Author: Tumanian Talar

ZODIAK’S FORT BOYARD NOTCHES UP FURTHER DEALS
By Kristin Brzoznowski

World Screen
/21311
June 11 2009

PARIS: A number of new agreements have been firmed up by Zodiak
Entertainment for the game show Fort Boyard, which is gearing up for
its 20th anniversary.

TV3 in Denmark, which aired 117 shows under the local name Fangerne
PÃ¥ Fortet, has signed a new deal for the show. Mastiff Denmark and
Adventure Line Productions will be co-producing ten new episodes,
with shooting to begin in July. Fort Boyard has aired or will air in
seven further countries in 2009, including a fifth season for Star
Channel in Greece, third cycle for BTV in Bulgaria and a sophomore
season for TVP2 in Poland, Fox in Turkey, Fox in Serbia and ENTV in
Algeria. A first season is set for Armenia TV in Armenia.

Shooting is now under way on a 20th season of Fort Boyard for France
2. The season will consist of ten prime-time episodes, airing on
Saturday evenings; 52 short episodes to be aired four days a week;
and 15 one-hour best-of shows in access prime time, as well as one
special best of episode celebrating the history of the show and it’s
success around the world.

With 1,345 episodes produced for 42 countries, including 237 for
France, 100 episodes for the U.K. and 11 seasons for Sweden, Fort
Boyard is the most-exported French format in history.

Matthieu Porte, the head of format sales at Zodiak Entertainment,
commented, "Fort Boyard broke new ground when it launched in 1990,
offering a totally fresh adventure game-show experience for viewers
and a unique production concept for international broadcasters. Twenty
years on, the fact that we continue to sign up new channels throughout
the world, is a testament to its relevance and timeless adaptability
for a global audience."

Porte continued, "In many cases we can shoot up to three episodes per
day. Shooting back-to-back throughout the European summer allows us to
offer the most affordable and cost effective adventure game show. Our
aim is to build on the success it continuously enjoys and launch Fort
Boyard in the U.S., one of the rare territories where they have not
even heard of the format!"

ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN – HERITAGE AND HAK – HERITAGE COMMON FEATURES

LRAGIR.AM
16:12:32 – 10/06/2009

On June 10, the reporters asked the secretary of the Heritage faction,
Larisa Alaverdyan, how the party imagines the format of cooperation
between the ARF Dashnaktsutyun and the Armenian National Congress,
which was proposed by the leader of the Heritage party Raffi
Hovhannisyan.

Larisa Alaverdyan stated that the ARF Dashnaktsutyun and the Heritage
have many common features, in particular relating to the foreign
policy. As to the HAK, Larisa Alaverdyan stated that the Heritage
has numerous ideological similarities with the HAK too, let alone
the fact that the two parties have been conducting their struggle
for more than a year. She stated that she would like only the good
things to be noted.

"All the problems occur by the simple reason that the political field
in Armenia is not shaped and we do not have parties based on real
ideological or social spheres, they are only trying to become such
ones", stated Larisa Alaverdyan.

ARMENTEL TO EXPAND SALE AND SERVICE NETWORK IN RA REGIONS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
10.06.2009 18:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today the city of Abovyan hosted an official opening
of ArmenTel sale and service office.

At official opening, ArmenTel Director General, Igor Klimko noted that
within service quality improvement program framework, new Beeline
offices were opened in a number of RA cities, including Eghvard,
Nor Hatchn, Sevan and Jermuk. Opening of new offices is expected in
Yerevan, Vardenis and Tsakhadzor till the end of July.

Over 60 Beeline sale and service offices are currently operating
in Armenia.

BARONESS COX STRIVES FOR EXPANDING CIRCLE OF NKR’S FRIENDS

Noyan Tapan
June 9, 2009

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN. On June 8, NKR Deputy Foreign
Minister Vardan Barseghian met with the delegation led by UK House
of Lords Deputy Speaker Caroline Cox, who had arrived in Stepanakert
on a cognitive visit.

Issues regarding the settlement process of Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict
were discussed at the meeting. In particular, it was mentioned that
Azerbaijan uses all resources to carry out anti-Armenian agitation
and to misrepresent the essence of the Nagorno Karabakh problem,
which needs active counteraction. In this connection a proposal was
made to publish and to spread books and information materials based
on real facts and exposing Baku.

V. Barseghian said that by carrying out independent foreign policy
and striving for international recognition, NKR pursues a goal to
establish good-neighborly relations with its international partners,
countries, organizations, and private persons.

Baroness Cox, in her turn, said that at each visit she tries to bring
new people with her, thus expanding the circle of NKR’s friends hoping
that they will become Artsakh’s "ambassadors" and will assist the
Nagorno Karabakh settlement.

According to the NKR Foreign Ministry Press Service, at the end of
the meeting the guests were given compact disks Unpunished Crimes
made by the NKR Foreign Ministry, which present Azerbaijan’s crimes
against the peaceful Armenian population.

ARMENIAN CB GIVES AWARDS FOR BEST BROCHURES ON BANKING, INSURANCE, CREDIT SERVICES

/ARKA/
June 8, 2009
YEREVAN

The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) gave awards for the best brochures
on banking, insurance and credit services to the winners of the
competition Best Brochure 2009.

The CBA Board member Vakhtang Abramyan stated that the competition is
aimed to encourage financial institutions to provide their customers
with full, reliable and illustrated information in conformity with
the Armenian law.

"This will enable consumers to find their way among the various
services and choose the most suitable for themselves," Abramyan said.

He pointed out that the number of categories has been increased this
year to encourage organizations.

Among the winners in the Best Brochure category were the HSBC Bank
Armenia, ISG insurance company, AGBA Leasing credit institution.

As regards the Best Design and Way of Information category, the
winners were Conversebank, Alfa Insurance Company, AGBA Leasing
credit institution.

The diplomas for Best Content and High Availability were awarded to
ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, Ingo Armenia insurance company, and Norvik
credit institution.

"The Central Bank attaches importance to the protection of rights and
legal interests of consumers of financial services, as well as to the
problem of building up the confidence in the financial market. One of
the best ways of resolving the problem20is to ensure the transparency
of the financial market," Abramy6an said.

He pointed out the necessity for informing the public of financial
institutions and welcomed the fact that the market participants
realize the need for transparent activities.

"If we compare the results with last year’s, we can see essential
progress, especially the progress made by insurance companies,
considering the fact that insurance is a relatively new service in
the Armenian market, and the public need full information on all the
services," Abramyan said.

On the other hand, credit institutions have not made any serious
progress.

Abramyan expressed hope that they will revise the methods and range
of information on their services.

Director of the ARKA News Agency Konstantin Petrosov expressed a wish
that the brochures really reflect the quality of services rendered
to the population by banks, insurance and credit institutions.

"Especially now, amid the crisis, competent services play a great
role in struggling for good clients," Petrosov said.

Not only CBA experts, but also NGOs protecting the rights, of
consumers, specialists of banks, credit institutions, associations
of insurance companies, as well as of the ARKA News Agency, were
involved in the project.

Twenty-two commercial banks, 24 credit institutions and 11 insurance
companies are operating in Armenia.

Parajanov.com
POB 17257
Beverly Hills, California 90209 US
[email protected]

FAKE COLLAGES claimed to be by legendary filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov will
again be on sale in London on June 11, 2009 at MacDougall’s Auction. In
2007, MacDougall’s Auction sold 3 (of 4) fake Paradjanov collages (see our
report from March 2, 2008 below). This time MacDougall’s Auction has 6 fake
Paradjanov collages, which MacDougall’s calls "Lady Serving Tea", "Aladdin",
"Lady with Vase with Flowers", "Lady with a Mirror", "Princess with
Butterflies", and "Princess of Taj Mahal". Well, that’s a whole lot of
"ladies", BUT NO Paradjanov, ladies and gentlemen. MacDougall’s Auction
didn’t disclose any information except that the "ladies" came from a
"Private collection, France".

More on the French connection is below and these are the fake Paradjanov
collages in London, which MacDougall’s Auction is going to sell on June 11,
2009. If you are in London go to the auction (at 30A Charles II St., London,
telephone +44-20-7389-8160) and write to us about it.

Now the French connection. We’ve received a letter from France, whose author
requested to remain annonymous, and we were informed about several fake
collages that were brought from Tbilisi, Georgia, according to the dealer
who was selling the fakes. At least one fake Paradjanov collage called
"Composition 1" was sold at the Aguttes Auction in France for EUR 10, 201 on
March 25, 2009. Aguttes often hold auctions in partnership with Cabinet
d’expertise Dan Coissard. Our letters to Claude Aguttes and Dan Coissard
remain unanswered. Here is the fake collages that was sold:

Two more fake Paradjanov collages have apparently not been sold – "Persian
fantasy I and II".

Below is our report from March 2, 2008.

[02 March 2008]/updated
Fake Paradjanov collage was sold for GBP 89,950 (USD 178,000 / EUR 133,126)
in London at the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auctions around June 15th, 2007.

On February 29, 2008, Noyan Tapan News Agency reported from Moscow that
artist Valery Boyakhchian, who worked for Sergei Paradjanov in 1980s in
Tbilisi, informed Yerkramas Newspaper that he is in fact the author of the
fake collage, which he calls "A Mysterious Supper". Per Noyan Tapan, which
cites Yerkramas Newspaper, Boyakhchian (Boyakjian, Boyakhchian) made the
collage in New York (around 2001) and gave it to an art dealer in exchange
for an airline ticket to Moscow. Presently, it is unclear who the dealer was
and if he knew the work wasn’t by Paradjanov. In any case, very thorough
research should have been made to confirm the provenance.

According to the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auction’s press release of June 15th,
2007, the collage ("Last Supper") was sold for $178,101 (USD). The
provenance is listed as "Glezer collection. Corporate collection, USA."
According to the auction’s website the collage had been previously exhibited
at "C.A.S.E. Museum of Contemporary Russian Art, Jersey City, USA, 2003 and
Bell Harbor, Miami, USA, 2006."

Currently there are also 3 collages listed on the auction’s website:
"Collage with Mona Lisa," (presumably sold November 29 or 30, 2007 for GBP
7,710 (USD 15,898); "Old Friends" (presumably sold November 29 or 30, 2007
for GBP 8,353 (USD 17,223) and "Family Portrait" (presumably not sold). The
provenance of the 1st collage is shown as "A. Gleizer collection. Roman
Tabakman colleciton, USA" and the provenance of the other 2 collages —
"Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner. Private collection,
USA", but it is not clear who that owner is. Paradjanov experts and closest
friends, the family of Sergei Parajanov, and Paradjanov museum, have all
confirmed these collages are fake. MacDougall’s Auction in London ignored
the letter from the museum and refused to answer any questoins or produce
any evidence that the collages were "acquired directly from the artist by
the present owner" etc.

Back in 2003, Parajanov.com reported about a large exhibition of fake
Paradjanov collages on display from December 1, 2002 till March 16, 2003 at
the Rutgers University’s Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum and which came
from the collection of Norton and Nancy Dodge, collectors of Soviet
Nonconformist art. The Zimmerli Museum’s catalogue stated that some collages
in their exhibition were jointly made "by Sergei Paradjanov and Valerii
Boyakjian" and several were "attirbuted" to Paradjanov. We asked the
Zimmerli Museum to confirm when and where Norton and Nancy Dodge acquired
all the works, but they didn’t provide that information. The $178,000 piece
sold in London by MacDougall Arts Ltd auction listed "related literature"
for the "Last Supper" collage as "Collage and Assemblage in the Norton and
Nancy Dodge Collection, USA, 2001".

We believe that there are several persons involved in making forged collages
in United States and overseas, including Russia, Georgia, and Armenia, and
we strongly recommend to do a very extensive reasearch before aquiring any
work said to be by Sergei Paradjanov as there are few works that can become
available and the number of fakes continues to increase.

Parajanov.com
POB 17257
Beverly Hills, California 90209 US
[email protected]

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER’S STATEMENT NOT CORRESPOND TO REALITY

Panorama.am
08:58 05/06/2009

The statement made by the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu
about the place and time of the next meeting of the Foreign Ministers
of Armenia and Azerbaijan does not correspond to the reality, Tigran
Balayan, the MFA press secretary told Panorama.am.

"The Turkish FM’s statement that the Foreign Ministers’ next meeting
will take place in Italy soon has no real grounds," Balayan said.

It is said by Turkish media that Ahmed Davutoglu announced in a press
conference in Washington that the next meeting of the Armenian and
Azeri Foreign Ministers would take place in Italy, at the end of June,
in the frames of the so-called "Great eight" summit.

RESULTS OF 9 TOURNAMENT OF THE FIRST LEAGUE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP OF ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
05.06.2009 15:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 9th tournament of the First League national football
championship of Armenia has finished. Dilijani "Impulse" played the
second draw in last 9 tournaments, and scored 20 points, continue to
head the tournament table of the championship.

Results of 9th tournament: "Banants-2" – "Impulse" – 1:1 Goals:
Hovhannes Hambatsumyan – 41 (Banants-2), Arman Minasyan – 57 (Impulse)
"Mika-2" – "Shirak-2" – 1:1 Goals: Artashes Kagzvantsyan – 71, Norayr
Abrahamyan – 82 auto-goal (Shirak-2) "Pyunik-3" – "Gandzasar-2" –
3:0 Goals: Hovhannes Hovhannesyan – 37, 42, Vigen Avetisyan – 45
"Shengavit" – "Pyunik-2" – 2:1 Goals: Narek Haroutyunyan – 16, 44
(Shengavit), Varazdat Aroyan – 81 (Pyunik-2) Tournament list after
9 rounds: 1. Impulse – 20 points 2. Shenbgavit – 15 3. Banants-2 –
14 4. Shirak-2 – 14 5. Pyunik-2 – 13 6. Gabdzasar-2 – 10 7. Mika-2 –
6 8. Pyunik-3 – 5 9. Banants-3 – 2

TURKEY CHANGES OFFICIAL FOCUS: TURKISH FM SAYS ANKARA TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH YEREVAN

Panorama.am
18:32 04/06/2009

Ankara is long to improve relations with Yerevan, Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said in a press conference in Washington
yesterday, Turkish media reports.

"The process of improving our relations since 22 April joint statement
is not stopped, and we have direct and mediated communication. There
is no break up in the negotiations. We do everything to solve the
problems," the Foreign Minister said.

The Armenian-Turkish relations do have important status in the context
of the American-Turkish relations regarding the Congress discussions,
the Turkish official said. "Turkish policy is open. The U.S. executive
bodies assess that policy. Turkey wants to set stability, peace and
prosperity in South Caucasus," Mr. Davutoglu said.

Regarding Armenia, the Turkish FM said that Turkey is ready to
improve relations with neighbors, including Armenia in the frames of
bilateral cooperation. But the FM has also emphasized that for strong
and comprehensive resolution the Armenian-Azeri relations need to be
improved and resolved also.

To conclude, the Turkish official has given quite a new definition
to the bilateral relations trying to match with the demand of the
international society and Armenia, as well, recommending not to
accept the Armenian-Turkish and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict parallel
to each other.

ZIL CARGO TRUCK WAS BLOWN UP BY AN ANTI-TANK MINE IN NKR

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.06.2009 20:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On May 31, ZIL cargo truck was blown up by an anti
tank mine in NKR.

The HALO Trust Organization representatives declared that the territory
was inspected several years ago, and warning signs were put up in
all appropriate places. Strangely, the signs have been removed,
which caused the accident.

The HALO Trust representatives declared that clearing of minefields
is being conducted; the organization asks NKR population to not remove
the warning signs.

The HALO Trust Organization, specializing in the removal of the
hazardous debris of war, has been in charge of mine clearing on NKR
territories since 2000, The HALO Trust Stepanakert Office Manager
Valon Kumuva told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

This has been the second incident since the beginning of 2009. The
truck driver was injured and immediately taken to Yerevan hospital.