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| November 1 |
The Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
will hold another meeting later this month, news agencies reported
this week. Robert Kocharian and Heydar Aliyev will meet during the
upcoming NATO Summit in Prague on November 22. Prior to that, on November
14, presidential envoys Tatoul Margarian and Araz Azimov will meet
in Vienna together with mediators from France, Russia and the United
States. Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Ordway visited
Azerbaijan to acquaint himself with the situation there. His Baku
colleague, Ambassador Ross Wilson, made a similar visit to Yerevan
six months ago.
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian emphasized last week the importance
of continuing such meetings, even as both countries shift their focus
towards presidential elections. Speaking this week, Oskanian said
that the unsettled nature of the conflict with Azerbaijan remains
the single most dangerous threat to the security and well-being of
citizens of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. He noted, however, that
a settlement proposal currently on the table (and presumably already
discussed by Aliyev and Kocharian) might become acceptable to both
sides. In the first interview since his appointment, Nagorno Karabakh's
Foreign Minister Ashot Ghoulian called the Azerbaijani government's
hopes to annex Karabakh "outdated." He claimed that there is no "mortal
enmity" between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and called on official
Baku to "discard its ambitions." |
| November 1 |
Armenia's government expects an approximately
10 percent rise in budget revenue and expenditure next year, Finance
and Economy Minister Vardan Khachatrian said this week. According
to the budget proposal just submitted to parliament, next year's revenues
are estimated at $494 million and spending at $580 million. Loans
from international financial institutions would cover much of the
budget deficit. The National Assembly will take up the budget proposal
in December, following a month-long review in parliamentary committees.
Khachatrian said that most of the increased expenditure will cover
planned increases in public sector salaries, starting January 1, 2003.
Tax and customs officials will see the most substantial hikes to their
wages. Armenia's teachers, cultural workers and retirees will also
enjoy modest increases to their currently very low wages and pensions.
Starting July 1, 2003, following presidential and parliamentary elections,
the government proposal also calls for doubling of salaries of senior
officials, including the president, prime minister, government and
parliament members.
The government hopes to increase the revenue by continuing to crack
down on the "shadow" economy and introducing higher property taxes
on Armenia's rich. The budget proposal estimated the 2003 Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) growth at 7.2 percent and annual inflation at under
3 percent. |
| November 1 |
As part of the effort to improve
government transparency, Armenia's Civil Service Council oversaw the
first competitive hiring of government staff this week, its chairman
Manvel Badalian reported. The council tested the new system by holding
an open competition for vacancies in the council itself. Out of 529
applicants, several dozen succeeded in passing two rounds of written
tests and interviews, filling most of the 55 vacancies at the Council.
Next week the council will hold a competition for 36 positions as
chiefs of staff in various government agencies. President Kocharian
appointed the six-member council earlier this year.
In another measure designed to improve government officials' accountability,
the Ministry of State Revenue announced plans to expand the number
of government officials who will be required to file income declarations.
The mandatory system was introduced last year and so far covers all
senior and some mid-level officials. This time, all of Armenia's tax,
customs and police employees will also be required to declare their
total family incomes by March 15, 2003. |
| November 1 |
Owners of Armenia's electricity grid,
the British offshore-registered Midland Resources may soon hire a
large German company to manage the network, says an informed Radio
Free Europe / Radio Liberty source. The Siemens engineering group
is expected to land a management contract by December 1. Midland Resources
bought the debt-ridden Armenian electricity network last August, after
the government failed to attract better-known companies from the United
States and Europe. Midland managers have since promised to hire professionals
to run the grid. The company's own experience has so far largely been
in the production and sale of steel. Midland has also invested in
an Armenian agricultural company.
Siemens has an established international presence and has already
been involved in Armenia's energy and telecommunications sectors.
Last year, the German company bid for 25-year management rights for
the electricity network in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, but the
Azerbaijani government preferred a Turkish company. The transfer of
management rights to Siemens is likely to unlock a $20 million loan
from the World Bank. Over a year ago, the Bank conditioned the loan
to a successful privatization of the grid. |
| November 1 |
Officials from the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this week denied claims frequently made
by Azerbaijan that Armenia "illegally buries nuclear waste" in former
Azerbaijani districts (now under control of Nagorno Karabakh). The
IAEA oversees the safe operation of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant
at Metsamor. The head of the agency's Europe section Massoud Samiei
and Coordinator for Slovakia Jozef Zlatnansky said that "IAEA inspections
have verified that all the spent [nuclear] fuel is kept within the
grounds of the plant." A French-German nuclear energy company Framatome
ANP built a multi-million dollar storage facility for radioactive
materials at Metsamor four years ago.
The IAEA representatives confirmed that Azerbaijani officials have
brought up the allegations, but provided no evidence. As recently
as last week, Ilham Aliyev, son of the Azerbaijani president, who
occupies several key government and political positions in Baku, repeated
the claim while addressing a Johns Hopkins University audience in
Washington, DC. He added that "everything we say is true, everything
[Armenians] say is a lie." Armenia has repeatedly denied the Azerbaijani
allegations, which in addition to nuclear waste, relate to alleged
sponsorship of terrorism, drug trafficking and almost a dozen other
charges. The IAEA has suggested a meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani
officials "to sort out the problem." |
| November 1 |
President Heydar Aliyev has publicly
ruled out another war as a way to settle the conflict with Nagorno
Karabakh, his subordinates continue their efforts to directly involve
the largely disinterested public in various propaganda exercises.
Officials at nearly all government ministries and agencies have initiated
a "voluntary-mandatory" contribution of up to half of their employees'
salaries to go to the recently established presidential war fund.
Contributions range from over $30,000 at the state-owned Caspian Shipping
Company to around $4,000 from educators and under $1,000 from Baku
subway workers, with some individual supporters giving up to $100.
According to the Union of Independent Teachers of Azerbaijan, secondary
school teachers have been informed that between 25 and 50 percent
of their already meager salaries will be diverted to the fund. The
Union says that teachers are afraid for their jobs and refuse to complain
publicly. Members of the Azerbaijani Parliament, dominated by Aliyev
loyalists, who began the fundraising drive a few weeks ago, pledged
to transfer one-fourth of their salaries to the fund.
Meanwhile, in another unusual twist, a leading non-government television
station, which is known for its ultra-nationalist rhetoric, suggested
using hundreds of Azerbaijan's homeless children to "set up a suicide
battalion" to fight against Armenians. Earlier efforts to meet Azerbaijan's
security challenges included a decision by the late President Abulfez
Elchibey to release over seven hundred prisoners, the majority of
them with criminal records, to fight in Karabakh; less than a year
later President Aliyev gave a go-ahead to the deployment of over 1,000
Afghan mujaheddin. |
| November 1 |
Interviewed by the CBS "60 Minutes"
news magazine last Sunday, a former Federal Bureau of Investigations
(FBI) employee Sibel D. Edmonds accused an unnamed Turkish intelligence
officer, reportedly based at the Turkish Embassy in Washington earlier
this year, of cultivating spies inside the U.S. State Department and
at the Pentagon. Edmonds, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Turkey,
worked as a Turkish and other Middle Eastern languages specialist
at the FBI Washington field office before she was fired last March.
She claimed that one of her colleagues at the FBI, also a native of
Turkey, and her husband, a U.S. Air Force major, tried to recruit
her to work for the Turkish officer in question, and threatened her
family in Turkey, when she refused. In July Edmonds filed a lawsuit
against her former superiors, which Attorney General John Ashcroft
requested to be dismissed, citing the state secrets privilege. The
FBI is reportedly conducting an internal investigation into the matter. |
| November 1 - 8 |
Armenian parliamentarians do not
anticipate positive changes in Turkey's policy towards Armenia following
the electoral triumph of the Islamic-leaning Justice and Development
Party (AKP) last Sunday, although the Armenian Foreign Ministry has
so far refrained from official comment. In what some have described
as a "political earthquake," AKP won by a margin unmatched by any
other Turkish party in the last decade. It will now be able to avoid
forming a coalition and will establish a one-party government. Meanwhile,
all but one of the traditionally secular Turkish parties, widely blamed
for the ongoing economic crisis in the country, suffered a major defeat
and will no longer be represented in parliament.
Turkish Islamists have traditionally been considered to be proponents
of a less aggressive policy on Armenian issues than their nationalist
secular counterparts. Two months ago, one of the top AKP leaders Abdullah
Gul expressed support for economic relations with Armenia as a way
to ease political tension. But leaders of the pro-government majority
in the Armenian Parliament sounded skeptical about such a possibility.
Citing AKP leaders' recent pledges to continue to support the Azerbaijani
position in the Karabakh conflict, Republican Tigran Torosian and
Dashnak Armen Rustamian said that positive changes should not be anticipated.
The AKP's desire for Turkey to play a leadership role in the Muslim
world is also worrying the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Hovanes Hovanisian and opposition leader Artashes Geghamian, who are
concerned that a change may be for the worse.
Although the AKP leader Tayyip Erdogan has described Israeli policy
towards Palestine as "terrorism of [its Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon,"
he did not signal any immediate changes in Israeli-Turkish relations.
Erdogan declared Turkey's move towards the European Union (EU) membership
and easing of some of the state-imposed restrictions on Islam, to
be his party's priorities. This is the second time that Turks have
elected an Islamic-leaning government. Nejmeddin Erbakan's Welfare
Party's (RP) coalition with a secular party established in 1996 lasted
for less than a year, collapsing under pressure from the military.
AKP split from RP soon after and, operating in the shadow of the military,
has positioned itself as a religiously moderate, conservative party.
Some secular Turkish observers are making the argument that the AKP
style and support base are closer to that of Turkey's traditional
center-right and nationalist parties than to its RP predecessors. |
| November 1 - 8 |
Following protracted talks, senior
Armenian and Russian officials have finalized an agreement this week
that gives Russia control over Armenia's largest thermal power plant,
an electronics company and three research institutes in exchange for
settlement of a $100 million state debt. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail
Kasyanov arrived in Armenia to seal the deal that has been negotiated
by Defense Minister Serge Sargsian and Russia's Industry Minister
Ilya Klebanov, who are co-chairs of the bilateral economic committee.
Kasyanov described the agreement as a Russian investment in the Armenian
economy. Both sides said the arrangement is mutually beneficial, opening
a possibility for regional electricity export from Armenia and stimulating
research and development that used to be part of the Soviet military-industrial
complex.
Roger Robinson, who represents the World Bank, Armenia's largest foreign
donor, said the agreement was "a positive step" that would make electricity
exports easier and take a significant financial burden off Armenia's
budget. According to Finance Minister Vardan Khachatrian the agreement
allows Armenia to save $18 million in interest payments that could
now be spent on social programs. Armenia's debt to Russia has been
collected largely since 1995, when Russia helped restart Armenia's
nuclear power plant and from supplies of natural gas.
Kasyanov said that the Russian government would determine companies'
operators in the next six months. The Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant,
the largest of the five transferred entities, is now likely to receive
Russian natural gas at a significantly discounted rate, which will
make its electricity production more profitable. Kasyanov said that
after Russia finds markets for electricity generated at Hrazdan, it
will decide on whether to purchase its fifth and largest electricity-generating
unit that is not included in the current deal. The construction of
the fifth unit is expected to be completed by 2005.
The agreement will now require approval by the national parliaments.
The majority of the Armenian lawmakers appeared this week to be in
favor of the transfer, with only the pro-government Country of Law
Party and several liberal opposition groups expressing objections.
Leftist opposition leaders, including Artashes Geghamian of the National
Accord Party and the Communists, backed the deal, but the People's
Party chairman Stepan Demirchian, criticized the government for failing
to consult him over the transfer of the Mars electronics company,
of which he is a director. |
| November 1 - 8 |
The U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) announced this week that it will begin the final
phase of a project in which it underwrites the purchase of apartments
and houses for local families who lost their homes in the earthquake
of 1988. Under an agreement signed with the Armenian government, USAID
will distribute 3,000 housing certificates for apartments in addition
to 2,400 already given to families living in metal shacks and other
temporary shelters. Another 400 private houses will be built in rural
settlements. The families use the certificates to help in the purchase
of a home.
Although some program beneficiaries in Gyumri, the largest city in
the earthquake zone, charged that apartment prices have surged in
the area and now exceed the average value of a certificate, the overall
implementation of the program is considered highly successful. President
Robert Kocharian said, "I would like to thank the U.S. Congress and
government for their active participation in the rebuilding of the
disaster zone." The Lincy Foundation is also working in the earthquake
zone, assisting with planning and restoration. |
| November 1 - 8 |
With roughly three months left until
Armenia's next presidential elections, the incumbent President Robert
Kocharian, Chairman of the National Accord Party Artashes Geghamian
and Chairman of the People's Party Stepan Demirchian remain the top
contenders for the nation's highest political office. But media and
political speculation continues as to whether ex-President Levon Ter-Petrossian,
who resigned in 1998 and has remained in self-imposed seclusion, may
try to regain the post.
Representatives of political parties allied with Kocharian have welcomed
the possibility of a Ter-Petrossian run. Republican Galust Sahakian
said that, while he will back Kocharian at the polls, he would prefer
the main challenger to be an experienced politician such as Ter-Petrossian,
rather than individuals who only recently entered politics. A leading
pro-presidential daily argued this week that members and allies of
the former ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement may have convinced
Ter-Petrossian to run in 2003, because this may the last chance for
him to secure sufficient financial and foreign political support to
do so.
Opposition politicians have largely dismissed the likelihood of the
ex-President's comeback. In a reference to Ter-Petrossian's continued
unpopularity, Geghamian said that he did not think the former President
was "so detached from reality" to run for presidency. But
a senior parliamentarian Shavarsh Kocharian, a long-time Ter-Petrossian
opponent and one of the leading opposition activists, while also expressing
doubt that he would run, said that the ex-President's nomination would
benefit the opposition by splitting Kocharian's support base. But
some observers believe Ter-Petrossian's participation is likely to
further split the opposition itself. |
| November 1 - 8 |
The state-run Armenian Airlines (AAL)
was forced last week to cancel its highly popular direct flights to
and from Los Angeles after a Belgian court declared their operator,
Delsey Airlines, bankrupt. Earlier this year, AAL was forced to cancel
all of its flights to most European destinations due to technical
problems with its only Western-made aircraft and enforcement of noise
restrictions on the rest of its aging Soviet-made fleet. A recently
established private carrier, Armenian International Airlines (AIA)
is now flying to Paris and Frankfurt and is expected to add a flight
to Amsterdam next month. AAL and Delsey (formerly VG Airlines) jointly
operated the flights between Yerevan and Los Angeles with a stopover
in Brussels for just four months. In that period, AAL and other Armenian
aviation services earned about $400,000. In addition to local carriers,
Western travelers can also reach Armenia by British Airways via London,
Austrian Airlines via Vienna or numerous carriers flying to major
Russian cities. |
| November 1 - 8 |
The Armenian Foreign Ministry last
week issued the first electronic visas to applicants from the United
States and Germany. Any potential visitor to Armenia with access to
a computer and a credit card is now able to apply for a tourist visa
on-line (see the web site address below) and receive a response within
two working days. An electronic visa will so far be only honored at
Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport. Should the United Nations-funded
system prove successful it will then also be used at Armenia's borders
with Georgia and Iran. Armenia is only the second country in the world,
after Australia, to introduce the service. |
| November 8 - 15 |
Starting this week, Nagorno Karabakh's
President Arkady Ghoukasian is visiting France and the United States
to participate in the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund's drive to raise
financial support for the ongoing construction of the highway that
will connect the northern and southern parts of NKR. The highway is
of a major economic and strategic significance for Karabakh. Among
its benefits, it will allow farmers in Karabakh to move their produce
quickly to markets throughout NKR and Armenia. Ghoukasian's delegation
will be in New York November 18-22, and in Los Angeles November 22-30.
Last Sunday, Ghoukasian together with President Robert Kocharian and
other officials inaugurated a new 6-mile stretch that connects the
villages of Aygestan and Astkhashen, north of Stepanakert. Last year,
two other sections of the highway, totaling 19 miles, were completed.
They connected Astkhashen to Kichan in the Martakert district and
the villages of Karmir Shuka and Drakhtik in southern NKR. The total
cost of the 106-mile highway is estimated at $25 million, of which
$6.2 million has already been raised. |
| November 8 - 15 |
Sixty-five representatives from seventeen
NATO and partner countries met in Armenia this week to begin preparations
for next year's military exercises in the framework of the Partnership
for Peace Program. "Cooperative Best Effort 2003" exercises
are scheduled to take place in Armenia next June. Major General Mikael
Melkonian, who heads the Defense Ministry's international cooperation
department, said the NATO-led exercises will involve upwards to 150
Armenian infantrymen, including cadets from the Yerevan Military Institute
and specialists trained at the U.S. funded de-mining center in Echmiadzin.
According to Melkonian, Turkey will most likely participate in the
exercises, unlike Azerbaijan, which refused to send a representative
to this week's meeting. Representatives of the Russian base headquartered
in Gyumri will also take part.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Serge Sargsian told the Parliament's Defense
and Security Committee this week that Armenia's defense budget is
anticipated to reach about $80 million next year, up from $60 million
this year. Members of the National Assembly are currently reviewing
the government's 2003 budget proposal. Azerbaijan's military spending
will reach $140 million next year. Earlier this week, President Kocharian,
together with Sargsian, made a three-day visit to several military
units deployed along the Line of Contact with Azerbaijan. Kocharian
reviewed the forces, honored outstanding officers and soldiers and
met with residents of nearby villages. |
| November 8 - 15 |
Armenia's legislation and government
policy provide the best opportunities for business activity and foreign
investment of all of its neighbors and the entire Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS), according to findings released this week
by a leading Washington think tank. The Index of Economic Freedom,
prepared jointly by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal,
ranks the economic policies of more than 160 countries. Hong Kong,
Singapore, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Ireland top the list of the
world's "freest" economies, while countries such as North
Korea and Iraq are at the very bottom of the list.
Armenia, on par with Hungary and South Africa, ranks 44th this year,
having registered significant and steady progress from the 115th spot
it held in 1996. Armenia's immediate neighbors however are not in
the "free" or "mostly free" categories with Azerbaijan
104th, Georgia 113th, Turkey 119th, Russia 135th and Iran 146th. In
the larger neighborhood, countries outscoring Armenia include the
Baltic States, Cyprus, Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The study emphasizes Armenia's liberal trade regime and notes improvement
in monetary policy and a decline in the government's fiscal burden.
It also notes continuing problems such as the large shadow economic
sector, excessive government regulation, weak protection of property
rights and high wages and prices differential.
The study argues that countries with less government intervention
in the economy and a lower level of protectionism provide best opportunities
for economic growth. In three quarters of 2002, Armenia's economy
grew by 11 percent, and last week the International Monetary Fund
predicted the annual expansion to be 9.5 percent, which is close to
last year's level. The latest government statistics list Russia, Belgium,
Israel and the United States as Armenia's top trading partners. The
composition of Armenian exports remains narrow, however, with cut
diamonds and jewelry accounting for more than 50 percent. Companies
located in Yerevan account for close to 60 percent of all trade. |
| November 8 - 15 |
Armenia's telecommunications monopoly,
Armentel, is facing new legal challenges from the Armenian government
over practices that reportedly violate the company's investment commitments
and consumer rights. Ara Saghatelian, a spokesman for the Justice
Ministry, which is handling all legal issues related to Armentel,
said the company was hindering the work of British auditors hired
by the government. Armentel's owner, the Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization (OTE), has long been accused of not honoring the commitments
it assumed when the company was privatized in 1998. In recent weeks,
government officials and parliamentary leaders have renewed calls
to abolish Armentel's monopoly and offered to discuss the matter in
the near future.
Meanwhile, Transportation and Communications Minister Andranik Manukian
denied Greek press reports this week that the OTE was planning to
sell Armentel to Karabakh Telecom, which is run by a Lebanese-Armenian
businessman. But Manukian and other officials said that, having lost
faith in OTE's ability to modernize Armentel, they would welcome the
company's takeover by more professional managers.
In a reflection of ongoing management problems at Armentel, its chief
executive Nikos Georgulas submitted his resignation two weeks ago.
Last week, threatened with confiscation of some of its Armentel shares,
OTE finally transferred close to $1.5 million owed to the Armenian
government for earlier Armentel-related litigation at the London-based
International Court of Economic Arbitration. |
| November 8 - 15 |
Some 480,000 Armenian retirees will
receive a pension check averaging $11.5 a month starting early next
year, head of the Pension and Employment Fund Frunze Musheghian said
this week. This amount is far below the unofficial substistence level
of $40 a month, but it represents a 50 percent increase, compared
to the beginning of 2002. Observers linked the increase, the third
this year, to upcoming elections. Musheghian also said the government
succeeded in clearing all late payments to pensioners this year. |
| November 8 - 15 |
Nominated this week by the National
Democratic Union, Vazgen Manukian, Armenia's first post-Soviet Prime
Minister (1990-91), appeared ready to contest the presidency once
again. Manukian came close to defeating then incumbent Levon Ter-Petrossian
in 1996, but was a distant third in the 1998 elections. The Socialist
Armenia Union, which groups together half a dozen minor left-wing
opposition parties, already has two candidates. They are the Democratic
Party leader Aram G. Sargsian and senior member of the Homeland and
Honor Party Garnik Margarian. The latter is likely to be backed by
other Socialist Armenia members as well. Meanwhile, Professor Lenser
Aghalovian has been nominated by a group of intellectuals.
Incumbent President Robert Kocharian and leaders of the opposition
National Accord and People's Parties, Artashes Geghamian and Stepan
Demirchian, have already announced plans to run. Recent media reports,
citing individuals close to former President Ter-Petrossian, said
his supporters were preparing to announce his candidacy. The leader
of the opposition Party of the Republic, former Prime Minister Aram
Z. Sargsian, said he was ready to back either Ter-Petrossian or Demirchian.
Armenia's Communists are expected to nominate their leader Vladimir
Darbinian.
Last week, Armenia's Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the
election schedule. Candidates are required to apply officially to
the CEC between November 21 and December 9. Signatures will be collected
between December 11-31. Following verification of signature lists,
the CEC will register the qualified candidates between January 1-20.
Candidates will have until 8AM on February 9, election day, to withdraw
from the race. |
| November 15 - 22 |
Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Robert Kocharian and Heydar Aliyev, this week continued their one-on-one
dialogue although expectations for a Karabakh settlement are not high.
The two presidents met during the NATO and Partner countries' summit
in Prague. Following their talks they also met with mediators from
France, Russia and the United States and, separately, with President
of France Jacques Chirac. The presidents stressed the importance of
continued dialogue in spite of the upcoming elections in both countries.
Also during the summit NATO member states invited seven East European
countries to join the Alliance. In its largest expansion to date,
Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the three Baltic states
of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are expected to join the alliance.
Russia has reportedly dropped its opposition to the inclusion of the
former Soviet republics in the alliance. Earlier this week, Armenia
and Azerbaijan became Associate Members of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly. |
| November 15 - 22 |
Armenian banks can now question clients
regarding the source of their cash deposits and will have the right
to freeze accounts of individuals and organizations suspected of terrorist
financing. Chairman of the Central Bank Tigran Sargsian said this
week that a new tougher banking law will help prevent funding of international
terrorist organizations and is another contribution by Armenia to
the U.S.-led effort to combat terrorism around the world. Sargsian
dismissed concerns that the additional anti-terror safeguards would
make the Armenian banking system less attractive for investors. He
said that the new law provides potential investors with "incentives
and protection" as long as they want to engage in legal activities.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling on all states
to suppress terrorist financing last year. |
| November 15 - 22 |
Several envoys accredited in the
Armenian capital, including ambassadors of France, Germany, the United
Kingdom and the United States and representatives of major international
organizations, published an open letter urging Armenia's Central Election
Commission (CEC) "to improve electoral procedures in time for
the Presidential Elections on 19 February 2003 and the Parliamentary
Elections on 25 May 2003." The head of the European group, which
last month monitored Armenia's local elections, British parliamentarian
Christopher Newbury, expressed "complete satisfaction" at
the handling of the electoral process, finding it to be well-organized
and noting the improved accuracy of voters' lists. The letter said,
however, that while recent local government elections "marked
an improvement," voter lists still require more work. The letter
also urged more transparency in the vote counting process at the precinct
level and clearer rules on the role of proxies and other authorized
personnel at the polling stations. The National Assembly is currently
working to amend the election law in line with concerns expressed
by the parliamentary opposition. |
| November 15 - 22 |
Leaders of the opposition National
Accord (AMK) and Communist Parties, and the Socialist Armenia Union,
said this week they have created a "Popular-Patriotic Alliance"
to jointly contest presidential and parliamentary elections. In a
move that appears to have caught other opposition leaders by surprise,
the AMK Chairman Artashes Geghamian succeeded in winning the support
of the opposition groups, which until recently were widely expected
to back the People's Party chairman Stepan Demirchian. Another opposition
leader, National Democratic Union chairman Vazgen Manukian this week
confirmed his intention to run. Some observers suggested that the
realignment was triggered by persistent speculation that Demirchian
and his allies in the Party of the Republic were in talks with the
supporters of ex-President Levon Ter-Petrossian regarding his candidacy.
Meanwhile, a recently established Hakhtanak (Victory) public organization
endorsed the incumbent President Robert Kocharian. Led by Deputy Minister
of Culture Ishkhan Zakarian, Hakhtanak is a non-party alliance comprising
a number of prominent businessmen, local government officials and
sports figures, including Gagik Tsarukian, President of Multi Group,
one of Armenia's largest companies, and Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghoukasian. |
| November 15 - 22 |
The World Trade Organization (WTO)
group, examining Armenia's application for membership, has issued
a recommendation to the organization's general assembly to admit Armenia
at its next meeting on December 10, Trade and Economic Development
Minister Karen Chshmaritian said this week. Chshmaritian led a government
delegation to Geneva, Switzerland earlier in the week to finalize
the accession negotiations. He also said that Turkey's effort to further
delay Armenia's membership ended in failure. Armenia first began talks
with WTO in 1996. Chshmaritian underscored the importance of WTO membership
in attracting foreign investment and expansion of Armenia's foreign
trade links. But critics in Armenia's political and business circles
are leery of strong competition for local manufacturers. |
| November 15 - 22 |
Owners of the recently privatized
Armenian electricity grid have selected one of the largest South Korean
companies, Daewoo, to manage the network. Late last week, Armenia's
Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said that the UK-registered Midland
Resources was holding negotiations with Daewoo, Germany's Siemens
and Swedish-Swiss ABB Concern on management of the grid. Following
several failures, the government privatized the electricity distribution
networks last August. It hopes that private owners will succeed in
turning around the money-losing enterprise that employs 9,000 people,
while substantially reducing rampant corruption in the sector. Selection
of a professional management company to run the electricity network
also paves way for the release of a long-delayed $20 million World
Bank loan, which was contingent on privatization. |
| November 15 - 22 |
A group of prominent businessmen
and economists from Armenia, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United
States will begin developing possible scenarios for Armenia's long-term
economic development. One of Russia's top investment bankers and the
initiator of the project named Armenia 2020, Ruben Vardanian, described
the effort in an interview last week. He said the idea came from successful
experiences with similar projects in Japan, Ireland and Russia. According
to Vardanian, the project's goal is not to determine a certain model
of development, but to bring together people from Armenia and the
Diaspora holding different views to stimulate public debate about
Armenia's future and create several viable alternatives.
Vardanian, a 34-year-old Yerevan native, has won international renown
at the helm of Troika Dialog, the leading Russian brokerage firm,
and is now working to overhaul Russia's largest insurance corporation.
Other participants include the president of Grand Holding Hrant Vartanian,
Director of Converse Bank Smbat Nasibian, and Director of the Armenal
aluminum plant Movses Dzavarian. The project is expected to conclude
by the end of 2003. |
| November 15 - 22 |
A top executive for the oil company
planning to build an oil pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey has warned
the Georgian leadership that its ongoing environmental assessment
study is delaying the project, the Financial Times reported this week.
The President of the BP-led Azerbaijan International Operating Company
(AIOC) David Woodward initiated a letter to Georgian President Eduard
Shevardnadze earlier this month, that said the delay would force BP
to suspend pipeline work in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Construction of
the controversial pipeline is planned for 2003-5. Georgian concerns
center on the proposed routing of the pipeline through Borjomi, an
area known for its mineral water springs, a source for one of Georgia's
top exports.
Earlier this year, a coalition of more than 60 non-government organizations,
including several groups from Georgia, warned that the proposed pipeline
could reignite regional conflicts, damage local environments and violate
rights of communities along its proposed route. The NGOs are also
opposed to the pipeline's financing by taxpayer-funded organizations,
such as the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD). Reports last week suggested that EBRD was ready
to provide close to $300 million in loans for Baku-Ceyhan. BP is looking
for a total of $2.1 billion in outside financing to complete the $3
billion project.
Meanwhile, one of the largest Russian oil companies, Lukoil, said
this week it will sell its share in the AIOC and withdraw from other
Azerbaijani deals to focus on projects inside Russia. The move, which
was praised by analysts, reflects the continued uncertainty surrounding
Azerbaijani oil development. Other observers noted that a potential
reopening of the Iraqi oil industry would make Baku-Ceyhan even less
commercially viable. |
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