Mailing List Service Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear frends! Arminfo news agency inform ARMENIAN STUDENTS TO GO ON STRIKE TOMORROW TO PROTEST AGAINST IMPOSED TARIFF FOR LOCAL PHONE CALLS SEPTEMBER 5. Armenian students will go on a republic-wide strike tomorrow to protest against the ArmenTel company's imposing a per minute tariff on local phone calls Sept 1. As chairman of the youth wing of the Stability party Menua Aroutyunyan told journalists today, the students are going to rally in front of the government building tomorrow to demand that the government abolish this measure. Aroutyunyan said unless the government undertakes any steps against the measure representatives of youth organizations will insist on its resignation. Aroutyunyan expects 40% of the country's youth to participate in the strike. Moreover, some university teachers also expressed wish to take part in this action. ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT THREATENS TO BRING AN ACTION AGAINST "ARMENTEL" SEPTEMBER 4. Armenian government threatens to bring an action against the telecommunications monopolist, the "Armentel" company. The conflict was caused by the introduction of a per-minute payment system for local phone calls in Armenia in September. Talking to journalists today, Armenian minister of transport and Communication, the government's representative in the company's Board of Directors Vaghinak Kocharyan said that Armentel did not fulfill its obligations under the contract and has no right to introduce the per-minute payment system. He also pointed out that the 1999-2003 Armentel business-program has not been implemented yet, and in 2001 the company antedated the business-program for 2000-2004. Kocharyan said that Armentel was to submit to the government new tariffs 60 days before their introduction, but he did it on August 17 of the current year and in English, violating the law on language. Moreover, Kocharyan believes that Armentel's statement that 66% of the Yerevan ATXs were made digital is not true, as this indicator does not exceed 44%. Thus, the introduction of the above system will lead to discrimination between users, as the system applies only to the users of the digital ATXs. Proceeding from this, Kocharyan stated that if Armentel includes the per-minute payment in next month's phone bills, the government will demand the protection of the users' rights in court. Meanwhile, talking to journalists, Executive Director of Armentel Nicos Georgoulas stated that the decision on introduction of the per-minute payment system made by the Board of Directors in September 1 2001 remains unchanged. He also said that the above decision was made on January 31 2001, and it was not unexpected for the Armenian government. CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT UNION URGES POPULATION TO BOYCOTT ARMENTEL'S INTRODUCTION OF PER MINUTE PAYMENT FOR LOCAL TELEPHONE CALLS SEPTEMBER 5. Vice chairman of the Constitutional Right Union party, MP Ayk Baboukhanyan urges Armenia's population to boycott the ArmenTel company's Sept 1 measure to introduce per minute payment for local telephone calls in Armenia. Reading out the party's statement during a press-conference in the Azdak club today, he said Armenia's citizens should go out to the streets and squares with protests against ArmenTel's decision rather than pay the phone bills. "If the whole people refuses to pay ArmenTel will hardly cut off phones all over the country," Baboukhanyan said. Laying the whole responsibility for this situation on both the former Levon Ter-Petrosyan regime and the incumbent government, Baboukhanyan said he is surprised that it is only the transport and communication minister who "is fighting for" abolishing ArmenTel's measure while the government and Pres.Kocharyan prefer to keep indifferent silence. Meanwhile, Baboukhanyan thinks that it is Kocharyan who bears the resposibility for the deal with ArmenTel as he was prime minister at the moment of its sale and put his signature under the contract. "Any honest state figure would resign in such a situation," Baboukhanyan noted. He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the work of the provisional governmental and parliamentary commissions on ArmenTel. Had these commissions passed some resolution or come out with some statement by Sept 1 ArmenTel might have postponed its measure, Baboukhanyan noted. He said besides boycotting the measure the Armenian public should attain the government's resignation and dispute ArmenTel's decision at the international arbitration court. It should be noted that ArmenTel and justice ministry representatives were invited to the press-conference, but they ignored the invitation. YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY ANNOUNCED ABOUT GRAPES PURCHASING SEPTEMBER 5.The Yerevan Brandy Company, which belongs to the French "Pernod Ricard" company, announced about the beginning of grapes purchasing. As the announcement of the YBC says, published in the Yerevan press, 2465 agreements have been already signed, according to which the company pledges itself to purchase grapes from peasants of 64 villages of Armavir and Ararat regions. 13,000 tons of five kinds of white grapes will be bought with the price of 75 drams per a kilogram, they are: Garan dmak, Mskhali, Voskehat, Kangun and Rkatsiteli. The YBC will also buy 150 tons of black grapes Kakheti with the price of 70 drams per a kilo. The payment for the grapes will be carried out by the Yerevan Brandy Company within 3 days after formal acceptance via the Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA). After the purchasing campaign of the current year the YBC envisions to sign agreements with 82 villages of Ararat, Armavir and Aragatsotn regions of Armenia for the term of three years (2002-2004) for purchasing grapes. It should be noted that in 1998 the YBC has purchased 26.1 thous. tons of grapes, in 1999 - 18.1 thous. tons, and in 2000 - 10.6 thous. tons. JUDGE OF 27 OCTOBER TERRORIST ACT CASE CALLED UPON JOURNALISTS TO ABSTAIN FROM PUBLICATIONS OF WITNESSES' TESTIMONIES SEPTEMBER 5. The judge of the Oct 27 terrorist act case, Samvel Uzunyan, called upon journalists to abstain from the publications of the witnesses' testimonies. According to Uzunyan, the last period the publications of witnesses' testimonies became too often, what is not admissible. The judge warned that he will run to more severe measures to put end to these publications. besides, he did not specify what he meant. As it has been announced before, Armenia's minister of justice David Harutyunyan also said that the testimonies of witnesses made during hearings are to be published only partially. No information from Site can be used without prior permission of ARMINFO http://www.arminfo.am -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=media.arminfo http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com