Category: 2020

 12:35, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will depart for Georgia on an official visit on March 3-4, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.

During the visit Pashinyan will meet with Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, President Salome Zourabichvili, Speaker of Parliament Archil Talakvadze and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II.

The Armenian PM will lay a wreath at the memorial in the Square of Heroes in Tbilisi.

Pashinyan is also scheduled to meet with the Armenian community representatives.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:30, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. The monitoring conducted in 90 pharmacies and pharmacy networks across Armenia revealed that the large networks didn’t increase the prices of face masks due to the novel coronavirus, but there is a deficit of these items, Chairman of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition Gegham Gevorgyan told reporters today.

“After conducting a monitoring in pharmacies on March 1 we have found out that masks were exported from Armenia by non-major sellers. We have also recorded that no major importer has increased the prices of masks. At the moment there are some networks which do not have masks, but their prices have not increased”, he said.

He denied the reports according to which an artificial deficit of masks is created or there is an ungrounded increase in prices of masks. “There is an increase in prices of masks in small pharmacies, for instance up to 200 or 300 drams. At the moment we are holding negotiations with our foreign partners so that the Armenian importers can bring new batch of masks from abroad. The foreign partners inform that the deficit of masks exists in the whole world”, Gegham Gevorgyan said.

Gevorgyan also informed that the healthcare ministry has stored masks, there is no shortage of them in the state reserve.

First case of novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Armenia on March 1. The patient arrived in Armenia from Iran.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 14:23, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian signed a decree on bestowing diplomatic ranks on the occasion of the Diplomat’s Day, his Office told Armenpress.

According to the Presidential decree, the following diplomat has been bestowed with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary:

Vahagn Atabekyan – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Lebanon

According to another decree, the President bestowed the rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the following diplomats:

Yuri Babakhanyan – advisor at the department of Middle East and Africa in Armenia’s foreign ministry

Vahe Gevorgyan – advisor to the Armenian foreign minister

Anahit Harutyunyan – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Canada

The President signed the respective decrees based on the prime minister’s proposal.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:58, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Armenia faced a deficit of anti-bacterial hand gels on March 1 after the announcement of the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in the country, but at the moment alcohol-based hand sanitizers exist in pharmacies, Chairman of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition Gegham Gevorgyan told reporters today.

“Before this there was no deficit of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, but after the announcement of the first confirmed case these sanitizers were quickly sold, but the situation is different today as pharmacies already have these hand gels”, he said, adding that there hasn’t been such a demand for alcohol-based hand sanitizers in the past.

He informed that today in the morning the pharmacies were supplied with new batches of these sanitizers, and the local producers are preparing for a larger production.

According to the SCPEC data, 3 companies produce alcohol-based hand sanitizers in Armenia, and these companies didn’t increase the prices of their product and will not increase.

As for the purchase of other goods, Gevorgyan said there is no need to make additional purchases.

“There is so much sugar in Armenia now that will be enough for a year, the same relates also to flour. Therefore, there is no need to make large purchases”, he said.

First case of novel coronavirus has been confirmed in Armenia on March 1. The patient arrived in Armenia from Iran.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:09, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. According to unconfirmed media reports India has secured a 40 million dollar deal in Armenia on supplying four units of its SWATHI weapon locating radars.

India Today reported citing sources that India has already started supplies.

According to reports Armenia favored the India-made systems against competing bids from Russia and Poland.

The Armenian military hasn’t yet commented on the information.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 14:33, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Justice minister of Armenia Rustam Badasyan received the delegation of the Council of Europe led by Director General for Human Rights and Rule of Law Christos Giakoumopoulos, the ministry told Armenpress.

Minister Badasyan and the CoE partners discussed the ways to develop the current effective cooperation, as well as touched upon the ongoing actions being carried out within the judicial reforms.

The sides reached an agreement to deepen the close cooperation.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:19, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. GeoProMining company is completing a large-scale project of construction of heating systems in the educational institutions of the regions of its presence in Armenia – Gegharkunik and Ararat regions. The first stage of the program provides for gasification and installation of heating systems in five schools, where earlier, for almost 30 years, the task of heating of the classrooms was solved with the help of “burjuykas” and liquid fuel.

At the first stage of the program, construction of the heating systems in three schools of the city of Vardenis has already been completed. Local heating systems based on natural gas have already been connected.

Installation of heating systems in the schools and pre-school institution in the village of Sotk and in one of the schools of Ararat are nearly completing, and it is planned to put them into operation in March 2020.

Ruzanna Grigoryan, Coordinator of the program, Head of the department of external communications and social policy of “GeoProMining” stated: “As a result of the program, modern and safe heating systems are installed. Local gas pipeline of 1,350 meters is built, and also heating systems with a total area of 15,000 square meters. Total cost of the program amounted to 160 million drams, of which 50 million drams were provided by the schools from their savings, and 110 million drams (230 thousand dollars) was invested by GeoProMining company”. We have been working on the preparation and implementation of this program for two years, and we are very pleased to have it successfully completed. Warm and comfortable study conditions for our children are the result of the collective efforts of our partners and contractors, who supported us in the implementation of the project”.

President of the “GeoProMining” company Roman Khudoliy said: “Social investments in educational infrastructure is one of the main priorities of our company corporate and social responsibility policy. In our social activities we focus on having an educated and healthy young generation. This cannot be achieved without comfortable conditions for organizing those processes, and also motivation. Without education and sports it is impossible to bring up a strong and effective future generation, and in relation to these issues, we always support healthy initiatives of the citizens and local authorities. Given the successful experience in implementing the first phase of the program, we intend to continue this process. We will resolutely help to ensure comfortable educational conditions in all schools and preschool institutions in the regions of our presence in Armenia”.

Governor of the Gegharkunik region of Armenia Gnel Sanosyan noted: “The issue of organizing modern and civil heating of our schools was a really difficult one. Unfortunately, local budgets did not allow implementation of such big projects. Every year we were buying fuel for heating, and all the same, the accumulated funds were not providing comfortable learning conditions for our children. It is difficult to overestimate the financial assistance of GeoProMining in solving this problem. It has moved the solution from a standstill, which has been in the air for many years. In addition, the company is working on a number of other social issues existing in the region, thus ensuring enormous social support to our borderline towns and villages”.

 14:57, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says one of the greatest tasks of Armennia in the field of foreign policy should be to overcome the certain complexity of being a representative of a small country.

“In our newly-independent history our diplomacy has had glorious achievements, there have also been some problems, failures, we should pass this process. This is typical to any country’s diplomacy. Our greatest task should be to overcome the certain complexity of being a representative of a small country. No matter how natural it is, this complexity hinders us in many places. But the diplomatic system cannot solely overcome this complexity, it should be overcome at each citizen’s level, at the level of each structure of the entire state institute”, the PM said at an event dedicated to the Diplomat’s Day.

Pashinyan congratulated and thanked all representatives of the diplomatic service and assured that he truly believes that today the diplomatic service has the potential to change the world attitude towards Armenia.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:52, 2 March, 2020

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Advisor to Armenia’s justice minister Hasmik Sardaryan and head of the department of international legal cooperation at the justice ministry Tigran Grigoryan received the representatives of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR delegation, the ministry told Armenpress.

The meeting participants touched upon the draft Constitutional law on making changes and amendments to the Law on parties.

Summing up the meeting the sides agreed to be in contact over the opinions and issues raised during today’s discussion.  

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan