Asbarez.com news room 07-27-2000

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1. Palriament Approves Energy Privatization

 

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The Armenian government breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday after clinching the parliament's approval of its

controversial efforts to privatize the country's electricity distributing networks, which is the main condition for obtaining fresh funds from

international lending agencies.

 

At the end of three-day stormy debates that exposed serious cracks in the ruling coalition, National Assembly gave its tentative go-ahead

to an international tender that will see four Western firms vying for a 51 percent share in the four state-run networks. A government bill

setting out the main principles of the bidding was passed in the first reading by a vote of 64 to 38. The bill will be discussed in the final

second reading on Friday and may undergo minor changes as a result.

 

With a strong opposition to the proposed way of the sell-off voiced by most opposition factions and many lawmakers with government

links, the outcome of Wednesday's vote was uncertain until the last minute. The government got the unanimous backing of deputies

representing the Republican Party, Stability and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

 

The Republicans and Stability are represented in the current cabinet, while the ARF is thought to be largely sympathetic to President

Robert Kocharian, who has strongly advocated the privatization.

 

The Republicans' partner in the Unity bloc, the People's Party, voted overwhelmingly against the bill, joining opposition arguments that the

networks' sell-off to foreign investors would jeopardize Armenia's national security and deepen socioeconomic woes of its impoverished

population. The discord over the energy sector privatization is another major test of Miasnutyun's unity since the appointment of

Republican leader Andranik Markarian as prime minister last May.

 

The issue also caused a split in the parliamentary faction of the center-right National Democratic. A leading NDU figure, Minister of State

Property David Vartanian, spoke out in favor of the sell-off, while the party's chairman, Vazgen Manukian, abstained in the voting. Three

other NDU deputies voted for and one against the bill.

 

The Communist Party and the nationalist Right and Accord bloc emerged as the most fierce opponents of what will likely become the

largest yet sell-off of Armenian state assets to foreigners. They were particularly enraged at the fact that the bill upholds the defeat of

Russian energy giants in the earlier "pre-qualification" of foreign companies taking an interest in the Armenian energy sector. Only four

companies - Electricite de France, the Swiss-Swedish group ABB, Spain's Union Fenosa and US operator AES Silk Road - were

selected for the final phase of the bidding.

 

"This is the shortest way of selling out our independence and wasting the national wealth," said Aghasi Arshakian of Right and Accord.

The bloc's outspoken leader,

 

Artashes Geghamian branded the privatization process as a Western conspiracy to damage Armenia's close ties with Russia, a claim flatly

denied by government officials. Energy Minister Karen Galustian said that despite their earlier criticism of official Yerevan Russia's

Gazprom monopoly and other energy firms have accepted their defeat in the race for the energy distributing companies and will take part

in the future privatization of Armenian power generating facilities.

 

Speaking at the parliament session, Galustian said the energy sector privatization is a "purely economic" issue, which is aimed at attracting

substantial capital investments from abroad.

 

Vartan Khachatrian, chairman of the parliament committee on finance and economics, agreed, saying: "I don't think that these [Western]

companies want to come to Armenia to solve political issues rather than make profits." "Do we have any other options except attracting

foreign capital? No," said Seyran Avakian, an NDU deputy. "Nobody can show an alternative way of problems facing this country."

 

The bill states that the distributing networks' takeover by foreigners should ensure "reliable" power supplies to consumers, minimize losses

during the transmission of electricity, attract investments for upgrading and developing the sector and improving its difficult financial

situation. Bidders meeting these conditions and offering the highest price for 51 percent of their stock will be declared winners of the

contest, according to the bill.

 

The government hopes that private ownership will put an end to the sector's continuing financial losses, which weigh heavily on the state

budget. Last year the cabinet of the late Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan diverted some $34 million in budgetary funds to a partial

repayment of public sector debts to the electricity distributing enterprises.

 

The networks, in turn, owe a total of $160 million to companies generating and transmitting electricity. Their future owner will take over

only part of the debt, a provision challenged by many deputies. Officials argue that they can in return expect a reasonably high price from

the bidders. The government intends to sell the four electricity companies in two separate "packages." No single bidder will get hold of

more than two companies put up for sale in one package.

 

The official valuation of the four networks is $202 million, and the future owners are expected to invest $160 million in the sector in the

next three years. However, bidding specifications contain no minimum price requirements or investment commitments. They will be

ascertained during final negotiations between the Armenian government and winners of the contest later this year.

 

The World Bank said last month that it will release its next "structural adjustment credit" worth roughly $50 million after Yerevan

"finalizes" those negotiations. The money is due to cover about half of the government's budget deficit this year.

 

 

 

 

 

2. ARF's Kim Balayan Restored as Parliament Member

 

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)--The Constitutional Court has acknowledged Kim Balayan of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation a

legally elected member of Parliament from Yerevan's election district No. 5. At the July 26 sitting the Constitutional Court considered

Balayan's claim wherein he challenged the results of the by-elections held on July 9.

 

The Yerevan Regional Election Committee nullified the by-elections for the reason that 600 unused ballot-papers were missing from the

package of documents the YREC received from polling station No. 0061. As a result, the number of inaccuracies exceeded the

difference between the votes received by the two candidates, Kim Balayan and Yeghya Shamshian, which according to YREC, ruled out

the possibility of determining the winner at the by-elections. However, Kim Balayan made a claim to the Constitutional Court demanding

that the YREC's aforementioned decision be invalidated and the Central Election Commission register him as a member of Parliament.

 

In his claim, Balayan stated that used ballot-papers disappeared after the voting and summarizing of the results. At the court sitting the

YREC representative insisted that in making its decision, the YREC proceeded from the requirements of the law, from the results of the

inspections it conducted in election district No. 5 after voting, as well as from the Constitutional Court's previous decision concerning the

same election district. The decision nullified the elections held there on May 21 for the reason that the number of inaccuracies exceeded

the difference between the votes cast for two candidates who received the highest number of votes.

 

The court read out a memorandum of Head of the Department for the Protection of State Interests, Prosecutor's Office of Armenia

Gevorg Danielian. According to the memorandum, experts found out that the used ballot-papers were stolen after the voting and

summarizing of the results, and criminal proceedings were initiated in that connection on July 17. The YREC representative went on

claiming that the preliminary conclusion of the Prosecutor's Office's is groundless.

 

Listening to the parties and considering the aforementioned facts, the Constitutional Court arrived at a conclusion that the YREC had no

proper basis for its decision. The CEC failed to properly control the by-elections, and the disappearance of the ballot-papers after the

voting may not be a basis for annulling the by-elections. Hence, proceeding from Articles 100 and 102 of the Constitution, the

Constitutional Court invalidated the YREC's decision to null the by-elections in election district No. 5. The Court acknowledged Kim

Balayan a legally elected member of Parliament.

 

The decision is final and without appeal.

 

 

 

 

 

3. NATO Deputy General Secretary Arrives In Yerevan

 

YEREVAN (Itar-Tass)--NATO Deputy Secretary-General for political issues Klaus Kleiber arrived in Yerevan on Wednesday.

 

He told journalists upon arrival that the purpose of his visit is to discuss relations between NATO and Armenia within the framework of

the Partnership for Peace program and to prepare NATO Secretary-General George Robertson's visit to the region in the fall.

 

On Thursday, Kleiber is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and parliament deputy speaker Gagik Aslanyan.

 

On Friday, he will have talks with Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Defense Minister Serge Sarkissian.

 

Kleiber will also visit the Dzidzerngabert memorial in Yerevan commemorating the victims of genocide in 1915, film director Sergei

Paradjnov's museum, and meet with His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II at Holy Etchmiadzin.

 

He will fly to London on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Georgian Soviet Officers Against Withdrawal Of Military Bases

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)--The chairman of the Union of Soviet Army Officers of Georgia Yuri Nebieridze was quoted by Prime news

agency as slamming the current Georgian authorities for their consistent drive to withdraw Russian military bases from the country and

substitute them with NATO ones.

 

According to Nebieridze, only a small section of senior government officials advocate for withdrawal of Russian bases. He said Russia

will not sit calmly as its interests in the South Caucasus are violated. This will also add to already strained relations of Georgia with its

northern neighbor, said Nebieridze.

 

According to the last year's Istanbul summit decisions, Russia should eliminate two out of its four bases in Georgia - Vaziani and Gudauta

by July 1, 2001. The question of the other two located in southern Akhalkalaki region, predominantly populated with Armenians who are

advocating for retaining of the bases, will be discussed later.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Turkey Puts Nuclear Plant Plans On Indefinite Hold

 

ANKARA (Reuters)--Turkey announced on Tuesday it had indefinitely postponed plans to build its first nuclear power plant, saying the

multi-billion-dollar project could throw the country's IMF-backed anti-inflation plan off course.

 

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, ending three years of uncertainty since bids were first tendered, said Turkey might revive the project when

finances were stabilized and technology had been improved.

 

``It would be wrong for us to abandon building a nuclear power plant but it would be right to delay it for a while and wait for new

technology in this area,'' Ecevit told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

 

The decision, following eight postponements that highlighted disarray in government, was welcomed by environmentalists. But it infuriated

three consortia bidding for the $2.5-$4.5 billion plant at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast.

 

US Westinghouse Electric Co. (a unit of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.), Canada's AECL and Franco-German Nuclear Power International

(NPI) have dedicated considerable resources to the tender at a time when the tide is turning against nuclear energy in other countries.

 

Westinghouse and AECL officials said their consortia would consider seeking indemnities from the Turkish government to compensate for

losses because of the cancellation.

 

``We have wasted energy, time and money on this tender. It is our right to demand them back,'' said AECL's Nedim Yuksel Yalcin.

 

``Government officials assured us when they first put out the tender years ago that this time Turkey was determined to complete it, but it

just didn't,'' said Ray Odgers, a Westinghouse representative, referring to Turkey's previously canceled two tenders in 1970s and 1980s.

 

Ecevit said the next generation of reactors might have a longer working lifespan and expressed hope for the future of nuclear fusion

technology as a possible power generation option.

 

But representatives of the bidding consortia said the decision to scrap the tender could deter bidders from any future Turkish nuclear

power project.

 

``From now on it is impossible for any US firm to take part in any Turkish nuclear project,'' said Sukran Kose, another representative for

Westinghouse. Ecevit also said that the cost of the plant could throw the country's IMF-backed economic reform package off track.

 

``The cancellation of the Akkuyu tender does not mean we have abandoned nuclear energy, once the (economic) stability program has

reached its aims, nuclear plants will come back onto the agenda,'' he said.

 

Turkey's treasury had refused to provide financing guarantees to the Akkuyu project, arguing the terms of Turkey's three-year $4 billion

stand-by accord with the International Monetary Fund forbid such large guarantees.

 

The IMF program aims to reform Turkey's costly public sector, cut spending and reduce stubbornly high inflation.

 

Turkey's energy authority TEAS first collected bids for the Akkuyu project in 1997. Since then it has been delayed eight times until finally

being scrapped on Tuesday.

 

The project has also faced environmentalist opposition focusing on concerns that the planned site lay too close to active earthquake fault

lines and that it might deter tourists from visiting Turkey's Mediterranean coastline.

 

Ecevit said such concerns were unfounded.

 

Greenpeace welcomed the decision as opening the way for Turkey to explore alternative energy sources.

 

``Turkey's billion-dollar nuclear investment plans have been a huge obstacle in delaying the adoption of clear, safe energy technologies,''

the environmental organization said in a statement.

 

Turkey plans to increase imports of natural gas as a central way of meeting its rapidly growing power needs.

 

``As a country committed to large numbers of natural gas and hydro-electric power plants, like other OECD countries, it is presently

unnecessary for us to direct ourselves to nuclear energy. It is undesirable economically,'' Ecevit said.

 

He also cited a TEAS report saying most of the West had either slowed or stopped their nuclear energy programs.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Agreement Between Church And State To Be Signed

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)--By prime minister Andranik Margarian's decision, Razmik Markosian was appointed chairman of the State

Council on Religious Affairs under the Armenian government

 

Razmik Markosian was born in 1949 in Yerevan. In 1989 he graduated from Yerevan Polytechnic University receiving the qualification of

an engineer.

 

From 1960 he was involved in a clandestine movement for national liberation and in 1969 he joined the National United Party. In 1974

he was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment for his political ideas. Currently he does not belong to any party.

 

In his first interview to local Azg daily, Razmik Markosian says there are positive trends in State-Church relations. "Being estranged from

the society and public for tens of years, the Church confronts today major challenges to restore itself as a structure disseminating spiritual

values," Markosian says.

 

According to him, one of the most important issues remains the registration of various religious groups and sects and bringing their

activities in line with the acting legislation. He says that out of 40 religious groups acting in Armenia only 10 have been officially registered

with the government. The rest are actually acting illegally and show no haste to bring their regulations in line with the legislation.

 

Markosian also says that his Council will be actively involved in preparation of a wide range of events to celebrate the 1700th anniversary

of Christianity adoption by Armenians to be marked in 2001. The Council also has a lot to do in transferring more than 15 churches to the

Armenian Apostolic Church without any compensation stipulated by a memorandum of understanding signed recently between the

Church and the government.

 

In Markosian's words, State-Church relations will be more distinctly fixed after the Big Agreement signing scheduled at the end of the

year.

 

 

 

 

 

7. Contender For Parliament Seat Claims Court's Ruling Illegal

 

YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Arthur Mirzoyan, a proxy of Yeghia Shamshian who ran for a vacant seat in parliament in a by-election, said

that the decision of the local court to recognize Kim Balayan from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation as the winner was illegal and

groundless.

 

Mirzoyan claimed that the local first instance court breached several provisions of the Armenian Electoral Code by taking the role of the

Constitution court upon itself and made a ruling which is not in its right. Mirzoyan said that the ruling in favor of Kim Balayan contradicted

the Constitution and legislation.

 

As Shamshian said himself, he and his proxies had appealed to the prosecutor's office after reported breaches, distribution of electoral

bribes and 600 disappeared ballot coupons requesting to launch an investigation. He said the investigation is still continuing, whereas the

court ignored this by issuing its ruling.

 

Referring to the reported cases of bribes distribution, Shamshian said they had received a written answer from the ArmPost which said

that on June 7 and 8 an extra sum was given to all pensioners who registered in the district through Kim Balayan's mediation.

 

 

 

 

 

8. Prosecutors Ask Court To Release Defendants From Their Sentences

 

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)--On July 25, prosecutors in the "Others minus Vano Siradeghian" case asked the court to sentence the

former head of the Internal Troops Department Vahan Haroutiunian to seven years of imprisonment to be served in high-security

corrective labor prison and have half of his personal property confiscated. The prosecutors also asked the court to pardon Haroutiunian's

wrongdoing in the episodes involving the arson of a snack bar in the Hrazdan canyon. The prosecuting attorneys stressed that they had

petitioned for a sentence below the minimum considering the fact that the defendant had contributed to the disclosure of the case.

 

The counsel for the prosecution asked the court to sentence Sahak Balian, who committed the murder of Artur Hovhannissian and Karen

Rafaelian, to 15 years in prison. The first five years to be served in ordinary prison and the rest to be served in a high-security corrective

labor colony, taking into account the fact that at the moment of committing the crime the defendant was in a state of intoxication, which

aggravates his guilt. The prosecutors refused to support the charge of premeditated murder aimed at concealing another murder brought

against Balian, as no evidence was acquired to substantiate this charge.

 

The prosecutors asked the court to re-qualify the charge of complicity in murder brought against Mkrtich Arakelian, Artur Shahbazian,

Artur Khachatrian and Movses Nersissian into assistance to murder, as there is no direct evidence confirming their immediate

perpetration of the murder. The counsel for the prosecution refused to support the charge of misprision brought against Hayk Aghajanian,

as under Article 42 of the RA Constitution a man does not have to testify against himself. The prosecutors also asked the court to

imprison to defendants Artur Shahbazian and Artur Khachatrian on the terms of their arrests on suspicion of murder of the former mayor

of Yerevan Hambartsum Galstian. The case was later dismissed.

 

The prosecutors also asked the court to sentence Norair Tadevossian to 10 years, Mkrtich Arakelian to 9, Movses Nersissian, Artur

Shahbazian and Artur Khachatrian to 8, all to be served in high-security corrective labor prison. Asking the court to sentence Murad

Dashtoyan, Gagik Petrossian and Hayk Aghajanian to 6 years of imprisonment each, and Yeranos Melkonian to 5 years of imprisonment,

the prosecuting attorneys suggested applying amnesty in their regard and releasing them from further serving the sentences.

 

Defense attorneys will make their speech at the next court hearing scheduled for August 7.

 

 

 

 

 

9. Prime Minister Meets US Ambassador

 

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)--Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian held a meeting with US Ambassador to Armenia Michael

Lemmon and US Embassy officials. The sides discussed the results of the activities of a the USA-Armenia task force after its first meeting

in Washington, reforms being carried out in Armenia, and bilateral cooperation.

 

The US ambassador introduced the Armenian prime minister to the newly appointed assistant ambassador to Armenia, Patricia Moler,

who will head the US Embassy during the ambassador's holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

10. Health Ministry Cooperates With US Medical Organizations

 

STEPANAKERT (Noyan Tapan)--Recently, the Nagorno-Artsax Republic Minister of Health Zoya Lazarian paid a working visit to

the United States. A number of agreements on cooperation with various organizations were concluded during the visit.

 

In particular, the Glendale Hospital undertook to supply medical equipment and medicines to the Nagorno Artsax Republic. The first

parcel of medicines from the USF organization has been already received. Also, there is an agreement on cooperation in the sphere of

laboratory activities concluded with the managers of this organization.

 

Representatives of the local Armenian communities expressed their readiness to assign means for the construction of hospitals in

Artsax villages.

 

The representative of the Artsakh Health system in the USA, Alineh Dourian, who worked at the Nagorno Artsax Republic Ministry

of Health from 1995-1996, is rendering considerable assistance in the coordination and execution of these programs.