Month: February 2021

 17:21,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. UK FCDO Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas Wendy Morton has arrived in Armenia where she is expected to inaugurate the new office of the British Embassy in Yerevan.

“Բարի օր, Հայաստան!”, she tweeted in Armenian. 

“Wonderful to be visiting Armenia for the first time and I'm enjoying the beautiful scenery on my way to Yerevan. Armenia is an important and valued partner of the UK, and I'm looking forward to forging even closer ties between our countries during this visit.”

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:18,

YEREVAN, 16 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 16 February, USD exchange rate up by 0.32 drams to 524.92 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.49 drams to 638.09 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 7.16 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.18 drams to 731.27 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 34.72 drams to 30669.79 drams. Silver price up by 8.72 drams to 465.29 drams. Platinum price down by 1,143.29 drams to 21737.02 drams.

 16:39,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian signed a decree on appointing Areg Hovhannnisyan Ambassador of Armenia to Japan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

According to another presidential decree, Hrant Poghosyan has been relieved from the position of Armenia’s Ambassador to Japan and South Korea.

The President signed the respective decrees based on the Prime Minister’s proposal.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 16:14,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Healthcare Anahit Avanesyan met with Ambassador of the Netherlands to Armenia Nico Schermers, the ministry told Armenpress.

The minister congratulated the Ambassador on appointment and thanked for the support provided to Armenia in fighting COVID-19. Analyzing the statistics of the pandemic in Armenia, the Ambassador was interested in Armenia’s secret of making the COVID-19 situation controllable and stable. “I am aware of the situation in Armenia in autumn 2020 caused by both the pandemic and the war. Congratulations on achieving success in the fight against the pandemic. Taking into account the growing rates of the virus globally even during the lockdowns, Armenia managed to achieve the stabilization of the situation”, he said, highly valuing the policy adopted by the Armenian government and ministry of healthcare, the transparency of the work, especially in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases.

“We attach importance to public awareness and transparency of data in the fight against COVID-19. The government and our agency do the utmost to avoid the 3rd wave of the pandemic. We understand that otherwise one more wave can cause a very serious crisis for the economy and the healthcare system”, Minister Avanesyan said.

At the end of the meeting the sides discussed the work of the Armenian Diaspora in the Netherlands, the expected visit of a medical team to Armenia in April and other issues.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:00,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on science, education, culture, Diaspora, youth and sports affairs, head of the Armenia-Iran friendship group Mkhitar Hayrapetyan held a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, head of the Iran-Armenia friendship group Seyyed Mehdi Farshadan, Mr. Hayrapetyan’s Office told Armenpress.

Congratulating on the 42nd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan addressed his best wishes to the good people of Iran.

During the phone talk the officials discussed issues on further developing and expanding the bilateral cooperation.

They both highlighted the high level of mutual trust and support between Armenia and Iran, the firm historical and cultural relationships.

Mr. Farshadan informed that he is planning to visit Armenia soon with a delegation aimed at discussing in more details the prospects of deepening the bilateral partnership.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:43,

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan received today Chairman of the State Cadastre Committee of Armenia Suren Tovmasyan and his deputy Aram Petrosyan, the President’s Office told Armenpress.

The cooperation between the respective structures of Armenia and Artsakh was discussed during the meeting.

The President of Artsakh informed that after the recent war large-scale urban development projects are being implemented in the Republic, in this respect highlighting the importance of harmonious work with the government of Armenia.

The meeting was also attended by Chairman of Artsakh’s Cadastre and State Property Management Committee Karen Shahramanyan.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:29,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. More than 110 aftershocks were recorded so far after the February 13 magnitude 4,7 earthquake in Yerevan, the Armenian seismic protection service said.

“Right now there is an aftershock seismic activity, but it is gradually decreasing,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations Seismic Protection Service director Sos Margaryan told a news conference. “There’ve been magnitude 0,1 and less aftershocks. Overall, only two or three of these aftershocks were felt in Yerevan.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 12:19,

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. Construction of a new residential settlement has launched in the territory located between Astghashen and Patara villages of Artsakh’s Askeran region, spokesperson of the Urban Development Ministry of Artsakh Marta Danielyan told Armenpress.

“The new settlement, which is for our citizens displaced from Jraghatsner, Moshkhmhat, Madatashen and Sghnakh villages of Askeran, will have a total area of over 644,000 square meters. The first of the planned 116 private houses will be ready within next few months: the construction of the settlement will be completed by December 2022. The houses will have 2-4 rooms. Each private house will be provided with 1500 square meters of land. A market will also be built near the main road”, she said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:04,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s top seismologist is ruling out the possibility that the February 13 earthquake that hit Yerevan and the subsequent aftershocks were triggered by a biological weapon – a hypotheses which was put forward on social media.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations Seismic Protection Service chief Sos Margaryan said at a news conference that the earthquakes are tectonic tremors conditioned by Armenia’s geographic location on a seismic active zone.

“The given case was a magnitude 4,7 earthquake, which is a moderate intensity one,” he said, referring to the earthquake that rattled the Armenian capital on February 13. 

“It’s close to the Yerevan Fault. I assure you, there can’t even be any talk about biological or any other kind of weapons, because this [fault] is a known source to us. It is even reflected in the seismic resistance construction requirement maps as a hazard zone. The 1937 Parakar earthquake was also close to this fault. What happened was a completely natural phenomenon,” he said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 19:48,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. A trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia will take place in Baku on February 19. ARMENPRESS reports the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry informs that the Turkish FM will arrive in Baku on February 18, while the Georgian Deputy PM and Foreign Minister will arrive on February 19.

The Azerbaijani FM is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his Turkish and Georgian counterparts.