Category: 2020

 12:06,

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s defense minister Davit Tonoyan today had an informal meeting with newly-elected President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan, the defense ministry told Armenpress.

Davit Tonoyan congratulated Mr. Harutyunyan on election as President of Artsakh, wishing success.

The defense minister said the Armed Forces of Armenia, together with the Defense Army of Artsakh, will continue ensuring and strengthening the security and peaceful development of the Artsakh people.

At the meeting the officials also discussed issues relating to the cooperation in the defense field and the implementation of several programs.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:16,

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. During the period from April 12 to 18 the Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire regime in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact more than 190 times by firing nearly 1800 shots from various caliber weapons at the Armenian positions, the Artsakh defense ministry told Armenpress.

“The Defense Army forces of Artsakh fully control the situation in the frontline and continue confidently conducting their military service”, the statement of the ministry said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:20,

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Economy of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan had a meeting with the representatives of companies operating in the field of light industry, the ministry told Armenpress.

The ministers and the businessmen discussed the opportunities of organization of production during the current state of emergency.

The businessmen presented their notifications on the mandatory requirements of coronavirus preventive measures in production units. They mentioned the problems which can emerge in production units as a result of the minimum demands set by the Commandant’s office to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The meeting participants also discussed the opportunities to make changes in the measures for eliminating the consequences of coronavirus.

The minister promised to discuss these issues with the other members of the government and provide response as soon as possible.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:55,

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. According to the latest data, the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran has increased by 1,499, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 79,494, the Armenian Embassy in Iran said.

89 more deaths have been registered. The death roll has risen to 4,958.

3,563 citizens are in serious condition.

1,835 more patients have recovered, and the total number of recoveries has reached 54,064.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 16:14,

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. Amid the coronavirus lockdown and suspension of public events, the Armenian Church said a Holy Mass will be served in all churches nationwide on April 24th in honor of the Armenian Genocide victims.  The masses will proceed behind closed doors, without believers.

The Armenian Church said that the bells of all churches will ring at 12:00 on the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day – April 24.

As public events are banned to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional mass commemoration event on April 24 which usually sees hundreds of thousands of people laying flowers at the memorial in Yerevan will not take place. Only official protocol events are expected.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:55,

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. A new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been confirmed in the Republic of Artsakh, Artsakh’s information center reports.

“The ministry of healthcare of Artsakh informs that the results of the 10 out of 11 tests conducted yesterday have been received, and 9 citizens tested negative for coronavirus. The new case has been confirmed in one of the representatives of the medical staff who contacted a resident of Karvachar who has been transported to the Republican medical center earlier. Currently works are being done to isolate the direct contacts of the healthcare worker”, the statement says. “We will inform about the test result of the remaining one citizen later after getting the result”.

The information center again urges to follow the official news to avoid fake and unverified reports.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Artsakh has reached 7. 2 patients have already recovered.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 17:00,

The authorized capital of Converse Bank has increased by AMD 3,531 B (USD 7.4 B).  The decision on replenishment of the authorized capital was taken at the General Shareholder Meeting of the Bank on April 2.

“Eurnekian Family has always prioritized the expansion of their presence in Armenia and Artsakh and has continuously made contributions to the economic development and charity programs.  Our decision is a significant step toward the creation of a stronger and more rapidly growing Bank.  On the other hand, we do believe that the Armenian economy is attractive and has a sustainable financial sector with a large earning potential.  By increasing the capital we express our confidence in the Bank in the view of implementation of the upcoming plans,” Jorge Alberto Del Aguila, Converse Bank CJSC Board member and the representative of Eurnekian Family in Armenia, said.

“The ordinal increase of capital was planned under the Bank’s development programs for 2020, which was approved back in the past year.  We completed the process in April.  In the recent years Converse Bank has demonstrated a progressively steady growth in the core business indicators by providing a firm level of profitability.  The increase of capital will enable the Bank to preserve the growth rate.  The funds will be used to expand the financing of small and medium businesses, as well as to achieve the strategic objectives of the Bank, among which the development of remote digital services,” Artur Hakobyan, the CEO of Converse Bank CJSC said.

Converse Bank was founded in 1993.  The Bank positions itself as a universal bank and views the retail banking services as a priority direction of development.  The Bank’s main financial results displayed sustainable growth dynamics in the period of 31.12.2016-31.12.2019, the assets grew by 71% and comprised about AMD 326.6 B at the end of 2019, the loan portfolio grew by 90% and amounted to about AMD 226.7 B, the liabilities increased by 77% and made about AMD 281.6 B, and the net profit grew roughly 3.5 times and made over AMD 5.4 B.  The ROE made 12.9% based on the 2019 results.

 17:21,

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. Serzh Sargsyan’s lawyers are denying media reports that a new criminal case has been filed against the former president.

In a statement, Sargsyan’s lawyers said he was questioned by the National Security Service as a witness. They didn’t specify the case.

Sargsyan was questioned last week within the framework “of a case which isn’t investigated on an apparent case of bribing”.

“We urge [the media] to refrain from circulating disinformation”, the statement said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan