Author: Kanayan Tamar

Armenian PM, Rwandan FM discuss development prospects of commercial ties

Kanayan Tamar

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 17:09,

YEREVAN, JULY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received today Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda Vincent Biruta and his delegation, the PM’s Office said.

During the meeting PM Pashinyan highly valued the Armenia-Rwanda cooperation within the International Organization of La Francophonie, expressing hope that it will also contribute to developing the bilateral relations. Pashinyan warmly remembered his contacts with the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame during his visit in Armenia, as well as on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, reaffirming the readiness to deepen the partnership.

The Foreign Minister of Rwanda thanked the Armenian PM for the welcome and conveyed the warm greetings and wishes of the Rwandan President to Mr. Pashinyan. He assessed the discussions with the partners of the Armenian Foreign Ministry effective and stated that Rwanda is interested in the cooperation with Armenia both in bilateral and multilateral formats.

The sides exchanged ideas about the agenda of cooperation within the OIF, touched upon the prospects of developing the bilateral commercial ties. In this respect, they emphasized tourism sector as interesting.

PM Pashinyan asked to convey his greetings to the President of Rwanda.

Patrol Service will be introduced also in Kotayk, Gegharkunik, Tavush and Aragatsotn Provinces

Kanayan Tamar

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 17:27,

YEREVAN, JULY 11, ARMENPRESS. Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a session of the Police Reforms Coordinating Council was held, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The tasks to be done in the next 6 months in the sidelines of the police reform strategy were presented, including the process of introducing the Patrol Service in Shirak and Lori Provinces.

It was reported that in the second half of the year, it is planned to ensure the continuity of the introduction of the operational center for the management of the Patrol Service. Next, Patrol Service units will be formed in Kotayk, Gegharkunik, Tavush and Aragatsotn Provinces, and then throughout the country. The training processes of the future Patrol Service personnel in the above mentioned 4 Provinces will start in August. In total, 1,880 people applied for getting a job at the Patrol Service, of which only 718 are police officers. 1,332 people have received the right to participate in the examination process, of which 606 will join the service.

Next, the technical equipment of the Patrol Service, the reorganization of the Police forces, and the creation of the National Guard were discussed. The officials in charge assured that all the activities are carried out in accordance with the timeline.

Issues related to the activity of regional police departments and the new model of territorial divisions were also discussed.

Prime Minister Pashinyan emphasized the effective implementation of all the measures envisaged by the Police reforms and emphasized the need to carry out consistent work in the direction of expanding the involvement of women in the Patrol Service. In this regard, the Head of the Government gave specific instructions.

Opposition MP resigns from Armenian parliament

Kanayan Tamar
PanARMENIAN
Armenia – July 4 2022

July 4, 2022 – 13:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Lawmaker from the opposition Armenia bloc Artur Ghazinyan is resigning due to “current political arrangements”.

“I have decided to resign from parliament. I consider it the most accurate and justified decision in the current situation,” Ghazinyan said on social media Monday, July 4.

“I don’t want to talk about the reasons now. They are exclusively political and tactical in nature. I can only say that I can no longer imagine my future work with any agenda in the National Assembly.”

He noted, however, that the Resistance movement demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is the only platform that can prevent “treachery and concessions”.

Earlier, MP Armen Gevorgyan from Armenia bloc resigned as the chairman of the parliament’s Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration, while the ruling Civil Contract party sacked parliament Vice Speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan and Chairman of the Committee on Economic Affairs Vahe Hakobyan – both of them from Armenia bloc.

Armenpress: Armenia facilitates visa procedures for citizens of Egypt

Kanayan Tamar

Armenia facilitates visa procedures for citizens of Egypt

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 20:47, 5 July 2022

YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. The process of obtaining an Armenian visa is being facilitated for the citizens of Egypt.

The Armenian Embassy in Egypt said on social media that starting July 11th the visa regime for the citizens of Egypt is being simplified. In particular, the citizens of Egypt will no longer need invitation from the Police or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. The Egyptian citizens can apply for a visa directly to the Embassy of Armenia in Egypt or any other diplomatic representation of Armenia.

The Egyptian nationals can apply for a visa via e-visa system ( https://evisa.mfa.am/ ).

In addition, the citizens of Egypt can obtain a visa upon arrival at any border-control point of the Republic of Armenia, if these citizens have a valid residency or a valid visa of one of the following countries:

1) EU member states

2) Schengen zone states

3) The United States of America

4) Australia

5) New Zealand

6) The Republic of Korea

7) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

8) Canada

9) Russia

10) Japan

11) Saudi Arabia

12) Kuwait

13) The United Arab Emirates

14) Qatar

15) Bahrain

16) Oman

AW: UCLA Promise Institute announces 2022-2023 grant and fellowship recipients

Kanayan Tamar
July 8, 2022 Guest Contributor Announcements 0

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Promise Armenian Institute grants and fellowships are designed to support research across all academic fields, with an emphasis on or connection to Armenia or Armenians, and it is pleased to announce the 2022-2023 grant and fellowship recipients.

PAI POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS

Haley Tupper (M.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 2020) “Post-Semashko Health Systems: The Comparative Successes and Failures of Universal Healthcare (UHC) in the Former Soviet Space”

Under the mentorship of Dr. Shant Shekherdimian of UCLA Division of General Surgery, Dr. Tupper will evaluate Armenia’s and other post-Soviet nations’ successes and failures in expanding access to healthcare according to the WHO framework of key health system building blocks, to help guide Armenia’s universal healthcare (UHC) development.

Helen Makhdoumian (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021) “A Map of This Place: Nested Memory and the Afterlives of Removal”

Under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Rothberg, chair of the UCLA Department of Comparative Literature, Dr. Makhdoumian’s research will involve a contrapuntal study of Armenian American, Palestinian American, and American Indian/First Nations novels and memoirs; specifically, using a rubric of “nested memory” to articulate the structure of the multigenerational transmission of memory in the face of the recursivity of collective trauma.

PAI ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESEARCH PROGRAM POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP

Anna Aleksanyan (Ph.D., Clark University, 2022) “Gendered Aspects of the Armenian Genocide in the Experiences of its Victimized Females”

Under the mentorship of Dr. Taner Akcam, director of the PAI Armenian Genocide Research Program, Dr. Aleksanyan will write a monograph based on her dissertation, examining the gendered aspects of the Armenian genocide, in particular, the ways the Ottoman Armenian females were targeted for physical destruction, sexual abuse, rape, sexual slavery, forced assimilation, forced marriages, and forced prostitution.

UCLA PAI DISSERTATION YEAR FELLOWSHIP

Jennifer Manoukian, (UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures) “Purism and the Creation of the Western Armenian Written Standard (c. 1780-c. 1900)”

Under the mentorship of Dr. Peter Cowe, the UCLA Nareketsi Professor in Armenian Studies, Jennifer Manoukian will complete here dissertation which explores the emergence of the written standard known today as Western Armenian and examines the intellectual labor that led to its acceptance as the dominant medium for writing and education among Ottoman Armenians by 1900.

UCLA PAI COURSE DEVELOPMENT GRANT

Anne Gilliland, Ph.D. (Professor of Information Studies; Director, Center for Information as Evidence) “Through an Archival Lens: Armenia, the Genocide and Diaspora UCLA Information Studies”

This interdisciplinary undergraduate course centers the nature and role of “the archive” in understanding past events and future trajectories affecting the Armenian people.  It will use case studies and community engagement activities to teach students how to identify, compile, and critically read and respond to the multilayered dispersal, fragmentation, deliberate erasure, distortion and withholding of the Armenian archival record. Course content will be drawn from the instructors’ research engagement with official, community and family archives and other forms of memory texts across the Diaspora, historical Western Armenia, the Republic of Armenia, and the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.

Azerbaijan opens fire on Armenian military positions

Kanayan Tamar
Panorama
Armenia – July 8 2022

The Azerbaijani military opened fire on Armenian combat positions in the western section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border near the village of Yelpin in Vayots Dzor Province on Thursday evening, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Shots were also fired at the road leading to the village, damaging a civilian car. The Azerbaijani troops also employed large-caliber firearms.

“The Azerbaijani fire was suppressed after Armenia’s retaliatory measures. There are no casualties on the Armenian side,” reads the statement.’

No bomb found in Russian and Chinese Embassies

Kanayan Tamar

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 19:45, 4 July 2022

YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. No bomb was found in the embassies of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China in Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia informs.

On July 4, at 5:15 p.m., the National Center for Crisis Management received information that an explosive device was placed in the embassies of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China in Armenia.

Azerbaijani press: Participants of OIC conference visiting Azerbaijan’s liberated territories

Kanayan Tamar
Politics Materials 29 June 2022 20:29


BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 29. The visit by Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha and representatives of the OIC member states to Azerbaijan’s liberated territories commenced within the 11th Conference of Ministers of Tourism of the OIC Member States on June 29, the State Tourism Agency told Trend.

Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fuad Naghiyev informed representatives of the OIC member states, visiting the Fuzuli International Airport, on the airport’s role in the socio-economic development of the Fuzuli district, as well as in regional tourism.

A delegation consisting of tourism ministers, deputy ministers of Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Iran, Gambia, Niger, Malaysia, Sudan, Uganda, Gabon, the president of the Arab Tourism Organization, and ambassadors will take a look at cultural monuments, mosques, and other cultural heritage sites subjected to the Armenian aggression.

Moreover, the delegation will pay a visit to Azerbaijan’s Shusha, and get acquainted with the ancient buildings of Islamic heritage and the tourism potential.

On June 28, the 11th Conference of Ministers of Tourism of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, organized by the State Tourism Agency, hosted the adoption of a Resolution on the tourism development, and the Baku Declaration.

The Resolution on tourism development condemns the illegal exploitation of natural resources, destruction of urban ecological infrastructure, cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijan’s liberated territories, as well as the demolition of Islamic cultural and historical monuments in Armenia.

The document also reflects a decision regarding the involvement of the member states’ private sector in implementing infrastructure development projects in Azerbaijan’s liberated lands.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 29-06-22

Kanayan Tamar

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 17:43, 29 June 2022

YEREVAN, 29 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 29 June, USD exchange rate down by 0.08 drams to 408.31 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.20 drams to 429.75 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.11 drams to 7.83 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.37 drams to 496.42 drams.

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

Gold price down by 99.88 drams to 23879.52 drams. Silver price down by 3.01 drams to 278.76 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.

Armenian currency continues to rise, hurting exporters

Kanayan Tamar
June 30 2022

Ani Mejlumyan Jun 30, 2022


Armenia’s currency continues to get stronger against the dollar, causing alarm among exporters. But the rise doesn’t seem to have done anything to suppress inflation or the prices of imported goods, leading to a heightening overall economic crunch in the country.

By June 30 the dram was trading at 407 to the dollar, up from the roughly 480-to-the-dollar rate it has hovered around for years. The dram has been steadily gaining value since March, when an influx of Russians into Armenia and a move to buy Russian gas in rubles rather than dollars led to an increase in hard currency in the country.

A group of business associations issued an open letter on June 24 calling on the government to take action to rein in the dram.

The rise in the dram “both in the short and long run has a huge negative impact on the Armenian economy, especially on export-oriented companies and related sectors, making sales more difficult and, at times, affecting their competitiveness in foreign markets,” the letter read. It said that exporters of food and drinks like wine, cognac, juice, and other agricultural products are selling at below cost in order to not lose customers, “which for obvious reasons can not last long.”

The IT sector also has been badly hit, as it depends heavily on customers abroad. The rise in the dram has weakened foreign investment in Armenia, as well, “as it is necessary to make 20 percent more foreign currency investment to achieve the same result, which in the long run will lead to great economic losses,” the associations argued.

The government has so far not taken any action. On June 14, the central bank decided to keep the refinancing rate unchanged, at 9.25 percent. It cited the need to control inflation, which has remained persistently high even as the currency appreciation should be making imported products cheaper.

Inflation is currently running at about 9 percent, and will likely continue to rise before dropping to 8 percent by the end of the year, Chairman of the Central Bank Martin Galstyan told reporters.

“There is a huge increase in international prices for essential commodities. Wheat prices, for example, are at an all-time high because of the Russian-Ukrainian war,” he said. Rent, too, has spiked as a result of an influx of Russians due to the war, and landlords trying to take advantage as a result.

Exporters, meanwhile, have been hit by another blow: the closure of the road linking Armenia to its main market for agricultural products, Russia.

The Stepantsminda-Lars highway in Georgia was closed on June 27 after heavy rains, stranding trucks full of Armenian fruits and vegetables destined for Russian shops.

“Various reports suggest that the road maintenance work may take one or two weeks. Now is the most active period for agricultural exports, so even a few days of delay will cause great damage to exporters and farmers,” economist Suren Parsyan posted on Facebook. “With the closure of the Upper Lars checkpoint, the devaluation of the dollar and the rise in fuel prices, exporters have already suffered great losses and will simply not sustain another blow; they will go bankrupt.”

The heaviest hit have been apricot exporters, as it’s high season for the fruit in Armenia. One apricot farmer from the village of Pshatavan posted on Facebook urging Armenians to buy apricots as farmers can’t export them. “Because Lars is closed, export companies are refusing to buy apricots and the fruit is rotting,” he wrote.

Ani Mejlumyan is a reporter based in Yerevan.

https://eurasianet.org/armenian-currency-continues-to-rise-hurting-exporters