Author: Toneyan Mark

APA, Azerbaijan
Baku consents to Minsk Group co-chairs’ proposal on meeting of
Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs
Azerbaijan has expressed its consent to and readiness for the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs’ proposal about holding a meeting of the foreign
ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev told APA on Friday.
He noted that the joint statement made following the Saint Petersburg
meeting that took place at the level of presidents stressed the
necessity of substantive talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“In this context, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, following their
recent visit to the region, made a proposal to hold a meeting of the
foreign ministers of the two countries. Azerbaijan has already
expressed its consent to and readiness for this proposal,” the
spokesperson said.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its readiness for substantive
negotiations on an early resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and the change of the inadmissible and unsustainable status quo,
Hajiyev stressed.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the
Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in
1988.
A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war,
Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani
territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts
(Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan),
and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally
displaced people.
The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and
Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.
Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the
OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE
(OSCE after the Budapest summit held in December 1994) Ministerial
Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy,
Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.
Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution,
comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began
operating in 1996.
Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which
were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted
by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations
require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from
Nagorno-Karabakh.

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Monday
Armenian Prime Minister and Rosatom head discussed the implementation
of the program to extend the life of the second power unit of Armenian
NPP
Yerevan June 12
Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan on June 12, met the general
director of the state corporation "Rosatom" Alexei Likhachev.
According to the Government press service, during the meeting Karen
Karapetyan stressed the importance of cooperation between Armenia and
Russia in the energy sphere. He expressed satisfaction with the level
of bilateral cooperation.
The sides discussed the process of implementing the program for the
extension of the second power unit of the Armenian NPP. Alexei
Likhachev noted that the work on the block is carried out in
accordance with the established schedule. He added that the program to
extend the life of the power unit of the Armenian nuclear power plant
is one of the most important programs in the energy cooperation
between the two states. Then Alexey Likhachev presented to the head of
the Armenian Government the intermediate results of the work done,
referring to the forthcoming works.
TsNIITMASH, an industrial enterprise of the Rosatom. As for the
instrumental survey, the main task of this exercise is to calculate
and confirm the residual life of the equipment using non-destructive
testing methods. In simple words, it is necessary to check the
possibility of further operation of NPP equipment. As you know, there
is a lot of equipment on the NPPA, so the instrumental survey is
distributed for several years, without compromising the safety and
operation of the NPPA. Last year, we started this process; this year
the volume of the surveyed equipment increased by 50% compared to last
year (150 types of equipment) at the request of the supervisory
authority. We hope to finish the instrumental survey process next year
and in 2019. Transfer calculations and conclusions to the supervisory
authority - the State Committee for Nuclear Safety Regulation. We hope
to finish on time, but everything will depend on the results of the
survey and the decision of the Gosatomnadzor. On 30 Sept 2015, Tashir
Group headed by Russian businessman of Armenian origin Samvel
Karapetyan and Inter RAO signed an agreement of purchase and sale of
electric power assets of the Russian energy holding in Armenia - ENA
CJSC and Hrazdan TPP. The reason of the sale was the public discontent
about the ungrounded growth in electricity prices by approximately
16.7% (6.93 AMD per 1 kWh). The Public Services Regulatory
Commission's (PSRC) decision to raise the tariff sparked protests and
the Armenian authorities agreed to audit both the expediency of PSRC's
decision to raise the tariff and the activities of the Electric
Networks. In addition, the authorities and Tashir Group took a
decision to subsidize on a parity basis the raised tariff for the
households and SMEs until the audit is completed. Since August 1,
2015, the daytime tariff for households (from 7 am till 11 pm) has
been 48.78 AMD per 1kWh, while the nighttime tariff has been 38.78 AMD
per 1 kWh.

Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
May 20, 2017 Saturday
Ensuring attractiveness of service in Armed Forces priority for us – Armenian MP
YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. The attractiveness of serving in the
Armenian Armed Forces is a priority issue, Koryun Nahapetyan,
candidate for the post of Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs, said at
the parliament session, in response to a question of ‘Yelk’ bloc
faction MP Mane Tandilyan, Armenpress reported.
“Today through the state budget resources provided for the armed
forces everything is being done to ensure the normal service of
soldiers and create favorable conditions for them. Of course, some
concerns were voiced, and the Committee held discussions over those
issues”, Nahapetyan said.
He stated that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense,
National Security and Internal Affairs also needs to take steps to
ensure attractiveness of the service in the armed forces since the
role of the newly-elected parliament in the parliamentary system is
bigger, the parliament is going to have serious control mechanisms.
Commenting on MP Tandilyan’s view that parents of soldiers provide the
first necessary things to their sons, Koryun Nahapetyan said it is
normal that each parent wants to ensure the maximum good conditions
for his/her son in the army. The MP said the state takes steps on this
path.