CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS HIGHLY ESTIMATES RAMKAVAR-AZATAKAN PARTY’S MISSION IN NATIONAL LIFE

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 04 2006

ECHMIADZIN, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On May 4, Catholicos
of All Armenians Karekin II received the newly elected members of
the Ramkavar-Azatakan Party’s Central Board in the Mother See of Holy
Echmiadzin. As Noyan Tapan was informed from the Information Services
of the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin, His Holiness the Patriarch
congratulated the guests on the occasion of their election and conveyed
his good wishes to them. The Patriarch highly estimated the party’s
mission in the national life. He called on them to contribute to
fulfilment of people’s good wishes in the same spirit and with the
high consciousness of the homeland’s interests.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REQUIEM SERVICE TO MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN PLANE CRASH TO BE CONDUCTED IN JERUSALEM

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 04 2006

JERUSALEM, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “The Armenian
Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian
and the members of St. James’ Brotherhood have learnt with deep
sorrow about the tragic crash of the Armavia Yerevan-Sochi flight
resulting in the 113 deaths of the entire crew and passengers with
no survivors,” the report provided to Noyan Tapan from the Divan
of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem read. The Patriarchate
extends its condolences to all the bereaved families as well as to
the President of Republic of Armenia and its Government. The Divan of
the Patriarchate informs that on this sad occasion they will conduct
requiem service this Sunday, 7 May 2006, during the celebration of
their Divine Liturgy on the Holy Tomb of Our Lord in the church of
Holy Sepulchre. “And we will pray the resting in peace for all the
victims of the plane accident and for the consolation and well being
of their families,” the report read.

AIRBUS EXPERTS HOPEFUL OF RECOVERING PLANE WRECK FROM BLACK SEA

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 4 2006

MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) – Airbus specialists plan to recover the
flight recorders and all parts of an Airbus plane that crashed in the
Black Sea Wednesday killing 113 people, the Russian transportation
minister said Thursday.

An Airbus A-320 belonging to Armenia’s Armavia Airlines flying from
the country’s capital, Yerevan, crashed about six kilometers from
the Russian coast en route to an airport in Adler, which services
the resort of Sochi. All 113 passengers and crew were killed.

Igor Levitin, speaking in an interview with government daily
Rossiyskaya Gazeta to be published Friday, said: “They do not intend
to limit their activity to searching for black boxes, but also to
recover all parts of the plane by themselves, as it is important
for the manufacturer to establish whether the crash was linked with
plane’s technical state.”

The European company equips its A-320 model with special radio beacons
emitting signals at a certain frequency and at set intervals.

Levitin said a provisional analysis of the crew’s communications with
ground control suggested that bad weather was the most likely cause of
the crash, adding that further analysis by Russian technical experts
should provide a clearer picture of events.

Igor Levitin said earlier that parts of the plane had been found at a
depth of 680 meters (2,230 feet). An emergencies ministry official said
Airbus specialists working at the site had detected a radio signal,
possibly from the plane’s flight recorders. Two ministry teams are
also working at the site, searching for signals.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LAW ON TEACHING IN SCHOOLS ARMENIAN LANGUAGE MAY BE ADOPTED IN CALIFORNIA

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 04 2006

LOS ANGELES, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Dario Frommer,
a member of the Parliament of California who has assisted adoption of
laws beneficial for Armenians many times, presented a draft by which
teaching of the Armenian language is envisaged in state schools of
California. According to Radio Liberty, the legislator representing
Glendale and Burbank calls on by this draft to hold qualification of
teachers of the Armenian language for a great number of specialists
get the right to teach Armenian in California. 3904 Armenian children
study in schools who speak only in Armenian. They make 49% of pupils.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NEW AND OLD CHURCHES IN STEPANAKERT

Lragir.am
5 May 06

On May 9 the foundation of St. Astvatsatsin Church will be laid in
Stepanakert. The Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church
has provided 140592000 drams for building. The total cost is 765
million drams. The church is reported to be built in the center of
Stepanakert. The old building, as well as some other houses nearby will
be pulled down after the new building of the polyclinic is ready. In
this houses a number of people are registered, and pulling them down
will bring about tremendous costs.

There is not a traditional church in Stepanakert. The believers attend
the church in the building of the House of Culture. In another part of
the city a small church is being built on the funds of a sponsor. In
the old part of Stepanakert there is an ancient church which is said
to have been built under King Vachagan. Other historians say the
church was built in the 18th century. This church is not operating
and is in private land.

BALANCE CAPITAl OF ARMENIAN CREDIT INSTITUTIONS GROWS BY 5.1% IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2006

Noyan Tapan
May 04 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The overall assets of Armenian credit
institutions increased by 5% in the first quarter of 2006 and made 8
bln 267 mln 886 thousand drams (about 17.7 mln USD). In the period
under review, the actual authorized capital of these institutions
declined by 6.5% to about 4 bln 453.1 mln drams, 2.9 bln drams of
which was the share of nonresidents. This index exceeded by 2.43%
the index registered in late December of last year. According to
the Central Bank of Armenia, the overall balance capital of Armenian
credit institutions grew by 5.1% in the first quarter of 2006, the
time liabilities of legal entities – by 6.6% and the time liabilities
of natural persons – by 15.4%. The total amount of credits provided
to legal entities declined by 4.3% to about 1.88 bln drams, while
credits to natural persons – by 5.1% to 2.89 bln drams.

FUNERAL TO TAKE PLACE IN ARMENIA SUNDAY FOR VICTIMS OF AIR CRASH

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 4 2006

MOSCOW, May 4 (Itar-Tass) – A funeral will be held on Sunday, May 5,
at cathedrals of the Armenian Apostolic churches all around the world
for those were killed in the A-320 plane crash over the Black Sea,
said Vartan Pogosyan, spokesman for the Russian and Novo-Nakhichevan
Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

In Moscow the memorial service will take place in the Armenian
Apostolic Church at the Vagankovo cemetery at 12.00 Moscow time on
May 5, Pogosyan told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

Armenia has declared May 5 and May 6 a national day of mourning to
commemorate those were killed in the air crash near Sochi.

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan signed a decree to this effect
on Wednesday, the presidential press service reported.

Twenty-eight Russian citizens were aboard the crashed Airbus belonging
to the air company Armavia. The list of passengers placed in the hall
of the Yerevan international airport Zvartnots showed it.

These are mainly people of Armenian origin.

OVERALL ASSETS OF 21 ARMENIAN COMMERCIAL BANKS GROW BY 5.8% IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2006

Noyan Tapan
May 04 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN. The actual authorized capital of the
21 Armenian commercial banks grew by 0.4% in the first quarter of
2006 and made about 60 bln 547 mln 882 thousand drams (about 135 mln
USD), 31.589 bln drams of which was the share of nonresidents. This
index increased by 2.7% compared with the respective index of late
December 2005. The overall balance capital of the banks grew by 4.7%
to 99 bln 252.6 mln drams. According to the Central Bank of Armenia,
the on-call liabilities grew by 12.4% in the first quarter of 2006 and
amounted to 163 bln 133 mln drams, while the time deposits of natural
persons grew by 9.2% to 73.214 bln drams. The time deposits of legal
entities declined by 12.4% to 43.042 bln drams in the period under
review. The total amount of credits provided to legal entities by the
banks grew by 4.5% to 108 bln 926 mln drams, credits given to natural
persons – by 10.5% to 81 bln 550 mln drams. The overall assets of the
banks increased by 5.8% to about 466 bln 152 mln 320 thousand drams,
while their undistributed profit made 4 bln 41 mln drams. Standard
credits accounted for 97.5% of all credit investments of the banks
in the first quarter of 2006, there were no bad loans.

ARMENIA PREPARING FOR THE VISIT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Lragir.am
5 May 06

After the demolition of the medieval Armenian khachkars in Old Djolfa,
on an initiative of the Armenian party a group of representatives of
European organizations will be visiting the region this summer to find
out how many monuments there are in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan
and their origin. On the eve of this “audit” the government of Armenia
decided May 4 to allocate 2 million 308 thousand drams for locating,
mapping and photographing the Azerbaijani graves and historical,
cultural monuments in Armenia and Artsakh. Under a decision made on the
same day 72 million 862.5 thousand drams was allocated to the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs to prepare and hold the third Armenia-Diaspora
Conference in Yerevan in September 2006.

AMBASSADOR WAS UNREACHABLE FOR GEORGIA

Lragir.am
5 May 06

Reliable sources report that the Armenian ambassador to Georgia
was unreachable both on the phone and physically after the Georgian
government had announced to the representative of the Armenian state
that they would willingly provide the recording of the conversation
of the Georgian dispatchers and the pilots of the Armenian plane,
which had crashed near Sochi. The air line Yerevan-Sochi mostly runs
via Georgia and naturally not without cooperation with the Georgian
dispatchers.

The recording of the conversation of the Armenian pilots and the
Georgian dispatchers may help to reveal the circumstances and causes
of the crash.