Intrigue of the day

2008-07-19 11:35:00 No ethnic crime in Russia remains untrammeled

ArmInfo. No ethnic crime in Russia remains untrammeled since any fact of xenophobia is investigated, Solicitor General of RF Yevgeny Zabarchuk told ArmInfo during his unofficial visit to Armenia. 'We pay special attention to any display of nationalism and racism and respond to and investigate every such case', he said.

Y. Zabarchuk said the criminal code has already been amended to toughen the responsibility for racial and ethnic crimes. Relevant divisions are operating at the RF Prosecutor General's Office and at other structures and the work is coordinated.

'I would not say there is splash of nationalism against Armenians in Russia. I would call the developments as display of intolerance among youth. It is more characteristic to St. Petersburg and Moscow. These
are two cities with many problems', he said. RF Solicitor General underlined that a series of operations conducted in St. Petersburg resulted in arrests and proceedings on facts of nationalism. Y. Zabarchuk outlined the great difference between the militia and judicial assessment of the developments. 'It is clear that militia tries to evade responsibility and soften the importance of incidents, which is characteristic of all the law-enforcement agencies', he said.

By data of All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) in 2004 respondents named mostly Caucasian among the peoples arousing displeasure and bewilderment: Chechens (14.8% of the polled),
Azerbaijanis (5.1%), Armenians (4.1%), Caucasians in general (6.0%), as well as Szgany (5.1%) and Jews (2.5%). Sociologists say the situation has not much changed since 2004.







Politics

2008-07-19 14:05:00 PACE President makes official visit to Armenia

ArmInfo. Lluis Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), is to make an official visit to Armenia from 22 to 25 July to deepen co-operation between Armenia and the Assembly and to promote implementation of the Assembly's Resolutions 1609 and 1620.

The press service of the Council of Europe reports that following on from the recent visit of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr de Puig intends to assess, in particular, the credibility of the enquiry into the events on 1-2 March, and will urgently raise the issue of people detained in connection with these events. Following his recent visit to Azerbaijan, he will also discuss the latest political developments concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Meetings are foreseen with the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, among others, as well as Armenia's Human Rights Defender and the members of the ad hoc committee looking into the causes of the events in March. Mr de Puig will also meet representatives of parties in the parliament, including the Heritage faction, and former President
Levon Ter-Petrossia.


2008-07-18 19:26:00 Azerbaijan makes one more irresponsible statement

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan has made one more irresponsible statement proving that its judiciary system is politicized, the prosecutor general of Armenia Agvan Hovsepyan said during a press-conference today.

Hovsepyan pointed out that during a meeting of the CIS Coordinating Council of Prosecutors General in Tbilisi on July 17, the Armenian delegation appeared with an initiative to sign an agreement for jointly combating trafficking. The Azeri delegation led by the prosecutor general signed the agreement but with a dissenting opinion because the author of the initiative was the Armenian delegation.

Hovsepyan pointed out that the special opinion of the Azeri delegation received no understanding. Hovsepyan said that during the meeting he presented Armenia's position on Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Azerbaijan is trying to find political implications wherever possible and the only explanation for the strange demarche of the Azeri delegation in Tbilisi is the political position of the prosecutor general of Azerbaijan," Hovsepyan said.


Economy

2008-07-18 13:35:00 Armenia announces tender for license for activity of third mobile operator in Armenia

ArmInfo. Armenia has announced a tender for license for activity of a third mobile operator in Armenia, Press Secretary of Armenian Transport and Communication Ministry Susanna Tonoyan told
ArmInfo.

She said relevant announcement was published in The Financial Times on 17 and 18 July. The parties interested must apply for participation in a tender within 10 days after it is announced. The companies that will pass the pre-qualification stage will be named within 40 days. The winner will be declared within 90 days. The opening offer for 15-year license is 10 million euros. The third operator must have relevant experience and ability to invest at least 200 million in development within 2 years.

The following codes will be provided to the third operator +374 (0) 55 and +374 (0) 95. If the operator fails to use the provided codes by at least 60% by the end of the year, the PSRC has a right to take
back the unused numbers. The third operator will be provided with GSM frequency and an opportunity to provide 3G services including voice and data transmission. The frequencies will be provided within the
following limits: 880-890, 925-935, 1745-1765, 1840-1860, 1910-1915, 1950-1965, 2140-2155 MHz.

At present GSM service providers in Armenia are ArmenTel CJSC (100% subsidiary of Russian VimpelCom OJSC with trademark Beeline) and K-Telecom with trademark VivaCell, 88% stake of the latter belong to Russian MTS operator. By the data of the companies, the number of subscribers was up 45.5% over 2007 to 1,824,344. The greatest part of the market belong top VivaCell.


Finance and banks

2008-07-18 17:41:00 Ameriabank launches new deposit program

ArmInfo. Ameriabank has launches a new deposit programs this month, Ameriabank press-service reports.

Under the program the bank has introduced the following deposits: 'Standard', 'Capital', 'To Relatives', 'Moneybox', 'Practical' and 'Convertible'. In particular, deposit 'Standard' maturity is at least 30 days. The minimum amount of deposit is 75,000 AMD. Deposit 'Capital' allows replenishing the deposit, and the interests are calculated on the actual balance. The minimum amount of deposit is
60,000 drams. Deposit 'To Relatives' is registered on a third party that can enjoy all the rights of depositor. The minimum amount of deposit is 100,000 drams. Deposit 'Moneybox' is registered on the
name of a child. The depositor can fill the amount both in conformity with the coordinated amount and term and any time and any amount convenient to him. The minimum amount of deposit is 30,000 drams. Deposit 'Practical' with the minimum amount of 300,000 drams allows flexible management of funds. In particular, one can fill or reduce the amount of deposit by 30% without losing the accumulated
interests. Deposit 'Convertible' allows changing the currency of deposit during the whole time of the Deposit receiving the interests accumulated earlier. The minimum amount of deposit is 300,000 drams.

The bank reports that the new deposits of Ameriabank have a series of privileges: gifts - MasterCard Standard, MasterCard Gold plastic cards, free annual service. At least 0.5% additional interest rate if
the deposit exceeds 30 million drams or equivalent in foreign currency. Ameriabank data say the bank's time deposits for first half of 2008 were up 2.6 times to 8.9 billion drams. The capital base of the bank is 26 million US dollars.


Culture

2008-07-18 17:44:00 International conference 'Movie as method of intercultural dialogue'


ArmInfo. International conference 'Movie as method of intercultural dialogue' is underway in Yerevan within the frames of the 5th International Film Festival Golden Apricot. At the opening ceremony, Culture Minister of Armenia Hasmik Poghosyan said movie development has become very important world wide since this direction of art recognizes no borders between the countries and peoples despite different ideologies and political views. 'Government of Armenia pays special attention to development of the sphere.
I am sure the given conference will have a positive impact and the issues to be raised here will become basis for development of new programs', A. Poghosyan said. Cinematographers from France, Great Britain, Belgium, Japan, Poland, Georgia, Ukraine and Armenia participate in the conference. Among the participants are Euroimages Secretary Roberto Olla, Opus Films Producer (Poland) Ewa Puszczynka, Japanese Producer Shozo Ichiyama and others. The event is held with the suppo
rt of the Council of Europe.