Category: 2021

 12:10,

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. 17 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Artsakh in the past 24 hours.

138 tests were conducted on January 18, the ministry of healthcare told Armenpress.

A total of 2257 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Artsakh.

The death toll stands at 31.

The number of active cases is 40.

The ministry of healthcare has again urged the citizens to follow all the rules to avoid new outbreaks and overcome the disease.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:42,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Russia confirmed 21,152 COVID-19 cases in the past day, a new low since November 18, TASS reports citing the anti-coronavirus crisis center.

The total case tally hit 3,633,952. The average growth rate reached 0.6%.

Moscow recorded 2,452 daily coronavirus cases, while the Moscow Region registered 994 COVID-19 cases. 

Currently, 539,416 people are receiving treatment for the coronavirus in Russia.

 13:05,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The State Revenue Committee of Armenia has published the list of 1000 major taxpayers of 2020 and the total amount of taxes paid by them to the state budget.

The list is topped by Grand Tobacco which paid 50 billion 671 million 32 thousand drams in taxes in 2020.

The second one is Gazprom Armenia with a total of 45 billion 548 million 610 thousand drams paid in taxes. The company is followed by Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine which paid 41 billion 689 million 281 thousand drams.

The next is Geopromining Gold – 23 billion 19 million 732 thousand drams, followed by International Masis Tabak – 18 billion 794 million 418 thousand drams.

The top 10 list of the taxpayer companies also include CPS Oil, Flash, Philip Morris Armenia, GTL Armenia and MTS Armenia.

Over 987 billion 637 million drams in taxes were paid by the 1000 major taxpayers in 2020.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:17,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a consultation in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs today.

During the consultation Pashinyan said the public administration system needs restart, adding that they should try to conduct that restart in practice.

“It means that we should revise the project which we implement in Armenia and answer to a very simple question – how viable and relevant are the projects which we had before the war and after that, what changes they should undergo?” the PM said.

According to him, from conceptual terms the policy adopted by them in Armenia doesn’t need to be revised.

“In general, what is the change of the social policy at the conceptual level which we are implementing after 2018? We are trying to replace the policy of adaptation with a policy of overcoming”, he said.

Pashinyan added that the services provided in the field of social insurance and assistance should be maximally dignified, highly effective and in high quality.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 14:31,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) responded to the Covid-19 pandemic in Armenia in 2020 with record investment of €167 million for projects in energy, banking and transport and through trade finance support, the EBRD Armenia Office told Armenpress. The Bank helped to address the immediate and longer-term needs of the country’s economy.

Dimitri Gvindadze, EBRD Head of the Yerevan Resident Office, said: “The EBRD team worked to help our clients deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our support included the provision of liquidity and trade finance. We invested in energy and transport infrastructure. Our support to the banking sector fostered companies’ access to finance. In 2021, supporting the recovery is our priority. We work closely with the European Union (EU) in Armenia and we thank our EU partners for this strategically important cooperation in the context of both public- and private-sector projects.”

The EBRD stepped up its investment to address immediate needs and to create the foundations for recovery, with a focus on building back better economies in the future. The Bank continued to concentrate its support on the private sector, which accounted for more than 90 per cent of total EBRD investment in Armenia in 2020.

In a pioneering project, the EBRD financed the first utility-scale 55 MW solar power plant in Armenia and in the Caucasus. The project will help boost Armenia’s supply of clean energy and reduce its reliance on imported fuels.

Keeping vital trade flows going, the EBRD supported a new record of close to €70 million in trade finance transactions in Armenia, involving eight local partner banks, under its Trade Facilitation Programme.

The EBRD further increased its support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with the provision of loans to commercial banks for on-lending to businesses. These loans included Women in Business credit lines.

In the infrastructure sector, the Bank funded the reconstruction and modernisation of the border-crossing point near the town of Meghri to meet modern safety and security requirements. The project received significant grant support from the European Union.

In addition, the EBRD supported Electric Networks of Armenia, which continues to modernise its electricity distribution network.

Advice and policy engagement

The Bank also provided business advice to local SMEs by implementing 80 advisory and consultancy projects (with the help of 70 local consultants), three international advisory activities and 10 market-development activities and training sessions.

The Business Support Office (BSO) launched an innovative initiative in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, providing free access to webinars for local firms on topics to help them deal with the crisis. Based on recommendations developed by the BSO, the National Assembly adopted a legislative package that improves the legal framework of leasing.

 14:18,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan received today Ambassador of the Netherlands to Armenia Nico Schermers, the justice ministry told Armenpress.

The minister congratulated the Ambassador on appointment, highlighting the entry of the bilateral relations into a qualitatively new stage after the 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution and the decision of the Netherlands to open an embassy in Armenia. He expressed confidence that during the Ambassador’s tenure the potential existing in the justice sector will be utilized.

The Armenian minister of justice also highly appreciated the recent motions approved by the Dutch Parliament which call on to impose sanctions against the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey for their war crimes committed in Artsakh. In this context Mr. Badasyan noted: “The Netherlands showed how democracy really works when human life and rights are under danger”.

In turn the Ambassador of the Netherlands thanked for the meeting and stated that he has assumed office in Armenia with a great pleasure. He outlined the priorities which have cooperation perspectives, in particular the strengthening of the rule of law and democracy.

Minister Badasyan introduced the Dutch Ambassador on the roadmap of judicial reforms, the achievements recorded and highlighted in this context the 9 million Euro support provided by the European Union to the Armenian government for this purpose.

Possibilities of deepening the cooperation in probation and penitentiary fields were discussed during the meeting.

The sides also reached an agreement on productive mutual cooperation.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan