- Mkrtich Karapetian
A state-owned Russian bank, VTB, is close to completing the sale of its controlling stake in one of Armenia’s largest mining companies acquired by it in 2019.
VTB had taken over the Teghut company after its previous owner’s failure to repay a $400 million loan provided by the bank’s Armenian subsidiary. According to an Armenian state registry, the bank now owns almost 50 percent of the company exploiting the country’s second largest copper and molybdenum deposit.
The VTB chairman, Andrei Kostin, spoke on Wednesday of the “final stages” of the sale. He gave no details of the deal which has to be approved by Armenia’s anti-trust regulator.
Sources told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the likely buyer of the stake is Konstantin Sokolov, a Russian-born U.S. entrepreneur, or companies linked to him. Sokolov is already one of the two co-owners of the parent company of Viva Armenia, one of the country’s three mobile phone operators.
Production operations at Teghut’s eponymous open-pit mine in the northern Lori province ground to a halt in March 2022 after VTB and other major Russian banks were sanctioned by the West following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company employed more than 1,000 people at the time. It resumed the mining operations a year later.
Teghut was 22nd on the Armenian State Revenue Committee’s list of the largest corporate taxpayers last year, with 14.4 billion drams ($38 million) in various taxes contributed to the state budget. It had paid a similar amount of taxes in 2021.
The company announced late last month the appointment of its new Russian chief executive, Sergei Nerchuev. The latter combines the job with management of a diamond mining company in northern Russia. It is not yet clear whether Nerchuev’s appointment is connected with the impending sale of the VTB stake.
Armenia’s largest metallurgical enterprise, the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) is mostly owned by entities linked to Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko. The company employing some 4,600 people paid over 52 billion drams ($139 million) in taxes in 2025.
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Pashinian Won’t Condemn Destruction Of Karabakh Armenian Cathedral
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday pointedly declined to condemn Azerbaijan for its apparent destruction of Nagorno-Karabakh’s biggest Armenian church.
Pashinian also made clear that Armenia’s government will not seek international condemnation of the demolition of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert which was confirmed on Wednesday by satellite images obtained by RFE/RL.
“We need to be careful about these topics, especially now, because such topics are a double-edged sword,” he told reporters. “As the New Testament says, you will be judged with the same judgment you judge, and you will be measured with the same measure you measure.”
“We will look, we will analyze. I do not think that, given our previous experience, we will make this a subject of international discussions at the state level,” he said.
The remarks are consistent with Yerevan’s failure to officially react to the demolition which was first reported by exiled Karabakh Armenian activists on Tuesday. Some of them accused Pashinian’s government complicity in Baku’s continuing elimination of traces of centuries-long Armenian presence in Karabakh.
The Armenian government essentially stopped accusing Azerbaijan of systematically desecrating or destroying Armenian monuments in Karabakh after Pashinian first recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty over the territory in 2022. Pashinian has repeatedly declared in recent years that the Karabakh issue is closed for his administration. His detractors say the destruction of the Stepanakert cathedral makes mockery of his regular claims that “peace has been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
The Armenian Apostolic Church made a similar point when it strongly condemned its demolition later on Thursday.
“It is obvious that the Azerbaijani government continues to target Armenian Christian holy sites with the aim of erasing the Armenian trace from Artsakh,” it said in a statement. “This state-level vandalism once again proves that Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy has not changed, which makes statements about establishing a stable and lasting peace with Armenia questionable.”
The church said Pashinian and his government must take “urgent and effective steps” to try to stop Baku from wiping out Karabakh’s remaining Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage. It urged the international community to also help to “stop the cultural crimes in Artsakh.”
The imposing cathedral was consecrated by the Armenian Apostolic Church in 2019 after almost 13 years of construction. Its underground section was used by many Stepanakert residents as a bomb shelter during the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Several other Karabakh Armenian churches have also reportedly been destroyed since the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijan war. The process appears to have accelerated following Azerbaijan’s full recapture of Karabakh in 2023.
Catholicos Garegin II, the church’s supreme head, decried it during a conference hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Switzerland last May. Pashinian launched his controversial campaign to oust Garegin shortly after that conference.
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RFE/RL – Armenian Bank Accused Of Illegally Funding Pashinian’s Election Campa
- Shoghik Galstian
A coalition of Armenian vote-monitoring groups claimed on Thursday that a commercial bank owned by government-linked businessmen is sponsoring pre-election concerts for the ruling Civil Contract party in breach of Armenia’s campaign funding rules.
Fast Bank financed the first such open-air concert in Gyumri on April 19 as part of what organizers call the Voice of Peace Music Festival. It featured live performances by professional musicians as well as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s self-styled pop band.
The stage in Gyumri’s central square was decorated with banners bearing slogans similar to Civil Contract’s motto for the June 7 parliamentary elections. Pashinian and his political allies wore baseball caps with the ruling party’s campaign logo emblazoned on them.
They have urged supporters to attend the next concert that will take place in Yerevan’s Republic Square on Saturday. They said it will be dedicated to Armenia’s Citizen Day marking the anniversary of the 2018 “velvet revolution” that brought Pashinian to power. However, a company organizing the concerts, Domino Production, denied on Thursday any connection between the upcoming show, also sponsored by Fast Bank, and the public holiday.
“We regard the April 19 concert in Gyumri and the April 25 concert planned in Yerevan as Civil Contract’s campaign event in a certain sense,” said Daniel Ioannisian, the coordinator of the Independent Observer coalition.
Ioannisian insisted that the Fast Bank funding for the concerts amounts to election campaign donations to Pashinian’s party. He said it violates an Armenian law that bans businesses or any other legal entities from financing political parties.
Armenians are allowed to do that only in their individual capacity. The maximum amount of annual donations made by a single person is capped at 10 million drams ($26,000). A violation of these requirements is a crime punishable by heavy fines and up to two months in prison.
Fast Bank did not comment on its financing of the concerts. The bank is owned by businessman Vigen Badalian and his brother Vahe. They are widely regarded as figures close to Pashinian’s political team. Vigen Badalian is a friend of parliament speaker Alen Simonian.
Civil Contract was already accused by two Armenian media outlets in 2024 of illegally financing its election campaigns. In separate journalistic investigations, they suggested that the ruling party resorted to financial machinations to circumvent the legal cap on political donations. Pashinian denied any wrongdoing.
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Weather forecast in Armenia. rain, hail and wet snow in the mountains
In the afternoon of April 23, rains and thunderstorms are expected in some regions of Armenia, hail is also possible, reports the Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center.
Rains, thunderstorms, as well as hail will fall in some regions until April 27. In the afternoon of April 24, rainfall will be intense in some regions. On April 25, wet snow is expected in the mountain regions at night and in the morning.
The wind will be south-westerly at 3-6 m/s, during a thunderstorm it may increase to 18-22 m/s.
The air temperature will rise gradually. in the afternoon of April 23, with 4-6 degrees, in the night of April 23-24, with 2-4 degrees.
Rains and thunderstorms are expected in Yerevan in the afternoon of April 23, during which the wind will increase to 16-19 m/s. The air temperature will be 19 to 21 degrees during the day.
In Shirak marz, the temperature will be from 9 to 14 during the day, and from 10 to 18 in Kotayk marz. In Gegharkunik, daytime temperatures are expected from 9 to 14, in Lori marz, according to monitoring data, the daytime temperature will range from 15 to 19. In the Tavush region, the temperature is predicted to be between 16 and 21 during the day. In the Aragatsotn marz, the afternoon is expected from 9 to 19. The temperature will be 18 to 22 in Ararat Marz, and 19 to 22 in Armavir. In the Vayots Dzor marz, the afternoon is expected from 11 to 22, in the Syunik marz from 8 to 26.
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Serzh Sargsyan summarized the 8 years of the “velvet revolution”.
Serzh Sargsyan’s statement on the eighth anniversary of his resignation.
Dear people,
I am addressing you not as a politician, but as an Armenian, as a person whose life and destiny are inseparable from this land and water, this country. Our party has already announced its decision not to participate in the upcoming elections. This is not just a political position, but a unified, considered and argued decision, a historical decision.
In the spring of 2018, when my team and I left, we did so in compliance with your will. Eight years ago, in my resignation statement, I wrote a sentence that, due to the editing of one of the beneficiaries of the text and the subsequent manipulation of my “great” friends, they tried to make a stigma for me.
I have made right and wrong decisions throughout my life. My most correct and difficult decision was “breaking my own promise” and 2018. was to be nominated for the post of prime minister.
Unfortunately, it was also my biggest mistake, because I failed to explain to our people that the purpose of my nomination was not to keep the power, but to ensure the security of Karabakh and Armenia. Yes, Nicole was right, she was ready to go all the way and had no red line, I shouldn’t have run. And I made a mistake, thinking that we will be able to explain to our people that my departure in a difficult negotiation situation will lead to a disaster. It was obvious to me that changing the negotiator at that stage of the negotiations, nullifying the history of the negotiations will have a tragic consequence. something that happened. Not that I was the best negotiator, but that I deeply knew all the parties participating in the negotiations, had institutional memory and knew the value of Karabakh and the victory as a member of the team that created that victory and then kept it.
Yes, Nikol was right: I could not explain, but he managed to deceive our people.
2018 As a result of running for prime minister, I lost a lot, from not being understood to being rejected by my people as a result, but years later, I can say for sure that I would go through that purgatory again because I was sure that we would avoid any disaster that way.
I could not explain to the people because the people did not want to listen. I was “wrong” to be right.
In 2018, I was nominated to guarantee the security of Armenia and Artsakh, so that there would be no bloodshed at the borders, then I resigned in order to prevent bloodshed within the borders. And today, eight years after my resignation, a strong part of the people believes that Nikol’s power exists as long as the “formers” are in the first line of the political struggle against him.
I submit to this demand of the people as well. if the participation of me and the Republican party will contribute even one percent to the reproduction of today’s administration, we are taking a step back in order to give people the opportunity to express their will soberly, without emotions, and for the other opposition forces to make their promise of a change of power a reality without hindrance.
I started my career with the formation of the self-defense forces of Artsakh and considered it the greatest honor of my life to be a participant in the creation of the victory of our people and to preserve that victory. During its administration, the Republican Party has done everything for the sake of safe Armenia and Armenian Artsakh, to preserve and cherish the greatest victory of the Armenian people in the last hundred years. Of course, there have been mistakes and disappointments, but, in my deep conviction, those mistakes are forgivable and recoverable, and the proof of this is that today we go out among our people with an open front and a clear conscience.
It is no secret that the Republican Party did not want to participate in the 2021 elections, but we had to take that step. Unlike the unequivocal victory preached by the opposition, sociology suggested something else. We took part in those elections in order to try to prevent the final betrayal and surrender of Artsakh. It was obvious that the impostor who signed the capitulation with the lie that “we will win” for 44 days, who promised the de-occupation of Artsakh in the 2021 campaign, would actually surrender Artsakh behind the people and leave Artsakh Armenians alone against the enemy, as a result opening the gates of Armenia to the enemy.
Months ago, the Republican Party proposed the impeachment bill as the only realistic way to get rid of these authorities. It was clear to us that they and their foreign sponsors have already started falsifying the elections, imprisoning dissidents, distributing election bribes from the budget at the expense of doubling the state debt, and turning a blind eye to the growing illegalities.
In our opinion, fair and competitive elections were impossible under these conditions. However, unfortunately, our parliamentary colleagues chose a different path, waiting for the elections. I wish them success in justifying that decision.
I am convinced that in order to ensure the victory of the opposition in this situation, a large unification is necessary to prevent the dusting of votes, which will serve the interests of the current administration. The Republican party will continue to maintain its weighty role as an extra-parliamentary force for the sake of historical memory, dignity and the Armenian dream.
The group that uprooted Armenia, brought it to its knees, buried it in debt and flooded it with lies must leave. The alternative is terrible – horror for our country, our people and the next generation. It’s terrible for them, they just don’t realize it yet. It is necessary to wake up so that it is not too late.
Dignified peace, logic and harmony to our country and people.
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The days of final exams of schoolchildren are known
By the order of the Minister of Education and Culture, the dates for the organization and holding of the graduation and state graduation exams of the 2025-2026 academic year were approved.
In the 9th grade, exams will be held in the following subjects:
“Armenian language” (written, test) – 02.06.2026
“Mathematics” (written, test) – 11.06.2026
Natural science (“Physics”, “Chemistry”, “Biology”, “Geography” – at the student’s choice – written, test) – 15.06.2026
“Literature” and “History of Armenia” (essay) – 24.06.2026
Foreign language (“Russian”, “English”, “French”, “German”, other languages at the student’s choice, oral) – during the exam period
“Russian literature” (oral) for students of classes taught in Russian – during the exam period
“Native language and literature” (oral) for students in ethnic minority classes – during the examination period
“Physical education” (examination) – during the last week of academic classes of the 2025-2026 school year
In the 12th grade, the exams will be held in the following subjects:
“Armenian language and Armenian literature” (written) – 03.06.2026
“Mathematics” (written) – 10.06.2026
“History of Armenians” (written) – 17.06.2026
“Russian literature” (oral) for students of classes taught in Russian – during the exam period
“Native language and literature” (oral) for students in ethnic minority classes – during the examination period
“Physical education” (examination) – during the last week of academic classes of the 2025-2026 school year
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“Ai Dat” condemned the destruction of Stepanakert Cathedral
The Central Council of the ARF Armenian Dat strongly condemns the destruction of the Holy Astvatsatsin Cathedral in Stepanakert occupied by the Azerbaijani authorities. This action, which takes place on the eve of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, marks a serious escalation of the systematic elimination of Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage in Artsakh.
“Consecrated in 2019, the temple symbolized the revival of Armenian religious life and the continuity of the local Armenian presence. Its destruction, confirmed by satellite imagery, follows previous attacks on Armenian cultural and religious sites and reflects a more comprehensive and deliberate effort to erase the Armenian historical footprint.
These actions are serious violations of international law and UNESCO’s legal regulations protecting cultural heritage, and also contradict the decisions of the International Court of Justice, which require Azerbaijan to prevent and punish such actions.
The Central Council of the ARF Armenian Dat expressed concern regarding the lack of proper international response. Continued silence risks deepening impunity and undermines prospects for justice and the safe return of displaced Armenians.
The Armenian Dat Central Council calls on the international community to:
♦ Immediately implement independent international monitoring of cultural and religious heritage in the affected areas,
♦ Apply targeted measures to ensure liability for intentional destruction;
♦ To raise the priority of heritage protection within the framework of international engagement around the South Caucasus,
♦ Armenia to take immediate legal and diplomatic steps, including resorting to international judicial mechanisms.
The destruction of cultural heritage is an attack not only against the identity of any nation, but also against the universal heritage of humanity and requires a quick and principled international response,” the message states.
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The delegation led by Dmitry Aristov visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial
On April 22, the delegation headed by Dmitry Aristov, the head of the Russian Bailiffs’ Service, who arrived in Armenia on an official visit, visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, accompanied by Siro Amirkhanyan, the Chief Enforcement Officer of the RA. The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute informs about this.
The guests were welcomed and accompanied during the visit by Hrachya Tashchyan, acting director of HCTI.
The officials of the two countries laid a wreath at the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, after which the members of the delegation placed flowers near the eternal fire and observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
The delegation from Russia visited the Armenian Genocide Museum, got acquainted with the permanent and temporary exhibitions accompanied by tour guide Zhanna Melkonyan, and then Mr. Dmitry Aristov made a note in the memorial book of the honored guests.
Expressing his gratitude for the visit, Hrachya Tashchyan, acting director of the Armenian Genocide Museum, presented to Mr. Dmitry Aristov the Russian picture book of the Armenian Genocide Museum and the Russian version of the book “The Armenian Genocide and its Consequences” by Raymond Gevorgyan.
At the end, Dmitry Aristov planted a fir tree in the Park of Remembrance in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
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Armenian citizens will be able to cross the state border without border guards
Soon the citizens of Armenia will be able to cross the state border without contact with the border guards. The government has announced the launch of the biometric passport system, which will not only automate control at airports, but will also become a crucial factor for visa liberalization with the European Union.
At the government session on April 23, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced the completion of the intensive preparatory phase for issuing new identification documents. According to him, almost simultaneously with the start of issuing biometric passports, contactless crossing terminals will be launched at all border checkpoints, including “Zvartnots” international airport. It will allow travelers to pass the control by simply scanning the document, completely excluding physical contact with border guards.
The head of the government emphasized that the prospects of the new system can go beyond the national borders. In the presence of relevant bilateral agreements on the exchange of databases, Armenian e-passports will be able to be seamlessly recognized by the automated systems of other countries, which will significantly facilitate citizens’ trips abroad.
During the speech, special attention was paid to the geopolitical significance of this reform. The introduction of documents with a high level of protection and technological content is considered as one of the most important arguments in the dialogue with Brussels on visa liberalization. As Pashinyan mentioned, biometric data reduces the risks of falsifying documents dozens of times. This gives the receiving countries clear confidence that the identity of the person crossing the border fully matches the data in the passport.
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Expert: Genocide torchlight march irks Armenia’s ‘peace-loving neighbors’
Regional security analyst Varuzhan Geghamyan says honoring the victims of the Armenian Genocide is both a moral obligation and a strategic necessity for Armenia today.
In remarks ahead of annual commemorations, Geghamyan emphasized that remembrance and justice are issues that cannot be compromised. “In this post-truth era, there are questions, themes and ideas about which it is impossible to remain silent, to tell half-truths, or to debate. On these matters, everything is more than black and white,” he wrote on Telegram.
Geghamyan argued that those who deny or question the genocide have “no connection with Armenia or the Armenian people.” He urged Armenians to act daily in pursuit of justice, while highlighting the symbolic importance of joining the April 23 torchlight march in Yerevan, held on the eve of Genocide Remembrance Day.
“The march is particularly resented by Armenia’s ‘peace-loving neighbors’. Mourning is eternal, as long as there is no struggle,” Geghamyan added.
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