Category: 2020

 18:57, 29 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani troops fired 60 mm mortars in the direction of the Armenian positions in Martuni section at 15:00 and 17:25.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Artsakh, the Artsakh units suffered no losses as a result of the shelling.

The adversary was silenced following the retaliation of the Armenian side.

‘’We want to note that this is the first mortar shelling by Azerbaijani side since June, 2019. At the same time it should be added that other ceasefire violation cases took place from other firearms.

At this moment the situation is calm on the front line. The front line units of the Defense Army continue to confidently carry out their military duty”, reads the statement.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 20:11, 29 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS. 3 people have been arrested over the brawl between vice Speaker of the parliament Alen Simonyan and Co-founder of Adekvat Party Artur Danielyan. Danielyan is among the three arrested, head of the press service of the Police Edgar Janoyan told ARMENPRESS.

”Afterwards, Artur Danielyan was taken to the hospital from police department. Examination is underway”, he said.

Earlier today, the Police of Armenia received the alarm call from MP Arman Babajanyan over the incident of attacking National Assembly Vice Speaker Alen Simonyan.

Co-founder of Adekvad party Konstantin Ter-Nakalyan posted the photo of the other co-founder of the party Artur Danielyan where it can be seen that Danielyan has blood traces on the face.

‘’Alen Simonyan has attacked Artu Danielyan, who was walking in the street’’, he wrote.

Alen Simonyan informed that he was walking in the street and met some of the activists of Adekvad, one of whom made insulting expressions, after which brawling took place. Simonyan has also light injury at the palate.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 21:00, 29 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohra Mnatsakanyan had a telephone conversation with Toivo Klaar, the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the interlocutors discussed the challenges caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus and the steps aimed at overcoming them.

They also referred to the recent regional developments. In the context of the presidential and parliamentary elections held in Artsakh recently, FM Mnatsakanyan emphasized the importance of the democratic elections in Artsakh in terms of the implementation of human rights, preservation of the security of the people of Artsakh and for the effective development of the peace process.

During the meeting the sides also referred to the April 21 video conference between the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs mediated by the OSCE Minsk group Co-chairs, based on which a five-sided statement was issued. The sides particularly emphasized the importance of unconditional preservation and strengthening of the ceasefire under the light of the global fight against the coronavirus.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 10:26, 30 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. Journalists and news outlets no longer have to pay a state duty for accessing the information kept in the State Registry Agency of Legal Persons as the Ministry of Justice introduced a new regulation.

From now on the information will be provided free of charge, a move which the ministry of justice described will “strengthen guarantees of investigative journalism and media freedom, and will contribute them to providing the public with more accurate and comprehensive information”.

The reform is in pursuance of the government’s 2019-2023 Action Plan.

The legislative package covering the matter was approved by parliament in March 2020.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:07, 30 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. 134 coronavirus cases were confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, and 29 more patients have recovered, NCDC reported.

The total cumulative number of confirmed cases has reached 2066, with 929 recoveries.

The number of fatalities has reached 32. 

The number of active cases stands at 1103. 

Healthcare authorities said the latest two fatalities were patients with underlying health conditions and died not because of COVID-19.

Reporting by Lilit Demuryan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:33, 30 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Emergency Situations is denying media reports that the plane seized by authorities in Russia on April 25 belongs to them.

In a statement released on April 30, the ministry said they don’t have a plane at all.

“Mass media, citing Russian sources, are circulating information that the transit plane seized on April 25 in Russia belongs to the Ministry of Emergency Situation. We are informing that the Ministry of Emergency Situation doesn’t have an airplane”, the statement said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 09:48, 30 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. A 94-year-old woman in Armenia has recovered from COVID-19 and was discharged from a Yerevan hospital on April 29, the medical center’s director Gevorg Simonyan said on social media.

He said the woman is so far the oldest patient to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in Armenia.

Editing and translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:38, 30 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan says they are considering a potential shift in strategy in the coronavirus response as the hospital capacity is nearing its full volume.

“In the event of such development of events, we will probably soon shift to a strategy of not hospitalizing asymptomatic or mild coronavirus cases,” he said, presenting the figures from the past 24 hours.

In the past day, the highest number of confirmed daily cases (134) was registered in Armenia.

The number of active cases stand at 1103.

929 people recovered and 32 have died so far. 

However, Torosyan said they will try to maximally extend the launch of the new strategy, since it itself contains risks of transmission. “We assume we will be able to carry on for 5-6 days with this pace, although there were many direct contacts in these 134 cases. We have one case which we were always trying to avoid, an infected person participated at a funeral,” Torosyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 12:30, 30 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Government approved its 15^th coronavirus relief measure at the Cabinet meeting today.

Minister of Environment Erik Grigoryan said the purpose of this act is to create temporary jobs in agriculture through solving environmental issues.

He said that people who are facing social issues because of the coronavirus outbreak will be paid for carrying out tree-planting.

“We propose to create riparian forest zones in river valleys at high-altitude areas in the country through local willow species, and widely involve local population in the work, thus creating additional jobs and mitigating the dangers related to the population’s reduction in income,” he said.

The initiative is worth 200,000,000 drams.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 13:21, 30 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Victory Day, the Armenian Government announced it will pay 300,000-dram rewards as assistance to all World War II veterans in Armenia.

PM Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting that 287 WWII veterans are currently living in Armenia.

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Zaruhi Batoyan reminded that this one-time payment is not related to the stipend that the veterans are already receiving, which in turn was doubled in 2019.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan