Author: Topchian Jane

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ARMENIAN RIVERS ARE DANGEROUS

[02:46 pm] 07 April, 2006

The results of the investigation realized by the Ministry of Ecology
about the level of pollution of the Armenian rivers show that the
level of substances dissolved in the water of the Armenian rivers
exceeds the allowed norms several times.

The basin of the river Debed is especially highly polluted. In the
samples from the river Akhtala the levels of aluminum, zinc and copper
are exceeded by 159.5, 408.4 and 932 times. And the levels of
manganese, lead and iron are exceeded by 67.2, 11 and 16 times. The
same can be seen in the other rivers.

These numbers are not simply violations but they affect the human
health directly. But in this case not only the people but the whole
environment suffers from the river pollution. The accumulations of
lead, aluminum and other metals are especially dangerous. `Heavy
metal is dangerous as it can be accumulated in the human organism’,
biologist Susanna Hakobyan says.

As we know, the water of the rivers is used fro irrigation. Factually
the water intoxicates the plants and animals first, and then people.

Armenia decides against extending coach’s contract

AP Worldstream; Apr 06, 2006

Armenia’s soccer federation said Thursday it would not extend coach
Henk Wisman’s contract and would appoint a replacement to lead the
team in qualifying for the 2008 European Championship.

“The soccer federation of Armenia refused to extend its contract with
Henk Wisman, head coach of the national team,” Araik Manukian,
spokesman for the federation, told The Associated Press.

Wisman, of the Netherlands, took over in May 2005 and was contracted
until the end of the World Cup qualifying last October, with an option
to extend his term for another two years.

Wisman replaced France’s Bernard Casoni and was Armenia’s fourth
foreign coach in three years, but Armenia lost five matches under him
and finished next-to-last-last in its World Cup qualifying group.

RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT SIGNED

Lragir.am
07 April 06

On April 7 Minister of Finance and Economy of Armenia Vardan
Khachatryan and Roger Robinson, the head of the Yerevan office of the
World Bank, signed the Renewable Energy Project, confirmed by the
World Bank.

The total funds of the program are 8 million U.S. dollars, including
the 5 million dollar loan of USAID and the 3 million dollar grant of
the Global Environmental Foundation. The program will be co-funded by
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with 7 million
U.S. dollars and Gafeschyan Foundation with 3 million U.S. dollars.

The conditions of USAID are the same: due for repayment in 40 years
and a grace period of 10 years.

MEMORIAL EVENING DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY HELD IN ATHENS

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 06 2006

ATHENS, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A memorial evening
dedicated to the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was held on
April 4 at the Royal Olympic hotel of Athens. The event was organized
by the Rotary club of Athens. As Noyan Tapan was informed by RA
Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department, over 200 members
of the club, members of the parliament and government of Greece,
representatives of the Armenian community and the clergy were present
at the memorial evening. RA Ambassador Vahram Kazhoyan also took part
in the event.

0.5% GROWTH IN FOOD COMMODITY PRICES REGISTERED IN ARMENIA IN JANUARY-MARCH 2006

Noyan Tapan
Apr 05 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. A 0.5 price growth was registered in the
Armenian food commodity market in March on February 2006. A 0.1-21.2%
price growth was registered in 7 out of the 13 commodity groups, a
0.2-5.6% price growth – in 4 commodity groups, and in 2 groups the
prices remained at the previous month’s level. According to the RA
National Statistical Service, a 21.2% price growth registered in the
fish product commodity group in March on February 2006 was mainly
due to the 25.2% increase in the price of fresh white fish.

In March 2006, the price of granulated sugar continued to show
the upward tendency registered as far back as January, and the
overall price growth for these three months made 17.2%. The price of
granulated sugar rose by 7.2% in March on February 2006. A 0.5% price
growth was registered in the meat product commodity group in March
on February, mainly as a result of a growth in the prices of mutton
(2.3%) and beef (1.4%). A 0.1-0.4% price growth was registered in the
commodity groups of milk products, confectionery , bread products and
other foodstuffs in March on February, while the prices of coffee,
tea, cocoa and nonalcoholic drinks remained at the previous month’s
level. The average price of eggs fell by 13.6% in February-March 2006,
with the price fall making 5.6% in March on February. The fall in
the prices of potato and vegetables made 1.9% in Armenia in March
on February 2006, which is by 5.9% lower than the respective index
for the same period of last year. During the indicated period, a
price fall was registered in the commodity groups of cabbage (13.1%),
cucumber (7.5%), leek (7.1%), onion (4.6%) and potato (0.4%). At the
same time, the prices of tomato, green pepper, garlic, carrot and
beet grew by 2.8-12.4% in Armenia. A 3.9% price fall was registered
in the fruit commodity group in February-March 2006, with the price
fall in March on February making 0.8%, which was mainly conditionrd
by a fall in the prices of grapes (0.8%), apple (2.85), pear (0.8%),
as well as a number of fruits imported into Armenia: orange (2.8%),
lemon (2.8%) and banana (2.5%). There was a 0.2% price fall in the
commodity group of butter and vegetable oil in March on February 2006,
while the prices of alcoholic drinks and cigarettes reamined unchanged
compared with the previos month.

LABOR MIGRANTS – POTENTIAL “ILLEGALS”

Panorama.am
16:24 04/04/06

More than half of Armenian labor migrants leave the country for
the absence of work, 43% are not satisfied with the salary. The
above data were introduces by the head of the administration of
migration of the Ministry of Regional Government Gagik Yeghanyan at
the conference today.

As he said, the labor migrants become potential “illegals” in foreign
countries as they come across serious procedures.

“Particularly it refers to Russian Federation the main flow of migrants
leave for,” G. Yeghanyan mentioned.

And the main reason of illegal migration is the unawareness of our
citizens of the conditions of entry and stay in a country. “According
to the results of the examination carried out by International
Migration Organization (IMO) in 2002 53% of our citizens were unaware
of the existence of license for labor activity, 48% were absolutely
unaware of the necessity of entry visa,” he mentioned.

In the meantime, not all migrants are easily adapted in the
homeland. The obstacle is the unawareness of the new constitution
in our country, the absence of former social relations, discrepancy
of school program and many other factors. The head of Migration
Administration also introduced the Government’s plans to solve the
problem. In particular, it has been decided to form a structure which
will have a foreign (diplomatic commissions in various countries)
and inner (representatives of state structures) networks.

Among other efficient suggestions are consultations for migrants by
means of the Internet.

In the interview with Panorama.am correspondent the representative
of the OSCE mission Ovsanna Babayn mentioned that their aim is not
returning all the migrants to the homeland: “We only want to work out
a policy promoting return and integration of our citizens. The process
of return is only beginning and we have to pass the experimental stage
ourselves to understand what factors influence on the decision of a
migrant to stay in the country, as well as to understand what kind
of policy to lead.”

To note, the conference was organized with the assistance of Dutch
council of refugees and the OSCE.

EU MAKES GETS MORE INVOLVED IN THE AGED CONFLICTS- PETER SEMNEBI
Author: Z. Ibrahimli

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 5 2006

The Armenian Foreign Minister, Vardan Oskanyan has presented the
new EU representative on the South Caucasus, Peter Semnebi to the
Armenian society on April 5 in Yerevan. According to him the current
diplomat has wider authorities in the conflict regulation issue than
his predecessor, Heiki Talvitie.

Though, Semnebi will not personally participate at the negotiations
he will nonetheless, play an important role in the achievement of
peace in the region, he said.

Semnebi, in his turn, at the press-conference in Yerevan has released
a statement that “EU has made a principal decision to get more involved
in the resolution process of aged regional conflicts.”

All attempts to solve the conflict militarily may have grave and even
catastrophic consequences, he noted.

The procrastination of the issue is not in favor for neither Armenia
nor Azerbaijan. “Procrastination from the Armenian side will put
the country in the unfavorable position- isolation and blockade of
its western and eastern borders will continue and on part of Baku-
growth of belligerent moods and desire to solve the problem military,
which may have the gravest consequences for the both sides, he told,
Regnum news agency reports.

VOTE TO REFERENDUM WITH MONEY

Lragir.am
04 April 06

Shushi Foundation, established in 2001 initiated a new all-Armenian
referendum, and offered the citizens of Armenia, as well as the
Armenians of the Diaspora to vote to it, stated the director of the
foundation Bakur Karapetyan on April 4. The referendum will be on a
single question: would you like Shushi to become the cultural capital
of all Armenians? Those who agree must pay at least a dollar. It is
a mixture of referendum and marathon.

Hence Bakur Karapetyan wants to launch the project of revival of
Shushi, worked out by the foundation. The revival is cultural. The
foundation has already measured 220 monuments. Bakur Karapetyan
wants to reconstruct the appearance of Shushi of the 19th and 20th
centuries. The director of Shushi Foundation thinks that the future
of the city is to become a cultural center to develop tourism for
the city to live on. Bakur Karapetyan believes that Shushi has a
great cultural potential. In addition, Bakur Karapetyan thinks this
potential is acceptable for the nation. “A city is a living being,
it breathes. Today Shushi is a ghost town, we need to revive it. We
need to save it,” says Bakur Karapetyan.

According to him, Shushi has about 2.5 thousand inhabitants. Bakur
Karapetyan thinks an environment should be created in Shushi to
enable it to sustain itself. Judging by the program of all-Armenian
vote-donations, others are going to create this environment, but they
are not quite optimistic now. At least, Bakur Karapetyan says so far
24 thousand dollars have been donated by the Catholic community of
Beirut. According to the director of the foundation, this money was
spent on measuring. “Specialists were amazed how we did so much work on
this money. We did work of about 240 thousand dollars on 24 thousand
dollars,” says Bakur Karapetyan. He does not know how much money is
needed to turn Shushi into a cultural center. Maybe this is the reason
why there are no donations. They might not know how much to donate.

In future we will publish details on Shushi Foundation.

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN DOES NOT EXCLUDE COOPERATION WITH PRO-GOVERNMENTAL PARTIES

Lragir.am
03 April 06

Their slander cannot force my family and me to leave my home country,
stated the leader of the Zharangutiun Party Raffi Hovannisian on
April 3. The politician facing the problem of losing the office of the
political party states that such a meanness of the government cannot
stop his struggle for democracy and the rights of the citizens. “For
my family and me the homeland is not a place of gaining profit,”
says Raffi Hovannisian. He said when he went to the soiree at the
Opera on April 1, the policemen started inquiring if he was not going
to organize a new rally in the Square of Azatutiun.

“When they take away my office, my home, a small tent will be enough
for me. The recent experience showed that tents are what the government
fears,” says Raffi Hovannisian. He states that he would continue the
struggle with his fellow oppositionists, and in the upcoming months
they will find the way of coming together. “Everyone tends to feel
that by an artificially imported revolution the situation in Armenia
will not change. However, it is also obvious that evolutionary changes
typical of developed and civilized countries is not a way out for
Armenia. A new approach is required. It is necessary to look for new
values within this year, before the next early or scheduled election,”
states Raffi Hovannisian.

Raffi Hovannisian is apparently going to look for new values not
only within the opposition but also in the pro-governmental camp. He
mentions that first he will start with his fellow oppositionists. The
leader of the Zharangutiun Party, however, makes rather ambiguous
and transparent implications about partnership with the old and new
pro-governmental political parties. “Besides the opposition there are
new political parties and old political parties, each of them have
devotees, and I am not supposed to judge them. If there is a value,
it must be brought forward,” states Raffi Hovannisian. He reminds,
however, about the importance of admitting mistakes committed
formerly, and states that the political forces should step out of
their personal interests and realize at last, that the state and not
power is at stake.

Nevertheless, Raffi Hovannisian considers the possibility of
reproduction of power more probable, saying that every rational
analysis will suggest this, considering the reality. “Sometimes I am
not sure if what I do now is politics or something else. But I will go
on, and I will stay in Armenia till the end,” says Raffi Hovannisian.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE NPS?

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[05:50 pm] 31 March, 2006

The amendments to the RA Law on Energy will probably be discussed
during the coming NA four-day session. The amendments offer to make
it possible for the private sector to make investments into the atomic
energy field.

The head of the NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit, Budgetary
and Economic Affairs Gagik Minasyan explained today in “Mirror” club
the advantages of the private sector for Armenia. According to him,
if previously the EU demanded to close down the Nuclear power station,
now it allows to open a new one which will have “regional importance”.

“At least 51% or, better, 75% of the nuclear power station must
remain state property for the sake of security; after all it is a
nuclear power station. It would be wrong to wholly privatize it”,
his opponent, head of the “New Times” party Aram Karapetyan said and
continued, “As a physicist, I know how the issue about uranium go on”.

Those who demand to close down the Station Aram Karapetyan says, “Can
you burn your house with your own hands?” He takes into account the
fact that the 40% of electricity is secured by means of the nuclear
power station.