Month: May 2021

 12:09,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Lending rates in Armenia based on the results of the first quarter of 2021 are higher than the forecasts made by the Central Bank, CBA President Martin Galstyan said at the session of the parliamentary standing committee on financial-credit and budgetary affairs, while presenting the Bank’s annual activity report.

“According to our expectations, the behavior of banks in 2021 must have been more conservative. We were expecting that the lending rates would be weaker. But the first quarter shows that the lending rates are higher than we expected”, he said.

However, he noted, that some terms have been toughened. There are groups of customers which are viewed as more risky by banks, in other words, banks may not provide them with loans, or may provide it in higher interest rates.

Talking about 2020, the CBA chief reminded that last year the incomes of the population and the businesses have certainly decreased, and some citizens, economic entities have faced problems in terms of servicing their loans.

“But in many cases the banks have revised their terms, by extending the loan contract term or lowering the interest rates. In other words, they have tried to solve those problems by showing an individual approach”, Martin Galstyan said, adding that the dialogue between the banks and their clients, which launched last year, continues this year as well.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:11,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The head of the World Health Organization hailed news on Monday that U.S. President Joe Biden will send at least 20 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad by the end of June, marking the first time the United States is sharing vaccines authorized for domestic use, Reuters reports.

“I welcome @POTUS & 's commitment to donate 80M #COVID19 vaccine doses to countries in need. Your commitment to global health is deeply appreciated! #COVAX partners stand ready to support equitable distribution. Solidarity is the only way to save lives & livelihoods everywhere," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter, referring to the WHO-backed COVAX vaccine distribution platform.

 14:05,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenian government officials held a meeting with representatives of the UN Armenia Office and the diplomatic corps to discuss the preparation and holding of the June 20 early election of parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a news release.

Prime Minister’s Office Chief of Staff Arsen Torosyan said at the meeting that all available resources must be utilized to hold the election on the highest possible standards with the purpose of ensuring democracy, transparency and credibility. Torosyan stated that the government and the central electoral commission will jointly make all efforts to hold free, transparent and fair elections and constantly improve the electoral process. “I am sure that through joint efforts we will be able to achieve this,” Torosyan said.

Torosyan emphasized the importance of the work of observer missions in the process of organizing the elections. He also addressed the need for properly organizing the election in terms of the ongoing pandemic. “The snap election contains an important challenge which we can’t ignore, it is time. In order to hold high-quality, transparent, free and fair elections we must use the entire set of tools, but in a twice shorter period of time,” Torosyan said.

Central Electoral Commission chairman Tigran Mukuchyan stressed the importance of having relevant technical equipment in district centers, as well as the need to organize training of specialists and employees. He also addressed the issue of raising awareness among the voters on the electoral code changes. Mukuchyan said guides and ads will be prepared. “We are also planning to have separate bulletins so that voters get informed and be ready to the specificities of the new voting type. As you know these changes were adopted quite recently, the changes make the electoral process easier but it is highly important to inform the voters about this all in a short period of time,” Mukuchyan said.

He added that the voter lists will be published, live transmission video cameras will be installed in polling stations for transparency, just like during the previous election.

The representatives of the international organizations and the foreign diplomats expressed readiness to support the process of holding free, fair and transparent elections.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 14:32,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Paul Gavan (Ireland, UEL) will visit Armenia on behalf of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) from 19 to 22 May 2021, to gather information for his report on "The humanitarian consequences of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan", the PACE said in a statement.

“He will hold meetings with parliamentarians, including the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, and with representatives of different ministries dealing with the humanitarian consequences of the conflict. He will also have an opportunity to hear from displaced persons and the families of captives and the missing, and will meet with religious leaders, the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, and civil society representatives.

The visit will also allow him to understand better the role and contribution of international organizations working on this issue in Armenia, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations agencies, in particular the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Mr Gavan plans to continue his work over the summer, visiting Azerbaijan to gather further information, and aims to complete his report in the autumn”, the statement says.

 14:38,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Russian deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko and French Ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy discussed the situation in the South Caucasus, including that around the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, the Russian foreign ministry reports.

The meeting took place on May 18.

Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed at the meeting.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 14:50,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament of Catalonia will officially demand Azerbaijan to release the Armenian prisoners of war and will condemn the violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity by Azerbaijan, El Nacional reports.

President of the Parliament of Catalonia Laura Borràs received the representatives of the Catalonian-Armenian community on May 17.

The Chamber will make a statement, urging to release the Armenian POWs and condemning the violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:05,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Russian deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko met with Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, the Russian foreign ministry reports.

The officials discussed the relevant issues of the regional agenda, including the situation around the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:39,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The ex-minister of transportation and communication Gagik Beglaryan has been released from the pre-trial detention on a 50,000,000 dram bail bond, the prosecutor general’s office said.

According to prosecution spokesperson Arevik Khachatryan, Beglaryan has also returned the money which amounts to the damages inflicted to the state under the indictment.

The prosecution said that after arriving to Yerevan on board a Yerevan-Moscow flight, Beglaryan himself surrendered to authorities. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:25,

YEREVAN, 18 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 18 May, USD exchange rate down by 0.36 drams to 521.55 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.80 drams to 637.23 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 7.08 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 4.71 drams to 740.81 drams.

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

Gold price up by 240.31 drams to 31083.25 drams. Silver price up by 6.06 drams to 462.97 drams. Platinum price up by 2.58 drams to 20574.61 drams.

 17:29,

STEPANAKERT, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. On May 18 President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan visited ministry of defense, where he held a consultation with the highest command staff of the defense army, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

Issues on army building, the country's defense capacity, as well as the improvement of the social conditions of servicemen were discussed during the consultation.

The President expressed deep gratitude to the entire staff of the defense army for selflessly fulfilling its mission and defending the homeland from the aggression of the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem doing their utmost.

“We have a dignified and lasting peace agenda, but it also requires security guarantees. Therefore, the defense army exists, will remain and will become more combatative. As a result of the planned reforms, a professional army will be formed, where contract servicemen will play an important role", the head of state said, adding that they will spare no effort for the consistent and rapid improvement of Artsakh's security system.

Speaking about the improvement of the social and household conditions of the servicemen, President Harutyunyan emphasized that with the active support of the Government of the Republic of Armenia the problem of providing housing to the retired officers will be completely solved by 2023, as well as additional work will be done to provide social guarantees to servicemen, to improve the social condition of perished, deceased, disabled servicemen and their families.