Author: Karapet Navasardian

Torosyan: Irresponsible behavior of citizens will lead to the collapse of the healthcare system

Karapet Navasardian
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo. In Armenia, the state  of 470 citizens infected with a new type of coronavirus is severe,  another 116 are extremely severe and 35 of them are connected to  mechanical ventilation devices. The Minister of Health of Armenia  Arsen Torosyan stated this on air of Azatutyun.

At the same time, he added that according to today’s data, these  people are at risk of dying, and doctors are doing everything in  their power to prevent this. The Minister also stated that the age of  those infected is getting younger. Torosyan recalled that as of June  15, there were 15 fatal cases and there were cases when citizens did  not have any chronic diseases, adding in this connection that there  are no guarantees that each of us will not become infected.

Torosyan also expressed his conviction that the irresponsible  behavior of citizens will lead to the collapse of the health care  system, and it is these citizens who will suffer in the first place.  The minister added that the collapse in the health care system, in  turn, will lead to the fact that people who might not die will die  because they will not be able to receive proper medical care.

He also expressed his readiness to resign at any time, assuring that  managing the system in a pandemic is not a pleasure.

It should be noted that according to the data at 11:00 a.m. June 15,  397 new cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Armenia,  another 62 patients recovered. In total, 17064 cases of coronavirus  were confirmed in the republic, 6276 people recovered, 285 died. Over  the last day, the disease claimed the lives of 16 people aged 41 to  88 years; all had accompanying chronic diseases. Over the past day, 3  deaths were also recorded, when the coronavirus infection was  confirmed in the patients, but death was due to other diseases. Thus,  the total number of such cases has reached 94th. Currently, 10,409  patients are receiving actual treatment. In total, 83,600 tests for  coronavirus were conducted in the republic.

Armenian PM congratulates UK’s Boris Johnson on Queen’s Birthday

Karapet Navasardian

Save

Share

 11:36,

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Boris Johnson on the occasion of Queen’s Birthday, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.

The message reads, in part:

“I warmly congratulate you and the friendly people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the occasion of Queen’s Birthday.

Armenia is eager to develop and further strengthen friendly ties with the United Kingdom, expand cooperation on bilateral and multilateral platforms.

I am hopeful that as anchored on deep-rooted affinities and shared values, the Armenian-British relations will continue to develop and expand, complemented by new future-oriented programs of mutual interest.

I wish Your Excellency robust health and fruitful activity, as well as progress and prosperity – to the friendly people of the United Kingdom.”

Armenian FM participates in Eastern Partnership ministerial video conference meeting

Karapet Navasardian

Save

Share

 17:21,

YEREVAN, JUNE 11, ARMENPRESS. Foreign minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan is participating in the ministerial meeting of the EU’s Eastern Partnership via video conference, the Armenian MFA said on Facebook.

The FM will deliver remarks at the video conference meeting.

The ministerial video conference meeting will be followed by a press conference.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Montenegro opens borders for citizens of more than 100 countries: Armenia is not on the list

Karapet Navasardian
Arminfo, Armenia
June 1 2020

ArmInfo. The Ministry of Health of Montenegro has updated the list of countries citizens of which are allowed to enter and stay from June 1.

According to the source, the list includes the countries of the  European Union, Africa and Latin America, as well as China, in all,  more than 100 countries. From the neighbors of Armenia, Georgia and  Azerbaijan were on the list.  Of the partners of Armenia in the EAEU,  only Kyrgyzstan was on the list.

As the government of Montenegro informed the decision to mitigate the  measures was taken based on the recommendations of the European  Union. In particular, entry is allowed from countries where there is  a significant slowdown in the spread of coronavirus, a decrease in  the number of new cases, and also where the number of active patients  is not more than 25 per 100 thousand of the population.

To recall, on May 24, Montenegro was the first European country to  announce the absence of active cases of coronavirus on its territory.  Initially, Montenegro planned to allow entry only from Croatia,  Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary,  Albania and Greece. Earlier it was reported that Montenegro is  preparing to resume the tourist season from July 1. 

Construction of Iran-Armenia 3rd power transmission line to resume soon

Karapet Navasardian

Construction of Iran-Armenia 3rd power transmission line to resume soon

Save

Share

 21:42,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The deepening of relations with Iran is of paramount importance for Armenia. The two countries have mutually beneficial cooperation particularly in energy sphere. There are also great cooperation opportunities in the sidelines of the EAEU. The Government of Armenia has taken significant measures in the last two years for deepening trade relations with Iran and expanding Armenia’s capacities as a transit country. Particularly, in 2019 the inter-state road linking Iran with Georgia was repaired. It’s planned to modernize Meghri checkpoint this year, as well as to put into operation the 3rd power transmission line, as a result of which the volume of gas imported from Iran will increase.

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia, Chairman of the Armenian-Iranian Intergovernmental Joint Commission from the Armenian side Suren Papikyan spoke about one of the major projects between Armenia and Iran, the construction of the 3rd power transmission line during the parliament-Cabinet Q&A session on May 27.

Answering the question of one of the MPs, Suren Papikyan said, ”Conditioned by the coronavirus, our Iranian partners were unable to visit Armenia for nearly 3 months due to the restrictions imposed by both Iran and Armenia. But the project manager of the company is already in Armenia and 5 engineers will arrive in Armenia on June 1. The entire team, nearly 60 people, are scheduled to be here within two weeks and the construction works will resume’’, Papikyan said.

He added that the construction works are planned to be finished by the end of 2020. ‘’Since the construction works had been suspended in the last months, maybe there will be some problems with the deadline, but we hope we will be able to finish the construction before the deadline’’, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia Suren Papikyan said.




Artsakh troops thwart Azerbaijani infiltration attempt

Karapet Navasardian
Public Radio of Armenia

On May 22 the Azerbaijani troops undertook a subversive infiltration attempt in the direction of the protection area of a military unit of the Defense Army, Artsakh’s Defense Ministry reports.

The Defense Army unites were quick to spot the advancement of the special forces of Azerbaijan, throwing them back to initial positions. The Defense Army sustained no casualties during the firefight.

The Artsakh Defense Ministry calls on the Azerbaijani side to refrain from unpromising tactics to artificially straining the situation. Otherwise, the entire responsibility for the tension on the front line will fall on the Azerbaijani side.


Armenpress: Joint project brings South Korean Youngsan assembly plant to Armenia

Karapet Navasardian

Joint project brings South Korean Youngsan assembly plant to Armenia

Save

Share

 09:48,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. A bus manufacturing plant will be established in Armenia within the framework of a joint project by the South Korean Youngsan corporation and the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF).

The production of the buses is intended for the consumption of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) market.

“A bus assembly center will be established. The buses are intended for the Eurasian Economic Union market. We have a very concrete targeting. Armenia is becoming a convenient country for international enterprises,” ANIF CEO David Papazyan told ARMENPRESS.

He said discussions are underway with other companies as well and they aim at making Armenia an industrial hub to supply the EEU markets with the products.

Youngsan was working with the Armenian Ministry of Economy and the Investment Support Center in the initial stage.

The ANIF will finance a part of the plant and will become a shareholder of less than 50%, somewhere between 40-49%, Papazyan said.

The project is worth 4,4 million dollars, 1 million of which will be financed by ANIF, a bit more than 1 million by the company itself, and nearly 2,3 million will be loaned from an Armenian commercial bank by the company.

Youngsan’s 2019 sales totaled more than half a billion dollars, and the company is usually also working on orders from other brands. Certain clarifications are yet to be made regarding the to-be-produced buses in Armenia, but most likely the Armenia plant will produce three different types of buses, with a length of up to 10 meters.

The company will further launch the production of raw materials in Armenia sometime after starting the project.

The project is planned to be launched in 2020.

The launch has been delayed a bit due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Papazyan said he hopes the South Korean businessmen will be able to arrive sometime in July for finalizing the deal.

 

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Ashot Ghoulyan did not confirm or refute information about his possible appointment to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh

Karapet Navasardian
Arminfo, Armenia
May 15 2020

ArmInfo. The acting President of the Artsakh parliament Ashot  Ghoulyan said that he had decided to abandon the deputy mandate long  before this information was distributed.

During the press conference, Ghoulyan noted: “The fact is that the  formation of a new parliament has already begun, and I decided to  declare my decision, which I made during the election campaign. I  believe that there should be a generational change in the parliament,  it is very important>, “the Artsakh NA Speaker emphasized.

Regarding whether the speaker of the NKR parliament aspires to the  post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gulyan noted: “It seems to me  that the rumors that I am applying for the post of Foreign Minister  of Artsakh are somewhat related to my previous activities as Minister  of Artsakh Foreign Affairs. But now, I can’t say anything concrete  about this. Political forces met with the newly elected President of  Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, but we did not discuss specific issues.  Moreover, we did not concern personnel policy. It was agreed that we  will discuss all these issues on May 21, after the inauguration of  the President>.

It should be noted that on May 14, adviser to Ashot Ghoulyan Anush  Gavalyan noted that the current head of the Artsakh parliament would  refuse the mandate and had already submitted a corresponding  statement to the NKR CEC.

To recall, on March 31, 2020, parliamentary elections were held in  NKR. According to which, the Free Homeland / Unified Civil Alliance  bloc received 16 mandates,  leader of the bloc is the newly elected  Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan. The United Homeland party took  second place with 9 seats (party leader, Artsakh hero Samvel Babayan,  Ed. note). The third was Vitaliy Balasanyan’s “Justice” party – three  mandates, the ARF “Dashnaktsutyun” party – 3 mandates, the Artsakh  Democratic Party (head of the party Ashot Ghoulyan – Ed. note) – 2  mandate. 

Deputy Minister: It has become impossible to identify sources of the spread of COVID-19 in recent days

Karapet Navasardian
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo. To date, 33 patients with  coronavirus are in critical condition, 6 are connected to a  ventilator.  Deputy Minister of Healthcare of the Republic of Armenia  Lena Nanushyan announced at a May 14 press conference.

According to her, at the moment, 660 patients with coronavirus have  been diagnosed with pneumonia, 66 patients are in serious condition.  Nanushyan informed that the growth rate of coronavirus in Armenia is  about 5%. The deputy minister also noted that today Armenia is at the  third, final, stage of circulation of the coronavirus. As Nanushyan  explained, in recent days it has become impossible to identify the  sources of distribution of coronavirus and identify an exact circle  of contacts of virus carriers. In March, at the first stage of the  circulation of coronavirus, isolated and imported cases of  coronavirus were recorded in the republic; further, at the second  stage, cluster outbreaks began to be recorded (among members of the  same family, at enterprises, and so on). Meanwhile, if earlier it was  possible to accurately identify the sources of spread of COVID-19,  then at the third stage of the circulation of the coronavirus, this  became a difficult task. Despite this, as Nanushyan emphasized, all  efforts are aimed at controlling the epidemiological situation in the  country, including by increasing the level of training of medical  staff.

The deputy minister also said that, taking into account the spread of  coronavirus, a strategy has been developed according to which the  treatment of mild cases can be carried out at home with the control  of primary care. In the meantime, asymptomatic patients are isolated  in hotels where appropriate medical supervision is provided.

Nanushyan informed that Armenia has purchased 100 ventilation  devices, and another 60 are at the purchase stage. Meanwhile, she  found it difficult to answer ArmInfo’s question regarding whether the  Aventa-M brand IVL devices, which, presumably, caused fires in  hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg, are used in medical  institutions in Armenia.  In total, 3860 cases of coronavirus were  confirmed in the republic, 1572 people recovered, 49 died.   Currently, 2218 patients are receiving actual treatment.

Robert Kocharyan insists the detention facility fails to meet the social distancing requirements

Karapet Navasardian
Panorama, Armenia
May 8 2020

Some 80 per cent of the employees at the detention center work one full day then have three days off, former President Robert Kocharyan said at a court hearing on Friday when asked by Judge Anna Danibekyan to describe the conditions of the penitentiary facility.

Kocharyan remarked that the time of penitentiary employees out of their working hours is not supervised by anyone which exposes them to a risk of contracting an infection. Since most of them are young there is a greater chance that their disease can be asymptomatic, added Kocharyan.

“A person can be infected but have no idea about it and continue coming to work. 90 per cent of them are young people aged 22-35. I am now along in the detention facility yet there is still interaction with the facility staff. It is impossible to exercise social distancing in these building conditions not to mention the lack of air conditioning,” Kocharyan said.

The former president went on informing that his meal is delivered from outside and there is no control how and in what conditions it is prepared.

Kocharyan’s lawyer Hayk Alumyan, in turn, noted he had turned to the Ombudsman over the concerns raised by the president.