CB AND GOVERNMENT - RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF CURRENCY RATES, UNITED LABOR PARTY

Yerevan, November 30. ArmInfo. Consolidation of AMD in relation to USD has strongly hit over the local entrepreneurs and decreased export and production volumes in Armenia, Grigor Kondjeyan, Representative of the 'United Labor Party' (ULP) said at the press conference in 'Zerkalo' club today.

The state budget should have foreseen a support for entrepreneurs and exporters in this case. Unfortunately, the budget is ratified and these questions are left unsettled. "Our party kept on claiming responsibility for the processes from both the Central Bank (CB) and the government. The budget mentions inflation making up 4% +/- 1.5 in 2007. The maximum and minimal inflation range formula is quite large. It demonstrates no clear conclusion on inflation range for 2007" said G. Kondjeyan.

The majority of ULP factions abstained from voting for the 2007 draft budget yesterday. ULP is integrated into the coalition government.

WWF ADVOCATES LEGALIZATION OF HUNTING IN ARMENIA

Yerevan, November 30. ArmInfo. Every year poachers kill about 300 bezoar goats, 30 bears and 15 moufflons on the territory of Armenia. All these animals are registered in the International Red Book, Karen Manvelyan, the representative of the Caucasian Office of the World Wildlife Fund in Armenia, told an ArmInfo correspondent.

For an efficient fight against poaching, the Armenian Government has worked out a draft law regulating hunting and activity of hunting grounds. The first public hearings of the draft law took place in the Yerevan office of Arhus Ecology Center. In K.Manvelyan's opinion, Armenia needs a legal document not only to regulate the hunting activity, but also organize the protection of wild animals. He said that some items of the bill don't comply with international standards. In the global practice, hunting grounds are created near reserved zones making hunters interested in protecting objects of hunting and organizing a struggle against poaching.

The draft law doesn't stipulate the quantity of rare kinds of animals, hunting of which will be allowed for trophy or scientific reasons. In the global practice, this quantity is 0.3-0.5% of the general population of animals. 50% of funds received from the trophy hunting should be spent on recovery of the animal's population. The draft law should also provide for the inventory of animals which was held in Armenia 40 years ago. According to the WWF estimation, the livestock of some species of wild animals in Armenia is no more than 250, so the hunting of them should be forbidden. The share of reserved zones on the territories of national parks is underestimated in the draft law, according to international standards, it should be no less than 75% of the park's territory. If all the proposals are taken into account, it will be possible to decrease the risks of corruption in the regional ecology inspections which shut their eyes to the poaching by high ranking officials. We are not against the law on hunting and hunting grounds, as forbidden fruit is sweet, K.Manvelyan said.

ARMENIAN PM LEFT FOR MOSCOW

Yerevan, November 30. ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan has left for Moscow today.

The press service of the Armenian Government reports that Dec 1 Margaryan will meet with his RUssian counterpart Mikhail Fradkov. The PMs will sum up the results of the Year of Armenia in Russia. The same day Margaryan will visit the All-Russian Exhibition Center. Dec 2 he will attend the opening of the "Armenian Culture" exhibition in St. Petersburg Hermitage.

RESOURCES OF SETTLEMENT OF MOSCOW-TBILISI RELATIONS FAR FROM BEING EXHAUSTED: ARMENIAN PM

Yerevan, November 30. ArmInfo. The resources of the settlement of Moscow-Tbilisi relations are far from being exhausted, said Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan in an interview to Moscow-based "Kommersant" before his visit to Moscow, Wednesday.

The premier admits the existence of complicated issues in the Russian-Georgian relations. However, he thinks that one should not leave aside and forget the potential of the relations of Russian and Georgian peoples accumulated for centuries as well as their good traditions and commonness. "We are interested in the sooner resolution of the problems in the Russian-Georgian relations as the cooperation of Russia and Georgia is one of the most important components of stability in our region. Without this stability, one can hardly imagine any mutually advantageous regional economic projects," the Armenian prime minister said.

GAS IS NOT A CORNER STONE OF YEREVAN-MOSCOW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: ARMENIAN PM

Yerevan, November 30. ArmInfo. "Gas is not a corner stone of our strategic partnership," said Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan in an interview with the Moscow-based "Kommersant" before his visit to Moscow.

Asked about the influence of the gas issue on the strategic partnership of Russia and Armenia and the attitude of Yerevan to the rise of the Russian gas tariff, the premier said that the term "strategic partnership," which is used to define the two countries' relations, is an evidence of the high level of relations in all the spheres. The strategic partnership of Armenia and Russia is based on close cooperation of our countries in the political, military, trade- economic, scientific-technical, humanitarian spheres, as well as on the common vision of the global developments, the high level of coordination in the international arena, respect of national interests. "I'd not like to emphasize the gas sphere as a corner stone of our strategic partnership," the premier said. "Gas is only one of the spheres of our energy cooperation. We effectively cooperate in the sphere of atomic energy, thermal and hydro power engineering etc.. Russia has its grounds to rise the gas tariff, which are connected with many factors. At the same time, our strategic partnership must be insured against the current political and economic conditions and proceed from the logic of long-term interaction," the prime minister said.

At the same time, speaking of the possibility and the terms of the transfer of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline under management of Gazprom, Andranik Margaryan said that the construction of the pipeline has not been completed so far and it is untimely speaking of its transfer to any operator, including to Gazprom. "Armenia and Iran have been successfully cooperating in the energy sphere for a long time already and Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is one of the key bilateral energy projects. It is at the stage of construction. A 39.5 km part of the pipeline Meghri-Kajaran will open soon," the premier said.

The construction is to be completed by December 20. The company to be exploiting the pipeline will be announced in the spring. The pipeline is built on the funds of the Iranian party. The project costs $30 million. AT present, the CJSC ArmRosgazprom is working on the extension of the pipeline from Kajaran to Yerevan and on raising the capacity of the operating gas transport net to 2.3 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

ECOLOGICAL EXPERTISE, DESPITE ALARM SIGNALS OF SPECIALISTS, POSITIVELY CONCLUDED ABOUT TEGHUT COPPER-MOLYBDENUM MINING

Yerevan, November 29. ArmInfo. The ecological expertise, with some reservations, positively concluded about one of the biggest deposits in the world, the Teghut copper-molybdenum deposit in the Armenia's Lori region, the Head of the Ecological expertise of RA Ministry of Nature Conservation, Ashot Santrossyan, told ArmInfo.

According to him, the expertise has set several tasks to ACP Company (Armenian Copper Program), which has a license for operation of the mine within 25 years. The document will be called back in case of non-fulfillment of the terms. The interlocutor refused to tell about these tasks and said the Company is allowed to operate the open mine in any case since "it is impossible to actuate the mine in a closed state". Santrossyan considered it unnecessary to talk about the possible catastrophic consequences for the environment, including the destruction of 600 Ha of mixed forest under quarry. During the recent media-tour, organized by the "Ecolur" ecological organization, the journalists became witnesses of unimpeded cutting down of one of the virgin forests of Armenia, laying of roads for a heavy quarry equipment and large- scale works, signifying the beginning of extermination of the Teghut forest and of still pure tributaries of the Debed river, the Dukanadzor, Shnokh, Krunk and Kharatadzor rivulets. The Shnokh riverbed, according to ACP presented project, will be changed to organize a tailing dump of wastes of the Teghut industrial complex's flotation plant. The tailing dump will take about 200 Ha of territory of the Kharatadzor ravine, near the villages of Teghut and Shnokh.

Meanwhile, according to ACP Director, Gagik Arzumanyan, the envisaged volume of investments to fulfill the first stage of mining makes up about $130 mln. The source, which agreed to give a multimillion credit to the Company, remains open to question. As ArmInfo was told in the Yerevan Office of the European Bank for Reconstruction, the financial partner of ACP, no agreement is reached with this bank about credit granting for the beginning of Teghut deposit exploitations. Negotiations with the Russian VTB Bank are underway on this occasion. The Company considers the opening of a thousand workplaces for the local residents its trump cards, however, more then the half of the residents of Teghut and Shnokh villages refused to sell their lands, located in the territory of the supposed activity of the Teghut industrial complex. The village residents may agree to open the mine only under condition of a closed mining, however, the ACP Company does not accept this term.

According to the specialists, 10 species of reptiles, 29 species of squamose, 11 species of which are recorded in the International Red Book, 191 species of plants, 9 species of which are also registered in the Red Book and only two species are met in the Teghut forest's territory, will be exterminated as a result of quarrying. The archeological monuments, dated by the antique epoch, bronze and Middle Ages, will be also irrevocably destroyed. At that, the ACP Company is going to repair a damage to the forest not in the territory of Taghut and Shnokh communities but in Yerevan.

"AJAX" INTENDS TO PROLONG CONTRACT WITH E. MANUCHARYAN AND "SHEFFIELD UNITED" BECAME INTERESTED IN FULL-BACK OF ARMENIAN COMBINED TEAM

Yerevan, November 30. ArmInfo. The Amsterdam "Ajax" intends to prolong the Contract with Edgar Manucharyan. The Armenian legionary has shown himself rather well in the Dutch team staff. The forward of the Armenian combined team has managed to be marked with a goal for his club in UEFA Cup Championship, striking the gates of "Austria". According to the preliminary data, the Contract will be signed till 2008. Meanwhile, according to Mass Media data, the English "Sheffield United" has become interested in the full-back of the Armenian combined team, Robert Arzumanyan. As "Regnum" informed earlier, the young football player has turned out in the center of attention of the British club after its scouts had attended the Armenia-Finland elimination match Euro-2008 (0:0), profootbal.com reports.

INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION COMMITTEE ACCREDITS HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER'S OFFICE OF ARMENIA HIGHEST STATUS OF CONFORMITY TO PARIS PRINCIPLES

Yerevan, November 30. ArmInfo. The International Coordination Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC), United Nations, has given the human Rights Defender's Office of Armenia (Ombudsman) the highest status of conformity "A" to the so-called Paris Principles, Human Rights Defender's Office told ArmInfo.

This status gives an opportunity to the Human Rights Defender's Office to participate in the sessions of the UN Human Rights Council as well as to make speeches and initiatives at the sessions.

The Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (Paris Principles), which were adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 1993, provide for the competence and responsibilities of the National Institutions for Human Rights, for composition and guarantees of independence and pluralism, methods of operation, as well as for additional principles concerning the status of commissions with quasi-jurisdictional competence. There are 4 statuses: the highest is "A," the lowest is the status of non-conformity - "C."

HEADLINES OF NOVEMBER 30

CRISIS OVER IRAN MAY HAVE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES FOR REGIONAL SECURITY

IN JAN-OCT 2006 TAX RECEIPTS IN BUDGET OF ARMENIA MADE UP 14% OF GDP

GDP OF ARMENIA YEARLY INCREASED BY 13,1% TO $4.8 BLN FOR JANUARY-OCTOBER, 2006

IN JAN-OCT 2006 BUDGET DEFICIT IN ARMENIA MADE UP 0.4% OF GDP

$453.5 MILLION TRANSACTIONS EFFECTED AT ARMENIAN EXCHANGE (ARMEX) IN THIRD QUARTER OF 2006

RESOURCES OF SETTLEMENT OF MOSCOW-TBILISI RELATIONS FAR FROM BEING EXHAUSTED: ARMENIAN PM

ARMENIA'S FOREIGN DEBT GREW BY 4.6% TOTALING $1,168.1 MLN BY LATE SEPTEMBER 2006

BYELORUSSIAN FM CONSIDERS RECENT SUMMIT OF CIS PRESIDENTS "EPOCHAL"

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT MASTER PLANS OF 13 TOWN COMMUNES OF ARMENIA

BYELORUSSIAN FM CONSIDERS RECENT SUMMIT OF CIS PRESIDENTS "EPOCHAL"

CARGO OPERATIONS GREW BY 20.2% IN JAN-OCT 2006

POPULATION'S INCOMES GREW BY 19.6% IN JAN-OCT 2006

ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER: ARMENIA QUALIFIES RELATIONS WITH NATO AS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION POLICY

1% INFLATION IN ARMENIA IN NOV 2006

FRENCH EVENTS ON THE YEAR OF ARMENIA

$50,000 WORTH OF CURRENCY DEALS MADE ON ARMENIA'S INTERBANK MARKET NOV 29

PREPARATIONS FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM IN NKR

NUMBER OF TV COMPANIES IN ARMENIA SHOULD NOT BE LIMITED

IN JAN-SEPT 2006 ARMENIAN INSURANCE COMPANIES COLLECTED 5.1 BLN AMD PREMIUMS

SINCE BEGINNING OF 2006 NO ATTEMPT OF VIOLATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER BY ARMENIAN SIDE HAS BEEN REGISTERED IN SECTOR OF GYUMRI FRONTIER DETACHMENT OF RUSSIAN FSS

NAGORNO-KARABAKH GOVERNMENT APPROVES DRAFT BUDGET 2007

CONSUMER PRICES GREW BY 1% IN NOV 2006

NATO SUPPORTS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF SOUTH CAUCASIAN STATES AND MOLDOVA

AMBASSADOR OF ARMENIA TO RUSSIA EVALUATES RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN RELATIONS AS EXCELLENT

ARMENIA HAS STRONG TRANSIT POTENTIAL, DESPITE THE BLOCKADE, ARMENIAN PREMIER

ARMENIA'S INTERNAL DEBT DROPPED BY 6.2% IN JAN-OCT 2006

7.4% UNEMPLOYMENT IN OCT 2006

$297.4 MLN FOREIGN INVESTMENTS MADE IN ARMENIAN ECONOMY IN JAN-SEPT 2006

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: NAGORNO-KARABAKH PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION IS FIRM

VEDANTA RESOURCES PLC INTENDS TO INVEST $100 MLN IN GOLD RECOVERY OF ARMENIA

THE FORMULA: "PROFIT FOR GASPROM IS PROFIT FOR RUSSIA" DOESN'T WORK 100%, ARMENIAN EX-PREMIER

KARABAKH SIDE CONCERNED BY STATEMENT OF AZERI PRESIDENT

LOWER CHAMBER OF ARGENTINEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES FOR DAY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

DURING PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF 2007 NO FORCE WILL MANAGE TO GET OVER 50% VOTES: REPRESENTATIVE OF UNITED LABOUR PARTY

$914.3 MLN NEGATIVE TRADE BALANCE IN ARMENIA IN LATE OCT 2006

IN JAN-OCT 2006 GROSS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE IN ARMENIA MADE UP 465.5 BLN AMD

ARMENIA-EU ACTION PLAN PROVES THAT ARMENIA HAS GOT OVER TRANSITION

IN POLITICS ONE SHOULD SPEAK ABOUT ALTERNATIVES RATHER THAN INEVITABLE SITUATIONS