Friday, April 3, 2020
Kocharian Discharged From Hospital
• Naira Bulghadarian
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian arrives for a court hearing,
Yerevan, February 18, 2020.
Robert Kocharian, Armenia’s former president standing trial on coup charges, was
taken back to prison on Friday after spending more than three weeks in hospital.
Kocharian was taken to the Erebuni Medical Center in Yerevan on March 9. His
spokesman said at the time that he is suffering from blood pressure fluctuations
and needs a thorough medical examination.
According to one of Kocharian’s lawyers, Hovannes Khudoyan, Erebuni’s doctors
have improved the ex-president’s condition but believe that he needs to undergo
further treatment and remain under medical surveillance.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Khudoyan claimed that his client will
risk being infected with coronavirus at Yerevan’s Kentron prison where he has
been kept, on and off, since July 2018. This is another reason why Kocharian,
who already underwent surgery in another hospital last year, should be released
from custody, said the lawyer.
Khudoyan noted in that regard five members of the administration of another
Yerevan prison, Vartashen, tested positive for coronavirus this week.
The Armenian Justice Ministry reported on Thursday that 28 other prison guards
at Vartashen were placed under quarantine because of that. A ministry
spokeswoman, Lusine Martirosian, said on Friday that none of them has tested
positive for the virus.
The ministry, which runs Armenia’s penitentiary system, maintains that none of
the infected guards had come into contact with prison inmates.
Martirosian stood by its earlier assurances that authorities are doing their
best to prevent coronavirus cases among prisoners. She said the precautionary
measures include regular monitoring of their health condition and a ban on
visits from their relatives and friends imposed on March 13.
Kocharian, 65, as well as his former chief of staff and two retired army
generals went on trial last year on coup charges mostly stemming from the 2008
post-election unrest in Yerevan. The ex-president, who ruled Armenia from
1998-2008, was also charged with bribe-taking a year ago. He rejects all
accusations as politically motivated.
The judge presiding over the high-profile trial, Anna Danibekian, has repeatedly
refused to free Kocharian pending a verdict in the case.
Danibekian was due to consider a written appeal for his release, signed by three
former Armenian prime ministers, during a court hearing scheduled for March 17.
The hearing was postponed because of her illness. It is still not clear when the
trial will resume.
Armenian Authorities Expect Near-Zero Growth In 2020
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Police officers enforcing a coronavirus lockdown check cars leaving
Yerevan, April 1, 2020.
Economic growth in Armenia will practically grind to a halt this year due to the
coronavirus pandemic, Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian said on Friday.
The Armenian economy grew by 7.6 percent last year and continued to expand
robustly in the first two months of this year. However, the situation changed
dramatically last month as the government put the country under lockdown to
fight against the spread of coronavirus. With the number of coronavirus cases
continuing to rise, the economic shutdown is expected to continue in the weeks
ahead.
In a report released earlier this week, the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA)
forecast a 0.7 percent GDP growth rate for 2020.
Khachatrian agreed with this projection. “This year our economic indicators will
be substantially down from what was forecast early this year,” he told a news
conference.
The minister argued that the Armenian economy will also be affected by
coronavirus-related economic disruptions in other countries and Russia in
particular. Russia is Armenia’s main export market and the principal sources of
remittances from Armenians working abroad.
Armenia -- Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian at a news conference in Yerevan,
April 4, 2020.
Khachatrian insisted at the same time that Armenia will quickly recover once the
global health crisis is over. “Despite the difficulties of 2020 we will quickly
restore our economic activity and potential,” he said.
The CBA report says that economic growth in the country will accelerate to 7.2
percent already in 2021.
The Armenian government approved last week a multimillion-dollar stimulus
package designed to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic on
businesses and ordinary people. The plan makes most Armenian firms as well as
farmers eligible for financial assistance or credit subsidies.
In particular, creditworthy firms and individual entrepreneurs will receive
grants worth $500 million ($1 million) if they pledge to use that money to pay
their workers’ wages, buy equipment or raw materials or pay taxes. The scheme
will not apply to Armenian banks, insurance companies and casinos. The
government will instead subsidize the banks to provide cheap credit to farmers
across the country.
World Bank To Also Help Armenia Fight Coronavirus
Armenia -- An ambulance leaves the Nork Infectious Disease Hospital, Yerevan,
March 20, 2020.
The World Bank said on Friday that it will give Armenia $3 million to acquire
medical equipment and supplies needed for containing the spread of coronavirus
in the country.
The bank said nearly half of the assistance requested by the Armenian Ministry
of Health will be spent on buying 50 lung ventilation devices used for
lifesaving treatment of people infected with coronavirus. The ministry will also
obtain protective personal equipment for healthcare workers, it said in a
statement.
“The equipment will be procured directly through United Nations agencies’ supply
channels in view of the current constraints for these types of medical emergency
equipment in the global market,” read the statement.
“I would like to recognize the unprecedented dedication of health professionals
in Armenia to protect the people,” it quoted Sylvie Bossoutrot, the head of the
World Bank office in Yerevan, as saying.
“I would also like to strongly encourage each citizen of Armenia to strictly
abide by the requirements of these emergency times and observe social distancing
and isolation measures aimed at minimizing the impact of the pandemic,” added
Bossoutrot.
The World Bank, which is Armenia’s number one foreign lender, also expressed
readiness to provide additional coronavirus-related assistance to Yerevan. It
would be provided at the expense of other projects which were due to be financed
in Armenia by the Washington-based development bank.
The announcement came the day after the European Union promised 51 million euros
($55 million) in assistance designed to help the Armenian government deal with
not only the coronavirus epidemic but also its severe socioeconomic consequences.
The United States allocated last week more than $1 million in similar aid to
Armenia. The South Caucasus state has also received medical supplies from Russia
and China.
The Armenian Ministry of Health reported on Friday morning that the total number
of coronavirus cases in the country rose by over 10 percent to 736 in the past
24 hours. According to the ministry, three more people died of COVID-19 on
Thursday, raising to 7 the national death toll from the virus.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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