Month: February 2021

Armenian economy minister, Swedish Ambassador discuss cooperation agenda

 17:32,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan received Ambassador of Sweden to Armenia Patrik Svensson, the ministry told Armenpress.

The economy minister congratulated the Ambassador on starting missing in Armenia, attaching importance to the projects being implemented by Sweden in Armenia which, he said, contribute to the continuation of economic reforms in the Republic.

The officials discussed issues relating to the Armenian-Swedish cooperation agenda and emphasized the necessity of expanding the bilateral economic cooperation framework.

The Swedish Ambassador said they are ready to cooperate with the Armenian government in a number of directions, in particular touching upon the projects in the fields of agriculture, IT, trade, territorial administration.

The minister also attached importance to the entry of the Swedih IEKA and H&M companies to the Armenian market, as well as introduced the ongoing programs, in particular the venture fund government process, and invited the Swedish companies to participate in this process.

In his turn the Ambassador informed that the Swedish companies wish to participate in economy digitization, waste reprocessing, airport launch processes in Armenia.

At the end of the meeting the sides once again reaffirmed their readiness to develop the Armenian-Swedish commercial cooperation.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 17:30,

YEREVAN, 15 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 15 February, USD exchange rate up by 0.32 drams to 524.60 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.80 drams to 636.60 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.10 drams to 7.16 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 6.27 drams to 729.09 drams.

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

Gold price down by 381.64 drams to 30635.07 drams. Silver price down by 0.65 drams to 456.57 drams. Platinum price down by 240.28 drams to 20593.73 drams.

 17:19,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. No incidents were recorded on February 14 and 15 at the Armenian-Azerbaijani Line of Contact of the Armenian state border, according to the Armenian Ministry of Defense.

Nevertheless, the ministry said that it has recorded irregular gunfire. “In some parts of the borderline irregular shots mostly fired into the air – which did not change the operational tactical situation – were recorded.”

The units of the Armed Forces and the National Security Service border troops of Armenia are controlling the border situation at the entire length of the borderline, the ministry added.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:16,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The number of coronavirus cases in Russia rose by 14,207 to 4,086,090 in the past 24 hours, TASS reports citing the anti-coronavirus crisis center.

According to data from the crisis center, the coronavirus growth rate stands at 0.35%.

In particular, 1,093 coronavirus cases were recorded in St. Petersburg in the past day, 801 in the Moscow region, 431 in the Nizhny Novgorod region, 356 in the Voronezh region and 337 in the Rostov region.

There are currently 398,534 active coronavirus cases in Russia.

 17:01,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Authorities are denying the online reports which claim that a major earthquake is going to hit Armenia following the 4.7 magnitude quake that rattled Yerevan on Saturday. At the same time, light and average intensity earthquakes can’t be ruled out, they say.

“The Seismic Protection Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is once again officially denying this information,” the ministry spokesperson told ARMENPRESS, noting that the reports on a forthcoming major quake are fake news. “Note that now the stress of the earthquake’s source continues getting relieved.”

Ministry of Emergency Situations spokesperson Anna Baghdasaryan told ARMENPRESS that on Saturday alone 100 aftershocks were recorded after the earthquake. “The tremors are gradually decreasing, and the seismic activity in the Parakar source is decreasing. The aftershocks were of very low magnitude and the population didn’t feel them.”

Nevertheless, the chance that minor and moderate earthquakes in Armenia and the entire region aren’t ruled out shouldn’t be ignored, she warned. “Not only in Armenia, but in the entire region the seismic activity remains and analyses shows that minor and moderate intensity earthquakes could happen,” Baghdasaryan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 14:58,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. 7 or even 8 out of 10 children in Armenia have a chance to fully recover from cancer, Director of the Hematology Center after Yolyan Samvel Danielyan said during a press conference.

“Since the mid-1990s we have had a 3-5% recovery among children suffering cancer, but today 7-8 out of 10 children is recovering. This is thanks to the work of the great group of doctors”, he said.

Head of the Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases Gevorg Tamamyan stated that in high-income countries more than 80% of children suffering cancer recover, meanwhile in low-income countries this figure is just 20%.

Cancer is one of the main reasons of deaths among children and youth.

Every year nearly 300,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed among children under 19.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:46,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian has returned to Armenia “at the end of last week”, his office said.

“Upon the advice of doctors the president continues treatment in Yerevan,” his office said.

Sarkissian was hospitalized with COVID-19 induced double-pneumonia on January 13 in London, where he was on a medical visit for an unrelated condition.

He was discharged from hospital in late January and was recovering at home in London.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:58,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has released a video on social media depicting the firing by Azerbaijani armed forces of both small and large caliber weapons in the immediate vicinity of villages in the Syunik province of Republic of Armenia.

“This video was recorded 2 days ago, at different times of the day, in the middle of Agarak and Yeghvard villages of Kapan community; the footage was captured by our perimeter guards at the lines of contact.

To put the matter in context and to be clear, the point of origin of these shooting is directly about one (1) km from the village of Agarak”, Tatoyan said, adding that he periodically receives alerts about the anger and the concerns of residents of Kapan villages over the discharging of firearms by the Azerbaijani military on a regular basis.

“All of these once again confirm that in the immediate vicinity of Syunik communities, and on the roads connecting those communities, there should not be any Azerbaijani military forces. The presence of these forces seriously endangers the rights of Armenian civilians, disturbs their peace and peaceful life”, the Ombudsman stated.

 11:57,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has sent a congratulatory letter to President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić on the national day – the Statehood Day, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

President Sarkissian highlighted the consistent development and deepening of the friendly ties between Armenia and Serbia, which, according to him, have a firm historical and civilizational base.

“I highly value the personal relations between us. I am sure that we will be able to raise the inter-state cooperation to a qualitatively new level with joint efforts and consistent fulfillment of bilateral agreements”, the letter reads.

The Armenian President wished his Serbian counterpart good health and success, and to the good people of Serbia – peace and welfare.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan