Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, discussing trilateral agreements on Karabakh, the Kremlin press service said.
Putin and Pashinyan also spoke of the close cooperation between Russia and Armenia in accordance with the principles of strategic partnership and alliance.
Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan has made his first bilateral visit abroad after taking office in March to Tbilisi, where he met Georgian counterpart Salome Zurabishvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.
The two Presidents on May 30 discussed the prospects to develop relations between the two countries, including in transport, communications and information technology, the Armenian Presidential administration reported. They also talked about security issues in the South Caucasus.
In a joint press briefing after the conversation, President Zurabishvili asserted that the South Caucasus “faces new challenges and opportunities. ”
“The ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine is a new challenge for everyone, as it violates all international norms and principles on which international order and the global security architecture are built,” she said.
The Georgian President also highlighted the “dire” situation in Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, adding that “the neglect of sovereignty and gross human rights abuses continue and intensify.”
But she said that “new opportunities for European integration for our country and for the Eastern Partnership region represent a very great chance.”
Also, President Zurabishvili stressed the role of the EU in talks between Yerevan and Baku, going on to assert that “the outcome of these negotiations lays the establishment of full peace in the region, economic development and all the new plans that affect the region and give it great prospects for the future.”
In the briefing, the Armenian President stressed that Yerevan puts “a great emphasis” on bolstering ties with Tbilisi, and stressed the importance of the recently frequent reciprocal visits of Georgian and Armenian officials.
Elaborating on discussions about cooperation in transport and communication, President Khachaturyan said the sides had talked about projects such as the Persian Gulf-International Transport corridors.
On May 31, the Georgian PM and Armenian President had a conversation about security in the South Caucasus, as well as bolstering bilateral ties in energy, transport and trade, the Georgian Government Administration’s press service reported.
In the meeting, PM Garibashvili also brought up his Peaceful Neighborhood Initiative, a proposed platform for confidence-building in the South Caucasus with the participation of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the U.S., and the EU.
Also on May 31, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and President Khachaturyan touched upon current developments in the South Caucasus and discussed steps taken to establish regional peace and stability, the Parliament’s press service reported.
The Armenian President’s administration said that the sides highlighted both countries’ interest in establishing long-term, stable peace in the region.
YEREVAN, June 1. /ARKA/. Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC) has formally asked the Central Bank to regulate the digital asset industry by enforcing a cryptocurrency legislation, SRC head Rustam Badasyan said today.
He said the lack of legislation hinders combating criminal activities and enables shady transactions.
‘We already have had some cases when cryptocurrencies were used to avoid taxes and launder money,” he said during parliamentary hearings on the execution of the state budget last year.
Badasyan also said that an investigation was launched into provision of a large sum of cash in exchange for the purchase of cryptocurrency, but it has not yielded any results because of the lack of relevant legislation.
Earlier, Seyran Sargsyan, the Executive Director of the Union of Banks of Armenia, stated that financial institutions in Armenia do not regard cryptocurrencies as legal tender and do not service such assets.
According to him, issues like identification of clients dealing with e-currency, as well as transparency and other related problems connected with money laundering, need to be regulated.
According to the World Economic Forum, there are 18,142 cryptocurrencies, 460 crypto-exchanges and the marked cap of cryptocurrecmies amounts to about $2 trillion. Every 24 hours, $91 billion worth of cryptos are traded, most of them Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Analysts have warned that the industry is so large it could have macroeconomic consequences if mismanaged. They says piecemeal approaches to cryptocurrency regulation must be replaced by a globally coordinated framework.-0-
YEREVAN, June 1. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan on Wednesday described the 12-month inflation of 8.5% in late April 2022 as a ‘fantastically good result’ against the backdrop of skyrocketing prices across the globe.
However, speaking to reporters, the minister agreed that the inflation in Armenia is visible to the naked eye.
According to the National Statistical Committee (NSC), the 12-month consumer inflation in April 2022 amounted to 8.4%. Kerobyan said earlier that the country’s economy would grow this year by 7 percent.
“The naked eye should see record high inflation not only in Armenia, but around the world. In the U.S., inflation has exceeded 8%, the highest over the last 50-60 years. The situation is similar in Europe. That is to say, this is not a purely Armenian phenomenon, but a global one. It is a fantastically good result to have 8.5% inflation in Armenia in such an environment,” said Kerobyan.
However, he said, this does not mean that the authorities in Armenia are happy with this result.
“The government’s work is aimed at ensuring that the additional economic result is distributed to people so that it is felt by everyone. It can’t be done in one step, and the government is very restrained and cautious in increasing its current spending,” he said.
The minister added that the amount of current expenses in the budget increases sharply, for example, in a year they may grow by 300 billion drams ‘and all these sums are usually directed to solving social problems, first of all”, Kerobyan said.
According to NSC, Armenia’s economic activity index (EAI) in the first 4 months of 2022 registered a 9.4% year-on-year growth.
Armenian government’s growth projection for 2022 is 7%, and the inflation is set at 4% (± 1.5%). Earlier, the Central Bank revised its growth forecast for 2022 1.6% from an earlier projection of 5.3%. -0-
The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) published a new report today on Armenia focusing on human trafficking victims’ access to justice and effective remedies. GRETA acknowledges improvements in the legislative and policy framework but asks the authorities to strengthen the provision of information to victims, improve access to legal aid and psychological assistance, facilitate access to compensation from the perpetrators, as well as to effectively investigate offences of human trafficking for all forms of exploitation and promote reintegration of victims.
Since the previous evaluation in 2017, Armenia has continued to develop its anti-trafficking legislative and policy framework: in 2021 a new Criminal Code and a new Criminal Procedure Code were adopted and amendments to the Labour Code were being prepared.
GRETA urges the authorities to ensure that access to legal assistance is guaranteed as soon as there are reasonable grounds for believing that a person is a victim of human trafficking and before the person concerned has to decide whether on co-operating with the authorities in a criminal investigation.
During the reporting period no trafficking victim has received compensation from the perpetrators either through criminal or civil proceedings. GRETA urges the Armenian authorities to take vigorous measures to guarantee effective access to compensation for trafficking victims, including by making full use of the legislation on the freezing and forfeiture of offenders’ assets. At the same time GRETA welcomes the provision of lump-sum compensation of some 450 EUR by the State to 20 trafficking victims since 2017.
GRETA welcomes the existence of specialised entities for combating human trafficking within the Police and the Investigative Committee. However, it notes that between January 2017 and September 2021, a total of 69 criminal investigations were conducted into human trafficking cases but only 13 cases were brought to trial and just six persons were convicted for trafficking. GRETA urges the Armenian authorities to ensure that human trafficking offences for all forms of exploitation are proactively and promptly investigated, making use of special investigation techniques and financial investigations.
The report also examines progress made on the implementation of previous GRETA recommendations on selected topics. GRETA urges the Armenian authorities to continue reinforcing the capacity and skills of all relevant officials to detect and investigate cases of trafficking for labour exploitation. Further, the authorities should strengthen efforts to prevent child trafficking among vulnerable groups (children in rural areas and children placed in child-care institutions), and pay more attention to the link between child trafficking and the use of information and communication technologies. Finally, to ensure economic and social integration of victims of trafficking, GRETA urges the authorities to take additional steps to ensure the provision of long-term assistance, as well as to strengthen effective access to the labour marker for them through vocational training and job placement.
The total number of victims of trafficking identified in the period 2017-2021 in Armenia was 68. Two thirds of identified victims were women and girls. The prevailing form of exploitation was sexual exploitation, followed by labour exploitation and forced begging. Almost all identified victims were Armenian nationals exploited inside Armenia. The real number of trafficking victims is probably higher, the report says, as self-identification by trafficking victims occurs only rarely due to the lack of awareness of their rights, stigma, the feeling of shame and distrust vis-à-vis the authorities.
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 EU Head Reacts To Armenian-Azeri ‘Tensions’ June 01, 2022 Greece - European Council President Charles Michel speaks during an event in Alexandroupolis, May 3, 2022. European Council President Charles Michel seemed to confirm late on Tuesday Armenia’s assertions that it has not agreed to open a permanent land corridor that will connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. Michel was also understood to deny advocating Nagorno-Karabakh’s return under Azerbaijani rule during his trilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held in Brussels on May 22. Aliyev said after the summit that he and Pashinian agreed to open a “Zangezur corridor” that will consist of a road and railway connecting Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan. He had demanded earlier that people and cargo using them be exempt from Armenian border controls. Pashinian and other Armenian officials denied Aliyev’s claim, saying that Yerevan will not open any extraterritorial corridors. They insisted that the two sides reached understandings only on conventional transport links. “Both parties confirmed [at Brussels] there were no extraterritorial claims with regard to future transport infrastructure. Speculation to the contrary is regrettable,” Michel’s spokesman, Barend Leyts, said in a statement. Commenting on “the past days' tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Leyts also sought to clarify Michel’s remarks made right after the Brussels talks. “President Michel's statement on outcomes of the leaders meeting on 22 May should not be interpreted as favoring a predetermined outcome of discussions either way,” he said. The European Union’s top official said early on May 23 that “the rights and security of the ethnic Armenian population in Karabakh” should also be addressed during upcoming negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. Armenian opposition leaders and Karabakh’s leadership denounced the remark. They accused Michel of undermining the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination by portraying them as an ethnic minority not eligible for independent statehood. “In President Michel's opinion, all core issues that had led to the first Nagorno-Karabakh war as well as to the renewed hostilities in 2020 will need to be addressed by all stakeholders to create conditions for lasting and equitable peace,” stressed Leyts. Late last week, Aliyev warned the Armenian side against insisting on an agreement on Karabakh’s status. He said Baku could respond by laying claim to Armenian territory. The Armenian Foreign Ministry denounced the threat. Saudi Arabia, Armenia Again Signal Warming Ties June 01, 2022 Saudi Arabia - Saudi and Armenian national flags fly at Riyad airport during the arrival of Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, October 27, 2021. Armenia voiced support on Wednesday for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the Expo 2030 world fair in another sign of rapprochement between the two states that have no diplomatic relations. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced the endorsement in a phone call with Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the two men discussed “prospects for the development of relations” between their nations and stressed the importance of promoting bilateral trade and “investment projects.” “Minister Mirzoyan informed his interlocutor that Armenia supports Saudi Arabia's application to hold World Expo 2030 in Riyadh,” the ministry added in a statement. Mirzoyan made that clear one week after Russia, Armenia’s closest ally, withdrew its formal request to host the global event. Moscow said the selection process cannot be fair because of the West’s efforts to isolate it on the world stage over the war in Ukraine. Saudi Arabia has for decades refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia due to its conflict with Muslim Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The oil-rich kingdom signaled a change in that policy after its relations with Armenia’s arch-foe and Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey deteriorated significantly several years ago. Saudi Arabia - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman talks to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian during the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, October 26, 2021. The policy change was highlighted last October by then Armenian President Armen Sarkissian’s visit to Riyadh. Sarkissian sat next to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at the opening ceremony of an international conference held there. Riyadh signaled more overtures to Yerevan in February this year when Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Mirzoyan held talks on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany. It was the first-ever face-to-face meeting of the top diplomats of the two countries. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said they “reviewed bilateral relations in various fields” and explored “opportunities to enhance bilateral coordination.” It remains unclear whether the kingdom is now ready for a full normalization of Saudi-Armenian relations. Aliyev, Pashinian Brief Putin On Brussels Talks June 01, 2022 Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev meet in Sochi, November 26, 2021. In separate phone calls, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on the results of their latest meeting held in Brussels on May 22. According the Kremlin, Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke on Tuesday “at the initiative of the Azerbaijani side.” The Russian leader phoned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday. The Kremlin’s readouts of the calls said they presented to Putin details of their trilateral meeting in Brussels with European Council President Charles Michel. It was the second Armenian-Azerbaijani summit hosted by Michel in less than two months. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts the day after the May 22 summit. The Russian Foreign Ministry afterwards again criticized the European Union’s mediation efforts. The ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, accused the EU of trying to “wedge” into the implementation of Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Moscow earlier. The agreements call for the demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the opening of transport links between the two South Caucasus states. Putin discussed their implementation with Aliyev and Pashinian. An Armenian government statement said Putin welcomed the first session of an Armenian-Azerbaijani commission on the demarcation held on the border on May 24. It reaffirmed that the next session of the commission will be held in Moscow but gave no dates. The statement said Putin and Pashinian agreed on the need to step up activities of a separate Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani task force dealing with practical modalities of the transport links. It said they also discussed the possibility of kick-starting the work of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh co-headed by the United States, Russia and France. Moscow says that Washington and Paris stopped cooperating with it in the Minsk Group format after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. U.S. and French officials have not denied that. Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
In a phone call with his Armenian counterpart Vahagn Khachaturyan on Wednesday, the Iranian president expressed hope that the remaining issues between Baku and Yerevan would be solved peacefully in accordance with international law while respecting the two sides’ territorial integrity and national sovereignty as well as rights and security of the people in the Caucasus region.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is deeply committed to the point that regional issues must be resolved through consensus and cooperation among all countries in the region and on the basis of common interests and mutual respect,” Raisi added.
According to reports, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev announced last month that their respective countries would be setting up border security and delimitation commissions, signaling a step towards the settlement of a decades-long conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Pashinyan and Aliyev met in Brussels in April for rare talks mediated by the European Council President Charles Michel.
Tensions between Yerevan and Baku remain high more than a year after the arch-foes fought a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The six-week conflict, which claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides, ended in November 2020 with a Russian-brokered deal that left Azerbaijan largely in control of the territory.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been populated by ethnic Armenians. Russia has deployed 1,960 peacekeepers to the region for an initial five-year period. Since the truce, the two sides have accused each other of breaching the peace deal.
The Iranian president further warned against Israel’s plot to infiltrate into the region and urged regional nations to remain fully cautious in the face of the regime in order to prevent it from gaining a foothold.
He said the Zionist regime is by no means a friend of the regional nations, adding that it has committed “unprecedented” acts of oppression against the Palestinian people.
Raisi said Tehran supports the expansion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the fields of energy and transportation which would promote peace and stability and ensure economic prosperity in the region.
“As part of its principled policies, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes and heeds preservation of the regional geopolitics, including international borders, respect for national sovereignty of countries and strengthening of the inter-regional communication infrastructure,” the Iranian president pointed out.
The Armenian president, for his part, commended Iran’s important and effective role in the region and its stance on regional developments.
Khachaturyan said Armenia is keen to boost economic, trade, political and cultural cooperation with Iran, noting that regular sessions of the two countries’ joint economic committee would certainly facilitate the expansion of relations.