Category: 2022

 13:15,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The Cabinet approved a bill on regulating street trade that will enable authorities to confiscate the products sold on the street by unlicensed vendors in addition to the presently used penalties.

The bill was mainly developed by Yerevan City Hall.

Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan said at the Cabinet meeting that during the past two years they’ve conducted studies and concluded that the existing levers are insufficient to tackle street trade and in most cases they are even unable to charge the penalties from fined vendors.

“In 90% of cases these vendors don’t have any property or assets registered by their name, and they end up getting bankrupt. As such, we see the solution of this problem through confiscating the products of illegal street vendors, and we believe that we will give a final solution to this problem. We regularly take action in Yerevan but just hours later everything is repeating, and we are sure that with the adoption of this law we will solve this problem,” the Mayor said.

The mayor said the street vendors are selling toys, food, even animals with unknown safety measures.

PM Pashinyan attached importance to the establishment of institutions and standards in the country.

“Let’s not go for compromise. I am not saying take the scythe and shut everything down, but safety regulations must be maintained. We must take the path of having clear standards in the country because compromise with low-quality reality will inevitably lead to disaster,” Pashinyan said.

He mentioned that looking back at the 2020 war a question arises as to why for so long they’d agreed to compromise. “Knowing that certain processes exist in our military, we said, well let’s not do anything in the military, it’s a matter of security, and then the compromise blew up on our heads. Every time our compromise blew up on our head,” the PM said.

 14:06,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Armenia expressed condolences over the Surmalu trade center explosion.

“The UAE Embassy in Yerevan is expressing sincere condolences to the government and people of the Republic of Armenia over the deaths of 16 people in the fire and explosion at the Surmalu trade center, asking Almighty God’s mercy for them, and patience and consolation to the families of the victims, and security, stability and peace for the Republic of Armenia,” the embassy said in a statement.

 14:44,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The National Security Service of Armenia put into circulation a bill on creating crossing points in some sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The bill on amending the N703 government decision of 2011 is posted online at e-draft.am.

The substantiation attached to the bill mentions that the adoption of the bill stems from the need to ensure the implementation of the instructions issued by the prime minister during the August 4 Cabinet meeting. The expected result is the creation of new border crossing points of the Armenian border to organize and implement the border crossing of persons, products and vehicles. The new crossing points are planned to be set up in the provinces of Gegharkunik (Sotk-M11 highway of state border, automobile), Ararat (Yeraskh, automobile), Syunik (7,5km south from Karahunj, south-east M2 highway, automobile) in the direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

 15:28,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan received letters of condolence from the Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin and the Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko regarding the deadly explosion in Surmalu trade center, the parliament's press service said. 

 “On behalf of the deputies of the State Duma and myself, I express my deepest condolences on the tragic consequences of the fire in the shopping center in Yerevan,” Vyacheslav Volodin’s official letter particularly reads. He expressed his support to the families of the victims and wished those injured because of the fire a speedy recovery.

“Please convey our words of support to the dear ones of the victims and the families of the missing,” Valentina Matvienko’s official letter reads. She wished those injured because of the tragic incident a speedy recovery.

 15:52,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The Cabinet approved the signing of the agreement on founding the Eurasian Reinsurance Company.

The company is an international financial organization which is being launched to promote mutual and foreign trade in the Eurasian Economic Union and with the purpose of carrying out joint cooperative projects and investments, supplementing the functions of member states’ export-loan agencies in the supranational level.

 15:53,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Georgian language will be studied in several schools of Armenia starting this year, the minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Vahram Dumanyan told reporters.

“Georgian will be studied in some schools of Armenia, not only in several schools of border provinces. We are ready,” he said.

Details will be presented soon, he added.

 17:21,

YEREVAN, 18 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 18 August, USD exchange rate down by 0.17 drams to 405.79 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.13 drams to 412.81 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.13 drams to 6.83 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.95 drams to 489.18 drams.

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

Gold price down by 109.50 drams to 23055.69 drams. Silver price down by 2.98 drams to 259.69 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.

 17:56,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. On August 18, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan held a phone conversation with Foreign Minister of Cyprus Ioannis Kasoulidis, ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia.

During the phone conversation, Ioannis Kasoulidis expressed his condolences regarding the human casualties caused by the explosion in the Surmalu trade center on August 14 and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

The Foreign Ministers commended the high level of Armenia-Cyprus relations. Prospects for further expansion and strengthening of cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats were discussed.

The interlocutors also touched upon issues of regional security.

Moscow warns about contacts with "unfriendly" countries

 19:41,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Contacts between Russia's allies and countries "unfriendly" towards Russia should not harm the strategic partnership with Moscow, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy Director of Information and Press Department of Russian Foreign Ministry Ivan Nechaev said during the weekly briefing, answering the question about the about the participation of the Central Asian countries in the exercises taking place in the capital of Tajikistan under the auspices of the USA.

"We think that contacts with countries not friendly to Russia should not harm the strategic partnership with our country and contradict the obligations undertaken within the framework of common unions, including CSTO and EAEU, CIS and SCO" – said Nechaev.