Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

 11:37,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met on November 11 with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay in Paris, the Armenian MFA reports.

FM Mirzoyan congratulated Audrey Azouklay on re-election.

The Armenian FM and the UNESCO Director General praised the productive partnership formed over those years.

Ararat Mirzoyan said that Armenia has always made the maximum efforts to assist UNESCO in the implementation of its key mission in education, science and culture based on common values. In this context he said that Armenia’s membership candidacy for the UNESCO Executive Council for 2021-2025 derives also from the goals of raising the efficiency of those efforts.

The meeting also touched upon the issue of the preservation of the Armenian historical-cultural and religious heritage in the territories of Artsakh which have come under the Azerbaijani control due to last year’s Azerbaijani aggression. Ararat Mirzoyan said that the taking of preventing actions by the international community to prevent Azerbaijan’s deliberate destruction of the Armenian monuments is just an imperative.

In this context he emphasized the importance of implementing the Director General’s proposal to send an independent assessment mission to the region within the frames of the 1954 Hague Convention.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:17, 3 November, 2021

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. 2045 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 312,674, the ministry of healthcare reports.

13,184 COVID-19 tests were conducted on November 2.

1276 patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 273,608.

The death toll has risen to 6491 (50 death cases have been registered in the past one day).

The number of active cases is 31,263.

The number of people who have been infected with COVID-19 but died from other disease has reached 1312.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 20:24, 1 November, 2021

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan held a phone conversation with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, ARMENPRESS was informed from the official website of the MFA Armenia.

The Ministers discussed issues related to the implementation of the agreements reached by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia on November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021, taking into account that soon it will be a year since the signing of the November trilateral document on full ceasefire. Special attention was paid to the solution of urgent humanitarian issues – return of detainees, provision of maps of minefields, preservation of cultural and religious heritage.

The two FMs exchanged approaches on easing tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, unblocking all transport and economic ties in the South Caucasus, and creating a favorable atmosphere for regional cooperation.

The importance of continuing the efforts aimed at the political-diplomatic settlement of the border incidents between Armenia and Azerbaijan was emphasized. The sides touched upon the current aspects of the Armenian-Russian cooperation, taking into account the forthcoming bilateral contacts at different levels. The Foreign Ministers of the two countries noted the progressive development of the allied cooperation. They also discussed various international and regional issues.

 10:06, 27 October, 2021

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The government-backed bill on cutting the New Year holidays passed parliament at first reading by 53/16/3 votes.

Before, Armenia had a week-long holiday starting December 31st (New Year holidays until January 2nd, then until January 5th pre-Christmas holidays, January 6th Christmas, and the 7th of January was observed as Merelots (Day of Commemorating the Dead).

By the new law, only December 31st and January 1st, as well the January 6th will be non-working days.

The recommendation was brought forward by Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan, who says that the week-long holidays negatively impact the GDP and production volumes in different branches of the economy, as well as foreign economic activities and the implementation of contract relations with domestic and foreign organizations.

The opposition Hayastan bloc proposed to keep January 2 and 7 as non-working days, but the recommendation was rejected.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 13:04,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia will allocate 13,5 billion drams to the Republic of Artsakh aimed at restoring the post-war situation, reviving economic life and solving the social issues of the displaced population.

Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan said at the Cabinet meeting that this allocation will bring the sum of funds given to Artsakh since 2020 to nearly 120 billion drams.

1,3 billion drams from the allocation will be provided as a donation and will be directed for financing utility expenses of the population for November 2021.

12,2 billion drams will be allocated as an interstate loan with the purpose of covering the salaries, benefits, pensions, healthcare expenditures and bonds for November envisaged by the 2021 state budget of Artsakh.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan