Category: 2020

Fitch revises outlook on Armenia to negative: The COVID-19 shock negatively affects country’s economy

Hovik Karapetian
News.am, Armenia
April 6 2020
Fitch revises outlook on Armenia to negative: The COVID-19 shock negatively affects country’s economy Fitch revises outlook on Armenia to negative: The COVID-19 shock negatively affects country’s economy

13:52, 06.04.2020
                  

Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Armenia’s Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the IDRs at ‘BB-‘, the press release said.

“The coronavirus shock negatively affects the Armenian economy due to its exposures to commodities (a majority of exports), the Russian economy (for remittances, trade and FDI) and to tourism, only partially offset by the benefit of a lower oil price.”

“This is in the context of Armenia’s relatively high net external debt and structural current account deficit, which is only partly financed by non-debt creating capital inflows. Despite a robust macroeconomic policy framework and continuing commitment to reform, the economic shock has put public debt on a markedly higher trajectory, and there are downside risks to our forecasts should the COVID-19 outbreak not be contained in 2H20 in line with Fitch’s current baseline assumption.”

“Fitch projects that GDP growth partially recovers in 2021, to 5.5%, supported by a rebound in external demand, investment catch-up, and revival of private consumption and employment growth, with a moderate drag from fiscal tightening. However, in line with our global macro-economic forecasts, the pace of recovery will be highly dependent on the path of the health crisis and the extent to which the coronavirus outbreak can be contained in 2H20. If a second wave of infections materialises and lockdown measures have to be re-introduced, our economic and fiscal forecasts for Armenia could be subject to material negative adjustment.”

“General government debt is projected to rise from 53.6% at end-2019 to 59.2% of GDP in 2020 before falling back to 56.0% in 2021, upward revisions of 9.4pp and 7.4pp, respectively, since our last review, and well above the current ‘BB’ median of 46.5%.”

“The coronavirus shock has increased external risks to the Armenian economy. Fitch forecasts the current account deficit remains high, at 8.5% of GDP in 2020 and 8.1% in 2021, compared with the 2018-2019 average of 8.8% and the current ‘BB’ median of 2.9%.”

What comes to key assumption, the authors noted: “Fitch assumes that Armenia will continue to experience broad social and political stability and that there will be no prolonged escalation in the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh to a level that would affect economic and financial stability.

Fitch expects macroeconomic indicators to move in line Fitch’s Global Economic Outlook forecasts, but acknowledges that these are likely to be subject to frequent and possibly significant downward revisions given the evolving nature of the global crisis.”

Human rights activists put forward eight conditions for the admissibility of digital surveillance in the fight against COVID-19

Christine Harutyunian
Arminfo, Armenia
April 6 2020

ArmInfo. With governments across the world rapidly expanding the use of digital surveillance in an attempt to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Amnesty International and other leading NGOs have set out strict conditions that must be met to  safeguard human rights and prevent surveillance overreach.  

More than 100 hundred civil society groups joined Amnesty in signing  the joint statement published on Amnesty International website. 

Surveillance measures adopted to address the pandemic must be lawful,  necessary and proportionate. They must be provided for by law and  must be justified by legitimate public health objectives, as  determined by the appropriate public health authorities, and be  proportionate to those needs. Governments must be transparent about  the measures they are taking so that they can be scrutinized and if  appropriate later modified, retracted, or overturned. We cannot allow  the COVID-19 pandemic to serve as an excuse for indiscriminate mass  surveillance. 

If governments expand monitoring and surveillance powers then such  powers must be time-bound, and only continue for as long as necessary  to address the current pandemic. We cannot allow the COVID-19  pandemic to serve as an excuse for indefinite surveillance, the  statement reads. 

States must ensure that increased collection, retention, and  aggregation of personal data, including health data, is only used for  the purposes of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected,  retained, and aggregated to respond to the pandemic must be limited  in scope, time-bound in relation to the pandemic and must not be used  for commercial or any other purposes.

“Technology can play an important role in the global effort to  combat the COVID-19 pandemic, however, this does not give governments  carte blanche to expand digital surveillance. The recent past has  shown governments are reluctant to relinquish temporary surveillance  powers. We must not sleepwalk into a permanent expanded surveillance  state now,” said Rasha Abdul Rahim, Deputy Director of Amnesty Tech.

“Increased digital surveillance to tackle this public health  emergency, can only be used if certain strict conditions are met.  Authorities cannot simply disregard the right to privacy and must  ensure any new measures have robust human rights safeguards. Wherever  governments use the power of technology as part of their strategy to  beat COVID-19, they must do so in a way that respects human rights.” 

Arsen Kharatyan: Political crisis has developed in Artsakh

Hambardsumian Paul
News.am, Armenia
April 6 2020

ArmInfo. A rally was held in Artsakh yesterday after the election for the first time in 30 years. Former adviser to the Prime Minister of Armenia, independent expert Arsen  Kharatyan stated this during a video discussion on the topic of the  elections held in Artsakh.

He noted the fact that the presidential and parliamentary elections  were simultaneously held in Artsakh and is an unprecedented situation  for the NKR. Kharatyan stated that the activity in the elections was  very high, 73% of voters have participated. , the expert emphasized.

He also emphasized that the group of people that closed one of the  streets in Stepanakert said they would not accept the results of  these elections.

The expert noted that it is not yet clear what the ballots will be.  < That is, it is unclear whether they will contain only the name of  Arayik Harutyunyan, since Masis Mayilyan will actually boycott the  elections or the names of both candidates. I believe that today there  is a political crisis in Artsakh>,  Kharatyan said.  It should be  noted that on March 31 the presidential and parliamentary elections  were held in Artsakh. But since none of the presidential candidates  won more than 50% of the vote, the second round of the presidential  election will be held on April 14.

Institute of Molecular Biology of Armenia will soon launch production of COVID tests

Chakhmakhchian Vatche
Arminfo, Armenia
April 6 2020

ArmInfo. Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia have developed and will soon begin production of tests for the diagnosis of coronavirus infection. This was announced live on Facebook by Prime  Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashiyan. He noted that according to the  leadership of the institute, the institute can produce up to 100  anti-coronavirus tests daily.

He noted that the government has recently given special importance to  the financing of science, including applied science. In the budgets  of 2019 and 2020, the government increased funds for applied science  by more than 10-fold, to 600-700 million drams.  About 300 million  drams were spent on the purchase of laboratory equipment alone.

Forecast: The time will tell when the bubble burst into which Artsakh authorities turned themselves.

Emil Lazarian
Arminfo, Armenia
April 6 2020

ArmInfo. The situation in Artsakh following the March 31 elections is rather strange, it  closely resembles the situation in Armenia following the 2017  parliamentary elections.  A similar opinion was expressed by ArmInfo  Director of the Armenian Center for National Strategic Studies Manvel  Sargsyan.

“The authorities of Artsakh are still hoping, in my opinion, rather  presumptuous that they will be able to ascribe victory to themselves  after the second round of elections. Artsakh residents didn’t allow  this to happen after the first round. I am convinced that they will  never allow anyone to wrest their consent to the unjustified  intentions of the authorities. The same will happen when the bubble  bursts into which the Artsakh authorities themselves have turned  themselves, time will tell, “he stressed.

As a result of the presidential elections held in Artsakh on March  31, not one of the candidates won 50% of the vote. With the most  votes in the first round, Araik Harutyunyan – 49.6% and Masis  Mayilyan – 26.7% will have a second round, which, according to the  Constitution, will be held two weeks after the first.  However, on  April 5, Masis Mayilyan called on the Artsakh people to boycott the  second round, making it impossible to carry out the threat of the  spread of the coronavirus.

The parliamentary elections ended with the passage of five political  forces in the Artsakh National Assembly. These are the parties “Free  Homeland”, “United Homeland”, “Justice”, ARF and “Democratic Party of  Artsakh”.

Sargsyan recalled that his spokesman announced the victory of  Harutyunyan on the night of April 1, which was even accompanied by an  attempt at a festive fireworks display in Stepanakert. And quite a  few believed that falsification of the election results would allow  Harutyunyan to complete them in the first round, which his supporters  did not hide. Nevertheless, by two o’clock the CEC, citing  preliminary data, announced that Harutyunyan did not have 0.8% of the  vote to win. And, accordingly, announced the second round.

The general perplexity, according to the analyst, provoked  Harutyunyan’s instant and unconditional agreement with the  preliminary data of the CEC, which he did not even try to  double-check. Thus, however, only at first glance, the situation  following the election results looked rather mysterious. In reality,  people who tried to end the elections in the first round, using an  administrative, financial resource, deliberately misinforming and  intimidating voters, simply found themselves in an unusual situation.   “All these plans were thwarted by the citizens of Artsakh with their  active civic stance. It was they who clearly demonstrated the  impossibility of dictating their conditions to them by people from  the past. The latter belatedly realized that intimidation, pressure  on citizens through an administrative resource to ascribe to  themselves the victory in the elections today is no longer enough. In  in the most terrible dream, these people couldn’t see the situation  when there seemed to be a vote, but it was impossible to declare  victory.  thoughtful attitude towards citizens, especially during the  election period, “the analyst concluded. 

Armath students assemble a robot in India to deliver food to coronavirus-infected patients

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia
April 6 2020

Students of Armath Engineering Laboratories in India have assembled an automated robot serving food to patients infected with the coronavirus. The video of the robot in action has been shared on the Facebook page of Armath Laboratories.

The Union of Advanced Technology Enterprise (UATE) reminds that during the opening ceremony of DigiTec 2019 Technology Exhibition held in Yerevan Expo Center on October 6-9, 2019, Armath Engineering Labs signed a contract to export the Armath educational program to India. The format of the partnership envisaged future teachers not to come from India to get the necessary classes, but two of Armath teachers from Armenia go to India for six months to conduct training for children and future teachers there.

However, due to the situation with the state of emergency, the first phase of the trainings with Indian beneficiaries were held online.

“Our candidates got an excellent experience in attending the online classes delivered by Hayk and Gor. We obtained numerous skills and started using them in parallel with the classes. As an example , we have created a robot and are assembling the final elements,” the representative of the Indian side has told UATE.

To note, “Armath” engineering laboratories aim to assist schoolchildren in their early interest emergence in modern high technology, to promote the development of engineering mindset from early ages and to prepare competent students in all schools of the Armenian and Artsakh communities.

Black Easter: On this day Ottoman Turks Begins Genocide on Thracian Greeks

Karapet Navasardian
Greek City Times
April 6 2020

 *Fleeing Eastern Thrace by rail (c. 1922). Courtesy: D. Mavridis.

 


April 6 is a painful day for every Greek as it marks the beginning of the Thracian Greek genocide by the Ottoman Empire. It was Monday after Easter in 1914, now known as “Black Easter,” when the systematic extermination of the Greeks and their expulsion from the region of Eastern Thrace, that is now a part of Turkey, began.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Greeks in Eastern Thrace accounted for approximately 250,000 people. However, when the Ottoman Turks unleashed their genocide, many Greeks from Eastern Thrace were exiled to Greece and 100,000 transferred to Anatolia. About only half of those transferred to the interior of the Ottoman Empire were eventually transported to Greece, and the rest either killed or Turkified.

*Montpelier Examiner (Idaho), 1 Aug 1913

As recorded by the Greek Genocide Resource Center, Aspasia Constantinides an eye-witness to the deportation, recounted:

After a two hour march, we reached a deep and narrow ravine where we found Corporal Ismail with a number of immigrants, apparently waiting for us. As soon as he saw us, he ordered our drivers to stop, and dragging the women out of the carts and beat them savagely. They snatched the earrings the women wore and in so doing cut their ears; they forced them to undress in order to get at the necklaces they wore, and often tore them off their necks with such violence that in one instance a woman’s throat was cut, causing the blood to flow in torrents.

A report by the Consular Agent in Kirklareli on April 23, 1914, stated that the hodjas (Muslim schoolmasters) in local mosques were inciting hatred of Christians and Greeks, and officials were arming local Turks with army rifles to commit crimes.

*Port Pirie Recorder and Western Mail (South Australia), 19 May 1914, page 2.

*Fleeing Eastern Thrace by rail (c. 1922). Courtesy: D. Mavridis.

he slaughter ended on October 11, 1922 when the Greeks of Eastern Thrace who refused to be Turkified were given 15 days to leave their ancestral homes of thousands of years following the signing of the armistice at Mudanya at the end of the Greco-Turkish War.

In speaking with Greek City Times, historian Marios Mathios-Josefidis, explained how Eastern Thrace came into Turkish hands.

“One of the less known facts about Eastern Thrace is that Turkey annexed it without even one shot fired. The Greek government and Eleftherios Venizelos following the Asia Minor Catastrophe had to repel claims from Turkey that demanded Greece to pay war reparations,” Mathios-Josefidis explained.

“Facing a big financial problem because of the arrival of the Greek refugees from Minor Asia and a society that was tired after 10 years of conflict – The Balkan Wars, First World War and the Asia Minor Campaign – Greece stepped back and decided to offer Eastern Thrace to the Turks as war reparation,” he continued.

The historian then explains that the mass slaughter of Greeks in Eastern Thrace could have taken a very different course of events.

“Was it a necessary move?” he questions. “As a historian, I do not have the right to make conclusions of ‘what if,’ but having knowledge of the situations during this period, sure I can tell that it was a hurried decision. The Greek Army in Thrace Army was very strong and capable of repelling any attack from the Turks. But the most important factor was that the Turks had to travel by sea [to reach Thrace] as Constantinople was under British control. The problem for the Turks was that they did not have a Navy to do this,” Mathios-Josefidis said.

“On the other hand, the Greek Royal Navy was strong and experienced. Somebody can claim that the Great Powers forced us to give this historical province to the Turks. History has proven to us many times that nations that want to be pressed, finally press because of other powers, and I mean this especially for leaderships. Unfortunately, our leadership at this time was not as decided as it had to be,” concluded the historian.

Past Grand Commander Charles J. Tateosian (1922-2020)

Emil Lazarian

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                        

April 6,
2020

PRESS RELEASE

 

“Knights of Vartan” Communication Office

2 Arshagunyats Ave,

Yerevan, Armenia

Contact: Gohar Palyan, Liaison

Tel: +374 94 20 64 68

Web: www.kofv.org

 

Past Grand Commander Charles J. Tateosian
(1922-2020)

Charles J. Tateosian of Walnut Creek,
California was born in Reedley, California on July 21, 1922 and grew up on the
family farm at the base of Mt. Campbell, later moving to Selma, California.  The son of John and Rebecca Tateosian,
Charlie was the second of three children. 
Charlie passed away on March 31, 2020 and was preceded in death by his
parents and older sister Virginia Tateosian. 
Charlie is survived by his wife Mary Tateosian, sister Ruby Topoozian
and her husband Joe of Selma, children Cathy Tateosian of Arcata, Lisa
Tateosian of Oakland, and David Tateosian and his wife Mae Go and their son Harrison
Tateosian of Martinez.


When World War II broke out in 1941, Charlie interrupted
his college education and enlisted in the US Navy in 1942, serving as a Lieutenant
(jg) first in the Atlantic and then the Pacific.  After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1947 and
joining the ranks of the Cal Bear Alumni, Charlie then began a 40 year career
with Pacific Gas & Electric playing a key role in one of PG&E’s great
endeavors – bringing natural gas from the Southwest and Canada to serve a growing
California.  After retiring in 1987 as
the Manager of Gas Systems Design, Charlie started his second career as a
consultant through Gas System Engineering. 
Charlie was a California Registered Professional Engineer (Mechanical) and
served on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers B31.8 Code Committee for
natural gas piping systems, retiring a few years ago as their longest serving
member. 

Charlie was heavily involved in the Bay Area
and California Armenian community, serving on the Building Committee and Parish
Council for St. John’s Armenian Apostolic Church in San Francisco, as well as
the Western Diocese Diocesan Council and Foundation.  Charlie was also very active in the Knights
of Vartan, an Armenian fraternal organization. He joined Knights of Vartan Inc.
Daron Lodge in 1953. Being an active member he served as the Commander of Daron
lodge in 1959-1960, Grand Recorder in 1993-1995, Grand Commander in 1995-1997,
and Grand Recorder again in 1999-2000. He was chosen as the Man of the Year of
the Knights of Vartan in 2005.


In 1991, Armenia became a free and independent
country again and Charlie with his wife Mary undertook many trips to Armenia to
support the Knights and Daughters of Vartan school projects, the Bay Area
Friends of Armenia soup kitchens, as well as advising on the development of Armenia’s
own natural gas infrastructure.


On April 7, 1995 then Grand Recorder Charlie
Tateosian joined Past Grand Commanders Everett Berberian and Ara Avakian to the
event of renaming the Knights of Vartan school #106 (then #1).  Up to these days the Knights and Daughters of
Vartan are actively involved in improvements of the Knights of Vartan #106
school building.

In addition to travel to Armenia, Charlie and
Mary traveled throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, Japan, and South
America.  Charlie’s hobbies included
photography, Armenian history, and technology.


A private graveside service will take place on
April 8 at Massis Ararat Cemetery in Fresno, CA.  To protect family and friends from the
coronavirus, there will be no viewing and the service will be restricted to
immediate family only.  A memorial
service will be held in the future when conditions allow.

 

The Knights of Vartan Inc. is a fraternal
leadership and service organization of Armenian men dedicated to safeguarding
and perpetuating the Armenian heritage and cultural traditions. Its membership
represents the spectrum of the leadership of the Armenian community. It was
founded in 1916 in Philadelphia and is based the United States with 23 local
chapters which support Armenian causes around the world.

For more information about the Knights and
Daughters of Vartan, visit

 

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Armenpress: Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 06-04-20

Hambik Zargarian

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 06-04-20

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 17:33, 6 April, 2020

YEREVAN, 6 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 6 April, USD exchange rate down by 1.42 drams to 501.55 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.48 drams to 542.38 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 6.58 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.49 drams to 616.76 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 133.48 drams to 26011.57 drams. Silver price up by 2.82 drams to 232.04 drams. Platinum price down by 242.81 drams to 11513.4 drams.

Armenpress: Armenia must become country of ready made products – PM Pashinyan

Hunanian Jack

Armenia must become country of ready made products – PM Pashinyan

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 19:31, 6 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS. The vision of the Government of Armenia on overcoming the crisis is related with short and long-term issues, ARMENPRESS reports PM Pashinyan said during a Facebook Live, answering the question of a citizen, who asked about the measures of the Government following the state of emergency for speedy recovery of the economy.

PM Pashinyan noted that as a short-term goal, the Government plans to foster capital investments as much as possible, since these investments create most jobs, while the long-term goal is the development of human resources, technologies and knowledge.

“Our strategic vision on economic development is that Armenia should become a country of ready-made products, but not a supplier of raw materials. This means new jobs and new technologies’’, Pashinyan said, noting that they have a goal to develop manufacturing industries. ‘’Last year we recorded an important index. We had a high economic growth where manufacturing was one of the leading branches’’, he said.

As refers to the establishment of metallurgical enterprises in Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan said that there will be environmental debates over this issue.

‘’We have to observe to important boundaries. The highest environmental standards must operate in Armenia, but environment protection should not become an absolute value’’, Nikol Pashinyan said, emphasizing that it’s necessary to find the correct balance between economy and environment.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan