Category: 2020

PM names new Deputy Director of NSS

Bedik Zaminian

Save

Share

 15:20, 5 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. Argishti Kyaramyan has been appointed Deputy Director of the National Security Service a day after being appointed Vice Chairman of the Investigative Committee.

Kyaramyan was serving as Deputy Director of the State Supervision Service before being named Vice Chairman of the Investigative Committee on May 4 by PM Nikol Pashinyan.

His appointment as Deputy Director of the NSS was formalized today by President Armen Sarkissian at the recommendation of the PM.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenian President wishes Russian PM speedy recovery from coronavirus

George Mamian

Save

Share

 19:05, 5 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian sent a letter to Prime MInister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin, who is in coronavirus treatment process. The President wished him health and speedy recovery, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office.

On April 30, Mishustin said during a video conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and had to self-isolate. Putin wished him a speedy recovery and signed a decree appointing First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov to serve as Acting Prime Minister.

“Mikhail Vladimirovich is staying in one of state medical facilities under doctors’ supervision. He is feeling normal in general. The treatment is going on as scheduled, using the drugs recommended by the Health Ministry for patients to cure this disease. The prime minister is actively contacting with his colleagues by phone”, his spokesman said earlier today.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Erik Grigoryan relieved of post of Minister of Environment

Eduard Nalbandian

Save

Share

 18:46, 5 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. Erik Grigoryan has been relieved of post of Minister of Environment of Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports President Armen Sarkissian signed the decree.

Erik Grigoryan was appointed Minister of Environment o June 1, 2019. Before that he was the Minister of Nature Protection from May 12, 2018. The Ministry of Nature Protection was renamed into Ministry of Environment following the structural changes in the Government in 2019.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

COVID-19 updates: China records 1 new case in past one day

Talar Tumanian

Save

Share

 17:48, 5 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world has surpassed 3 million 669 thousand 604, according to the data released by coronavirus research centers.

The death toll is over 253,000.

1 million 210 thousand 424 patients have recovered.

US is leading in the world in terms of the largest number of infected people (1 million 213 thousand 010 confirmed cases). 69,925 deaths were reported.

Then comes Spain which confirmed 250,561 cases so far. The total number of deaths in Spain is 25,613.

Spain is followed by Italy which reported a total of 211,938 cases. 29,079 patients have died.

UK overtook France, confirming 190,584 cases and 28,734 deaths.

The next is France with a total of 169,462 cases and 25,201 deaths.

Germany has confirmed 166,199 cases and 6,993 deaths.

Russia is the next, reporting 155,370 cases. The deaths reached 1,451.

Turkey has recorded 127,659 cases. The deaths comprise 3,461.

Brazil surpassed Iran and China with most confirmed cases (108,620). 7,367 people have died in Brazil.

Iran recorded 99,970 cases. 6,340 people have died in Iran from coronavirus.

China confirmed a total of 82,881cases. 1 new cases have been confirmed in the country in the past one day. The death toll here is 4,633. No death case has been registered in the past one day.

Georgia confirmed 604 cases of coronavirus and 9 deaths.

Among the Arab states Qatar overtook the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the most confirmed cases – 17,142. The death toll has reached 12 in Qatar. The number of infected people in the UAE is 15,192. 146 death cases have been registered here. Egypt reported 6,813 confirmed cases and 436 deaths. In Kuwait the number of confirmed cases is 5,804 and that of the deaths is 40. Iraq confirmed 2,346 cases and 98 deaths. 741 cases have been reported in Lebanon, the deaths comprise 25. Syria’s confirmed cases reached 44. 3 death cases have been registered.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global pandemic and named the virus COVID-19. 

According to the data of the World Health Organization, coronavirus cases have been confirmed in more than 210 countries and territories.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 05/05/2020

Arpi Talalian 
                                        Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Armenian Environment Minister Resigns
Armenia -- Environment Minister Erik Grigorian speaks to RFE/RL, Yerevan, July 
23, 2019
Armenia’s Environment Minister Erik Grigorian stepped down for unknown reasons 
on Tuesday.
Grigorian did not explain his resignation which was promptly accepted by Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian. He was formally relieved of his duties by President 
Armen Sarkissian.
Pashinian also did not comment on the resignation. Nor did he immediately name 
Grigorian’s replacement.
“It is everybody’s duty to protect the environment, regardless of our 
profession, field of work and preferences,” Grigorian wrote on his Facebook page 
hours before the official confirmation of his resignation.
Grigorian, 40, was appointed as environment minister in May 2018 following the 
“Velvet Revolution” that brought Pashinian to power.
He served as first deputy environment minister in 2017-2018. In 2017, he was 
also an assistant to then Prime Minister Karen Karapetian.
Provincial Medical Centers To Reopen After COVID-19 Outbreak
Armenia -- The Nork hospital in Yerevan specializing in treatment of infectious 
diseases, March 24, 2020.
A hospital and a policlinic in a small town in eastern Armenia will resume their 
work on Wednesday more than two weeks after dozens of their employees were 
infected with coronavirus.
Authorities sealed off the town of Vartenis on April 22 after registering 47 
cases of coronavirus there. They said that 21 of the infected people are 
doctors, nurses and other people working at the local medical centers.
One of them, a policlinic doctor, was identified as the primary source of the 
COVID-19 outbreak in the local community 160 kilometers northeast of Yerevan. 
Both facilities were temporarily shut down and their staff placed under 
quarantine as a result.
Gnel Sanosian, the governor of the surrounding Gegharkunik province, announced 
on Tuesday that all 76 employees of the hospital and the 64 policlinic staffers 
tested negative for the virus at the end of the two-week isolation.
Sanosian said that the hospital and the policlinic will therefore be reopened on 
Wednesday. They will follow “all necessary anti-epidemic rules,” he added in a 
Facebook post.
All roads leading to Vartenis will remain closed at least until Thursday. It is 
not yet clear whether the authorities will extend the lockdown later this week.
Health Minister Arsen Torosian has described mass infections among medical 
personnel as one of the factors behind the continuing spread of coronavirus in 
Armenia. According to him, 320 healthcare workers across Armenia have contracted 
the disease so far, accounting for more than 12 percent of all coronavirus cases 
confirmed to date.
“This is certainly a very unfortunate but the same time inevitable phenomenon,” 
Torosian wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “You can probably imagine how difficult 
things get for the healthcare system when it has to treat or isolate people who 
themselves are supposed to treat coronavirus patients.”
Torosian also said that his ministry had ordered medics who are aged over 60 or 
suffer from serious chronic illness to stay at home as much as possible. This 
has helped to prevent coronavirus-related deaths among doctors and nurses, he 
said.
The Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday morning that the total number of 
COVID-19 cases in the country rose by 112 to 2,619 in the past day. It also said 
that the death toll from the virus reached 40.
Torosian warned on Monday that the number of the cases could quadruple by the 
end of this month if Armenians fail to observe physical distancing and take 
other precautions against the virus.
The warning came as the Armenian government essentially ended a nationwide 
lockdown imposed in late March. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Sunday 
that citizens must now share with the government “responsibility” for tackling 
the epidemic and minimizing its consequences.
Yerevan Expects More Gas Talks With Moscow
Armenia -- Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian speaks at a press conference, 
Yerevan, April 21, 2020.
Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian has said that Armenia will hold further 
discussions with Russia on the price of Russian natural gas which Yerevan hopes 
will be reduced soon.
The Armenian government effectively requested a price cut with a letter sent by 
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian to the chairman of Russia’s Gazprom energy 
giant, Alexei Miller, in late March. Grigorian argued, among other things, that 
international oil prices, which essentially determine the cost of Russian gas 
supplied to Europe, have fallen sharply due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Miller responded by indicating that it is up to the governments of the two 
countries to agree on the Russian gas price for Armenia.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the issue with Russian President 
Vladimir Putin in an April 6 phone call.
Two weeks later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed complaints 
that European Union member states are now paying less for Russian gas than 
Armenia and Belarus because of the collapse in international oil prices. He 
argued that that unlike EU consumers, the two ex-Soviet states allied to Russia 
buy Russian gas at fixed prices that had been set well below international 
market-based levels.
Grigorian countered that Russian natural gas has never been as cheap for Armenia 
as was claimed by Lavrov. He also dismissed Lavrov’s criticism of ongoing 
criminal investigations into major Russian companies operating in Armenia and 
the state-owned Russia Railways network in particular.
Mnatsakanian admitted on Monday the existence of problematic “issues” in 
Russian-Armenian relations while emphasizing that the two countries remain close 
allies.
“The gas issue is extremely important for Armenia, and we are going to continue 
to discuss it with our Russian partners,” he told journalists.
Gazprom raised the wholesale price of its gas delivered to Armenia from $150 to 
$165 per thousand cubic meters in January 2019. Nevertheless the cost of gas 
supplied to Armenian households and businesses has remained unchanged since then.
Armenia’s Gazprom-owned gas distribution network has incurred additional losses 
as a result. Last month it asked the Public Services Regulatory Commission 
(PSRC) to allow a roughly 11 percent rise in its retail prices.
The request was filed one day after Grigorian’s letter to Miller. The PSRC has 
to decide by June 19 whether to approve or reject it.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

President-elect of Artsakh meets with Mayor of Stepanakert

Ophelia Vardapetian

Save

Share

 13:31, 4 May, 2020

STEPANAKERT, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Newly elected President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan met with Mayor of Stepanakert Davit Sargsyan, the President-elect said on Facebook.

“Today I met with Mayor of Stepanakert Davit Sargsyan. Highlighting the close cooperation with the city leadership we have discussed the development programs of the capital city, as well as outlined their implementation timetables during our private talk.

As envisaged in the pre-election program, as well as during the meetings with the residents of Stepanakert we have almost completely recorded the issues and problems of urban significance which require solution, and as promised, they will always be under the spotlight of the government and the country’s leadership”, he said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Three recovered coronavirus patients in Armenia test positive again after two weeks

Mary Lazarian

Save

Share

 13:37, 4 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Three people in Armenia have tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks after being treated for the disease and discharged from a hospital, suggesting potential re-infection, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan told lawmakers at a committee meeting when asked whether or not re-infections have been recorded.

“Unfortunately such cases were recorded, including in Armenia. But there is a big academic debate going on about this. And every day we are receiving updated scientific information on whether or not these were re-infections, meaning the patient was treated and then contracted the infection again, or whether it was simply a de-activation of the virus in the body, and then re-activation, and we were unable to detect the virus in a de-activated state because the patient was asymptomatic and the swab didn’t contain the virus. Or the most likely case is that this is the non-active particles of the virus in tissues, when the virus is not multiplying, but its DNA is present in the cells, and we simply detect it upon testing,” Torosyan said, adding that only three people in Armenia have tested positive again after being discharged following treatment for COVID-19.

These three people have been quarantined as a precaution to rule out potential spread of the disease.

According to Torosyan, such cases are reported mostly in China and South Korea, and scientists from South Korea are the ones who concluded that these aren’t re-infections, but rather a kind of virus residue in the throat tissues.

Anyhow, since it is unclear at the moment whether or not recovered patients are immune to the coronavirus, Torosyan urged them to maintain all precautionary and safety rules like others.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

International recognition of Armenian Genocide is a key agenda issue – FM

Tambiyan Samvel

Save

Share

 14:52, 4 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide remains one of the most important agenda issues of Armenia, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said during the parliamentary hearings on the government’s program.

“Last year several initiatives were held on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the commemoration of victims. France declared April 24 as the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. The parliaments of Italy and Portugal adopted initiatives on condemnation and recognition. On October 30 the US House of Representatives adopted a resolution affirming the US position on the Armenian Genocide, and on December 12 the US Senate unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide. On February 13, 2020, the parliament of Syria adopted a resolution recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide”, the FM said.

According to him, the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide has long received a universal significance as its recognition is one of the most effective tools to prevent the crime of genocide. “In this respect the recent subtexts on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide are worth noting which are conditioned not only by the friendly relations between the nations, who recognized it, and the Armenian people, but also by the aspiration to prevent the new tragedies in the world and the region. In fact, there is a perception in our region that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a restraining force to the threat to security”, the Armenian FM said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Russia’s coronavirus cases grow by over 10,000 in one day

Hagop Kamalian

Save

Share

 14:53, 4 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The number of COVID-19 cases in Russia has risen by 10,581 over the past day, reaching 145,268 in all regions, TASS reports citing the anti-coronavirus crisis center.

More than 18,000 people have recovered and 1,356 others have died.

According to the crisis center, the daily growth rate stands at 7.9%. Some 5,352 new cases (50.6%) are without any symptoms.

Iran coronavirus cases rise by 1,223 in one day

Emil Lazarian

Save

Share

 14:55, 4 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. According to the latest data, the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran has increased by 1,223 bringing the total number of cases to 98,647, the Armenian Embassy in Iran said on Facebook.

74 more deaths have been registered in the past one day. The death toll has reached 6,277.

2,676 coronavirus infected patients are in serious condition.

The number of recovered people increased by 975, raising the total number of recoveries to 79,397.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan