and raise issues concerning the reform of the
educational sphere and the release of political prisoners.

LAWYERS CLAIM PROCEDURAL VIOLATIONS IN "COUP PLOTTERS" CASES
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
June 15 2007

Legal representatives of Karabakh war veterans charged with plotting
a coup claim their clients should have been released from pre-trial
detention after its term legally expired early this week.

Zhirayr Sefilian and Vartan Malkhasian were arrested and charged with
calling for a "violent overthrow" of government in early December. A
lower court had set the term for their pre-trial detention until
June 10.

Now Vahe Grigorian and Mushegh Shushanian claim their clients have
been kept in custody since then illegally as the term of their arrest
has not been prolonged by court.

They criticized the legal practice of Armenian law-enforcers and
claimed their actions contradict the European Convention on Human
Rights and the national legislation.

"It turns out that people are, in fact, kept in custody without any
court sanction," Grigorian said. "Similar situations have become a
tradition in Armenia’s penitentiaries and Armenian courts do not pay
any attention to this circumstance."

The two lawyers have sent letters to Armenia’s prosecutor-general
and justice minister pointing out the procedural violations.

Spokesperson for the Prosecutor-General’s Office Sona Truzian told
RFE/RL that they do not see anything unlawful in the actions of the
law-enforcers as they were guided by the provision of the code of
criminal procedure according to which the term of pre-trial detention
ends upon the judge’s accepting the case for proceedings.

No one at the Ministry of Justice could provide clear explanations
over the lawyers’ assertions.

A Yerevan lower court on Friday confirmed that prosecutors had
submitted the cases of Sefilian and Malkhasian within the time
stipulated by law.

Mnatsakan Petrosian will be the judge in the proceedings. It is yet
unknown when the proceedings will begin. Information on this regard
is expected to be announced early next week.

The prosecution, meanwhile, has subpoenaed 30 witnesses to be
involved in the trial of Sefilian, who is also charged with an illegal
possession of arms.

According to Sefilian’s lawyer, this shows the prosecutors’ desire
to protract the trial as the process can do without so many witnesses.

"The National Security Service has the video and audio records of the
meeting during which Sefilian allegedly made calls for overthrowing
the government," Grigorian explained.

RUSSIAN VTB BANK INTENDS TO IMPLEMENT INVESTMENT PROJECTS IN ARMENIA FOR TOTAL OF $500,000

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 14 2007

YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. The Russian VTB Bank intends to implement
investment projects in Armenia for total of $500,000, the President
of Bank VTB OJSC Andrey Kostin said at the opening of the new branch
of Bank VTB (Armenia).

The Bank is quite interested in carrying out investment activities
in Armenia, Kostin said.

"Today we elaborate investment projects in the spheres of energy,
transport, air transport service, gas sector, as well as in mining
operations," he said. Kostin added these are real plans that are
discussed at high level and will be implemented shortly.

Bank VTB (Armenia) CJSC (Armsberbank before) was founded in 1923. Up to
1993 it was a member of the State Sberbank of USSR, and then it became
a specialized Sberbank of Armenia. In 2001, the bank was privatized as
Armsberbank through direct purchase by ARCH Limited (Bagamian Islands)
and MIKA Armenia Trading. In April 2004 the Russian Vneshtorgbank
purchased 70% of the shares of Armsberbank.

According to the official balance sheet data, as of March 31 2007
the total capital of Bank VTB (Armenia) made AMD9.5bln, total assets
AMD43.6bln, balance sheet profit AMD 1.6bln and the profit by the
end of 1st quarter 2007 made AMD160.2mln. ($1 = AMD347.73)

SHEN-CONCERN STARTS DIFFICULT WAY OF INNOVATOR
Emmanuil Mkrtchian

ArmInfo
2007-06-14 01:29:00

Armenian "Shen Concern" CJSC, leader in the production of building
materials in Armenia, issued nominal, non-documentary and discount
bonds in December of 2006. It is the first industrial enterprise
in Armenia to enter the open market of debentures with corporate
bonds. The total nominal cost of the bonds is 160 million. The
bonds will be placed by four equal tranches worth 40 million drams
each. 4,000 bonds with 10,000 drams face value will be issued on each
tranche. The underwriter is Ecapital Asset Management CJSC.

ArmInfo’s correspondent interviews Director General of Ecapital Asset
Management Alexander Sahakyan on the topic of the first experience of
"Shen-Concern" in the market and the prospects of its development.

Would you tell about the mission of your company in the placement of
the Concern’s bonds in the market?

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has become a
shareholder of "Shen-Concern" acquiring a 36pct stake in it. Let’s
agree that a 36pct stake is not the very package for influencing the
activity of an enterprise in Armenia. So, EBRD has become a shareholder
of "Shen-Concern" through making private equity investments only
subject to introducing corporate management principles to protect
its interests. A year ago we started considering the Concern’s entry
into the stock market. We appreciated the necessity that there is
money in the market but the places where this money can be earned are
limited. These are construction and real estate markets, as well as
the finance and banking sphere. However, the financial market lacked
the instruments able to absorb the money. "Shen-Concern" has serious
business ambitions. That is, the company has strong projects requiring
resources. A question arises – what alternatives did the Concern have
for attraction of these resources except bank credits and shareholders
like EBRD? There is one alternative.

The company should attract funds from the capital market through
issue of corporate bonds. Such was the ideology of the bond issue.

Why just "Shen-Concern" was chosen as an innovator?

The point is that "Shen-Concern" has high standards of management
procedures that are automated, high cash inflows and transparent
activity.

Being a CJSC, the concern has neither "shadow" nor double-entry
bookkeeping. The new shareholder EBRD has perfected these
procedures. The most important in the concern’s work is the exactly
differentiated functions of the management and the owners. Only the
administrative body is engaged in management. Thus, a classical culture
of corporate management has been established at the company. All
this allowed drawing a conclusion that "Shen-Concern" is ready to
issue its own securities. Without fulfilling the above conditions,
the entry into the open market would be unreal as the market has its
own laws and even own psychology.

Is the concern holding down its competitive position in the market
of building materials known for the high level of monopolization?

This issue has been repeatedly discussed. The market positions of
"Shen-Concern" are rather strong. Once we conducted a marketing
research and arrived at a conclusion that the concern is really strong
in production of staple goods. Of course, price policy may have a
definite impact on the situation, but the quality of the products is
competitive even in the region (Turkey, Georgia and UAE). The concern
is fully competitive in the Russian market and even in Eastern Europe.

160 million drams is not a big sum for bond issue.

"Shen-Concern" Council was concerned over the expediency of borrowing
some 160 million drams from the market because that would not increase
the financial flows of the company. But there were two tasks; the
first was a "mercantile" one, if I may say so.

"Shen-Concern" had a credit under 13% annual interests. So, the company
intended to reduce the debt replacing the credit with corporate bonds
for the same 160 million drams. The second task was strategic i.e. to
enter the market to study it and to introduce itself. That is why the
programme of the first bond issue became pilot and the second task
really proved to be more important than the first one. After all,
it is no secret that all the industrial enterprises and even open
joint stock companies avoid entering the open market unlike the
CJSC "Shen-Concern" that decided to become an accountable emitter
well-aware of the burden it would have to assume. I am sure that
the programme will be successfully implemented. Moreover, given the
healthy ambitions of the Concern leadership, I think the next serious
step will be an entry to IPO market.

Would you comment on CB’s project of bank access to the investment
market and on the other steps aiming promotion of the country’s stock
exchange market?

The Armenian CB has made several very important steps to stimulate
this process and "Shen-Concern" is in the lead of it. First, it
started rating industrial enterprises though it was not among the
functions of the regulator. But, in the short-term outlook it is a
very important element of market stimulation.

Why?

The scheme is evident. Banks have always had an opportunity to work
with corporate securities though they have always been restricted with
5% of the capital. It is another matter that the regulator estimated
the transactions on corporate securities as risky and requiring
provisioning. Thus, investment banking was banned from the point of
view of regulation and risk management. Starting rating enterprises,
the CB declared that banks will work on preferential conditions
with debt securities having high rating and the CB will not demand
provisioning. Second, the CB went to even greater lengths and declared
that it is ready to participate in this process as a creditor in the
last resort and admit these securities as instruments for repurchase
agreements. Thus, CB created potential demand for securities in the
market. It is the most important positive step the CB has made.

At what stage is the process of bond introduction into the market?

Four tranches of bonds worth 40 million each will be placed in
the market.

The first tranche was placed last Wednesday. Armswissbank and our
company that is the underwriter and market maker of the process have
acquired by 50% of the tranche. Starting from Tuesday, the bonds will
be sold and purchased at the Armenian Exchange. These would not be
artificial transactions, but a real purchase-and-sale in order to
create demand for the instrument in the market. Anyway, the buyer
of these bonds will gain much profit. The risks are low, while the
instrument is highly liquid. Banks can acquire them and use when
signing repurchase agreements with CB. The profit is high enough –
9%-annual interests. The issued bonds will be totally placed in the
market in May. If everything is a success, the concern may issue
additional bonds.

Would you tell about the tasks and missions of Ecapital Asset
Management?

First, I’d like to speak of the market. Operators in the market are
known to operate with foreign exchange and state bonds. Investment
companies will not be able to work seriously until the enterprises
in Armenia enter IPO market. They must start working like we did
i.e. from the lowest degree.

It is necessary to raise the awareness of companies of the privileges
of this market and to lead them up to the first issue.

We should admit that there are no relevant specialists in the country
and no asset management institution has been formed so far. On
the other hand, asset manager without a stock market is the chief
accountant or the chief financial officer for a tax inspectorate at
best. That is why the major task of our company for the coming two
years is to create our brand i.e. a company providing high quality
services. We have started with underwriting, search for potential
emitters and their introduction into the market. Then, we will start
attracting assets to manage them both in the Armenian and foreign
markets. We are currently negotiating with a number of British
companies for investment in the capital of our company. A foreign
shareholder is necessary for the company’s further development,
for an alternative system of pension security will operate in the
country soon.

Investment funds will be created and managers will be required for
them. Our company must be ready for it.

Thank you for interview.

KOCHARIAN FIRES DEPUTY CHIEF OF POLICE
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
June 13 2007

Official sources at Armenia’s police avoid naming reasons for the
unexpected dismissal of their influential deputy chief so far deemed
loyal to the authorities.

Lieutenant-General Hovannes Varian was relived of his duties by a
decree of President Robert Kocharian announced late on Tuesday.

Conflicting speculations have been made since regarding the possible
reasons behind Varian’s departure from the police system. Problems
with health were mentioned among such reasons.

Varian’s denial of the news about his imminent dismissal on Tuesday
added to the speculations about his disagreement with the chief of
police, Hayk Harutiunian, which, according to some sources, may have
happened as early as ten days ago.

One of the duties of Varian, who has held high positions in the system
for more than a decade, was to police public order.

He is known to have personally ordered a dispersal of an opposition
public rally in April 2004 that resulted in gross police violence
against demonstrators and a number of media representatives covering
the event.

There has been no indication that Varian may have been fired over
police failures to disclose a whole series of high-profile crimes in
the recent period or over the recent death in custody of a young man.

Varian is also known to have been in charge of arms licensing in the
republic. A newspaper publication a month ago alleged that a massive
re-registration of weapons was being on in Armenia. However, officials
avoid speaking about any gross violations revealed in the process,
which may have led to Varian’s sacking.

According to yet unconfirmed reports, the former deputy chief of police
may soon be appointed head of the Rescue Service at the Ministry of
Local Government.

Meanwhile, by another decree signed by President Kocharian on Tuesday,
chief of presidential staff Armen Gevorgian was appointed Secretary
of the National Security Council.

India Today
June 11, 2007

The Mughals Revisited

by Gillian Wright

These narratives by priests, merchants and adventurers greatly
influenced western ideas about India

BEYOND THE THREE SEAS: TRAVELLERS’ TALES OF MUGHAL INDIA
Edited by Michael H. Fisher
Random House
Price: Rs 350, Pages: 219

Generally I thoroughly approve of recycling – be it paper, glass,
plastic or aluminum. But I am not always sure about literary
recycling. A number of Europeans wrote accounts of their travels in
India during the time of the Great Mughals. These accounts, happily
for publishers, are long out of copyright. The principal
ones – Tavernier, Bernier, Manucci and Monserrate – are still in print
and readily available in Delhi bookshops. So for me it is a bit of a
mystery why Random House India would publish Michael H. Fisher’s
abridged versions of these accounts together with those of six other
travellers. I suppose anthologies are always considered a good bet.

The writers in this one – priests, merchants and adventurers from
Italy, Russia, Spain, France and England – did have lively and varied
experiences of different regions of India between the period before
Babur took over and the reign of Shah Jahan. Fisher allows them to
speak for themselves – in fact rather too much for themselves. Apart
from an extended introduction, he does not attempt to contextualise
their stories. Bearing in mind that these writers were unfamiliar
with India and often made mistakes, and the gulf of time between them
and today’s reader, explanatory notes would have been worthwhile.

In his introduction Fisher makes a valid point that these narratives
were written with an eye on being published in Europe and furthering
the interests of the writers. They were important because they
greatly influenced western ideas of what India was like. Fisher also
expresses some wonder at the fact that Indian travellers abroad
during this period did not publish accounts of their travels. He
forgets the Mughals never used a printing press. The great Mughals
had libraries but they were hand-written. Who knows what narrative
accounts have been lost to us because they were mere manuscripts.

Fisher’s chosen European travellers were certainly bowled over by
Incredible India, while, looking at most of them, few if any Indians
would have realised how important Europe was going to become to
India. Take for example the 16th-Century Russian horse trader Afanasy
Nikitin, who believed in a gookook bird that killed men by perching
on their houses.

His account is brief but stunning.

`The land is overstocked with people,’ he sagely remarks before
embarking on a description of the goings on in a bootkhana, which
Fisher wrongly glosses as a place for bhoots or demons. Butkhana
(room for images) is an Urdu word for a temple.

Then there is the merchant Cesare Federici who visits Vijaynagar and
is one of the first Europeans to describe a sati in detail. Friar
Sebastien Manrique (1585-1669) took a short cut from South-east Asia
to Rome by travelling across Bengal and up the Ganga. At a village
halt, one of his companions strangled two tame peacocks and to
conceal the crime they ate them for dinner. They all considered their
Hindu hosts’ respect for life ridiculous, but their hosts made sure
that the whole lot of them were thrown in jail and only bribery and
corruption saved the peacock-killer’s hand from being chopped off.

The Englishman, William Hawkins, in contrast, spoke Turkish and was
at home in the Mughal court. He accepted emperor Jahangir’s offer of
his Armenian ward’s hand in marriage, and warned the emperor against
the machinations of the Catholics. A generation earlier, the Jesuit
Father Antonio Monserrate had waited in vain for Akbar to convert to
Christianity ever since he dressed in Portuguese clothes one day.

These travellers were products of their times, and in those days
there was no such concept among European Christians as `multi-faith’.
But they were not simply bigots. Fisher argues that the western
response to India, even then, was nuanced, not monolithic. This
anthology supports his view that there were different kinds of men
with different levels of understanding then, just as there are today.

Kuwait Times, Kuwait
June 9 2007

Kuwaiti FM holds talks with Azerbaijan officials
Published Date: June 09, 2007

BAKU: Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr
Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah yesterday commended the `excellent’
relations his country had with Azerbaijan, saying that bilateral ties
were constantly growing stronger.
In a joint press conference with Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov, Sheikh Mohammad said cooperation between the two
countries was in line with commitment to international resolutions,
reminding of the Azeri support for Kuwait during its invasion by Iraq
in 1990.Kuwait, he said, is keen on boosting its relations with
Azerbaijan and thus established its embassy here last year. He also
noted the religious and cultural commonalties the two countries had,
as well as the fact that they were both small countries in a world of
instability.
Moreover, the Kuwaiti foreign minister said this was his second
meeting with Mammadyarov, where the two officials met in Kuwait in
January and discussed issues of interest to both sides. On today’s
talks, he said they were `fruitful and constructive’ and included
many innovative ideas.On the Nagorno-Karabakh province, Sheikh
Mohammad said that all parties had to respect UN Security Council
resolutions regarding this issue. Discussions also focused on the
importance of inter-cultural dialogue to correct the distorted image
of Islam, adding that Azerbaijan was an example of coexistence
between different religious sects.
Moreover, the two officials agreed on the importance of continued
visits of businessmen of the two countries and operating direct
flights between Baku and Kuwait City. On his part, the Azeri foreign
minister stressed the importance of further boosting bilateral
relations in the interest of the two countries. He also expressed
his country’s appreciation for Kuwait’s support on Azeri issues.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohammad met yesterday with Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev. During the meeting, Sheikh Mohammad conveyed the greetings of
HH the Amir, the government and the people of Kuwait to Aliyev and
the Azeri government and people, wishing the Muslim country greater
prosperity and advancement.
Earlier today, the Kuwaiti foreign minister held talks with Azeri
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and visited the Martyrs’ Cemetery,
where he placed a wreath of flowers. The Kuwaiti foreign minister had
arrived here on a two-day official visit on Thursday, accompanied by
Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa.
The two Gulf officials are on a tour that took them to South Korea
where they participated in the 6th Asian Cooperation Dialogue Forum,
and then to Uzbekistan, and finally in Azerbaijan. -KUNA

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenia made large forward move in sphere of democracy

09.06.2007 14:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President hosted head of OSCE Yerevan
Office Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, whose diplomatic mission to the
RA approached to its end, the Presidential Press Office reports. At
the meeting R. Kocharian thanked the diplomat for his productive work
in Armenia.

In his part Vladimir Pryakhin appreciated as effective his cooperation
with authorities and the civil society of Armenia. Touching the issue
of the May 12 parliamentarian elections, he underlined in fact, they
fully met democratic principles, and Armenia made a large forward
move.

BAKU TO MAKE OSCE MINSK GROUP’S RUSSIAN CO-CHAIRMAN ANSWERABLE

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
June 8 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / Òrend corr S. Aghayeva / Azerbaijan can hold
the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuri Merzlakov,
responsible due to his recent statement that Russia does not recognize
Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister,
Araz Azimov, stated to journalists in Baku on the 8th of June.

According to the data provided by Novosti-Armenia news agency on the
8th of June, the Russian co-chairman made the statement in Armenia.

He said, "For the time being Nagorno-Karabakh has not been recognized
on an international level as an independent state. Russia also has not
recognized the independence of Karabakh and recognizes territorial
sovereignty of Azerbaijan. However, it does not mean that Russia
recognizes Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan."

"In case the Russian co-chairman actually made such a statement,
Azerbaijan protests and considers Merzlakov to be exceeding his
authority," Azimov said. Merzlakov does not have any ground on making
such a statement contradicting international norms and principles.

"The statement also contradicts the official position of Russia,
which is a co-chair of the Minsk Group," deputy minister noted.

Azimov regarded the statement made before the forthcoming
meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents scheduled for
Saint-Petersburg as an irresponsible and provocative move. In case
the statement is proved, Azerbaijan will make Merzlakov answerable.

–Boundary_(ID_SyJqAPz9xq5QvMg+91M9qQ )–

PORTERFIELD CELEBRATES SHOCK WIN
Massimo Marzocchi

Scotsman, UK
June 7 2007

ARMENIA stunned Group A leaders Poland with a 1-0 win in the Euro
2008 qualifier in Yerevan yesterday.

Ian Porterfield celebrated his return to the helm of the Armenian
side after Hamlet Mkhitaryan’s 66th-minute free-kick flew past Celtic
goalkeeper Artur Boruc. "It is a great day for Armenian football,"
said the 61-year-old Scot, recovering after his battle with intestinal
cancer.

Former Rangers striker Jonatan Johansson helped Finland claim a 2-0
victory over Belgium, while Ruslan Baltiyev salvaged a 1-1 draw for
Kazakhstan at home to Azerbaijan.

Israel closed the gap on Croatia and Russia at the top of England’s
Group E with a 2-0 win in Andorra. But leaders Croatia could not find
a way past Russia during the 0-0 draw in Zagreb, despite pounding
the visitors’ goal.

Northern Ireland lost the leadership of Group F to Sweden, who routed
Iceland 5-0. Spain ensured the Irish slipped to third place courtesy
of two David Villa strikes in Liechtenstein. Dennis Rommedahl scored
twice to inspire Denmark to victory in Latvia to keep Morten Olsen’s
men in contention in the same group.

Group D leaders Germany moved closer to a place at Euro 2008 with a
2-1 win over Slovakia, while

defending champions Greece extended their lead in Group C with a 2-1
win against Moldova.

This article: 7