Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

RUSSIA TO CONTINUE MANAGING ARMENIA POWER PLANT
By M. Alkhazashvili

The Messenger
May 22 2008
Georgia

Russian company INTER RAO UES will continue managing the Metsamor
nuclear power station in Armenia after its initial contract expires
later this year, according to company officials.

Since 2003 Metsamor has been operated by Unified Energy Systems,
part of INTER RAO UES, in a five-year arrangement to help Armenia
pay off its USD 40 million debt to Russia for providing uranium.

Head of the INTER RAO board of directors Andrey Rapoport said that the
company plans to build a new power plant to replace the Soviet-built
Metsamor plant, which supplies the country with around 40 percent of
its electricity supply.

Armenia is under pressure from the EU to shut down Metsamor due to
safety concerns over its lack of a containment system to deal with
potential radioactive leaks.

Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsesyan has said that if a new plant
is built Metsamor can be shut down before it is due to in 2016.

GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION FORMED IN CONNECTION WITH 17TH ANNIVERSARY OF NKR’S DECLARATION TO BE CELEBRATED SEPTEMBER 2

DeFacto Agency
May 21 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 21.05.08. DE FACTO. In connection with the 17th anniversary
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s declaration the NKR government
has established a governmental commission.

According to the information DE FACTO received at the NKR government’s
Press Office, the composition of the commission headed by Armo
Tsaturian, vice Premier, NKR Minister of Agriculture, has also been
approved.

The Stepanakert city hall and regional administration have been
commissioned to form corresponding city and regional commissions within
ten days and present the festivities’ program to the governmental
commission till June 15.

THE GENOCIDE DEBATE

Toronto Star

May 21 2008
Canada

The decision to remove a book from the reading list of a new
high-school course on genocide smacks of bowing to pressure from a
well-organized community.

A committee of Toronto public school board staff and university
academics recommended removing Barbara Coloroso’s book, Extraordinary
Evil: A Brief History of Genocide, from the Grade 11 course after
the board received complaints from seven Turkish Canadian groups and
a 1,200-name petition. Coloroso’s examples of genocide include the
killing of 1 million Armenians in Turkey in 1915.

The review committee concluded that Coloroso’s book was "not a good
example of rigorous historical scholarship." But the complaints the
board received went far beyond the scholarly merits of the book and
into Turkey’s view that what happened in 1915 wasn’t a genocide at all,
even though Canada and other countries have labelled it as such.

To its credit, the review committee did not back off including the
Armenian genocide in the course content, although it noted that
students should be made aware of conflicting opinions.

The review committee’s decision to delist Coloroso’s book has been
appealed to a panel of trustees, who could recommend reopening
this issue to allow the full school board to vote on it. In the
circumstances, that seems appropriate.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STARTS DISCUSSION OF ANNUAL REPORT ON EXECUTION OF 2007 STATE BUDGET

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 20, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly on May 20
started discussion of the annual report on execution of the 2007
state budget.

According to the deputy minister of finance, chief treasurer of the
RA Atom Janjughazian, 13.8% economic growth was registered in 2007,
which exceeds by 4.8% the programmed index. Per capita GDP made 975,907
drams in nominal expression, growing by 18% as compared with 2006.

The level of unemployment declined by about 0.4% on the previous year
and made 7.1%. The number of the unemployed made 82,800 in 2007. The
annual incomes of the population increased by 25.7% as compared with
2006, the average salary grew by 21.2% and made 77,469 drams.

The nominal settlement exchange rate of the Armenian dram against
the US dollar made 304.1 drams in December 2007, increasing by 16.6%
as compared with December of the previous year. According to customs
statistics, the foreign trade of Armenia amounted to 4.439 billion
dollars, growing by 39.7% on 2006. In 2007, exports grew by 17.5%,
imports – by 40.7%.

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER EXPECTS BETTER ECONOMIC PROGRESS

ARKA
May 20, 2008

YEREVAN, May 20. /ARKA/. RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian said the
country’s economic progress was impressive last year, but it could
have been better. He stressed the importance of ensuring equal taxation
terms, so that everyone would be equal to law.

"This is the guarantee of our victory," the Prime Minister said today
at the parliament meeting.

Sargsian said budget receipts hit a record high of 33% last year. The
share of taxes increased by 1.6% in the country’s GDP. However,
the budget execution helped to revealed serious drawbacks in tax and
customs administrations in 2007, according to the Premier. Indirect
taxes had a lion’s share in the tax system, whereas direct taxes
decreased as compared to 2006. Sargsian believes the reasons for this
process are growing imports and the county’s inner political situation.

"Macroeconomic indicators of 2007 both impress and imposes high
responsibility," the Premier said.

He pointed out that last year GDP rose 13.8%, while inflation was 6.6%
and budget deficit made 1.5%. Sargsian said 2007 was a successful
economic year for Armenia in comparison with other CIS- members.

Countries with transitional economy become politically active
when they achieve economic progress and improve social conditions,
according to the Prime Minister. In this case, mistakes in government
activities become apparent and citizens demand correction of faults,
Sargsian said.

The budget surplus totaled 4.2bln drams (without credits and foreign
investments) in 2007 – 0.1% of GDP (against 0.6% GDP deficit in 2006).

Last year, Armenia’s budget receipts hit a record high of 570.1bln
drams – 29.7% (131.4bln drams) increase as compared to 2006. Budget
expenditures increased by 24.6% (111.8mln drams) to 565.9bln drams
in the reporting period. ($1 – 308.24 drams).

TWO PEOPLE KILLED IN ROAD ACCIDENTS IN ASHTARAK

ARMENPRESS
May 19, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS: A woman was killed and two other people
were seriously injured in a May 18 road accident in the town of
Ashtarak in Aragatsotn province.

According to local rescue service of the Emergency Ministry, the
killed woman was identified as Marine Saponjian, 52. She was in the
Vaz Russia-made car when it collided with a BMW.

According to the rescue service, the identity of the BMW driver was
not clear yet.

The other two, identified as M. Saponjian (29) and L. Saponjian, were
taken to Ashtarak hospital. Doctors say their condition is stable. The
BMW driver went into hiding. The rescue service said the police are
hunting for him.

The rescue service reported also about another accident in Ashtarak
in the early hours of May 19. One man died and another got injuries
when the GAZ 24 car ran off the road and turned over.

EDWARD NALBANDIAN: ARMENIA INTENDS TO FULFILL ALL PACE SUGGESTIONS

armradio.am
19.05.2008 17:56

The Armenian authorities have taken many steps in a short period
of time to overcome the post-election situation in the country, RA
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian declared during a joint briefing
with theDeputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Maud de
Boer-Buquicchio.

According to the Minister, upon the initiative of RA President Serzh
Sargsyan a working group has been created to implement the suggestions
included in the Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe on the Functioning of Democratic Institutions in Armenia. The
group has submitted proposals on every provision of the Resolution.

The Armenian Foreign Minister said that the Armenian side seriously
intends to accomplish the suggestions of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe.

Edward Nalbandian said a number of issues related to Armenia’s
commitments before the Ccouncil of Europe were discussed during the
meeting with Maud de Boer-Buquicchio. According to him, Armenia
meets the commitments with 90%, especially in the context of the
constitutional and judicial reforms envisaged by the Constitution.

"Armenia intends to move forward and actively participate in the
activities of the Council fo Europe," the Foreign Minister said.

VANDALS DESECRATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT IN VALENCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.05.2008 12:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Memorial to the Armenians Genocide victims was
desecrated in Valence, France, on May 15 night. The vandals painted
an illegible inscription on the monument base, independent French
journalist Jean Eckian told PanARMENIAN.Net.

The Coordination Council of the French Armenian Organizations from
Drome-Ardeche area’s (COADA) deposited a complaint to the Police
office of Valence.

7 Armenian memorials – in Saint-Chamond, Creteil, Lyon, Valence
(France), Cardiff (UK), Budapest (Hungary) and Lviv (Ukraine) –
have been desecrated since January 2008.

AZERBAIJAN VOTES FOR, BUT ARMENIA AGAINST THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION ON ABKHAZIA

Azeri Press Agency
May 16 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova -APA. UN General Assembly has passed resolution
on the "Status of refugees and internally displaced persons in
Abkhazia (Georgia)". 14 countries, including Azerbaijan voted for,
but 11 against, including Armenia. 105 countries, including members
of European Union abstained during the voting.

Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, USA, Albania, Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden voted
for and Russia, Armenia, Belarus, North Korea, India, Iran, Myanmar,
Serbia, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela voted against the resolution. The
resolution urged to schedule voluntary and immediate returning
of Abkhazian refugees and internally displaced persons to their
homelands. The document noted that it was inadmissible to change
the demographic situation existed before the Abkhazian conflict
and condemned all efforts toward this. The resolution requested
the UN Secretary General to submit a comprehensive report on the
implementation of this resolution. The resolution is non-binding
and its implementation is not constrained in distinction from the
resolution of UN Security Council.

Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili welcomed the
resolution. "This resolution recognizes facts of ethnic cleansing and
violation of international law in Abkhazia. The document guarantees
returning of refugees and internally displaced persons to their
homelands and their property rights and declares any economic
activities and other illegal actions as illegitimate. The General
Assembly requested UN Secretary General to make report on the
implementation of the resolution in September".

AZERI PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV HAS PRAISED THE STATE OF AZERBAIJAN’S RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA

Interfax News Agency, Russia
May 15 2008

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has praised the state of Azerbaijan’s
relations with Russia and has expressed confidence the two countries
will build up their cooperation.

Aliyev was speaking at a meeting in Baku on Wednesday with Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, who was also upbeat about
Azeri- Russian relations.

Karasin credited relations between Russia and Azerbaijan with being
dynamic and said the Russian leadership attached great importance to
building up ties between the two countries.

Karasin was on a visit to Baku that included a meeting with Azeri
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov at which the Russian official
expressed complete support for Azerbaijan’s policy of seeking to
restore its sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-speaking
enclave in Azerbaijan that has been the source of a two-decade conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia and is a de facto independent state.

Karasin also said Moscow wanted the Minsk Group, a mediating body
appointed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
to continue to coordinate efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

Mammadyarov told Karasin that bringing Nagorno-Karabakh back under
Azeri control was the only acceptable settlement option and that
it would serve to strengthen stability in the region and improve
relations between its nations.

On Thursday, the Azeri Foreign Ministry argued that a recent visit
by new Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to Nagorno-Karabakh had made
the conflict settlement process more difficult.

The sooner the Armenian side realizes this the more it will gain for
itself, ministry spokesman Xazar Ibrahim told a briefing in Baku.

Ibrahim said Armenia had not made a single constructive move since
Sargsyan took office.

We still hope that the Armenian leadership will make an accurate
assessment of the situation and take proper measures, the spokesman
said.