2007-02-27 20:52:00 Polish Foreign Minister lays a wreath at Memorial dedicated to Armenian Genocide's victims in Ottoman Turkey

Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga laid a wreath at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial dedicated to the
Armenian Genocide's victims in Ottoman Turkey in 1915.

The Polish Foreign Minister also put a note in the Memory Book. She visited the Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide and was told the history of the tragic events of 1915. It is impossible to forget the
barbarity of the past, A.Fotyga wrote in the Memory Book.

To note, the Polish Seim recognized the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. The Armenian Genocide is also recognized by the parliaments of Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Uruguay, Venezuela, Holland, Greece, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, Lebanon, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, France, Switzerland and Sweden.



2007-02-27 19:48:00 Impeachment bloc is first to apply for participation in May 12 parliamentary elections in Armenia

The Impeachment bloc has become the first political force in Armenia to apply for participation in the
May 12 parliamentary elections, says the secretary of the Central Electoral Commission Hamlet Abrahamyan.

The bloc consists of Democratic Fatherland (led by Petros Makeyan) and Conservative Party (led by Mikayel Hayrapetyan).


2007-02-27 19:39:00 PACE rapporteur on missing persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to visit Armenia with PACE pre-electoral observation mission

Leo Platvoet, PACE Rapporteur on missing persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, suggests that
these countries should address their accusations against the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture for complete investigation, L.Platvoet said in his interview with the Azeri Day.az news agency.

He said that according to the figures presented by the Armenian and Azeri authorities and agreed with the International Red Cross, 4604 people from Azerbaijan and 947 people from Armenia are missing as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The two countries' authorities deny that there are POWs in these countries. The rapporteur noted that the rumors about secret places of detention of the missing persons only aggravate the tension in the region and cause additional suffering to their families.

Asked whether he is planning to raise the issue on setting up a joint Azeri-Armenian commission for the search of POWs and missing persons, L.Platvoet reminded that he had offered to establish cooperation
between the State Commissions and the two working groups of these Commissions. He also applies to the CE Commissar on Human Rights to trace the issue of the missing and use his influence to contribute to the regional cooperation in this matter. L.Platvoet also expressed his intention to visit Armenia with the PACE pre-electoral observation mission. As regards the time of discussion of his report, L.Platvoet expressed hope that his report will be included in the agenda of the next plenary session of PACE in Strasbourg
in April. If it is impossible due to a great number of issues on the agenda, his report will be discussed at the Standing Committee's session in May.


2007-02-27 19:35:00 Turkish historian appeals to Armenian colleagues to excavate mass grave site of Armenians

Yusuf Halacoglu, the head of the Turkish Historical Society, is urging Armenian scientists to excavate
the mass grave site of Armenians near Harput town alongside with Turkish historians.

According to the Turkish weekly, the Turkish historian challenges the Armenian scientists who refer to the archived records of Leslie Davis, the United States foreign consul in the Harput region in 1915, and state that 12 thsd Armenians were killed and thrown into a valley near Lake Hazar.

Particularly, Yusuf Halacoglu invited Ara Sarafian, a leading Armenian historian from the Diaspora, to open the grave site together. "The allegations are so groundless that it wasn't possible to find a grave to put 12,000 people in those days. Moreover, it was impossible to cover up 12,000 people by working with shovels," noted the Turkish historian, probably, considering his argument cogent.



2007-02-27 13:18:00 GUAM Brings Up Frozen Conflicts at Spring Session of UN General Assembly

The issue on "frozen conflicts" in GUAM countries will be discussed at spring session of the UN General
Assembly, permanent representative of Moldova in UN Aleksey Tulbure told the journalists, APA reports. He said that the preliminary variant of draft resolution proposed by GUAM countries has been
prepared. "Agreements with some countries especially with Russia on discussion of the resolution continue. I consider that we will achieve improvement on this issue in UN GA. there is nothing shocking
in our proposed resolution, we have refused confrontation," he said. Aleksey Turbule added that new form of the resolution has been mitigated a little bit. "Some issues concerning withdrawal of troops
from the territory of the country, which can be raised by individual countries, have not been included into the draft resolution. We do not demand arrival of the UN peacekeepers. The authors of the
resolution are satisfied by only confirming their territorial integrity. This variant of the resolution has more chance to be adopted in UN General Assembly. GUAM countries intend to use tribune of UN to draw attention to present problems in GUAM region. Russia is against the resolution. But if Russia will be against, it will cause problem for it," he said.








Finance and banks

2007-02-27 08:16:00 Armenian Stock Exchange Started Tender by First Corporate Bonds of Non-Financial Sector - 'Shen-Concern' CJSC

Tender by first corporate bonds of a non-financial sector, a leader for production of building materials,
"Shen-Concern" CJSC, has started today on the floor of the Armenian Stock Exchange (ArmEx), Aleksan Sahakyan, Director General of "E-capital Asset Management", which is an underwriter and a
market-maker of bonds, told ArmInfo.

Along with it, according to the Head of Exchange, Armen Melikyan, the bonds had successfully passed an exchange listing in category "B" in a specially created scale for the bonds. He emphasized the
importance of availability of a market-maker in the person of "E-capital Asset Management" that will assure permanent bilateral quotations of bonds and their full liquidity.

To remind, the "Shen-Concern" CJSC has issued nominal, non-documentary discount bonds in December. The total par value of bonds will make up 160 mln drams to be placed by four equal
transfers of 40 mln drams each till June 1. Each transfer envisaged to issue 4,000 bonds at face-value of 10, 000 drams per bond. The annual earnings yield of securities is fixed at a level of 9% per year. According to the preliminary estimation, the gain from realization of the first transfer will make up 36 697 248 drams to be aimed at refinancing of the Company's debt. The term of bonds circulation is 365 days since the last placement day.

The "Shen-Concern" CJSC is presently engaged in the production of building materials, paints, putty, binding materials, concrete blocks. It also deals with construction and trade of building materials. In future, the Company schedules to continue the production of pints and dry mixtures, as well as to organize new kinds of production.

As of September 30, 2006, the Company's gain from realization made up 1 462 058 thsd drams, in 2005 - 1 243 292 thsd drams against 1 073 103 thsd drams in 2004. The net profit as of Sep 30, 2006, made up 272 321 thsd drams against 36 139 thsd drams in 2005 and 201 926 thsd drams in 2004. According to the Company's specialists, if the production realization volumes within 9 months, 2006 grew by 17,6%, the net profit for the same period has increased by 653,5%. Such high rates of profit growth are explained by
the reduction of the production first cost.

To remind, the owner of 36% of shares of "Shen-Concern" CJSC is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). These are the first investments of the European Bank in the private industrial enterprise of Armenia. The rest part of shares belongs to the Company's top-managers. To note, the Central Bank of Armenia has conferred a high "B" rating on "Shen-Concern" CJSC. The estimation of the Company's financial activity by CB specialists made up 3.86, the estimation of activities quality - 4.5, the
average estimation - 4.18. In view of this, the CB is ready to accept the bonds, issued by the Company, as a guarantee during signing of REPO-Contracts with commercial banks. In the opinion of analysts, this circumstance contributes greatly to the bonds liquidity level increase and enables the investors to enter the market of alternative financial tools.



Economy

2007-02-27 13:14:00 RA Parliament Ratified International Agreement 'On International Registration of Industrial Models'

RA Parliament has ratified today an International Agreement "On International Registration of Industrial
Models".

As the RA Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Tigran Davtyan said, the Agreement had been signed on July 2, 1999, in Geneva. As of today, 42 states of the world have joined the
Agreement. The Agreement participants are obliged to form a special Union, called to protect the intellectual property and register it in other countries based on one model. This circumstance, according to T. Davtyan, is very important from the viewpoint of time saving and financial means. The Agreement ratification will not create additional financial problems since the Agreement participant-states are obliged to pay a single fee irrespective of the fact a participant of how many unions is one or another state.



Social

2007-02-27 15:03:00 Mayor of Yerevan visits Los Angeles to participate in ceremony of signing agreement on declaring Yerevan and Los Angeles twin cities

On Feb 20-24, Mayor of Yerevan Yervand Zakharyan visited Los Angeles to participate in the ceremony of signing an agreement on declaring Yerevan and Armenia twin cities. The agreement was signed in the Los Angeles city council on Feb 23. Representatives of the local administrations of Los Angeles, the
diplomatic corps, the community organizations, and guests were present at the ceremony.

The press-service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told ArmInfo that during his visit, the Mayor of Yerevan met with Mayor of Glendale Dave Weaver, Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, with the
chairman of the city council, and a number of other officials. The delegation led by Y.Zakharyan also held meetings with the heads of community parties, chairman of the Glendale Community College, the
head of the Chamber of Commerce of California and the representatives of the Armenian Association of Lawyers.




Crimes and emergency situations

2007-02-27 11:28:00 Act of Self-Immolation in Front of RA Governmental Building

A man of 40 has committed an act of self-immolation in front of the RA Governmental building in the
Republic Square of Yerevan.

According to the Police employees, who arrived at the incident place, they have found him in an extremely grave condition. The person of the man is yet unidentified. The ambulance car has taken him to the hospital. According to some journalists, who turned out to be at the incident place by chance, before committing a self-immolation act, the man had made several harsh anti-governmental statements, "criticizing the anti-national policy of Armenian authorities".