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.
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.
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.
Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan held a phone conversation with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir.
The sides discussed the prospects of establishing bilateral and multilateral agenda of cooperation and development of relations between Armenia and Saudi Arabia.
The importance of promoting trade and economic ties between the two countries and implementing investment programs was highlighted.
Minister Mirzoyan informed his interlocutor that Armenia supports Saudi Arabia’s application to hold “World Expo 2030” in Riyadh.
Opposition leader and deputy parliament speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan has denied reports that the opposition plans to take a timeout from daily anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan.
“The reports are false. We are not considering any option for a break, because there is no reason for it. On the contrary, we are discussing options for stepping up the struggle,” Saghatelyan told News.am on Wednesday.
“I think that our past activity should not have given anyone a reason to draw such conclusions. We rule out such a scenario and there can be no retreat, everything else is just idle talk.
“June 3 is a crucial day. All those who think that the movement may announce a break or die out will be deeply disappointed,” he said.
According to report on Hraparak daily, the opposition groups, that have been holding street protests for over one month, may announce an end to the current phase of civil disobedience acts in the near future.
Armenia’s Hovannes Bachkov became European Boxing Champ
Armenia Also Wins 2 Silver Medals
Boxer Hovhannes Bachkov was crowned champion of the European Championship being held in Yerevan.
In the 63.5 kilogram final in Yerevan, Bachkov scored a 5-0 victory over France’s Lounes Hamraoui with a clear advantage in all three rounds.
This was Bachkov’s third European title.
In thanking his fans for support, Bachkov said, “without that support, this victory might not have happened. I’m also thankful to myself (laughs) for doing a really great job. Only I know that,” reported Armenia’s Public Radio.
Artur Bazeyan won a silver medal Rafayel Hovhannisyan won a silver medal
Upon returning to his hometown of Gyumri on Tuesday, Bachkov got a hero’s welcome, with city officials, sports fans and locals gathered to welcome the champion.
Hovannes Bachkov received a hero’s welcome when he returned to his hometown of Gyumri
Team Armenia boxers Artur Bazeyan and Rafayel Hovhannisyan each won silver medals in their weight category. With an earlier bronze medal win by Narek Manasyan in the 92 kilogram category, Armenia won four medals in the championships that concluded Monday in Yerevan.
Bazeyan won the silver medal in the 57 kilogram match. He was defeated by Vasil Usturo of Belgium in the final.
Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan handed the medals to Bazeyan and other winners in the weight category.
Hovhannisyan won the silver in the 80-86 kilogram category in a match against Georgii Kushinashvili from Georgia.
Credits: Ruptly
ArmInfo.The salaries of all civil servants of Artsakh in 2021 were paid from taxes paid by the people of Armenia. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this on May 31 during the discussion of the report on the implementation of the state budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2021.
Pashinyan recalled that after the end of the 44-day war, from November 2020 to the end of 2021, Armenia allocated a total of 136 billion drams ($280 million) to Artsakh and does not intend to stop there. Within the framework of the financing, the costs of utility bills for the population of Artsakh were covered. All salaries of the Artsakh state employees were also paid by the Government of the Republic of Armenia. “This means that in 2021 the salaries of all civil servants, from the members of the National Assembly to the government of Artsakh, teachers and others, were paid by the government of the Republic of Armenia, including healthcare expenses of Artsakh, at the expense of taxes paid by the people of the Republic of Armenia”, the prime minister said.
In 2019, the state budget of Artsakh amounted to about 118 billion drams (about $250 million), of which about 58 billion was transferred from the Republic of Armenia. In 2021, the revenue part of Artsakh’s budget amounted to 174 billion drams, of which 128 billion drams was also received from Armenia. “That is, the support of the Republic of Armenia to Artsakh in 2021 increased by 122% or 70 billion drams, while the budget of Artsakh as a whole increased by 48% or 45 billion drams. 73% of Artsakh’s budget for 2021 was transferred by the Government of the Republic of Armenia”, he noted.
In accordance with the budget for 2022, financial assistance has been increased to 144 billion drams (about 300 million US dollars). In addition, Armenia will provide Artsakh with an additional 50 billion drams (over $100 million) for housing construction programs. Of these, 20 billion drams (slightly more than 40 million dollars) in 2022, the RA Prime Minister said.
ArmInfo.Yerevan is in vain relying on Washington for Ankara unblocking the borders, Viktor Nadein-Raevsky, Researcher of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), said in an interview with ArmInfo.
“No doubt, the United States is attentive to the Armenian-Turkish process. Another question is that Turkey is not at all a state under the U.S. overwhelming influence despite its being a NATO member and its other ties with the United States. In this context, I do not think the Armenian leadership’s hopes are in line with the reality and trends inside Turkey, and one of the reasons is that Turkey is coordinating its policy toward Armenia with Baku,” he said.
Ankara is not expected to make independent steps toward Armenia without preconditions at least until the process of signing of an Armenian-Azerbaijan peace agreement shows progress, and Azerbaijan is clearly stating it is holding great expectations, Mr Nadein-Raevsky said.
For Azerbaijan, any Armenian-Turkish negotiations and Ankara’s steps toward Yerevan are instruments for ensuring progress in its own negotiations with Armenia, especially with Turkey itself not expecting any preferences from normalizing its relations with Armenia. So Turkey has no need to hurry.
“The result is the present uncertainty over the prospects for normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. See, the process has been continuing for nearly six months, with three meetings of the Special Envoys. But even experts and analysts do not know anything about the results – to say nothing of the public. Moreover, to create an atmosphere of confidence, Yerevan is not voicing any of its demands to remedy historical injustice. In its turn, Ankara is dragging time in Baku’s interests and can, in necessary, put forward its own preconditions at any moment,” Mr Nadein-Raevsky said.
Azerbaijani units have once again advanced in the mountainous terrain opposite the village of Nerqin Hand in Armenia’s Syunik region, Sputnik Armenia reported.
Earlier, Sputnik Armenia, on the basis of fresh satellite images, recorded a new advance of the enemy in two sections in the mountainous terrain located in the direction of the village. Prior to the publication, the publication sought a comment from the Defense Ministry but did not receive one.
Afterward, the Defense Ministry confirmed that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces had invaded the territory in the direction of the village back in spring 2021. Later they left the territory due to weather conditions and returned after the snowfall. There was no official information about this until March 2022. At the same time, it is clear that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces made their way in this direction in March-April 2022, which can be seen in the satellite photos. The fresh images show that in addition to the already established advance (Arrow 1) Azerbaijani border troops have advanced in two other areas (Arrows 2 and 3), penetrating deeper into the territory of the Syunik region. In one case (Arrow 2) active road construction works were carried out after April 20, in the other (Arrow 3) presumably in May.
Today, however, the Armenian Defense Ministry says there is no repeated advance of Azerbaijani units in front of Nerqin Hand village in Syunik region. The defense ministry circulated a statement in which, referring to its statement of March 21, notes that the deployment of Azerbaijani units in the specified section of the border occurred after November 9, 2020, i.e. in the post-war period. “And immediately after fixing the fact of deployment, the Armenian Armed Forces took the necessary measures to take control of the Azerbaijani units, as a result of which the movement of Azerbaijani military is fully controlled by the Armenian forces, and any attempt to advance will lead to retaliation,” the statement says.
The Defense Ministry urged to refrain from spreading information that “damages the authority of the army and causes unwarranted tension in the society.”
Khachik Baghdasaryan, the village headman, also confirmed to the newspaper Pastinfo the fact of appearance of the new post in front of the village. However, he said he did not know who the post belonged to.
Earlier Sputnik Armenia found out that Azerbaijani units had infiltrated into the Armenian territory much to the south, near the height called “Vardasar”. The Defense Ministry at first denied this fact, but later at the request of Sputnik Armenia confirmed the advance, stating that it took place a year ago. The publication was told that the enemy positions were established in May-June 2021.