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PREMIER PREPARING FOR NORWEGIAN VISIT
Prime Minister Artur Rasizadeh is expected to pay a working visit to Norway February 11-15, he told journalists Monday, adding that he is scheduled to meet with the King and Prime Minister of Norway to hold negotiations on expanding bilateral cooperation in energy, trade and other areas.
He said no documents would be signed during the visit.
NEW STAGE IN AZERI-ARMENIAN TALKS
By Elmira Vazirova Azernews Staff Writer
According to official reports, the face-to-face Paris negotiations between Azeri and Armenian presidents, as well as talks joined by French president Jacques Chirac, mainly concerned issues of a peace settlement to the Garabagh conflict. The parties confirmed the need for carrying on the meetings and voiced a hope for compromises in breaking the deadlock.
The two presidents have agreed that the countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group need to step up their effort toward resolving the problem.
The absence of more detailed information about the talks has led many to remain content with behind-the-scenes sources and brief statements by interested parties. For example, Armenian foreign minister V. Oskanian has been quoted as saying briefly that the talks have not yielded any fruit.
Also speculated upon is the conclusion that the recent visit to Baku by Russian Security Council secretary was connected with Moscow-proposed solution alternative - to liberate several Azeri provinces from Armenian occupation and to station UN-mandate Russian troops on the frontline.
However, most of the comments concern a statement by Armenian President Kocharian made prior to the direct talks in Strasbourg. The statement spelt out three preconditions put forward by Yerevan. The first seeks recognition of all parties to the conflict, which means an actual independence of Upper Garabagh, the second defines the impossibility of Garabagh being an enclave within Azerbaijan, which automatically signifies annexation of the Lachin corridor and probably even the Kalbajar province of Azerbaijan, and third requires security guarantees for Upper Garabagh population to be provided by the international community, which envisions its actual secession from Azerbaijan. It is clear that all of these rule out the possibility of a compromise.
SOLUTION TO GABALA RLS STATUS PROBLEM NOT TOO FAR OFF
The agreement between Azerbaijan and the RF on the status of the Gabala RLS may be signed as early as this spring, according to a RIA Novosti news agency report quoting Russian Defense Ministry.
Russian MOD has not spelt out the exact lease amount, but said the difference in figures insisted upon by the two parties amounts to millions of dollars. However, Moscow thinks these are technical problems, which can be resolved.
CAUCASUS PARLIAMENT SPEAKERS TO MEET IN STRASBOURG
Parliament speakers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia will meet in Strasbourg in March on the initiative of the president of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Lord Russell-Johnston. According to a diplomatic source, consultations on Upper Garabagh settlement will be held during the 4th meeting of Caucasus parliament speakers under the COE auspices.
FERRY-BOAT TERMINAL TO BE RECONSTRUCTED
EBRD and British GIBB are expected to sign an agreement in mid-February for reconstruction of a ferry-boat terminal under the Baku international seaport. The British company will take part in the construction as a consultative entity. According to a source from the port, a group of GIBB engineers will travel to Baku after the signing to prepare tender documents for the construction.
DRUG SMUGGLING THWARTED
The Astara customs checkpoint has detected 6.5 kg of narcotic substances, including 4 kg of hemp. The drugs have been detected in a bus en routed from Iran to Azerbaijan, State Customs Committee told AssA-Irada Tuesday.
The Yalama customs station has discovered 2.5 kg of marijuana from a Dagestani national.
A criminal case has been started on both cases.
EBRD OUTLINES NEW AZERBAIJAN STRATEGY
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a new 2-year strategy for Azerbaijan focusing on private sector development.
"Azerbaijan's activities toward macroeconomic stability and development have been remarkable. The new EBRD strategy intends to facilitate further progress of Azerbaijan through fundamental structural reforms", the EBRD director for Caucasus, Belorussia and Moldova Mrs. Hildegard Hasek said in Baku last week.
"EBRD's mid-term mission is to expand activities in Azerbaijan, mainly through growing private sector investment. For this purpose, EBRD is going to launch a dialog with the government concerning the measures at improving the investment environment in the country", according to the Bank's Baku representative Mr. Thomas Moser.
EBRD will continue assisting Azerbaijan in realizing its economic growth potential through investments and due attention to environmental and corporate governance standards in oil and gas sector. At the same time, the Bank will be paying special attention to diversified and sustainable development of the Azerbaijan economy, focusing on 5 areas: stimulating micro, small and medium enterprises, setting up a trustworthy financial sector, supporting establishment of the infrastructure, encouraging privatization of medium and large enterprises, and facilitating private sector development.
UNDP HOLDS ENVIRONMENTAL WORKSHOP
United Nations Develop-ment Program and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) are organizing in Baku a Country Dialogue Workshop for the government, state-owned enterprise, private sector, non-governmental organizations, scientific community, bilateral and multilateral donors from January 30 till February 2.
The main objectives of the workshop which will take place in the Guba Ball Room at Hyatt Regency Hotel are to inform the participants about GEF, its mission, strategy, policies and procedures, facilitate effective coordination and advocacy of GEF programs in the country and to provide practical information on how to access GEF resources, to prepare and implement GEF-financed activities.
'MURDER OF TWO CHECHENS - RUSSIAN PROVOCATION', EX-PRESIDENT SAYS
"The murder of two Chechens in Baku is a provocation masterminded by Russia's secret service to embroil Azerbaijan and Chechnya", ex-president of Chechnya Zalimkhan Yandarbiyev told Azernews Friday commenting on the murder of two Chechens in the ASSKO night bar of Baku on January 24.
Mr. Yandarbiyev said such provocation attempts were made during Russian President Putin's visit to Baku too.
According to him, the law-enforcement bodies and the government of Azerbaijan should be on alert for such incidents.
At midnight on January 24, two Chechens were killed in a night bar in Baku following a shootout with the bar staff. Several security persons of the bar were also injured during the clash.
A criminal case has been started by the Nasimi district prosecutor's office.
'Purely criminal
incident’
The murder of two Chechens is purely criminal and should not be politicized, Minister for National Security Namig Abbasov said Monday.
According to the Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov, those guilty of the shootout have not been tracked down yet. Several persons, both Chechens and Azeris, have been detained on suspicion.
NATIONAL SECURITY ACADEMY TO OPEN IN SEPTEMBER
Minister for National Security Namig Abbasov has told that the Academy under the Ministry would start functioning in September. A building in the vicinity of the Baku Plant of Air-conditioners provided to the academy is currently undergoing renovation. According to the minister, some 1,000 people will study at the academy to become MNS officers.
TREMORS CONTINUE IN WESTERN AZERBAIJAN
According to the Azerbaijan seismological service, 5 weak tremors were registered last Wednesday after Tuesday's 5-point earthquake 16 km south-west of Ganja. No casualties or destruction are reported. Some old houses have been slightly damaged.
WB MISSION IN BAKU
A WB mission led by the senior financial specialist Mr. Uyanik has been in Baku since January 21 to monitor implementation of WB-funded projects in Azerbaijan.
The WB Azerbaijan office told Azernews Thursday that the experts have met with government officials to focus on implementation of project components relating to privatization of state banks and structural changes in the state administration system.
WB, in cooperation with the Azerbaijan government, is also involved in preparation of an anti-corruption program, to be prepared shortly.*
UZBEKISTAN KEEN ON ECONOMIC CO-OP
Issues of expanding economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan will be a key talking point during a visit by an Uzbek government delegation to Baku in mid-February. The Cabinet of Ministers told Azernews Thursday that the delegation will include government officials and private sector representatives.
Uzbek entrepreneurs are interested in expanding relations in light and heavy industries and agriculture and increasing turnover between the two countries.
ECOLOGISTS TO DISCUSS WAYS OF RESTORING OIL-POLLUTED SOIL AND WATER
A two-day international scientific seminar, "Restoration of oil-polluted soil and water", started at the Azerbaijan International Eco-Energy Academy Tuesday. Organized by the Academy, the Baku Bureau of Tacis and French embassy within the framework of the "Support for Azerbaijan's fuel ad energy sector and restoration of oil-stained lands" project, the seminar is intended to provide the opportunity of information exchange concerning environment protection and ways of regulating ecological balance.
11,000 hectares of land in the Absheron peninsula are oil-stained, including 3,000 hectares in particularly critical condition. According to the president of the Academy Fagan Aliyev, there are 280 small lakes on Absheron that have been polluted with oil and other harmful substances.
ANOTHER HUNGER STRIKE?
More than 200 employees of the "Nakhchivan Automobile Transport" Open Joint Stock Company intend to launch a hunger-strike if their demands are not complied. The drivers want the government to return the Nakhchivan bus terminal to the company and allow it to keep fulfilling the agreement with Turkey's Igdir province signed till 2004.
Head of the company's personnel department Jafar Alaskarov told a news conference in Baku Monday that the current manager of the Nakhchivan bus terminal had illegally taken it over from the company and cancelled the routes to Igdir that had been executed by 5 buses.
230 people have thus been laid off, he said. According to Mr. Alaskarov, appeals to the Nakhchivan government have yielded no fruit and the dismissed workers converged to the Nakhchivan bus terminal Monday morning awaiting a decision on their demands.
"AZERCELL" APOLOGIZING FOR TEMPORARY INCONVENIENCE
The "Azercell" Joint Venture is engaged in operations on modernizing the GSM system and expanding the user network. The work has caused some unforeseen problems leading to the interruption in services, according to "Azercell". The JV is apologizing for the inconvenience, which may last till the end of this week and doing its best to eliminate the problems as soon as possible.
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Issue No.5(187), 2001
"No dual standards in unified Europe", says presidentGarabagh solution prospectsThe handicapped conduct picketSecretary of state colin powell admonishes RussiaNews digestAnnouncementNationParliament newsOpposition newsNews in briefBusinessOil & gas news
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