Thursday, August 6, 2020
Government Vows More ‘Proactive’ Coronavirus Testing
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia -- A medical worker takes notes at the Surp Grigor Lusarovich Medical
Center in Yerevan, the country's largest hospital treating coronavirus patients,
June 5, 2020.
The Armenian government said on Thursday that it hopes to further curb the
spread of the coronavirus in the country through more targeted and proactive
testing.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Health Minister Arsen Torosian noted that new
coronavirus cases have decreased considerably in recent weeks not only in
absolute terms but also as a proportion of nationwide coronavirus tests.
Pashinian said around 15 percent of daily tests carried out over the past week
came back positive, compared with 25-30 percent registered in June and the first
half of July.
“While the influx [of infected people] was previously strong and we basically
waited for people to apply [to hospitals and policlinics,] we are changing our
tactic and the Ministry of Health will now be more proactive and we will carry
out testing in some high-risk places at our own initiative,” he told a weekly
cabinet meeting.
Torosian specified that the health authorities will target people working in the
same government agencies, supermarkets, factories, banks or other businesses as
well as patients of various medical and elderly care institutions.
“That is, if one of them tests positive we no longer wait for others to show
symptoms. We test everyone and quickly detect [infections,]” explained the
minister. He said this should help the health authorities to cut the proportion
of positive test results to below 10 percent.
The authorities have carried out roughly 2,000 tests a day since the end of May.
Critics have for months urged them to significantly expand COVID-19 testing,
saying that is vital for tackling the pandemic in the virtual absence of
lockdown restrictions in the country of about 3 million.
Pashinian’s government has put the emphasis of getting Armenians to practice
social distancing, wear face masks in public and follow other anti-epidemic
rules. Government officials say that this strategy is working. They point to the
significant drop in daily infections registered by the Ministry of Health.
The ministry reported in the morning that 233 more people have tested positive
for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 288 cases confirmed the day before
and an average of 550-600 cases a day registered in the first half of July.
The ministry also reported two more deaths caused by COVID-19. They brought the
official death toll to 772.
Pashinian cautioned on Thursday that Armenia’s infection rates are still “high.”
He said that people’s and businesses’ continued compliance with the safety rules
will be critical for reducing them further. The premier again stressed the
importance of wearing face masks in all public and enclosed spaces.
Another Former Armenian Official Arrested
• Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia -- Robert Nazarian, the chairman of the Public Services Regulatory
Commission, speaks during parliamentary hearings in Yerevan, June 12, 2015.
Armenia’s former top utility regulator was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of
giving privileged treatment to a company allegedly linked to Mikael Minasian,
former President Serzh Sarkisian’s fugitive son-in-law.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS) said Robert Nazarian, who headed the
Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) from 2003-2018, was taken into
custody as part of a criminal investigation into DzoraHEK, a major hydroelectric
plant privatized in 2010.
The SIS said that in 2011 Nazarian abused his position to have the PSRC include
DzoraHEK on a list of small hydroelectric facilities allowed to sell electricity
to the national power grid at a much higher price. As a result, the plant made
more than 7 billion drams ($14.5 million) in extra profits over the next eight
years, the law-enforcement agency added in a statement.
The statement implied that DzoraHEK received the privileged treatment because it
was owned at the time by “individuals linked to former President Serzh
Sarkisian’s son-in-law Mikael Minasian.”
The SIS did not formally charge Nazarian with abuse of power yet. It was not
clear whether the former PSRC chief, who had also served as mayor of Yerevan
from 2001-2003, admitted any wrongdoing.
There was no immediate reaction from Minasian, who left Armenia in late 2018 and
is now facing separate corruption charges rejected by him as politically
motivated.
The SIS move prompted criticism from lawyers representing Sarkisian. In a joint
statement, they accused the investigators of spreading “manipulative
information” aimed at discrediting their client.
Armen Ashotian, the deputy chairman of Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK), alleged, meanwhile, that the SIS arrested Nazarian in a bid to force him
to give “false” incriminating testimony against the ex-president. He said that
Nazarian refused to implicate Sarkisian in any corrupt practices.
“Robert Nazarian is proving that there have been and there will be unbreakable,
ethical and strong guys in Armenia,” Ashotian wrote on Facebook.
The DzoraHEK plant was handed over to the Armenia Defense Ministry in 2001 one
year after Serzh Sarkisian was appointed as defense minister. The latter held
that post until 2007 and went on to become Armenia’s president in 2008.
In 2010, Sarkisian’s government decided to sell the hydroelectric plant, located
in the northern Lori province, to a private company, Dzoraget Hydro, for 3.6
billion drams ($7.5 million). Some Armenian media outlets speculated at the time
that the company is controlled by Minasian.
Prosecutors said in May 2019 DzoraHEK was in fact worth an estimated 8 billion
drams ($16.8 million). Earlier this year, they indicted Seyran Ohanian,
Armenia’s defense minister from 2008 to 2016, over the 26-megawatt facility’s
privatization which they said caused “substantial damage” to the state.
Ohanian denied any responsibility for the deal, saying that it was negotiated by
the Armenian Energy Ministry and approved by the former government.
In 2016, DzoraHEK was sold to another private company reportedly owned by
Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian.
More Government Aid Approved For Armenian Border Villages
• Artak Khulian
ARMENIA -- Aram Vardazaryan stands inside his home in the village of Aygepar
recently damaged by shelling during armed clashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border, July 18, 2020.
The Armenian government approved on Thursday 277 million drams ($570,000) in
additional financial aid to four villages in Tavush province damaged during last
month’s deadly fighting at a nearby section ofArmenia’s border with Azerbaijan.
According to the provincial administration, 89 village houses there were hit by
cross-border shelling from the Azerbaijani side. The central government pledged
to repair all of them immediately after the weeklong hostilities which left at
least 12 Azerbaijani servicemen and 5 Armenian soldiers dead. It initially
allocated 25 million drams for that purpose.
Minister for Local Government and Infrastructures Suren Papikian said more than
110 million drams of the extra government funding will be channeled into ongoing
house repairs in three of those border villages: Aygepar, Nerkin Karmiraghbyur
and Chinari.
Papikian said another 84.3 million drams will be spent on refurbishing schools
and bomb shelters located in these and another border village, Movses. He noted
that the schools were not damaged by the Azerbaijani shelling.
The rest of the funding will go to pay for the construction of a small park in
Nerkin Karmiraghbyur and a housing complex in Chinari, Papikian added during a
cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian told Papikian to ensure that the
government-funded construction is carried out thoroughly and “as rapidly as
possible.”
Villages located on the Azerbaijani side of the heavily militarized border also
reportedly suffered extensive damage during the clashes that broke out on July
12 and prompted serious concern from the international community. Yerevan and
Baku have blamed each other for what was the worst flare-up of violence in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone since 2016.
Armenia To Send Relief Aid To Lebanon
• Susan Badalian
LEBANON -- A damaged facade is seen following a blast at the port of Beirut,
August 5, 2020.
The Armenian government said on Thursday that it will send humanitarian
assistance to Lebanon coping with devastating consequences of a massive
explosion in Beirut which killed at least 135 people and injured thousands of
others.
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian said that an Armenian transport plane
carrying foodstuffs, medical supplies and other vital items will likely fly to
the Lebanese capital on Saturday.
“I think that we will ascertain the quantity and type of the assistance and time
frames by the end of the day,” Avinian told Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and
fellow cabinet members.
The government expressed readiness to provide the relief aid immediately after
Tuesday’s explosion at Beirut port warehouses. Pashinian communicated the offer
to Lebanese President Michel Aoun during a phone conversation on Wednesday.
The prime minister described Lebanon as “one of Armenia’s closest friends,”
alluding to the existence of a sizable and influential Armenian community in the
Middle Eastern state.
“Beirut was the capital of the Armenian Diaspora of the 20th century … At this
difficult moment, we cannot stay indifferent to the needs of the brotherly
people of Lebanon and the Armenian community of Beirut,” he said at the start of
a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
Lebanon -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visits an Armenian church in
Beirut, October 21, 2018.
It was also announced that Zareh Sinanyan, Armenia’s high commissioner of
Diaspora affairs, will fly to Beirut on board the plane to be loaded with the
aid. Sinanyan will meet with leaders of the Lebanese-Armenian community to
discuss ways of helping its members gravely affected by the blast.
The blast reportedly left 11 ethnic Armenians dead and about 250 others injured.
It also destroyed or severely damaged many homes in Beirut’s Armenian-populated
neighborhoods.
Samvel Karapetian, a Russian-Armenian billionaire and philanthropist, pledged on
Wednesday to give $10,000 to each of the families of the 11 Lebanese Armenian
victims. Karapetian’s Moscow-based Tashir charity said it will also donate
$200,000 to Beirut’s main Armenian church also damaged by the devastating blast
wave.
Pashinian said that other individuals in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora can
also donate cash to the community through the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Hayastan. The government-backed charity headquartered in Yerevan has opened
special bank accounts for that purpose.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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