Author: Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS

Ombudsman raises human rights violations in border communities

Emil Lazarian
Jan 22 2022
– 13:51 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – As a result of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces’ blocking of the Goris-Kapan and Kapan-Chakaten roads since November 2021, the rights of the residents of said communities are being violated every day, Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan has said.

People have been facing isolation and humanitarian problems, especially due to the weather, իn the villages of Bardzravan, Shurnukh and Vorotan near Goris, in the villages of Chakaten, Shikahogh, Srashen, Nerkin Hand, Tsav, Shishkert near Kapan, Tatoyan said.

For example, in the Goris community, teachers were unable to get to work using the alternative road due to weather conditions, even driving in a Ural military vehicle.

The Human Rights Defender also said that the section of the Tatev-Kapan road leading to Bardzravan is difficult to pass and is in particularly poor condition. According to him, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on January 20 was unable to deliver food and hygiene products to the village of Bardzravan in its off-road vehicle.

“The Ministry of Emergency Situations and the border troops of the National Security Service selflessly provide food to the villages, and with great difficulty. And how will access to emergency medical care, hospitalizations, etc. be ensured? Isn’t it a matter of ensuring health and the right to life? There are no questions of dignity here?” he writes.

Electricity generation on the decline in Armenia

Emil Lazarian
panorama.am
Armenia – Jan 22 2022

A total of 6 billion 848.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity were generated in Armenia in January-November 2021, down by 2% from the same period of 2020, Armenia’s National Statistical Committee revealed.

According to the latest figures, electricity generation at thermal power plants (TPPs) increased by 5.1% to 3 billion kWh in eleven months. In the meantime, power generation at hydropower plants rose by 25.5% to 2,085.4 million kWh in the reporting period.

In January-November 2021, Armenia’s Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) generated 1 billion 679.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, marking a 31․6% year-on-year decline.

Electricity generation at solar power plants stood at 82.3 million kWh in the first 11 months of last year, securing a 4.2-fold increase from the same period of the previous year.

Ucom to operate new call center in Vanadzor

Emil Lazarian

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 18:38,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. As of February, Ucom plans to establish a new call center in Vanadzor, thanks to which about 20 vacancies will be created in the city during the current year. Until today, 100 residents of Vanadzor, aged 22-25, have applied for the position for the call center operator. Among the applicants there are lawyers, psychologists, economists, linguists, as well as pedagogues, ARMENPRESS was informed from Ucom.

“When making a decision, it was clear to us that a new call center should be opened in one of the regions. Moreover, we have tried to contribute to the development of the labor market in the regions by offering completely equal working conditions to the Yerevan Call Center. It should be noted, that the Vanadzor applicants are not inferior to the Yerevan applicants in terms of education and professional skills. I am sure that they will make a special contribution to the process of improving the quality of Ucom’s service and, of course, they will take it to “դբա լավը” level (which in Lori dialect means “for the better” – edited) “, told Sophie Bondarenko, Acting Director of Customer Service at Ucom. 

The applicants who have passed the interview stage are currently taking in-depth training for a call center employee, studying all the fixed and mobile services provided by the company, the necessary work programs, and so on. 

One of the participants, 23-year-old Martin Martirosyan, a graduate of Yerevan State University’s Service Department, said that Ucom first attracted him with its Level Up packages, Mediaroom mobile TV app, and its working style in general: “I have always been interested in Ucom, its services and, when I came across the announcement about the opening of a new call center in Vanadzor, I immediately applied. As an inhabitant of Vanadzor, I prefer to work in my hometown”. 

Another participant, 22-year-old psychologist Ani Khachatryan, decided to apply for this job, as she has always been interested in communicating with the customers, as well as resolving various conflict situations. She said, that she has always observed the work style at Ucom and, in her words, is well aware of the “friendly working atmosphere” in the Company: “The fact that the call center will operate in Vanadzor is very encouraging, because until now we could find such a job only in Yerevan, now Ucom gives us, the residents of Vanadzor, a great opportunity to have a favorite job in our city.”

A child seriously injured in a car accident in Artsakh taken to Yerevan by a Russian peacekeeping helicopter

Emil Lazarian

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 18:45,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. A child who was seriously injured in a car accident in Chartar town of Artsakh on January 19 was taken to Yerevan by a Russian peacekeeping helicopter, ARMENPRESS reports the State Minister of the Artsakh Republic Artak Beglaryan wrote on his “Facebook” page.

“Four children were injured in a car accident in Chartar on January 19, three of them with moderate and one with severe spinal fracture. Given the complexity and danger of this fracture, doctors advised to transport him to Yerevan by helicopter. The Government of Artsakh applied to the Russian peacekeeping forces with a request to provide a helicopter, which was granted by them, but due to bad weather yesterday, the flight took place this morning. The child is now in Yerevan under medical supervision. His life is not in danger, but heavy and complicated surgeries are planned. We hope he will be able to recover as much as possible,” said the State Minister of Artsakh.

He added that this is the first time after the 2020 war that such an urgent need for the use of a helicopter has arisen, and, fortunately, the problem has been solved. “I would like to express special thanks to the Russian peacekeeping force, Commander Major-General Andrei Volkov, for resolving this urgent humanitarian problem quickly and effectively. This is another example of the humanitarian activities of Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh and our cooperation,” Artak Beglaryan said.

Russia will continue its efforts to normalize Armenia-Turkey relations – Ambassador Kopirkin

Emil Lazarian

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 19:23,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Special Representative of Armenia for the Armenia-Turkey dialogue Ruben Rubinyan received Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin on January 21.

The parties highly assessed the Armenian-Russian allied relations and attached importance to their continuous development.

The sides also touched upon the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey. As Armenia’s Special Representative for the Armenia-Turkey dialogue, Ruben Rubinyan thanked the Russian side for hosting the meeting between him and the Turkish Special Representative in Moscow a few days ago and for supporting the normalization process.

The Vice President of the National Assembly assessed the first meeting of the special representatives as constructive, noting that the Armenian side is interested in solving specific problems through a substantive process.

The Ambassador assured that the Russian side will continue making efforts for the normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations.

The level of distrust between superpowers has reached its peak – UN Secretary General

Emil Lazarian

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 20:00,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. The world community is facing violent conflicts, and the level of distrust between the superpowers has reached its peak, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, UN Secretary General António Guterres said, addressing the General Assembly.

“We have started another year in the clutches of the world pandemic. Coronavirus continues to control life, plans and hopes. Uncertainty has increased even more. Meanwhile, inequality and inflation are growing. We face fierce political conflicts. The level of distrust between the superpowers has reached a peak,” Guterres said.

The Secretary-General noted that since 1945, the world now is experiencing the largest number of violent conflicts.

“The stockpile of nuclear weapons exceeds 13,000, the highest level in a decade,” Guterres said.

Rosatom signs agreement on possible new reactors for Armenia

Emil Lazarian
Jan 21 2022

Rosatom and the management of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant have signed an agreement to look into the possible building of new Russian-designed nuclear power units on the site of the current plant at Metsamor in Armenia.

The Metsamor nuclear power plant (Image: ANPP)

In November it was announced that the service life of Metsamor’s unit 2 had been extended to 2026, after collaboration with Rosatom, with plans for a further 10-year extension.

Armenia has long been in discussions with Russia about replacing Metsamor, which comprises two Russian-built 376 MWe VVER reactors which started operating in 1976 and 1980, respectively. Both units were taken off line in 1988 due to safety concerns regarding seismic vulnerability. Unit 2 was restarted in 1995, and accounts for some 39% of total electricity generation in the country. 

Evgeny Pakermanov, president of Rusatom Overseas, said, after signing the Memorandum of Understanding, that cooperation “on the construction of new nuclear power units will no doubt become an important factor not only for the development of Armenia’s economy and growth of its welfare, but for further reinforcement of friendly neighbour relations between our two countries”.

Eduard Martirosyan, director general of the Armenian nuclear power plant, said the country was “closely following global decarbonisation trends”.

He said the existing nuclear power plant “generates about 40% of all electrical power in the country and since 1977 has been a clean and reliable source of power”.

“When its service life reaches its end, we would like to keep nuclear power in the country’s energy mix – that is why we are now considering our future with modern Russian nuclear technologies since they are some of the most advanced in the world,” he added.

The deal was signed on the sidelines of Expo 2020 in Dubai, which also saw announcements relating to Russian small modular reactor plants with the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Parliamentary Bill passed restricting gambling advertising in Armenia

Emil Lazarian
Gambling Insider
Jan 21 2022

By Gambling Insider

The National Assembly has passed a bill restricting gambling advertising in Armenia; the decision was made within the first reading.

Among a total of 80 MPs involved in the discussion, 56 MPs voted for this draft law, with eight against and 16 abstaining. 

The Bill disallows advertising of any variety of gambling in Armenia, including casinos, betting offices, as well as gambling organisers. This ban extends across radio, televisions and the internet; however, it does not apply to relevant own official websites.

The advertising of gambling in Armenia will be allowed in hotels that are four stars or higher, as well as at checkpoints and within buildings that hold gambling events. 

The new rules follow a similar pattern to those already agreed in other countries such as Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and the Czech Republic. 

Previously, in September 2018, Armenian authorities chose to amend gambling regulation within the country.

Casinos must now only accept visitors who are at least 21 years of age and provision must be in place to allow for verification on arrival. 

Armenia previously tightened advertising rules, again in 2018, which meant only local gambling operators could advertise. Within this parameter, they could only target those over 21 years of age and advertise between 10pm and 6am.

Gambling age limits were raised from 18 to 21 in 2018, when the National Assembly voted unanimously. They also introduced much heavier fines for casinos and bookmakers who went against the new rulings.

Turkey, Armenia both aim for full normalization: FM Çavuşoğlu

Emil Lazarian
Toys Matrix
Jan 21 2022

By Kemal Pasha On Jan 21, 2022

Turkey and Armenia aim for full normalization as diplomatic talks will focus on confidence-building measures in the next round, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said late Wednesday.

Addressing reporters in the capital Ankara, Çavuşoğlu evaluated the normalization talks between Turkey and Armenia to mend broken ties.

“In the first meeting, the aims of starting the process and what is expected from this process were discussed. Special representatives will work on what other steps can be taken besides the start of flights in the next meeting,” he said. Çavuşoğlu pointed out that confidence-building measures will be discussed in the next meeting.

Noting that the aims of the normalization process and what is expected in the coming period were discussed in the first meeting between the representatives of the two countries, Çavuşoğlu said: “The goal is full normalization. Armenians are also very happy with it.”

Ankara wants the next Turkey-Armenia diplomatic talks to be held in one of these two countries, Turkish diplomatic sources also said Thursday.

Starting Feb. 2, round-trip flights will be launched between Turkey and Armenia amid ongoing discussions to normalize the long-time broken ties between the two countries.

Turkey’s budget carrier Pegasus Airlines will operate the flights between Istanbul and Yerevan three times per week and Fly One Armenia will run three flights between Yerevan and Istanbul. The announcement came less than a week after the two countries held normalization talks in Moscow.

Following years of frozen ties, the envoys of Turkey and Armenia last Friday held their first talks toward normalizing ties in Moscow. The parties agreed to continue the negotiations with the goal of full normalization without preconditions, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry had said after the meeting.

Underlining that Turkish special envoy Serdar Kılıç and Armenian special envoy Ruben Rubinyan met in Moscow as part of the process of normalization between Turkey and Armenia, the ministry stated: “During their first meeting, which took place in a positive and constructive atmosphere, the special envoys exchanged preliminary views.

Turkey and Armenia had no diplomatic or commercial ties for three decades and the talks were the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord. That deal was never ratified and ties have remained tense.

The neighbors are at odds over various issues, primarily the 1915 incidents and Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Ankara supported Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkey began calling for a rapprochement after the conflict. Relations between Armenia and Turkey have historically been complicated. Turkey objects to the presentation of the 1915 incidents as “genocide” but describes the events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties. Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission made up of historians from Turkey and Armenia and international experts to tackle the issue.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said recently Armenia needed to form good ties with Azerbaijan for the normalization effort to yield results.

The Armenian government said recently it has decided to lift the embargo on Turkish goods starting on Jan. 1. Armenia originally imposed the blockade after Ankara supported Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict last year.

Both countries hope that the talks will bolster peace efforts for the Caucasus region and lead to the reopening of their border to encourage trade and boost economic ties.

Ankara has made frequent calls for a six-nation platform comprising of Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, saying it would be a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus. Turkey believes that permanent peace is possible through mutual security-based cooperation among the states and people of the South Caucasus region.

The first meeting of the platform has taken place in Russia, without the participation of Georgia, which announced it will also not take part in the next round, expected to take place in Turkey.

Commenting on the tension between Russia and Ukraine, Çavuşoğlu said: “Here, the dialogue process between the United States and Russia will be decisive. NATO now responded verbally to Russia, Russia had offers. Now it will also be in written form. The tension still continues. The situation is still serious. We will continue our contact. We hope to reduce the tension in this way.”

Turkey is ready to play a role in de-escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said Tuesday, adding President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be traveling to Kyiv to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy there in a couple of weeks.

Armenian-founded startup Voltz raises $6m in seed round

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 21 2022
, 16:21

 1 minute read

The Armenian-founded crypto startup, Voltz Protocol, has just raised $6 million in its Seed round after successfully completing its pre-seed funding around with Entrepreneur First, Europe’s leading accelerator.

At its seed round it has been funded by leading Crypto funds including Framework Ventures and Coinbase Ventures.

Voltz is a decentralized Interest Rate Swap that’s up to 3,000x more capital efficient than alternative models and is the first to bring synthetic interest rate SAWPs to Decentralised Finance.

The London-based startup is co-founded by Artur Begyan, an Armenian from Russia who has recently graduated from the Statistics Department at the University of Oxford. At only 23, Artur has already had experience as an Economic Researcher at the Central Bank of Armenia, a Machine Learning Scientist at Amazon and a Quant at Bank of America.