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| January 2 |
Russian border guards seize a group
of Kurds in the southern Armenian district of Megri. The Kurds, who
illegally crossed the Armenian-Iranian border, are seeking refuge
in Armenia. |
| January 4 |
Latvian Foreign Minister Indulis Berzins
arrives in Yerevan on the last part of his regional tour. Berzins
expresses his government's support for Armenia's full membership in
the Council of Europe. The Armenian bid for full membership, directly
linked to the Azerbaijani application, is generally dependent on the
performance of Azerbaijan's January 7th round of repeat parliamentary
elections for eleven open seats. |
| January 8 |
President Robert Kocharian implements
a limited reorganization of his cabinet by splitting the Ministry
of Urban Development and Territorial Administration into two separate
ministries. Kocharian appoints David Lokian, formerly the head of
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) parliamentary faction,
as his new Minister for Urban Development. Minister for Transport
and Communications Eduard Madatian is also replaced by Yervant Zakarian,
who formerly held the position from 1998-1999. |
| January 9 |
An open letter to President Robert
Kocharian from jailed businessman Arkady Vartanian is published in
the Armenian press. The letter, given to the press by Vartanian's
wife, alleges that Kocharian and Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian
are considering settling the Nagorno Karabagh conflict through territorial
exchange. According to Vartanian, discussions have been held to trade
Armenia's southern Megri region, which borders Iran, to Azerbaijan
in return for Nagorno Karabagh. In comments to journalists, Vartanian's
wife alleges that an unnamed senior government official has offered
to arrange her husband's release in exchange for more than $1.5
million and a $5 million building Vartanian owns in Yerevan. Vartanian
was jailed for advocating the overthrow of the government during an
illegally held demonstration in Yerevan in late October.
An international delegation of technical nuclear energy experts completes
an inspection of Armenia's sole nuclear power plant. The delegation
concludes that there is demonstrable improvement in the safety conditions
of the Medzamor nuclear facility. The improved safety is the result
of an intensive four-month maintenance program during a prolonged
plant stoppage last fall. After the official inspection's favorable
results are released, Atomic Energy Security Council Chairman Adolf
Bierkhofer states that he can formally certify that the Medzamor facility
may operate beyond the 2004 deadline for its closure. The 2004 deadline
was originally reached in an agreement between the European Union
and Armenia in 1998. After meeting with the technical experts, President
Kocharian announces that Armenia can only close the Medzamor facility
if a reliable alternative source of energy is found. The Medzamor
plant meets more than one-third of the country's total production
of electricity. |
| January 10-11 |
Following a meeting with President
Kocharian, Yerevan Mayor Albert Bazeyan abruptly resigns the post
he held for 18 months. Kocharian replaces him the next day with his
45-year old Deputy Energy Minister, Robert Nazarian, who is affiliated
with no political party. Bazeyan, reportedly pressured to resign during
the meeting with Kocharian, was one of the last remaining Yerkrapah
loyalists holding a significant position within the current Kocharian
government. The Yerkrapah group, comprised of military veterans of
the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, has steadily lost its influence since
the assassination of its founder, former Defense Minister Vazgen Sarkisian,
and the formation of a rival veterans group. |
| January 12 |
Over 20 Armenian television and radio
stations, including the state-run National Television, launch a 45-minute
nationwide radio and television blackout to protest a new law on the
media. The October 2000 media law creates a national commission empowered
to monitor and regulate the licensing of the country's media outlets.
The new media law also requires all media entities to produce a minimum
65 percent of programming and to regularly publicize their advertising
rates. The requirement of original programming is an effort to counter
the increasing trend of foreign programming, mostly found in the capital,
with 15 independent stations broadcasting dubbed foreign soap operas
and movies. |
| January 13 |
In his first statement since being
appointed, Transported Communications Minister Yervant Zakarian announces
that the Armenian government will demand a fifty percent reduction
in transit fees imposed by the Georgian government on all freight
passing through Georgia by railway. Zakarian states that the high
Georgian transit rates violate the 1996 agreement on regional transportation
concluded by the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia that sets
forth preferential inter-regional trade and transit rates. The Georgian
government counters that it has reduced its transit fees for Armenian
railway freight every six months over the past few years. |
| January 15-16 |
Lord George Robertson, the Secretary
General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), arrives
in Yerevan to meet with Armenian officials and review plans to expand
Armenia's participation in the NATO Partnership for Peace program.
Robertson commends Armenia for its increased level of responsibility
and activism in the NATO program, citing Armenia's involvement in
30 NATO events and activities last year, a vast increase from previous
years. |
| January 18 |
Armenian President Robert Kocharian
approved the appointments of three new members to the cabinet of Prime-Minister
Andranik Markarian and replaced two local government officials. Following
the resignation of Minister of Construction and Territorial Administration
Leonid Hakobian last month, the previously merged ministry was again
split in two, with David Lokian appointed as the Minister of Construction
and Hovik Abrahamian as Minister of Territorial Administration. In
addition, Yervand Zakharian replaced Eduard Madatian as the Minister
of Transport and Communications. Prior to their appointments, Lokian
was the head of the Dashnaktsutiun faction in Parliament, Abrahamian
was the governor of Ararat, and Zakharian served as the Deputy Minister
of State Revenue. In accordance with the president's decrees, senior
Interior Ministry official Alik Sargsian became the new governor of
Ararat, while Deputy Energy Minister Robert Nazarian replaced Albert
Bazeyan as the mayor of Yerevan. The Armenian constitution gives the
president power to appoint the mayor of the capital and ten regional
governors. Other mayors and local government officials are elected
by a direct vote. |
| January 18
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Armenia's Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian last week expressed optimism about Armenia's economic outlook.
He said that his cabinet succeeded in completing most of the tasks
it envisioned since taking office in May of last year. He noted the
reactivation of the chemical industry, mining and metallurgy as the
major highlights of his term that will lead to considerable growth
this year. The government also focused on the economic conditions
in border areas of Armenia, creating special development programs
for Siunik and Tavush regions, in the south and north-east of Armenia,
respectively.
Meanwhile, in the last two months of 2000, the recently appointed
Minister of State Revenue Andranik Manukian succeeded in collecting
about $60 million in taxes and custom duties, more than the government
anticipated. Provided that the "shadow" economy continues
to decline next year, Manukian said his agency will be able to bring
into the state treasury considerably more funds than currently estimated.
Overall last year, the ministry brought in only $275 million instead
of the $310 million in projected revenue due to significant shortfalls
earlier in the year.
In related news, President Robert Kocharian issued a decree creating
a Committee on Facilitation of Entrepreneurship. The purpose of the
committee is to promote investments and eliminate bureaucratic red
tape. Armenia's prime minister will chair the committee, which will
also include the presidential advisor for economic policy, ministers
of industry and trade and finance and economy, the mayor of Yerevan,
Armenian Development Agency's executive director and six businessmen. |
| January 23 |
Following a meeting between Armenian
Energy Minister Garen Kalustian and Iranian Finance and Economy Minister
Hussein Namazi, an agreement is signed committing the two countries
to expand bilateral trade from the 2000 level of $100 million to a
target of $250 million by the end of the year. The agreement, or memorandum
of understanding, also includes plans to finalize the construction
of a 140-kilometer natural gas pipeline to transport Iranian energy
to Armenia. Namazi also meets with Prime Minister Andranik Markarian
and President Kocharian to review issues of regional security. |
| January 24 |
Energy Minister Garen Kalustian continues
his work to reschedule the $118 million Armenian debt to Russia for
outstanding energy supplies. The minister reports that the government
is offering Russia a 50 percent stake in the Hrazdan thermal power
station in return for settling Armenia's $16 million arrears for fuel
supplies for its Medzamor nuclear power plant. Of the total debt,
Russia expects at least $18 million to be paid this year, although
the state budget has failed to set aside any funds for debt repayment. |
| January 25 |
President Robert Kocharian meets with
Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev during the Strasbourg ceremony
marking the two countries' ascension to full membership in the Council
of Europe. Kocharian, speaking in English, states that Armenia's "priorities
and objectives are in full conformity with the values and practices
of Europe and its institutions." Turning to the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict, Kocharian adds that Armenia continues to consider the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as the most appropriate
body to mediate the conflict, but stresses that Karabagh must be recognized
as an equal party and states that any solution requires "a broader
formulation" of sovereignty. During a direct meeting, the presidents
review several important elements of the latest OSCE peace plan and
discuss some new alterations to the Russian position on the conflict. |
| January 26 |
Members of the Armenian Communist
Party and the "Union of Rightist Forces," a coalition of
small conservative political parties, appeal to National Security
Minister Karlos Petrosian to release imprisoned businessman Arkady
Vartanian. Vartanian, imprisoned since his arrest in late October,
was recently transferred from a pretrial detention facility to a guarded
section of a Yerevan hospital after his wife and attorney warn that
his health is deteriorating and he may be susceptible to a stroke. |
| January 29 |
Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian explains
during a press conference that the country's armed forces are better
trained and have a higher degree of combat readiness than at anytime
in the past. Also, for the first time since the May 1994 cease-fire
agreement, specific casualty figures are given. According to these
figures, there were 47 deaths resulting from skirmishes along the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border for 1998-1999, and another 72 deaths of
military personnel last year, with eight of these fatalities from
cross border shooting incidents. The remaining 64 military deaths
last year were from accidents or disease. |
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