12:52, 1 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Healthcare Anahit Avanesyan met with the Director and staff of the National Health Insurance Fund of Lithuania on the sidelines of her three-day visit in that country, the Armenian ministry of health reports.
During the meeting the Director of the Fund presented their activities, the package of services, the procurement mechanism and the monitoring program.
The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative has announced that the nominations are now open for the 2023 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, given on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors. Anyone can put forward modern-day heroes who risk their own lives, health or freedom to save the lives, health or freedom of others suffering as a result of violent conflict, atrocity crimes or other major human rights violations.
“The Aurora Prize sheds light on some of the most crucial issues in the world, raise awareness on these particular dark corners where we need the voice of humanity and humanitarian engagement. For me, it is an honor and a privilege to have been named one of the Laureates and to get a chance to expand my work, providing medical care and rehabilitation to the victims of ISIS terror, as well as strengthening the sustainable peace and development in a region where the last Genocide had happened. There are still atrocities like that happening all over the world today, and we need to focus on the human values to survive this crisis. We need to get involved, we need to support the people who are fighting the injustice and the indifference,” said 2019 Aurora Prize Laureate Mirza Dinnayi, Co-Founder and Director of Luftbrücke Irak (Air Bridge Iraq).
The Aurora Prize Laureate is selected based on the candidate’s demonstration of courage, commitment, and impact, and receives a US $1,000,000 award to address on-the-ground humanitarian challenges around the world with the focus on helping the most destitute. Nominations for the 2023 Aurora Prize can be submitted until October 31, 2022.
To nominate a candidate, one needs to fill out an online form on the Aurora website. The nominations are then assessed according to the selection criteria by the Aurora Prize Secretariat and Expert Panel to narrow the overall list to 20 nominees. Members of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee later review this shortlist, drawing upon their own expertise, nomination forms, and additional information assembled by the Secretariat to determine the Aurora Humanitarians and eventually, the Aurora Prize Laureate. Since the launch of the Aurora Prize, the Secretariat has received more than 4,100 nominations from 144 countries and territories all over the world.
“Every year, we receive more and more testaments to the strength and resilience of the spirit of humanity that compels extraordinary people around the world to help others while facing unimaginable danger. Despite the risks and challenges, these humanitarians put the life and safety of others above all else. Their stories are a source of hope in our trying times, and members of the Selection Committee and I cannot wait to hear more of them,” noted Lord Ara Darzi, Chair of Aurora Prize Selection Committee and Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London.
On April 24, 2022, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative announced the names of 2022 Aurora Humanitarians. The announcement was made in the Matenadaran, the national repository of ancient manuscripts located in Yerevan, Armenia. One of the Humanitarians will later be named the 2022 Aurora Prize Laureate.
14:04, 1 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Mayor of Tbilisi Ilia Eloshvili was found dead in his house on June 1, the Georgian ministry of internal affairs said.
Law enforcers are working on the spot.
The exact cause of the death is still unknown.
Ilia Eloshvili has been serving as Deputy Mayor of Tbilisi since 2017.
14:13, 1 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Russia Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation on June 1, the PM’s Office said.
The Russian President congratulated the Armenian PM on birthday, wishing all the best. PM Pashinyan thanked Vladimir Putin for the telephone conversation on the occasion of his birthday and stated that he highly values the Russian President’s warm and friendly attitude.
The sides discussed also a number of issues of the Armenia-Russia bilateral agenda, touched upon the regional affairs and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border situation.
The Russian President welcomed the first meeting of the commission on border delimitation and security between Armenia and Azerbaijan and reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to assist the border demarcation process. It was stated that according to the agreement, the next meeting of the commission will take place in Moscow.
Pashinyan and Putin also touched upon the issue of opening the regional communications, and an agreement was reached to activate the works of the trilateral working group.
PM Pashinyan shared also his impressions from the latest meeting held in Brussels and expressed concerns over the comments that were made after the meeting which, he said, have no connection with the content of the discussions.
In accordance with the provisions of the joint statement made by the Armenian PM and the Russian President this year on April 19, the sides discussed also issues relating to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, particularly the possibility of activating the works of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin today.
The Russian President congratulated the Prime Minister of Armenia on his birthday and wished him all the best. Prime Minister Pashinyan thanked the Russian President for the phone call on his birthday and stressed that he highly appreciates the warm, friendly attitude of the Russian President.
The interlocutors discussed a number of issues on the Armenia-Russia bilateral agenda, touched upon regional issues, the Armenian-Azerbaijani border situation.
The Russian President welcomed the first meeting of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Commission on Demarcation and Border Security and reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to support the border demarcation process. It was emphasized that according to the agreement, the next sitting of the commission will be held in Moscow.
The issue of opening regional communications was touched upon and an agreement was reached to intensify the work of the trilateral working group.
Prime Minister Pashinyan shared his impressions of the recent meeting in Brussels with the Russian President, expressing concern over the comments that have nothing to do with the substance of the discussions after the meeting.
In accordance with the provisions of the joint statement of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the Russian Federation of April 19, the interlocutors also discussed issues related to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, in particular, the possibility of intensifying the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing.
14:14, 1 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will concentrate its marketing policy in tourism sector on 4 directions and 5 countries, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said at the debate of the 2021 state budget performance report during the joint session of parliamentary standing committees.
The minister said that tourism infrastructures need major improvements.
“Our marketing policy in tourism sector will be based on 4 main directions and 5 countries. We have very limited marketing resources. These 4 are culture, nature, gastro and adventure directions. And the 5 countries are Russia, Iran (which are the biggest tourism suppliers now), as well as Germany, France and the United States”, the minister said.
Minister Kerobyan said they are going to concentrate their forces on these 5 countries and 4 directions in order to be able to reach the target.
14:26, 1 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan assures that they are in daily touch with the Russian partners in order to solve the problem of queues of trucks at the Upper Lars border checkpoint as quickly as possible.
The minister said he will meet his Russian counterpart in Lars on June 11 to discuss the possibilities of enhancing the clearance capacity of the checkpoint.
Minister Kerobyan said they are very concerned about the situation in the Upper Lars checkpoint, but assures that he and his partners are dealing with this issue on a daily basis.
“All European directions, that used to come through Belarus and Ukraine, now have to enter Russia through Turkey and Georgia. Therefore, there is a big traffic there. However, we understand that this is a heavy problem for exporters, and we work on several directions in order to mitigate the burden”, he said.
For example, the minister reminded that the ferry communication will start operating between Georgia and Russia from June 15. He said the government allocated nearly 2.5 billion drams for the subsidy of the first 6 months.
“Secondly, last week I had a major consultation with the Russian partners. We agreed to meet also in the Upper Lars on June 11 to jointly understand what opportunities we have in order to further accelerate the clearance capacity of the Upper Lars. I think we will be able to do so to greatly mitigate this tension at the beginning of the season”, he said.
The minister said that despite these difficulties, the export growth from Armenia comprised 20%.
As for serving the EAEU cargo separately at the checkpoint, the minister said the negotiations are underway in this direction, there is some progress, but no final positive result has been achieved yet.
16:11, 1 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia Vache Terteryan received the delegation led by Member of the National Assembly of France Florence Provendier, the ministry said.
Welcoming the guests, the deputy minister highlighted the importance of the meeting especially in the frames of the Armenia-France economic cooperation roadmap signed by the ministries of the two countries.
“The large Armenian-French decentralized cooperation conference scheduled in Lyon in the end of June will be a very good occasion to once again strengthen the horizontal relations between the sides and import new ideas”, the deputy minister said.
Florence Provendier thanked for the meeting and said that the Armenian community of France plays a big role in the development of the Armenian-French relations. The lawmaker said she is actively cooperating with French-Armenians.
The opportunities of building the Spandaryan water reservoir, the strategy directed to the sectoral development and the visions for the future were also discussed during the meeting.
16:39, 1 June 2022
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan has not been held accountable for its crimes committed during the 2020 large-scale military attack against Artsakh and after that, which encourages the Azerbaijani government to continue conducting ethnic and racial discrimination against the Armenian population of Artsakh, promoting hate speech against them and its aggressive policy of depriving Artsakh-Armenians of their fundamental rights.
An international conference titled “Human Rights and Accountability: The Aftermath of War” was held today at the American University of Armenia, dedicated to the current post-war human rights crisis in Artsakh.
The First Annual International Conference on Human Rights was organized by the Center for Truth and Justice.
Talking about the importance of this event, the conference coordinator Emilia Mikayelyan recalled the large-scale military attack unleashed by Azerbaijan and Turkey against the people of Nagorno Karabakh on September 27, 2020, reminding about the thousands of people who were killed by them and terrorists, and the current humanitarian crisis in Artsakh caused by the war. She said the Armenians of Artsakh want to live freely, without fear that they will again be subject to violence and ethnic cleansings by the Azerbaijani government. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan, not being held accountable for its war crimes, continues promoting hatred and hate speech against Armenians and is regularly violating the 2020 November 9 trilateral agreement on the ceasefire.
“The consequence of this is that Armenians of Artsakh live in an absolute isolation and face continuous threats, encroachments and a real danger of ethnic cleansings. And during this whole period Azerbaijan has not been held accountable for any of its crimes, which encourages it to continue its aggressive policy of depriving the Armenians of Artsakh of their fundamental rights. The Center for Truth and Justice has organized this conference to gather the representatives of legal mind and to discuss very sincerely this crisis facing the Armenians of Artsakh for many years”, she said.
President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Arman Dilanyan welcomed the conference participants and thanked the organizers for the efforts made. He also thanked all organizers and participants who arrived from the Armenian Diaspora.
“I think that the participation of internationally known lawyers, international law experts and human rights advocates from more than 15 countries is the best indicator that the topics to be discussed in coming days are relevant and have an important meaning not only for the Armenian public, but also for our international partners”, Dilanyan said.
The President of the Constitutional Court said that today lawyers witness with their own experience manifestations of xenophobia propaganda, promotion of extremist nationalist ideaology, religious intolerance and other condemnable phenomena. Therefore, he highlighted organizing this international conference dedicated to the rights of the Artsakh population and overcoming the consequences of war.
In addition to the reports of experts, the testimonies of war witnesses, collected by the CFTJ students from the persons who suffered from the war, including the displaced persons and the soldiers who returned from the Azerbaijani captivity, will be presented during the three-day conference.
17:30, 1 June 2022
YEREVAN, 1 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 1 June, USD exchange rate down by 2.35 drams to 445.64 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.31 drams to 477.59 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.06 drams to 7.27 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.18 drams to 560.93 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price down by 372.98 drams to 26344.26 drams. Silver price down by 5.46 drams to 311.91 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.