VZCZCXRO5013
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #1135/01 2550726
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 120726Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6309
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0427
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1318

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001135 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ETRD EINV AM TU
SUBJECT: ARMENIA NEWS HIGHLIGHTS: SEPTEMBER 1-12, 2007 
 
 
YEREVAN 00001135  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶1.  TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
POLITICAL NEWS: 
-- FM: Armenia ready for an "effective political dialogue" 
   with NATO, will double Kosovo contingent by year's end 
-- "Inauguration" Day in "NKR" 
-- Air Tax to take flight? 
-- Be careful with that!: GOAM reaction to more Turkish 
   "reconstructions" 
 
ECONOMIC NEWS 
-- Armenian and Russian scientists start to probe for 
   uranium in Armenia 
-- Italians to introduce new type of farming to Armenia: 
   Wind! 
-- UniStream remittances: Lots of people sending lots of 
   money the cheap and easy way 
-- Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Monte Carlo . . . Yerevan? 
 
¶2.  FM: ARMENIA READY FOR AN "EFFECTIVE POLITICAL DIALOGUE" 
WITH NATO, WILL DOUBLE KOSOVO CONTINGENT BY YEAR'S END 
 
Foreign Minister Oskanian, speaking at a news conference 
September 6, stated that during his September 4 meeting 
with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in 
Brussels, the two mainly discussed issues related to the 
implementation of Armenia's Individual Partnership Action 
Plan (IPAP).  According to the Minister, one of the main 
tasks of the IPAP is the implementation of defense reforms 
and the strengthening of the civil component in the Defense 
Ministry. Oskanian said the only obstacles he sees on the 
way to completing those tasks are those of "resistance of 
the system, which is natural in such cases."  The FM noted 
that by the end of the year, the number of Armenian troops 
participating in the KFOR peacekeeping operation in Kosovo 
would be doubled to 100. 
 
¶3. "INAUGURATION" DAY IN "NKR" 
 
September 7 marked the "inauguration" of newly elected 
"Nagorno Karabakh President" Bako Sahakian in Stepanakert. 
A large Armenian delegation attended the "ceremony," headed 
by President Robert Kocharian, Defense Minister Mikail 
Harutyunian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and 
Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepian.  Delegations from 
South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as Deputy Speaker of 
the British House of Lords Baroness Caroline Cox, were also 
present.   After taking his oath of office, Bako Sahakyan 
pledged that he will "scrupulously adhere to the principles 
of a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan 
conflict. . .we hope that our opponents will eventually 
realize that there is no alternative to the full 
participation of the 'Nagorno Karabakh Republic' in the 
negotiation process."  He went on to say that cooperation 
among Armenians in Armenia, the Armenian Diaspora and the 
"NKR" is needed to achieve the most important task of his 
presidency -- international recognition of the "Nagorno 
Karabakh Republic." 
 
¶4. AIR TAX TO TAKE FLIGHT? 
 
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) 
Party (ARFD) announced plans to present a draft amendment 
during the upcoming session of the National Assembly that 
would change the way the airport departure tax is 
collected.  Hrayr Karapetyan, Head of ARFD's Parliamentary 
Faction, claimed that an "air tax" such as the one 
collected by the GOAM is charged only in Armenia and number 
of African countries, and that it negatively affects 
Armenia's image.  "I don't think that the tax should be 
abolished, but it could be a symbolic amount, or could be 
included in the price of airline tickets," Karapetyan said. 
(NOTE: the amount of the current departure tax is 10,000 
Armenian drams, or approximately 30 USD. END NOTE.) 
 
¶5.  BE CAREFUL WITH THAT!: GOAM REACTION TO MORE TURKISH 
"RECONSTRUCTIONS" 
 
Responding to reports that the Turkish government has begun 
preparations to implement a five-year program aimed at 
rehabilitating the historical monuments in Ani, the ruined 
capital of medieval Armenia, Deputy Foreign Minister Gagik 
Gyurjian told Radio Liberty that he hoped the GOAM would be 
able to involve local Armenian specialists in the Ani 
reconstruction through the International Organization for 
the Preservation of Historical Monuments.  Referring to the 
last major Turkish reconstruction of a venerable ancient 
 
YEREVAN 00001135  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Armenian monument, Gyurjian said, "If our specialists had 
participated in the reconstruction of St. Cross Church (on 
Akhtamar Island, near the city of Van), we would not have 
what we have now." Gyurjyan stressed that Turkey does not 
have the appropriate specialists to ensure that the walls 
of Ani will be reconstructed in the way that the original 
9th-century Armenian architects envisioned.  He added that 
anything less than a faithful reconstruction would be 
unacceptable. 
 
¶6.  ARMENIAN AND RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS PROBE FOR URANIUM IN 
ARMENIA 
 
According to Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan, Armenian and 
Russian specialists have started to research possible 
uranium deposits in Armenian territory.  Without divulging 
the location of the research, Movsisyan said the 
"availability of uranium reserves in Armenia is a serious 
economic and political lever for the country and its 
exploitation may be very profitable."  Segey Kirienko, Head 
of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency, Rosatom, 
commented in Yerevan on April 23 that the deposit is 
located in Armenia's southernmost region of Syunik, and 
estimated the uranium reserves at about 30,000 tons. By 
previous agreement, all uranium extracted in Armenia will 
be enriched at the Angarsk International Center for Uranium 
Enrichment in Siberia. 
 
¶7.  ITALIANS TO INTRODUCE NEW TYPE OF FARMING TO ARMENIA: 
WIND! 
 
Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan told Parliament on 
September 7 that the Italian Gierret Company has expressed 
its desire to build a cascade of wind power plants (WPP) in 
Armenia with a total generating capacity of 270 MW.  The 
minister noted that an earlier agreement signed with the 
company stipulated an initial investment of 150-160 USD to 
complete the first phase of the project, which would result 
in a generating capacity of 90 MW.  The first 2.6MW wind 
power facility in Armenia was built in 2005 through a 3.5 
million USD grant from the Government of Iran. 
 
¶8.  UNISTREAM REMITTANCES: LOTS OF PEOPLE SENDING LOTS OF 
MONEY THE CHEAP AND EASY WAY 
 
UniBank reported that its UniStream money transfer system, 
which does not require a bank account and charges only 1 
percent for remitted hard currency and nothing for 
remittances in Armenian drams, showed a 75 percent increase 
in money transfers in August compared with last year.  This 
is equivalent to an increase of almost 70 million USD. 
According to Unibank's chairman, nearly half of the money 
transfers to Armenia are handled by the bank. The amount of 
money transfers processed by the system in the period 
January through August 2007 rose by 364 million USD. The 
total amount of remittances processed by Unibank is 
expected to rise to 600 million by the end of the year. 
 
¶9. LAS VEGAS, ATLANTIC CITY, MONTE CARLO . . . YEREVAN? 
 
According to media reports, Storm International, Russia's 
second largest gambling company, will invest 300 million 
USD to build a casino and a network of gambling halls in 
Armenia. Storm International intends to invest both its own 
resources and those of "Armenian partners" to build a 15- 
hectare gambling complex to be called "Shangri-La-Yerevan." 
The company aims to link their casino to a 200-room five 
star hotel that will include a concert hall, trade center, 
restaurants and a night club.  With Russia tightening its 
gambling laws, the company has been looking to other CIS 
countries, including Armenia, in which it can expand its 
gambling empire.  Currently, about 50 casinos operate in 
Armenia under a 2002 law that precludes them from being 
established within 10 kilometers of the capital. 
 
PERINA