EURASIAN PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION LAUNCHED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS:President Robert Kocharian received today President of Eurasia Partner Foundation (EPF), George Zarubin,, President of Eurasia Foundation, Horton Beebe-Center and EPF Country Director in Armenia, Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan. Kocharian’s press office said President of Eurasia Foundation, Horton Beebe- Center, spoke on the official launch of Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF), the local legacy institution of Eurasia Foundation (EF) in the South Caucasus Kocharian welcomed the objectives of EPF saying Armenian government and non- government agencies are willing to continue cooperation with the Foundation. EPF will begin official operations as a local foundation on February 1, 2008, when EPF will take over EF’s programs, tools and approaches, staff and financial management systems. With offices registered in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, EPF will inherit the key resources that have made Eurasia Foundation a leading innovator in civil society development in the region. At the same time, the new Foundation will re-emphasize local decision making as the driver of positive social change. This will be accomplished through a strengthened governance system driven by experts whose guidance in programmatic planning and long term institutional development will ensure that EPF is acting on behalf of needs that are defined locally. The Board of Trustees will be made up of international figures with expert knowledge of the region, including Kenneth Yalowitz, former U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, and Dieter Boden, former German Ambassador and OSCE representative. The Board members’ expertise in business, finance and law will ensure that the new Foundation is accountable and fiscally responsible: Margaret Richardson is the former Commissioner of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Andrew Coxshall is the Managing Partner of KPMG in the South Caucasus and David Lee is the Director of MagtiCom, Ltd., Georgia’s largest telecommunications service. The Board’s guidance on strategic and financial decisions will be complemented by guidance from local Advisory Committees, composed of local experts who convene to provide guidance and expertise on the new Foundation’s programmatic decisions. The Advisory Committee members are Nouneh Sarkisian, the Managing Director of Internews Armenia, Artashes Terzyan, a major shareholder of Investment Bank Trust and National Bank Trust in Russia, Margarita Piliposyan, the Deputy Country Director of the Fund for Armenian Relief, Professor David Hovhanesian, the Director of the Center for Culture and Civilization with Yerevan State University, Ara Hamazaspyan, the Manager of the Yerevan office of Izmirlian Foundation, and Arsen Ghazaryan, the President of the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen in Armenia. According to George Zarubin, President of EPF, “The new foundation will also begin an important collaboration between U.S. and European partners. In addition to core support from USAID, the Swedish International Development Agency plans to support EPF for three years. Many other European, North American and corporate donors will support EPF.” “The Eurasia Foundation has contributed greatly to the building of a strong civil society in the South Caucasus, and to enhancing cross-border dialogue throughout the region. The U.S. government is pleased to have assisted in that effort. The new structure being unveiled today should serve to enhance these efforts by facilitating greater local input in the design and implementation of their programs,” states Joseph Pennington, Charge d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia. Supported by the United States Agency for International Development and other public and private donors, EF has invested nearly $70 million in the South Caucasus through more than 1,700 grants and programs since 1992.