Category: 2022

 15:25,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian pilot plans to attempt a world-record breaking flight on a hot air balloon which will last for nearly 35 hours.

Ahead of the record attempt, Skyball pilot Nairi Barseghyan and his partner from Russia Sergey Bazhenov conducted a test flight on January 17 in Armenia, flying from Gyumri to Yerevan over the summit of Mount Aragats.

“We are now preparing for a world record attempt which failed last year due to technical problems, but this year we are already ready and we are waiting for the required weather. We will conduct the record flight in Russia, it will be the longest flight without landing, approximately 35 hours. During the last month we've been monitoring the weather for 24/7, wind direction and so on. Until then, we saw that the weather will be favorable on January 17 and we decided to conduct an exclusive flight from Gyumri to Yerevan over Aragats,” Barseghyan said.

The hot air balloon took off from the central plaza in Gyumri, and passed the Aragats summit and reached an altitude of 6100 meters, and then landed in Yeghvard. The pilot says the flight was a good chance to test the special gear and equipment, because the temperature in Russia will be as low as -35 °C.

The flight is planned to take place in February, when weather conditions will be favorable.

Reporting by Gayane Gaboyan

 17:01,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian was never in danger when explosions hit Abu Dhabi.

The Armenian president arrived to the UAE capital on January 14 on a working visit.

On January 17, three fuel trucks exploded, killing three people, and a fire broke out near Abu Dhabi airport on Monday in what Yemen's Houthi group said was an attack deep inside the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reported.

The Armenian president is currently in Dubai taking part in the Expo 2020 Dubai and his visit to the UAE is proceeding as scheduled, the presidency told ARMENPRESS.

“No changes have taken place regarding the President’s visit,” President Sarkissian’s advisor Hasmik Petrosyan said. “President Armen Sarkissian is currently in Dubai, taking part in the Expo 2020 Dubai,” she added.

Three people were killed and six wounded when three fuel tanker trucks exploded in the industrial Musaffah area near storage facilities of oil firm ADNOC, state news agency WAM said. It said those killed were two Indians and a Pakistani.

"Initial investigations found parts of a small plane that could possibly be a drone at both sites that could have caused the explosion and the fire," Abu Dhabi police said in a statement, adding there was no "significant damage".

The Houthi's military spokesman said the group launched a military operation "deep in the UAE" and would announce details in coming hours, Reuters reported.

 17:04,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Artak Davtyan chaired a consultation on the situation and improvement of the military discipline in the army, the defense ministry said.

The existing problems and their solutions were discussed.

Artak Davtyan highlighted the importance of works aimed at improving the military discipline and stated that similar meetings will be held also in the military units for further improving the condition of the military discipline and preventing emergency situations.

 17:33,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. 7 new cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus were detected in Armenia, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported on January 17.

The first two Omicron cases were detected in Armenia on January 10.

 17:47,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The results of the recent meeting of the special envoys of Armenia and Turkey Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic will be touched upon at the upcoming session of the Turkish government, CNN Turk reports.

The session will take place on Wednesday.

The special envoys of Armenia and Turkey for dialogue between the two countries met on January 14 in Moscow, Russia.

 17:55,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS.  Prospects for the development of the wine industry were discussed at a consultation chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan presented the results of the research on promoting the development of wine production. He touched upon the statistics of the global and Armenian wine markets, trends, directions of development for 10 years, the volume of expected investments, target indicators, challenges and other issues.

Discussions were held on the opportunities and mechanisms of Armenian wine production, export, sales promotion. In the context of the development of winemaking, the successful implementation of other agricultural reforms and programs, including land reform, intensive gardening, etc. were highlighted. Details were also provided on the process of geographical indication of Armenian wines.

Summing up the discussion, Nikol Pashinyan highlighted the interoperability of development strategies and programs of different branches of agriculture and their integration into the Government's Action Plan. The Prime Minister instructed to discuss the joint activities with the representatives of the sphere on the platform of the Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia taking into account the results of the consultation.

CENTRAL BANK OF ARMENIA PRICES OF PRECIOUS METALS AND EXCHANGE RATES 17-01-2

 18:00,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that on January 17, the following exchange rates were set by the bank.

The exchange rate of the US dollar increased by 0.61 drams, making 481.49 drams. The exchange rate of Euro decreased by 0.93 Drams, making 550.01 Drams. The exchange rate of Russian ruble decreased by 0.02 drams and made 6.30 drams. The exchange rate of British pound decreased by 1.67 drams, making 658.63 drams.

As for precious metals, the price of gold increased by 75.95 drams, making 28219.74 drams. The price of silver decreased by 1.79 drams, making 357.59 drams. The price of platinum increased by 65.59 drams, making 15155.18 drams.

 19:07,

YEREVAN, 17 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian today met with the Executive Director of “Mubadala” investment company Khaldoon Khalifa al Mubarak during his working visit to the UAE, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the President of Armenia.

Mubadala Investment Company is a large investment company which manages a diverse profile of assets and investments in the UAE and abroad. The company mainly carries out activities and makes investments in fields of high technology, telecommunication, energy, healthcare, real estate, infrastructure, education, science and is present in more than 50 countries of the world. The volume of the assets managed by “Mubadala” is estimated 243 billion US Dollars, the head office is in Abu Dabi. “Mubadala” has offices also in London, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, New York, San Francisco and Beijing.

President Sarkissian once again expressed his gratitude to Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, for its readiness to implement energy projects of a total of 400 MW in the field of renewable energy in Armenia. The President highly appreciated the efficient cooperation of “Masdar” company and the Armenian National Interests Fund around the “Ayg-1” programme.

The possibilities of making large investments in alternative energy as well as in other fields were discussed. President Sarkissian mentioned that Armenia is interested in the possible presence of UAE companies also in other fields of our economy and is ready for long-terms cooperation.

 19:40,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS.  Official Tehran responded to the first meeting of the Armenian and Turkish special representatives in Moscow, ARMENPRESS reports, referring to ISNA agency, 1lurer.am reports that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stated at a press conference that Iran welcomes the normalization of relations between its neighbors and supports the efforts made in that direction.

 "Our region is tired of the breach of relations and negative attitudes. We must help develop positive attitudes and views," Khatibzadeh said.

Special Representatives for the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey, respectively, the Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Mr. Ruben Rubinyan and Ambassador Serdar Kılıç met on 14 January 2022, in Moscow.

During their first meeting, conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere, the Special Representatives exchanged their preliminary views regarding the normalization process through dialogue between Armenia and Turkey. Parties agreed to continue negotiations without preconditions aiming at full normalization.

Date and venue of their second meeting will be decided in due time through diplomatic channels.