Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

 10:40,

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is calling for a strong international engagement and pressure on Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin corridor.

In an interview with the Egyptian AlQahera News Agency, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the imperative of a strong international engagement and pressure on Azerbaijan to implement the ICJ decision and lift the blockade. He said that Armenia has been calling for an urgent international fact-finding mission to be dispatched to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor to assess the situation on the ground.

“First of all, the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan is a blatant violation of the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020 which envisages that Azerbaijan ‘shall guarantee safe movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo in both directions along the Lachin corridor’. One would think that a legally binding decision of the International Court of Justice, which was adopted on February 22, could have resolved the situation as the Court ordered Azerbaijan to take all necessary measures to ensure unimpeded movement along the Lachin corridor. It is regrettable that so far the decision has not been implemented,” FM Mirzoyan said.

He added that the Lachin Corridor isn’t only a road, but rather a 5km wide security zone.

“Furthermore, I would like to emphasize that the Lachin corridor is not only a road, but a 5 km security zone. Thus, the sabotage attack of March 5 in the Lachin corridor, which I mentioned earlier, violated not only the ceasefire agreement, but also the contact line and the security zone of the corridor.In current circumstances, I would like to stress the imperative of strong international engagement and pressure on Azerbaijan to implement the ICJ decision and lift the blockade. Armenia has been calling for an urgent international fact-finding mission to be dispatched to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor to assess the situation on the ground. It’s also not a secret that the proposal of such a mission was repeatedly rejected by the Azerbaijani side, clearly showing the absence of willingness of Azerbaijani leadership to be transparent and accountable towards the international community,” the Armenian Foreign Minister said.

The United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan on February 22 to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.

 11:02,

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Kahramanmaras province in the southeast of Turkey, ARMENPRESS reports, citing “RIA Novosti”, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) reports.

There is no information yet on possible victims and injured.

On February 6, 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes took place in Kahramanmaras province in the south-east of Turkey. The tremors were felt in 11 provinces of the country and neighboring states, including Syria. The Turkish authorities called the earthquake the “catastrophe of the century”, almost 48,000 people fell victim to the disaster in the country.

 18:27,

YEREVAN, MARCH 13, ARMENPRESS. “Khachatryan” Group of Companies, uniting multi-profile organizations, summarized the year. We discussed with the founders Arthur and Karen Khachatryans the details of the projects implemented during the past year and the large-scale events expected this year.

– Did all your expectations regarding new projects come true in 2022?

– Artur Khachatryan – After successive crises in previous years, we set a goal for ourselves to work even harder in 2022 and make new goals come true. As a result, last year became a year of big investments and vigorous work for us. We made investments in three different business directions: the projects of “LEO 1 autospa”, cleaning products of our own production “Katil”, and the construction of an auto chemical plant in Georgia. All these three directions represent a separate field of activity, and this volume of investments also implies an increase in the volume of work. Therefore, we also have an increase in taxes paid to the state budget. Compared to previous years, the indicators are higher, which is an important and encouraging factor for us. Along with the expansion of the projects, we also enlarge the team, we already have more than 70 employees.

-Would you elaborate on the volume of investments and what they were directed to?

– Artur Khachatryan – First of all, I would like to talk about the new brand of our group of companies, “Katil”. The start of this type of production and development prospects are not an end in themselves. For a long time, we had a great desire to create a competitive Armenian product instead of imported products, which would be local and at the same time would not be inferior to the European one. We combined the great experience of our professional team, our resources and capabilities and, of course, the desire to create Armenian products and launched the production of “Katil” cleaning products. We can confidently say that the quality is not inferior to other products in the market, since the raw materials are entirely European, but the entire production process takes place here.

In this direction alone, we made an investment of 200 million AMD, which was directed to the purchase of raw materials, equipment and storage equipment.

– Karen Khachatryan – In 2022, we also re-equipped the “LEO 1 autospa”, which was another major investment, about 320 million AMD.

“LEO 1 Autospa” has been operating for a long time, since 2005. From the very first day of operation, we have introduced new culture and approaches to car washing and car care, we have also contributed to the development of the sector with our experience and principles. “LEO 1” is equipped with the latest technologies and equipment for car washing and drying, high-quality materials of both European and Armenian production are used for car care and washing. Thanks to new investments, we have expanded the range of services and started new partnerships. “Khachatryan” Group of Companies is the exclusive partner and representative of the American company STEK Automative in Armenia, which produces premium car protection films. Now we offer our customers tinting films of any degree, with protection against ultraviolet and infrared rays, heat insulation, heat absorbing properties, etc. Our skilled and professional specialists carry out tinting of both external and internal surfaces.

At “LEO 1 Autospa” we use not only imported high-quality materials, but also our own products, which are not inferior to European products in terms of quality.

The trust of our customers is encouraging for us, and in the near future we will do everything to improve our services and contribute to the formation and development of a new car care culture.

– You also mentioned that you are going to build a new factory. Would you elaborate? What are your plans for this year?

– Artur Khachatryan – We are building the new factory in the Republic of Georgia. The factory will be equipped with the latest production equipment and technologies, it will enable us to increase our production volumes several times and improve the quality. This, in turn, will contribute to our ability to export and present Armenian products in various markets. A total of 1.2 million USD has been invested in this direction, and the factory will be commissioned already this year. As for the upcoming projects, we will continue to develop our main directions and the rest of the brands that are part of “Khachatryan” companies. During this year, we also plan to expand the range of the “Katil” brand’s assortment and increase production volumes. Of course, interesting and large-scale programs and events will also take place.

 10:29,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. At the closing ceremony of the Seaside Startup Summit Holidays Vizag India 2023, Triple S Ventures VC announced its first investment deal of 2023 with the Armenian startup Docus. Docus provides the first telemedicine platform, where doctors from developing countries collaborate with hundreds of top medical experts from the US and Europe to provide patients with the best possible care.

The most severe patients are concerned with getting a second opinion for their diagnosis and treatment plan. This is a valid concern given that misdiagnosis is the 3rd cause of death and 30% of surgeries appear to be unnecessary.

Docus is an innovative platform that empowers patients and caregivers to access the best medical care through the collaboration of two top doctors: one local and one international, increasing the chances of receiving an accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Currently, Docus focuses on India. Robert Sargsyan, Co-founder, and CEO of Docus, explains, ‘’We are now concentrating on the Indian healthcare sector, as many forward-thinking Indian doctors are open to cooperating with US and European doctors. Furthermore, they speak English as their second language”.

In his statement, Avag Simonyan – the Managing Partner of the fund said, ‘I am assured that the partnership between Docus and Triple S VC will allow the startup to quickly expand in the Indian market’. Mr Simonyan also added, ‘We believe that this will be a precedent for Armenian startups succeeding in India.’

Triple S is a new VC firm founded in 2022 by Artur Janibekyan,Hakob Hakobyan and Avag Simonyan that targets startups in the pre-seed or seed stages.