Category: 2021

 16:38,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense is denying Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan’s October 18 statement.

According to the Ministry of Defense, Tatoyan’s statement contains “a number of inaccuracies, as well as claims which are false.”

The Ministry of Defense said that Tatoyan’s statement on the Azeri troops having built large shelters and amassed supplies of firewood, as well as pavement of roads leading to their positions, reinforcements and active engineering works and increase of deployed troops and armaments is exaggerated. “The claims contained in the Ombudsman’s statement are obviously exaggerated because the Azerbaijani military units are not carrying out active engineering works, haven’t build large shelters or new roads, moreover their attempts to carry out such works are successfully thwarted by the Armenian military units,” the Ministry of Defense said.

Commenting on the ombudsman’s claim that the Azerbaijani military has increased the number of troops and armaments in the positions, the Ministry of Defense said that the entire movement of the Azerbaijani troops is being monitored by the Armenian military and such process hasn’t been recorded in the recent period.

The Ministry of Defense warned the ombudsman to check facts with them when making statements which are highly sensitive to the public. The Ministry of Defense said they are ready to continue closely cooperating with the Ombudsman’s office like before.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:42,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Citizens of Armenia, Iraq, South Korea, and Moldova are now allowed to enter the territory of Malta as long as they are able to present a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate, ShengenVisaInfo reports.

The Maltese authorities announced last Friday, October 15, that the country has decided to recognize the certificates issued by these four countries as valid proof of immunity against the virus.

Accordingly, in line with the statement that has been made by Malta’s official travel portal, VisitMalta, all nationals of one of these countries are now permitted entry to Malta provided that their vaccination certificate meets the requirements that the country’s authorities have set.

Based on the current rules that Malta has, in order for a vaccination certificate that has been issued in Armenia, Iraq, South Korea, and Moldova to be recognized, the document should indicate that the holder has been fully immunised with one of the vaccines that have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

This indicates that Armenians, Iraqis, South Koreans, and Moldovans will be allowed entry to Malta as long as their certificate proves that they have been immunised with AstraZeneca EU (Vaxzevria), Moderna (Spikevax), Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), and Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty).

It has been highlighted that the vaccination certificate must indicate that at least 14 days have passed since the holder has received the last vaccine dose in order for it to be valid.

 17:19,

YEREVAN, 19 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 19 October, USD exchange rate down by 0.93 drams to 477.34 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.94 drams to 556.82 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 6.74 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.64 drams to 659.30 drams.

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

Gold price down by 126.67 drams to 27130.9 drams. Silver price down by 1.01 drams to 356.35 drams. Platinum price down by 184.84 drams to 15945.36 drams.

 17:30,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced that the company will donate 3,000 vials of Veklury (remdesivir) to help patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Armenia and 100,000 vials of Veklury to help address the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, Businesswire reports.

“As cases of COVID-19 surge again around the world, and the pandemic continues to affect the lives of so many, we remain focused on ensuring that our medicines can reach patients that need them,” said Johanna Mercier, Chief Commercial Officer, Gilead Sciences. “These donations are the latest example of our ongoing commitment, and we will continue to work together with governments, health authorities and our voluntary licensing partners to ensure access to our medicines as quickly as possible.”

The Veklury donations will complement the supply of generic remdesivir provided through Gilead’s voluntary licensing program. Gilead is working closely with distributor partners and directly with the governments of Armenia and Indonesia to coordinate these donations.

Veklury (remdesivir) is a nucleotide analog invented by Gilead, building on more than a decade of the company’s antiviral research. Veklury is the antiviral standard of care for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. At this time, more than half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States are treated with Veklury. Veklury is approved or authorized for temporary use in approximately 50 countries worldwide.

 17:59,

YEREVAN, 19 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Armenia Helene Sand Andresen (place of residence Tbilisi) presented credentials to the President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the President, Armen Sarkissian congratulated and wished further success to the diplomat, expressing confidence that her efforts will be directed to the continuous development of Armenian-Norwegian relations.

During the meeting issues concerning the activation and deepening of bilateral relations were discussed. The interlocutors found fields of education, ecology, green and information technologies, tourism, agriculture, efficient management of water resources particularly interesting for cooperation. From the perspective of activation of ties between the two peoples President Sarkissian gave importance also to the implementation of joint cultural programmes.

Ambassador Helen Sand Andresen expressed readiness to make all efforts for further enriching the bilateral agenda as well as promoting economic activity.

She also informed that in the near future Norway will provide a significant batch of Moderna vaccine to Armenia, expressing hope that it will be significant support in the fight against the pandemic.

 18:27,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of the 8th Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum entitled “Perspectives of Armenian-Russian cooperation in the light of new realities”, a plenary session was held today, which was attended by Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, other ministers, governors and other officials, ARMENPRESS reports the Ministry of Territorial Administration informed, noting that Prime Minister of Armenia NIkol Pashinyan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Deputy PM Alexei Overchuk, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov delivered opening remarks.

“Dear friends,
Ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, I would like to welcome all the participants of the 8th Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum.

We are glad to host all our guests from Russia.

Interregional forums have a history of ten years.
They have become one of the important institutions of cooperation within the framework of the allied relations between our two countries. The Armenian-Russian interregional cooperation, which is based on about two dozens of agreements, covers a really wide geography. It includes almost all regions of Armenia and the administrative units located in the most diverse corners of the Russian Federation, including the Oblasts of Leningrad, Orenburg, Yaroslavl, Omsk, Ulyanovsk, Arkhangelsk, Rostov and Vologda. The existence of these ties is one of the bright manifestations of the exceptional relations between our two countries.

The Russian Federation not only plays a key role in maintaining peace and stability in our region, but also plays a central role in our country’s economy. Russia is Armenia’s leading trade partner.

In 2019, our trade turnover exceeded the threshold of $ 2.0 billion, while this year we have already recorded a double-digit trade growth.

Russia is also a leader in terms of investments in Armenia, and has an exceptional role in the development of our country’s infrastructure. Among the recent investments, it is necessary to point out the technology transfer for the release of the Sputnik Light Vaccine, which is particularly important for our country in the light of the fight against the pandemic.

The level of economic cooperation between our countries corresponds to the requirements stemming from the nature of the allied relations, but it does not mean fixing a static situation, on the contrary, it requires constant work, development and improvement.

The world is changing rapidly, and our relations must meet the demands coming from those changes. We need to improve our economic relations so that they contribute to the development of competitive economies in our countries. In the context of what I said, we highlight the further rapprochement and mutual integration of our economies, which should be based on the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital. The Eurasian Economic Union, in turn, serves that strategic goal, and we are interested in strengthening that structure and improving its institutions. The imperative of diversification of our economic ties is also obvious.

In addition to the traditional areas, it is necessary to find ways to further develop cooperation in the fields of high technology, innovation and knowledge-based economic sectors. I am convinced that today’s event is one of the tools that best serves the above goals.

I once again greet all the participants of the forum, wishing them effective work for the prosperity of our countries and peoples”, Pashinyan said in his speech.

In his welcoming speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that interregional cooperation plays a very significant role in the development of Russian-Armenian relations, implementation of mutually beneficial projects in economic, social, infrastructural, humanitarian and many other spheres.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk  said in his speech that Russia and Armenia have all the opportunities for sustainable, dynamic development, multilateral cooperation in both trade – economic and humanitarian spheres, as well as for the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects.

According to him, the interregional cooperation plays an important contribution to that.

 19:21,

YEREVAN, 19 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia Vahram Dumanyan received Chief of the Presidential Directorate for Interregional Relations and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries – Igor Maslov, who is in Armenia on a working visit.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry, the Russian delegation was comprised of Ambassador of Russia Sergey Kopirkin, Deputy Head of the Department of Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries of the President of Russia Anton Rybakov, Chairman of the Department of Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries Valery Chernishov of the President of Russia, Adviser at the Department of Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries Dmitri Avanesov and the 2^nd secretary of Russian Embassy in Armenia Igor Ratushyan. The Russian delegation arrived in Armenia to participate in the 8th Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum.

Deputy Ministers of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Artur Martirosyan and Ara Khzmalyan attended the meeting.

Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Vahram Dumanyan greeted the guests, noting that the frameworks of cooperation with Russian Federation are very broad, from education and science to culture and sports. According to the Minister, for the Armenian side the implementation of joint projects in the field of science is of special importance.

In the framework of cultural cooperation, Russian days in Armenia and Armenian culture days in Russia have become a tradition, which last year and this year didn’t take place because of the pandemic and war situation. The Minister expressed confidence that in 2022 those events will definitely be implemented.

Referring to the issues on the agenda of Armenian-Russian cooperation Vahram Dumanyan attached importance to the support of the Russian side to the issue of protection of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage that passed under the control of Azerbaijan as a consequence of the 44-day war, highlighting that those are also universal values.

He also noted that the Armenian side attaches importance to the development of the Russian language in Armenia and is ready to discuss new proposals of initiatives in the framework of the requirements of the Armenian legislation. In this context the parties particularly attached importance to the increase of efficiency of teaching of Russian, educational programs, improvement of textbooks.

During the discussion there was a reference also to the activity of the Armenian-Russian University. Minister Vahram Dumanyan mentioned that it is one of the leading universities of Armenia and the governments of the two countries as founders of the university should make efforts for its development.

During the meeting a number of issues related to bilateral cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture and sports were also raised.

 19:46,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the  Head of the Rapporteur Group on Democracy of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), the Permanent Representative of Sweden to the CoE, Ambassador Mårten Ehnberg and the delegation led by him. and his delegation. The delegation consists of the Ambassadors of France, Russia, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia, Andorra, Iceland to the CoE and representatives of the Secretariat of the Council of Europe, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

Greeting the CoE delegation, the PM said, “The Council of Europe has been one of our key partners in the field of democracy since 2000 and has accompanied us in virtually all of our reforms. I think we have concrete achievements in this difficult period, particularly in terms of democracy, and it is worth emphasizing especially here. Seemingly insurmountable problems were constantly registered regarding the quality of the elections, the reliability of the official results since the first days of our membership to the Council of Europe until 2018,  but, in fact, we can state that this problem has been overcome.

I would also like to emphasize that for the first time in the history of Armenia, elections have served as a tool to overcome the domestic political crisis, while in the past, elections have always been the cause of domestic political crisis, controversy and opposition. We are committed to the political course of democratic reforms, we will continue that path, and we are glad that we can count on the support of the Council of Europe on that path.”

On behalf of the delegation, Mårten Ehnberg thanked the Prime Minister for the appreciation, emphasizing that the Council of Europe attaches importance to the partnership with Armenia. He noted that the delegation has had effective discussions with its Armenian partners, during the exchange of views the priorities for the effective implementation of the CoE-Armenia 2019-2022 Action Plan were recorded.

At the request of the representatives of the CoE delegation, the Prime Minister presented details on Armenia’s democratic agenda, speaking about reforms in the fields of anti-corruption, elections, freedom of speech, judiciary, penitentiaries, as well as other spheres. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the current results show that as a result of the reforms initiated by the Government, it has been possible to create effective control mechanisms in the mentioned directions. This process continues.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister answered a number of questions of the members of the CoE delegation. The questions were about overcoming the consequences of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh, resolving humanitarian issues, ensuring peace and stability in the region, resumption of the negotiation process within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as well as Armenia’s democratic development, importance of educational reform, strengthening of rule of law, prevention of domestic violence, promotion of state-civil society cooperation, improvement of the parliamentary system of government, etc.

Head of the Rapporteur Group on Democracy of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Mårten Ehnberg thanked the PM for the detailed reference, noting that the works testifying to Armenia’s democratic progress will be presented during the discussion of the CoE-Armenia Action Plan 2019-2022 scheduled in January 2022.

 19:53,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. The newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ireland to the Republic of Armenia Martina Finney (residence in Sofia) presented her credentials to President Armen Sarkissian.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, congratulating the newly appointed Ambassador on the assumption of the mission, President Sarkissian stressed the importance of further strengthening the Armenian-Irish relations and expanding the bilateral agenda, emphasizing that the Presidential Institute is ready to support the initiatives aimed at developing cooperation within the limits of its powers.

Ambassador Martina Finney noted that her country is interested in deepening cooperation with friendly Armenia and expressed readiness to make her personal contribution.

Emphasizing that the two countries have a great potential for deepening relations, the interlocutors particularly considered the cooperation in the fields of high technologies, artificial intelligence, biotechnologies. The implementation of steps to strengthen cultural ties was especially emphasized. In this context, the sides referred to the prospects of organizing events presenting the historical and cultural heritage of the two peoples.

US Senate Committee on Appropriations recommends $2 million aid to Artsakh

 20:12,

YEREVAN, 19 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations released its Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations Bills today, which includes a recommendation of $2 million in aid to Artsakh, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

Specifically, “the Committee recommends up to $2,000,000 for humanitarian demining and UXO clearance activities in areas affected by the 2020 fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, subject to prior consultation with the Committees on Appropriations.”

The report also called “for humanitarian assistance” for those that have been “displaced by the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

In addition, the Committee remained “concerned with the protracted conflict,” and requested “the Secretary of State to consult with the Committees on Appropriations prior to obligating assistance made available under title IV of the act for Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

The bill itself restates Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, which was adopted in 1992 when Congress took a principled stand against Azerbaijani aggression toward the Armenian people. Section 907 states that U.S. funds “may not be provided to the Government of Azerbaijan until the President determines and so reports to the Congress, that the Government of Azerbaijan is taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.” In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on American soil, a national security waiver was added to Section 907. The exercise of the waiver is valid so long as it “will not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan or be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.”

The Senate Committee’s action follows the recommendation of $50 million in funding for Armenia and $2 million for Artsakh in the Bill and Report by the House Committee on Appropriations in relation to the Fiscal Year 2022 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations legislation.

“The Assembly welcomes continued U.S. support for the Armenian people. As the House and Senate finalize the Appropriations bills, we urge Congress to allocate robust funding for both Armenia and Artsakh,” said Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan.      

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.