Month: February 2021

 10:47, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. 143 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Armenia in the past one day, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 167,231, the ministry of healthcare said today.

535 more patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 158,335.

5 more patients have died, raising the death toll to 3089.

1921 tests were conducted in the past one day.

The number of active cases is 5035.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:08, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. During today’s session the Board of the Central Bank of Armenia decided to raise the refinancing rate, setting it at 5.5%, the CBA told Armenpress.

The Lombard repo rate provided by the CBA is 7%.

The rate of funds attracted from banks by the CBA is 4%.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:27, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. 1 new case of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Artsakh in the past 24 hours.

24 tests were conducted on February 1, the ministry of healthcare told Armenpress.

A total of 2335 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Artsakh.

The number of active cases is 19.

The ministry of healthcare has again urged the citizens to follow all the rules to avoid new outbreaks and overcome the disease.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:30, 2 February, 2021

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Urban Development of the Republic of Artsakh has ordered new projects for creating a new housing stock in Stepanakert City and elsewhere in the country and providing apartments to displaced citizens.

“The ministry already has a blueprint for the construction of a 100-home residential district in the village of Varanda in Martuni,” the ministry said, adding that they are already working on the digital terrain model for another 150-home construction project in Astghashen, Askeran.

The government plans to build a housing stock in Askeran with 246 apartments and in Martuni with 130.

Another 100 homes will be built in the village of Aknaberd in Shahumyan for displaced citizens of Artsakh.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 13:55, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. Ruling party MP and Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan has reiterated that Armenia continues to be the guarantor of security of Artsakh.

“Armenia remains the guarantor of security of Artsakh,” Rubinyan, a member of the Armenian delegation to PACE, told reporters at a briefing in parliament.

Speaking about the latest PACE session, he said that the Azeri delegation was behaving in a way as if the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is over and all issues are resolved. “And our notion was the following: there is not a single fact to testify that the issues are being solved by Azerbaijan or that the Azerbaijani policy is constructive. On the contrary, there are numerous facts that it is quite the opposite, the issue of prisoners of war remains unresolved, a state sanctioned anti-Armenian policy continues in Azerbaijan, Armenophobic post stamps are issued in Azerbaijan and so on,” Rubinyan said, expressing certainty that the international community’s pressure will mount on Azerbaijan over these issues.

The post stamp mentioned by Rubinyan is one of the latest infamously racist anti-Armenian propaganda move by Azerbaijani authorities.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 15:05, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan chaired today the session of the Security Council, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.

A number of issues relating to the current situation around Armenia and Artsakh, the humanitarian problems and the security environment were discussed during the session.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:47, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. 3.4% inflation has been registered in Armenia in December 2020 conditioned by the increase in prices of imported food products, and as a result the 12-month inflation has greatly increased and approached the targeted figure, comprising 3.7% by the end of the year, the Central Bank of Armenia told Armenpress, adding that in December the 12-month normal inflation has also increased, comprising 3.6% at the end of the month.

“Restoration of economic activity and demand are being observed among the main partners of Armenia – US and Russia, in 2021 in accordance with the scenario outlined by the Central Bank’s monetary-credit policy program. Meanwhile, slower rates are being recorded in the Eurozone connected with the coronavirus-related restrictions. At the same time, inflationary tendencies are being registered in the international markets of raw materials and food products, which is reflected with higher inflationary environment than expected in the partner countries. In such situation the CBA Board estimates that inflationary impact mainly continues to be maintained on the economy of Armenia from the external sector.

In the fourth quarter, under the establishment of the martial law in Armenia, the spread of COVID-19 and the great uncertainty over economic growth prospects, a low economic activity than expected has been registered. The economic decline was greatly connected with the decline in the field of services, reflecting also the maintenance of weak demand”, the CBA said, noting that in such situation it is important to carry out structural reforms to boost the potential level of the economy, including with the adoption of a respective expenditure strategy for the fiscal policy.

“Despite the weak demand and the inflation developments, there is a certain acceleration in inflationary expectations, as a result the CBA Board finds it appropriate to raise the refinancing rate”, it said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 16:00, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia says the 2020 economic decline in the country will stand at 7,8%.

“The Central Bank’s projection for economic decline for 2020 was previously 7,2%. Now, the Central Bank expects a 7,8% economic decline,” Central Bank President Martin Galstyan told a news conference.

He said they would present the 2021 projections later.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:28, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. A Yerevan Court approved the National Security Service’s motion on remanding arms dealer Davit Galstyan into pre-trial detention on charges of embezzlement, his lawyer Armen Harutyunyan said on Tuesday.

Galstyan is accused in supplying the Armenian military with poor-quality artillery shells unfit for combat. He is said to have profited a little over 1,000,000 dollars in the deal made between his Mosston Engineering company and the Defense Ministry in 2018. 

Davit Galstyan, frequently referred to as Patron Davo (meaning Bullet Davo) in the media, is an arms dealer who previously served as advisor to the former Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan.

In a statement released on Tuesday before the court's ruling, Galstyan denied wrongdoing and claimed that the supplies in question were actually done as required by the contract. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:50, 2 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. Syrian mercenaries must leave Nagorno Karabakh, their activity near the borders of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) poses risks for the CSTO, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said at an online press briefing.

“We have information about the presence and actions of mercenaries from Syria in the Karabakh conflict zone. Any Syrian mercenary, militant must leave that territory, stop his activity as the creation of militant groups, squads and illegal armed units near the borders of the CSTO member states contains certain risks for our collective security”, he said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan