Author: Eduard Nalbandian

Sports: Roma manager wants Henrikh Mkhitaryan to stay

Eduard Nalbandian
Public Radio of Armenia


Roma boss Paulo Fonseca has reiterated his stance on signing Arsenal’s on-loan midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan permanently in the summer.

The Armenian has spent the whole season at the Stadio Olimpico after finding life with the Gunners tougher than he had expected.

The Giallorossi have yet to negotiate an option to buy for Mkhitaryan, but the Portuguese is keen to keep the Arsenal loanee. 

“I’ve already said it and I’ll say it again: I want Mkhitaryan to stay. Henrikh also wants to stay,” Fonseca has said, Football Italia reports.

“However, it must be said that everything is on pause right now. We still need to talk to Arsenal,” he added.

“I want to keep working with him. He’s a great player and a great man,” the Roma boss said.

Minister: Armenia’s state budget to suffer deficit of 324 billion drams amid coronavirus crisis

Eduard Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia

The economy is facing an unprecedented challenge due to the coronavirus pandemic, Armenian Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan told a sitting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs on Tuesday, presenting a draft law on making amendments and supplements to the law “On State Budget for 2020.”

In Janjughazyan’s words, it is already expected that the coronavirus crisis will cause an economic setback and bankruptcy. “In order to ease the impact of the pandemic, the government has implemented numerous support programs, which should naturally be reflected also in the law on the state budget,” he said.

Presenting the bill, the finance minister said that Armenia is predicted to experience a 2% economic recession.

“Unlike the 4.9% economic growth envisaged by the budget, we will have a 2% recession. Moreover, the GDP (gross domestic product) will differ from the value set in the budget: instead of 7 trillion 95 billion drams, we will have 6 trillion 485 billion drams of GDP. Therefore, the budget revenue index will be revised,” the minister said.

In such a scenario, Armenia is expected to have nearly 169-billion-drams lower tax revenues than envisaged by the budget law. “At the same time, we do not plan to cut the expenditures, taking into account the fact that the reduction of expenses, in this case, will lead to deeper recession,” Janjughazyan said.

According to him, the state budget is expected to suffer a deficit of 324 billion drams, instead of about 161 billion drams envisaged by the law on budget.

“The introduced bill follows the logic that it is proposed to limit the possibility of deficit by 5% of the projected GDP,” Atom Janjughazyan said.

Azerbaijan’s banking system collapses

Eduard Nalbandian

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 15:10,

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan’s Central Bank has enforced direct administration in four banks of the country by appointing Temporary Administrators for Atabank, AGBank, NBC Bank and Amrah Bank.

The temporary administrators are entrusted with all authorities of management, the Azerbaijani cenbank said.

Armenia President shares idea of "Hay Park" (Armenian Park) pan-national project

Eduard Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia

18:03, 20.04.2020
                  

During an interview on Azatutyun Radio, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian talked about the initiative and idea of the creation of “Hay Park” (Armenian Park) in the premises of Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex.

The President stated that the world needs to reassess itself after the coronavirus pandemic and noted that the post-coronavirus period starts today. “We need to start thinking about how we’re going to live after the coronavirus today. In Armenia’s case, for instance, we can start from the public health sector. The air is two-three times cleaner than it was before the coronavirus. So, we have to think about making sure the air is always clean,” he said, adding that the parks of Yerevan are its ‘lungs’ and that the people need parks in order to live healthy.

In this context, President Sarkissian shared his idea of creating “Hay Park” (Armenian Park) in the premises of Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex. “We Armenians will soon commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide and remind the world that not recognizing the Armenian Genocide or forgetting the lessons of history presents a danger to all mankind. In light of this, I would like to make a proposal that I have been thinking about for years. If you view the area stretching from the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex to Hrazdan Stadium, you will see a tremendous space which, if I’m not mistaken, is approximately 103 hectares. This area hasn’t been cultivated, and Yerevan needs a large park. I offer to establish a pan-national park that will start from the premises of Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex and stretch along those 103 hectares,” he said and provided details of his idea.

“The park will be composed of parts presenting the regions of the historic homeland of Armenians, the Armenians of the Diaspora and the modern-day cities, districts and institutions of our homeland. This will be symbolic in the sense that the whole territory will be divided into separate parts, and trees will be planted. It would be nice, if there were nearly 1.5 million trees (one tree for each of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide). This park will depict the historical losses and Armenian statehood today, including Armenia and Artsakh.”

President Sarkissian said he has addressed letters to the government, the Prime Minister and the mayor of Yerevan with the proposal to discuss the issue. “First of all, this is a recommendation to remember the tremendous losses of the Armenians 105 years later and combine efforts to create a park that will be called the “Armenian Park”,” he said, adding that the main idea of the “Armenian Park” is a pan-national project.

“If the government and municipality approve of this idea, I will personally raise funds and organize the activities because I believe this will serve as a major contribution in the sense of national unity, special attitude towards our history and public health,” he said.


Holy Fire ceremony underway at Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

Eduard Nalbandian

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 14:34,

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. The ceremony of Holy Fire is taking place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem but without pilgrims due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem Koryun Baghdasaryan said.

He informed that according to the decision of the Israeli government the ceremony should be attended by 10 clergymen belonging to the Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Assyrian, and Coptic.

Greek City Times is live streaming the Holy Fire ceremony.

Reported by Anna Grigoryan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




Armenia coronavirus cases reach 921 with 10 deaths

Eduard Nalbandian

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 11:25, 9 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. 28 coronavirus cases have been recorded in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total cumulative number of COVID-19 cases to 921, healthcare ministry spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan said on social media. She also clarified that there was a technical error in the total cumulative number record and 12 cases were not recorded in the statistics.

An 80-year-old patient who had underlying health conditions has died from coronavirus complications, bringing the total number of deaths to 10, Nikoghosyan said.

24 patients recovered in the past day, bringing the number of recoveries to 138.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan




Armenpress: Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 07-04-20

Eduard Nalbandian

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 07-04-20

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 17:24, 7 April, 2020

YEREVAN, 7 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 7 April, USD exchange rate down by 2.18 drams to 499.37 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.68 drams to 543.06 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.04 drams to 6.62 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.84 drams to 614.92 drams.

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

Gold price stood at 26011.57 drams. Silver price stood at 232.04 drams. Platinum price stood at 11513.4 drams.

"My Step" bloc rams controversial bill on personal information through Armenian parliament

Eduard Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
March 31 2020

19:33, 31.03.2020

YEREVAN. – Ruling “My Step” bloc rammed a controversial bill on using cell phone date through the National Assembly on Tuesday, March 31.

The opposition parties – Bright Armenia and Prosperous Armenia – boycotted the vote, while 69 lawmakers from the ruling “My Step” bloc voted in favor with one abstention.

The amendments proposed by the government would give the authorities access to citizen’s cell phone data to track the contacts of coronavirus patients under the state of emergency. However, the Ministry of Justice insisted that they would track the calls and their length, but not the contents of the conversation. The ministry said the data would be destroyed a month after the state of emergency ends.

Earlier on Tuesday the opposition parties ruined the vote, and My Step got 65 votes “for”, which was not enough to pass the amendments in the second reading.

Artsakh goes to second round to elect president

Eduard Nalbandian

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 14:05, 1 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh’s presidential election are set to go for a second round as the March 31 polls saw none of the candidates garnering more than 50% of votes, the country’s election board announced while presenting the preliminary results.

Artsakh Central Electoral Commission Chairperson Srbuhi Arzumanyan said the second round of elections will take place on April 14th.

The turnout was 72,7%.

Arayik Harutyunyan, a former Cabinet minister and the leader of the Free Fatherland Party, garnered most of the votes – 36076 votes or 49,26%. Incumbent foreign minister Masis Mayilyan garnered 26,4% of votes. The third most popular candidate in the polls was Vitaly Balasanyan with 14,7%. The other candidates gained little votes.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan



Armen Sarkissian: Development of Armenia was a primary objective for Patrick Devedjian

Eduard Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia

18:00, 29.03.2020
                  

President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has sent a condolence message on the occasion of the death of Patrick Devedjian.

The message reads as follows:

“I am shocked by the news about the death of prominent French-Armenian politician, President of the General Council of the Hauts-de-Seine Department of France, ex-minister Patrick Devedjian.

France and Armenia lost one of their best sons.

Patrick Devedjian was a brilliant politician and individual who was correct, educated and responsible with his words and actions. He was also one of the tribunes of the French-Armenians, an unwavering defender of the Armenian Cause, and his voice was heard at the national and international levels.

After Armenia declared its independence, Patrick Devedjian became one of the architects of the special relations between France and Armenia. Armenia’s development was a primary objective for him, and he contributed to this with his specific actions and projects.

I express my deep condolences to Patrick Devedjian’s wife, sons, grandchildren, relatives, as well as the Armenians of France and the entire Armenian nation.”