A medic checks the temperature of Azerbaijani Foreign Jeyhun Bayramov (left) who met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on August 26
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to prevent further ceasefire violations, saying that is essential for kick-starting the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
Lavrov expressed Russia’s readiness to help create the “necessary atmosphere” for resuming Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations during a meeting with his visiting Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov. He also discussed the Karabakh conflict in a phone call with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan.
“I understand that our common intent is to continue the negotiation process,” Lavrov told a joint news conference with Bayramov held after the talks. “In this regard, it is important to ensure the necessary atmosphere for setting up a steady negotiating process.”
“We will do our best to foster the creation of such conditions both in the national capacity and as one of the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,” he said.
Lavrov said that he specifically discussed with Bayramov the Russian, U.S. and French mediators’ plans to visit the conflict zone and organize talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. He stressed that the plans are contingent on preventing the kind of deadly ceasefire violations that broke out on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on July 12.
“We very much hope that what happened in July will not be repeated,” added the chief Russian diplomat.
The weeklong border clashes involving artillery and attack drones left at least 17 soldiers from both sides dead. Lavrov said last week that “active Russian mediation” helped to stop them.
Speaking at the news conference in Moscow, Bayramov, who was appointed as Azerbaijan’s foreign minister on July 16, blamed Armenia for the flare-up of violence and accused it of obstructing a Karabakh settlement. He also said that the talks planned by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the Minsk Group must be “substantive.”
It was not immediately clear whether Lavrov’s phone conversation with Mnatsakanyan took place just before or after his meeting with Bayramov. The Armenian Foreign Ministry released no details of the conversation.
Immediately after the border fighting Yerevan called on Baku to agree to confidence-building measures that would bolster the ceasefire regime. It referred to concrete agreements to that effect that had been reached by Azerbaijani President Aliyev and his former Armenian counterpart President Serzh Sarkisian in 2016.
The agreements called for the deployment of more OSCE field observers in the conflict zone and international investigations of armed incidents occurring there. Baku subsequently refused to implement them, saying that they would cement the status quo.
14:40,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Ministry of Defense and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation signed a contract on the modernization and renovation of SU-25 aircraft of the Armenian Air Force.
The Defense Ministry said the deal was inked at the Army 2020 International Military-Technical Conference between Armenian Deputy Minister of Defense Makar Ghambaryan and United Aircraft Corporation Deputy Director Ilya Tarasenko.
United Aircraft Corporation will assume the modernization and lifecycle maintenance of the mentioned planes, as well as aircraft issued earlier.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
A group of residents of the resort town of Jermuk joined scores of environmental activists in Yerevan on Thursday to stage a protest in front of the central government offices in the Armenian capital against the construction of a gold mine at Amulsar that they claim will jeopardize the country’s eco-system.
In 2016, the Armenian government issued a British-American mining company, Lydian International, a license to develop a mine in Armenia’s central Vayots Dzor province. But the site has been blockaded by environmental activists and local residents since May 2018 when a new government was formed in Armenia following the ‘Velvet Revolution.’
Activists claim that the project will affect Armenia’s waters, including Lake Sevan, the largest body of fresh water in the country. They demand that a new environmental impact study be conducted and that Lydian’s license be revoked. In March 2019, Lydian notified the Armenian government of a potential international arbitration.
Armenian Environmental Front activist Levon Galstian said that residents of Jermuk have been left out of the decision-making mechanisms and want to have their violated rights restored. “Here the matter concerns rights and not some laws, especially those written under the previous corrupt government,” he said during today’s protest.
Protests over Amulsar rekindled earlier this month when Lydian security workers dismantled wagon houses of activists blockading the roads leading to the site and placed their own instead.
As a result of a standoff that lasted for several days and was accompanied by clashes between protesters and police officers environmentalists managed to get the authorities to remove Lydian wagons from the area.
Lydian says its license for mining at Amulsar remains valid and calls the blockade of its site illegal. The company says that it has suffered serious financial losses as a result of the blockade, accusing the Armenian government of failing to curtail the “illegal activities.”
It became known earlier this month that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development had ended its investment in the project. A Lydian representative stressed, however, that this circumstance will not affect the activities of the company or the quality of its work.
14:05,
GAVAR, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. A 6-year-old boy from the town of Sevan has won the Republican Culinary Competition held recently in Goris, Armenia.
According to the Sevan town hall staffer Armine Ghukasyan, it was 6-year-old Mher’s mother who learnt about the cooking classes and subsequent competition and immediately signed her son up for it.
Mher, the youngest contestant, surprised the jury with his salad and stuffed fish.
Armine Ghukasyan says the kid developed love for cooking at the age of 3, when he saw his mother and grandmother preparing meals in the kitchen, and soon started helping them. The little chef’s culinary path began by helping his grandma with making desserts.
The 6-year-old had already made a name for himself before the competition – days before the event, he was hosted by Sedrak Mamulyan himself, the master chef, TV personality and head of the Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions organization.
After winning the national competition, Mher is now preparing to participate in the Dolma Festival. He says he is going to become a chef and open a restaurant in Sevan.
Reporting by Khosrov Khlghatyan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Saturday,
Armenia Spends Over $300 Million On Pandemic Relief Programs
• Robert Zargarian
An empty street cafe in downtown Yerevan at the start of the coronavirus
pandemic in March 2020
The Armenian government has spent a total of about 150 billion drams (over $300
million) since March on relief and stimulus packages for businesses and
individual citizens affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to an
official.
Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian said at a press conference on Friday that of
this sum 93 billion drams (over $190 million) have been allocated through banks
in the forms of loans.
“We decided to focus on specific issues of each sphere and to direct funds of
support for targeted solutions to emerging or existing and expected issues,” the
minister said.
Earlier this week the government approved two more coronavirus aid packages
targeting sectors most affected by the pandemic. Under these programs assistance
will be given to the spheres of tourism and agriculture.
Khachatrian said that the government’s support for the tourism sector, which is
facing problems all over the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as
related areas, including the hotel business and public catering, will be aimed
at preserving jobs.
“We are dealing with a situation where companies see their turnover reduced by
more than half. On the other hand, in this situation they want to save jobs and
keep workers who are part of their workforce,” the minister said.
Armenian Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian at a press conference in Yerevan,
August 14, 2020
Under this program monthly support will be provided to companies with at least
three employees. Those companies that have retained at least 70 percent of their
personnel during the pandemic will receive from the government a full salary of
every third employee. Otherwise, the government will subsidize the salary of
every fourth employee.
“This is a very good message for businesses that if they are at the threshold of
having retained 70 percent of their personnel they may hire new employees and
receive government support for 33 percent instead of 25 percent of their
payroll. So, they will be able to offset a significant part of additional
financial expenditures for expanding staff or increasing salaries through
government support,” Khachatrian said.
Under the other program approved by the government this week assistance will be
provided to grape purchasing companies and farmers. Because of the pandemic
consumption of wine and brandy has fallen, leaving wine and brandy producers
with less revenue. Assistance under this program will be provided in the form of
interest-free loans to farmers who sell grapes to wineries and brandy-making
companies.
According to the minister, there is no cap on the money provided for pandemic
relief and stimulus programs. “We have not reached a point where we can say that
if this limit is exceeded we will not provide support,” he said.
He said that the government will soon announce new programs of support to
exporters and companies that plan to be technically reequipped.
Khachatrian does not rule out that Armenia will close the pandemic-affected
economic year with about a five-percent GDP fall. Last year, Armenia’s GDP grew
by 7.6 percent and its economic activity index grew by 7.8 percent. The
government said the figures were unprecedented for recent years.
“We hope that the results of the third and fourth quarters of this year will
show some improvement over the second quarter,” the minister said.
He said that this forecast is in line with the trends of the world economy.
“Leading international organizations predict a global economic decline of up to
6 percent. It is also expected that 2021 will be the main year of recovery. In
other words, there is no higher global optimism until the end of this year than
the indicators that I’ve mentioned,” Khachatrian said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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