Author: Ani Tigranian

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 11-03-20

Ani Tigranian

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 17:39, 11 March, 2020

YEREVAN, 11 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 11 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.94 drams to 483.03 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.01 drams to 546.11 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.05 drams to 6.75 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.41 drams to 625.86 drams.

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

Gold price down by 210.35 drams to 25712.65 drams. Silver price up by 3.38 drams to 265.09 drams. Platinum price up by 10.76 drams to 13495.37 drams.

Coronavirus cases reach 20 in Armenia, first patient expected to be discharged

Ani Tigranian
Public Radio of Armenia

 

Fourteen more coronavirus were carried out in Armenia today, of which twelve were negative and two were positive, Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan informs.

Both patients that tested positive were quarantined after the Etchmiadzin case.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has now reached 20.

Minister Torosyan hopes the first coronavirus patient will be discharged tomorrow. Today the man has tested negative for the virus, and will be tested again tomorrow.

“You can rely on me in my new position” – Donald Tusk to Prime Minister Pashinyan

Ani Tigranian

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 19:24, 9 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with European People’s Party (EPP) President Donald Tusk at EPP headquarters in Brussels, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia.

Welcoming the Armenian Premier, Donald Tusk said: “Mr. Prime Minister, I am pleased to welcome you in my new position but with a feeling of traditional friendship. I mean traditional friendship not only with you, but also with Armenia. You can rely on me in my new position.”

Donald Tusk stressed that the Europeans, including society and politicians, have high confidence in Armenia’s new government and personally in the Prime Minister, which is an important political capital.

Thankful for the warm welcome, Nikol Pashinyan said: “We highly appreciate your role in the development of EU-Armenia relations. We are convinced that as EPP President you will contribute to the further development and progress of our cooperation.”

The parties exchanged views on a broad range of issues relating to cooperation between Armenia and the European Union. They highlighted the need for close cooperation between Armenian parliamentarians and EPP faction deputies in the European Parliament.

Touching on Armenia’s judicial reform, Nikol Pashinyan gave details of the upcoming constitutional referendum. The interlocutors exchanged views on the ongoing fight against corruption in our country.

The EPP President hailed the reforms being implemented in Armenia and expressed readiness to promote the development and deepening of cooperation with Armenia.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

CIVILNET.#EachForEqual: How Armenia Celebrates International Women’s Day?

Ani Tigranian
CIVILNET.AM

8 March, 2020 22:51

March 8 marks International Women’s Day. Armenians will celebrate with presents, balloons, flowers, flowers, and flowers again. 

If in many countries that day commemorates women’s rights and gender equality, in Armenia it is a day that celebrates womanhood. 

But did you know that March 8 is officially celebrated in Armenia and in the other countries that were part of the Soviet Union for 99 years?

Let’s focus on how Women’s day was adopted in the soviet times, how the image of the soviet woman changed throughout the years and what symbolizes Women’s day now for Armenia. 

20 families deported from Azerbaijan received housing certificates

Ani Tigranian
Arminfo. Armenia
March 4 2020

ArmInfo. On March 4, a ceremony was held in Yerevan to present housing certificates to 20 families deported from Azerbaijan. As the Minister of Territorial  Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia Suren  Papikyan noted, the beneficiaries of the first stage of the program  are 112 families, the Government allocated 1.5 billion drams to solve  housing problems.

According to Papikyan, the beneficiaries of the program will receive  their certificates in stages, over the course of the current year.  The certificate is valid for one year: during this time, their owners  will have to resolve issues with the selection of suitable housing.  The Minister noted that the budget for 2020 provides for the  allocation of 2.1 billion drams for the next stage of the program,  and the number of beneficiaries involved in it will be 185.

To recall, from 1988 to 1992, pogroms of the Armenian population took  place in Azerbaijan. Pogroms took place in Sumgait, Baku and other  large cities of Azerbaijan with the Armenian population. As a result  of this ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijan, about 420,000 Armenian  families became refugees. From 2005 to 2008, a housing program for  refugees was organized in Armenia.

About 1000 certificates for the purchase of housing were issued,  however, only 700 certificates were implemented.

As Bagrat Badalyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and  Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia previously noted, 895  families are registered, of which 641 are in Yerevan and 254 are in  the regions. Given the rather large amount of necessary financial  resources, refugee housing problems are envisaged to be solved in  stages.

Particular attention will be paid to the guests of the hotels of  Sebastia, Nairi and Interrimini, who are constantly under threat of  eviction from the owners of these hotels. The remaining families  receive housing in the subsequent stages in accordance with the  programs provided for by the state budget.


St. Vartan Armenian Church Appointed New Pastor

Ani Tigranian
From:
St. Vartan Armenian Church
650 Spruce Street
Oakland, CA 94610

Fr. Krikor Zakaryan Appointed New Pastor at 

St. Vartan Armenian Church

(Oakland, CA)– Rev. Fr. Krikor Zakaryan has been named parish priest for St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Church in Oakland, CA. He arrives in Northern CA from St. Garabed Armenian Apostolic Church of the Desert in Rancho Mirage, CA where he served as parish priest for ten years. 

Fr. Zakaryan is no stranger to St. Vartan Church having served in Oakland for eight months as a Deacon alongside the late, Rev. Fr. Mesrob Sarafian in 2009.

Members of the St. Vartan Armenian Church and community are encouraged to join Fr. Zakaryan on Sunday, March 8, 2020 as he celebrates his first Divine Liturgy as the new pastor. After the service, there will be a welcome reception in the church hall to meet Fr. Krikor and his family.

Background

Fr. Krikor was born in 1977 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and received his primary education at the “Dimitar Blagoev” school in Plovdiv. He continued his education at the “Victoria and Krikor Tutundjyan” Armenian school, graduating in 1992. Between 1997 to 1999, he served in the Bulgarian army. 

In 2003, Fr. Krikor was admitted to the Alex and Marie Manoogian Seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem. His dedication to the seminary and his high marks earned Fr. Zakaryan numerous awards. He graduated in 2007. Fr. Krikor Zakaryan received the rank of Fourth-Degree Acolyte of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church from His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem and was ordained to the Diaconate by His Eminence Archbishop Nourhan Manougian. 

On October 13, 2009, Rev. Fr. Krikor Zakaryan was ordained into the priesthood by His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.

Rev. Fr. Krikor Zakaryan completed his Masters Degree in Theology (Major – “Ministry, Leadership and Service”) in 2014 at the Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, CA and also completed a Youth Ministry Certificate program at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena in 2017.

Fr. Zakaryan has been actively involved as a Religious Advisor for the Diocesan Christian Education Council (CEC), Camp Committee and Camp Board, serving the youth on a Diocesan level.

Fr. Krikor Zakaryan is married to Yeretzgin Anoush Yazadzhiyan from Bulgaria and they are blessed with two daughters, Emma and Grace.


The St. Vartan Armenian Church is excited to welcome back Fr. Krikor and his family to Oakland.

    ###




Armenia’s PM urges people working in state system but not happy with present authorities find another occupation

Ani Tigranian
Aysor, Armenia
Feb 27 2020

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated at the cabinet sitting today that he is worried with the index of entrepreneurship in Armenia.

“Best conditions must be established in Armenia’s business environment,” he said, adding that the first principle of the state management system must be not to impede where it is possible to help.

Pashinyan stressed about the existence of people not happy with the present authorities and still working in the state system waiting for an occasion to split their evil.

“It is necessary to find such people and let them breathe fresh air and find another occupation,” he said.

“We have stated that we are not going to clean the system, I say go and deal with other things, you may even start opposition activity, which is quite beneficial today,” the premier said.


  

Tehran: Armenia stresses coop. with Iran on fighting coronavirus

Ani Tigranian
Mehr News Agency, Iran
Feb 23 2020

TEHRAN, Feb. 23 (MNA) – Advising its citizens to avoid unnecessary trips to Iran, the Armenian Foreign Ministry announced its close cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran to counter the outbreak of coronavirus.

“In terms of a comprehensive assessment of the situation in the region we are closely cooperating with our colleagues in Iran and Georgia in the direction of information exchange, as well as necessary measures and consideration of possible scenarios,” the statement said, according to Armen Press.

The novel coronavirus, Covid-19, has so far claimed the lives of 2,464 people across the world, with 2,443 deaths in mainland China, 5 in South Korea, 8 in Iran, and others in Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, France, and Taiwan.

According to the data collected from Worldometer, the number of patients with the new virus across the world has so far reached 78,829.

MNA/IRN 83686945



Air pollution exceeds safety limits in two Armenian cities

Ani Tigranian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 22 2020

The concentration of pollutants in the air of two Armenian cities – Vanadzor and Hrazdan – exceeds the limits of air-quality standards, according to the data, released by Armenia’s National Statistical Committee.

The data received from monitoring of the quality of the air basin held in December in the cities of Armenia, reveal that Sulphur dioxide exceeds the acceptable norm by 1.2 times in Vanadzor and 1.4 times in Hrazdan.

In all remaining settlements, all the air pollutants – dust, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide as well as ground-level ozone have been within the accepted norms.


A Crisis is Brewing in Armenia

Ani Tigranian

A person voting during Dec. 9 2018 election

BY VICKEN SOSIKIAN

As we speak a potentially catastrophic crisis is brewing in Armenia. In 2018, the world revered the democratic leap Armenians made through the people’s movement that ousted the old regime. The world applauded the free and fair elections that replaced the old legislative (National Assembly) and executive (government) branches with the current. Those elections resulted in a government controlled by Nikol Pashinyan and a National Assembly fully controlled by his party.

While pleased with a free and fair electoral process, many political analysts raised concerns about the two branches being controlled by one party. In that the spirit of the people’s movement was not to replace the old regime with a new one, but to eliminate the existence of omni-powerful regimes all together.

The Crisis
The government and National Assembly have called for a referendum to amend a single article (213) in the Armenian Constitution, essentially enabling them to replace the majority of sitting Constitutional Court justices with those they will appoint.

There are 2 critical problems here.
1. The referendum has been called without following due processes outlined in the Constitution (articles 168, 169). The Constitutional Law Regarding Referendums (Article 8, Part 2) as well as the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly (Article 86) have also been violated. The process and the referendum is totally illegal.
2. In a country where one man’s party already controls the legislative and executive branches, the outright attempt to take control of the judicial branch counters the most basic democratic ideals including the need for balance of power. In fact, it violates Article 4 of the Armenian Constitution, which requires a balance of power between the three branches.

This is a crisis and its manifestation will be on the ballot April 5th.

An estimated 648,000 “yes” votes are needed for the constitutional amendment to take place.

With virtually every political group in the country urging citizens to boycott the illegal referendum, the Pashinyan camp is left alone with support from disgraced former president Levon Ter Petrosian.

Pashinyan will be the face of the “yes” campaign. Given the uphill battle he faces, he is expected to double down on his divisive rhetoric to secure the needed votes.

He has already announced that those who are against the referendum are against the state. He has already framed the referendum far from its real purpose by calling it the people’s vote in support of the 2018 revolution.

The Potential Catastrophe
Should Pashinyan secure the needed “yes” votes, he will control the appointment of the constitutional court judges. These judges are responsible for ensuring that laws passed by the National Assembly don’t violate the constitution. These judges must also review and approve the constitutionality of all treaties.

What could lie ahead? A Déjà vu of the Armenia-Turkey protocols? Artsakh concessions? Shifts in foreign policy?

What Now?
The dangers in total consolidation of power and the precedent set by circumventing the constitution is clear and present.

The people’s movement of 2018 changed a lot in Armenia, but it certainly did not do away with the most basic of democratic ideals, nor the rule of law.

Every Armenian must understand the severity of what lies ahead and do their part in ensuring democracy prevails.