Category: 2022

 12:39,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Thanks to historically brotherly and allied relations, Armenia has a special place among our friends and allies, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin said during the state reception organized on the Russia Day.

“This year we celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 25^th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Help. During these decades the cooperation between our countries has been distinguished by intensive, reliable high-level political dialogue and active cooperation between different ministries and agencies. The economic ties have consistently developed and continue developing. According to the results of 2021, the trade turnover exceeded the pre-pandemic figures, comprising around 2,6 billion dollars. Russia keeps the positions of being Armenia’s main and reliable economic and investment partner. Our cultural, educational and humanitarian cooperation is expanding. The bilateral effective cooperation in the security sector, both regional and international, is of vital importance. Our countries are actively cooperating in international platforms and within the frames of integration unions – EAEU, CSTO and CIS”, the Russian Ambassador said.

The diplomat said Russia is actively supporting and will support what contributes to creating ground for the peaceful and secure development of the South Caucasus region. According to him, Russia, in close cooperation with partners, is working hard to solve the regional issues directed to opening the transportation and economic ties, improving the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and establishing normal, full relations between Armenia and Turkey.

 12:43,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) is a good platform of cooperation, opportunities and exchange of experience. More than 30 news agencies around the world are members of this organization.

EANA Secretary General, Alexandru Giboi, and EANA Board Member, CEO of PA Media Group, Clive Marshall, visited Armenpress on June 13.

Speaking about their visit to Armenia, Clive Marshall said they are in Armenia to meet with the people from Armenpress and also with the general media, in order to progress the application that has been made by Armenpress to join EANA. “We had very interesting two-days learning more about the country, its history and its media”, he said.

Presenting the main mission of their organization, the EANA Secretary General stated: “The main goal is to actually create an environment of cooperation and insight sharing for the members. It’s an environment out of which each member can draw something useful for the evolution of the agency that they represent”.

EANA attaches great importance to the cooperation and empowerment of its members. He says that the core values that they represent are those of journalism, which they see as lying at the basis of the democratic societies. “So we try to empower our members to become the flag-bearers of these journalistic values to the, let’s say, larger goal of improving the democratic societies in which they function”, he noted.

Clive Marshall in turn stresses the necessity of news agencies to be “independent, impartial, balanced and perhaps most importantly in today’s world, in digital media, to be trustworthy, so that people, that are consuming news agency content, can trust that content and know that it comes as a reliable source”.

As for the their expansion plans, Alexandru Giboi said their organization became more digital because of COVID-19, adding that they are looking towards engaging a lot more with the stakeholder environment. “Personally I think that increasing connections in Europe of course, among various sectors, not only the media sector, the technology sector, consultancy, everything should be one of the keys to the evolution of EANA, and our members, of course. So in the future, I think, the cooperation is key”, the EANA Secretary General said.

Clive Marshall notes: “I think from the perspective of my news agency, the PA Media Group in London, it’s important that we are in a position to transfer our experience and skills to some of the small members of our organization”. He says that if the membership application of Armenpress succeeds, they can exchange information and knowledge that can help Armenpress develop and grow, which according to him, is good for Armenia, is good for the news agency and the consumers of the news content as well. Clive Marshall informed that they have discussed this issue with Director of Armenpress Narine Nazaryan.

As for the opportunities provided by EANA, the Secretary General said they are huge. “First of all, first and foremost, and I am saying this as Secretary General of EANA and also as a former director of a news agency which is member of EANA, and that is Agerpres Romania. You, as a member, benefit from the huge level of insight which is, actually, granted by the diverse membership that we have. Interaction, networking, access to ideas is one of the most important gains for a member agency, in my opinion. They are not, let’s say, in a way isolated anymore. They are part of this big family which we are. And we help our members anyway possible”, he added.

Clive Marshall highlighted the friendship and the community of the organization. He says that one of the greatest benefits of the organization is that it is possible to meet around 30 news agency heads, share experiences, concerns and opportunities.

EANA members are such news agencies as Agence France Presse (France), Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA, Italy), BTA (Bulgaria), Agerpres (Romania), CAN (Cyprus), EFE (Spain), the news agencies of Andorra, Greece, Austria, Belgium, Slovakia, Denmark and other countries.

 12:57,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Qatar on an official visit, received in his residence the members of the Qatari Business Association led by Vice Chairman Hussain Ibrahim Alfardan, the PM’s Office said.

The opportunities of implementing investment projects in Armenia in different areas were discussed during the meeting. PM Pashinyan highlighted the readiness of the Armenian community to contribute to the effective implementation of the possible programs within its tools.

The Qatari Business Association members said they are ready to discuss and consider the proposals to operate in Armenia in various directions.

In this context the meeting sides touched upon the possibilities of implementing investment programs in agriculture, jewelry, tourism, energy, high technologies.

An agreement was reached to present concrete draft projects to the Business Council of Qatar in the future.

 13:00,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is in Qatar on an official visit, received Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in his residence, the PM’s Office said.

During the meeting the sides discussed issues relating to further developing and strengthening the relations between Armenia and Qatar in the foreign policy field.

PM Pashinyan highlighted the role of Qatar in the Arab world and emphasized the interest of the Armenian government in expanding and deepening the bilateral relations in various areas.

The meeting also touched upon the processes taking place in the South Caucasus region.

 13:21,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Scottish football fans arrived in Yerevan to watch the UEFA Nations League B league Group 1 match between Armenia and Scotland on June 14.

Speaking to ARMENPRESS, they said they are very impressed with the Armenian capital, called Armenia a very beautiful country, and its people – friendly and hospitable.

“Our expectations on Armenians are exceeded. We didn’t believe that the locals would be so hospitable and warm to us. Everyone shows positive attitude to us”, football fan Alan Mckillop said.

The Scottish tourists said they haven’t managed to see a lot in Armenia, but plan to visit some beautiful sites before the start of the match.

“We are going to tour around Yerevan’s Opera Theater. As we do not have enough time to see all the beautiful sites, we decided to visit the interesting structures and institutions that we will meet along the way”, Paul Doherty said.

The Scottish football fans believe that their national team will win this match. They say if their team wins, they will celebrate the victory with an Armenian beer.

 

 

 14:00,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met with Father Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in Doha during the official visit, the PM’s Office said.

PM Pashinyan handed over the Order of Friendship of the Republic of Armenia to the Father Emir of Qatar for his significant services to the strengthening and development of political, economic, scientific, educational cooperation, cultural and religious mutual understanding and friendly ties between the two nations.

The Father Emir of Qatar thanked for the Order and stated that he will continue making maximum efforts to contribute to the further development of the relations between the two countries and peoples.

The Armenian PM and the Father Emir of Qatar also touched upon the development prospects of the relations between the two countries. They highlighted strengthening the intensive ties to make the Armenian-Qatari cooperation more multilateral.

Other issues of regional and international significance were also discussed.

 14:42,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Aurora’s Sunrise, a historical animated documentary film about the life of Aurora Mardiganian, will premiere at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France this week, the Zoryan Institute said in a statement.

“At only 14 years old, in 1915, Aurora faced the horrors of the Armenian Genocide. Within a year, witnessing the deaths of everyone in her family, Aurora had lost everything, and was sold into a Turkish harem. But with extraordinary courage and luck, she escaped to America, where her story became a sensation. 

The Zoryan Institute’s objective with this film is to bring to life the ZI’s Oral History Testimonies onto the big screen, through animated documentary films, to relay the stories of the Genocide survivors to the younger generations, especially of girls and to empower them, and  to represent their communities in the face of great adversity and violence. 

In 2015, during the year of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Zoryan Institute, signed a partnership agreement with Bars Media of Armenia to produce the animated documentary based on the testimony of A. Mardiganian. Aurora’s Sunrise was made possible with the academic contribution of the Zoryan Institute Armenia, based on its oral history archives (filmed by the Zoryan Institute on January 29, 1984). 

The film is directed by Inna Sahakyan. It is produced by Bars Media, led by Vardan Hovhannisyan, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion&ArtboxLaisvalaikioKlubas, with the financial partnership of Eurimages, the Zoryan Institute Armenia & the National Cinema Center of Armenia, and with the contributions of the Lithuanian Film Center, ZDF/ARTE, Public TV Armenia, and LRT. 

The Zoryan Institute is thrilled that 40 years after the launch of the Armenian Genocide Oral History Project, which collected testimonies of survivors of the 1915 Genocide across 4 continents, the great-grandchildren of those who experienced the genocide are experiencing life before, during, and after the genocide through a film that seamlessly blends a mix of footage from the Zoryan Institute’s original live interview with Aurora and the brilliant animation of Bars Media and their German and Lithuanian co-producers, along with scenes from the 1919 silent film “Auction of Souls” (film starring Aurora Mardiganian prepared by Near East Relief). 

The world premiere of Aurora’s Sunrise, is taking place at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France this week. Annecy is a week-long global festival that brings together the biggest names in animation to celebrate creative and diverse animation styles and techniques.

In addition to initial cost of the Oral History testimonies, Aurora’s Sunrise film had a budget of over USD $1,000,000.00, and is only the beginning of these invaluable stories of Armenian Genocide survivors”, the statement says.

 14:54,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. “Arabic messages from Armenia: Heritage for Cultural Dialogue” temporary exhibition opened in the National Library of Qatar on June 14 on the sidelines of the official visit of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his delegation in Doha, Armenpress correspondent reports.

9 duplicate samples from the numismatic and archeological collections of the History Museum of Armenia were displayed at the exhibition.

The exhibition posters presented cultural values and historical facts about the Armenian-Arab long-lasting relations.

The exhibition will remain open for a week.

 14:59,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament of Armenia debated today the agreement about the use of military satellite communication systems and their further enhancement according to which Armenia will join the initiative of joint use of military satellite communication systems.

Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan presented the draft on ratifying the agreement during the Parliament’s session today.

“According to the draft, Armenia joins the initiative on the common use of military satellite communication systems, signed during the 2018 June 6 session of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers in Russia, aimed at creating an integrated system of the CIS military satellite communication based on the Russian military satellite communication system”, he said.

The use and further enhancement of military satellite communication systems are performed for the purpose of increase in reliability of management of armed forces of the State Parties of this agreement and the organization of bonds of interaction between them.

However, Armenia joins the agreement with one reservation that Armenia will make a separate decision over the spread of the provisions of the agreement to those states which will join the agreement.

The agreement has been signed by Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova and Azerbaijan did not sign the agreement.

 15:07,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Silicon Mountains Tech Summit 2022 dedicated to digital transformation will launch in Yerevan’s Matenadaran on June 17.

During the summit Armenian officials, heads of ICT companies and foreign experts will discuss the importance of digital transformation and the use of digital solutions in different sectors.

The topics of this year’s summit are digital transformation, fintech and cybersecurity.

During a press conference today dedicated to the summit, President of the Union of Employers of Information and Communication Technologies (UEICT) Armen Baldryan said the focus will be on the relevant issues, such as the digitization strategy, the necessary infrastructure and security.

“We will talk about the most demanded topics – digital transformation, cybersecurity and fintech. Leaders, experts and speakers both from Armenia and abroad will take part. During the panel discussions the state officials of Armenia, the heads of leading ICT companies, specialists from the banking sector, as well as foreign and local experts will discuss the problems connected with digitization in Armenia, as well as the challenges, and also will share their experience”, he said.

UEICT Executive Director Eduard Musayelyan said the Union is organizing the Silicon Mountains tech summit together with its partners for already the third year. “We aim to position our country in the world as a technologically developed country offering engineering solutions, a country of highly qualified specialists. This year we are holding the event with the support of the Central Bank of Armenia, and it is dedicated to digital transformation. We attach great importance to this cooperation as the Union targets digitization and spread of ICT solutions in different branches of the economy”, he added.

Head of the Department of stability and regulation of financial system at the Central Bank of Armenia Garegin Gevorgyan said that capturing the leading position in the region through the formation of a modern financial system based on science and technologies is one of the key messages of the strategy of the Central Bank.

President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia Ashot Hovanesian believes that the digital transformation is not just the replacement of old tools with digital tools. “It supposes a comprehensive change in people’s way of thinking about the technology and its use”, he said.

Only invited participants could participate in the summit. It will be broadcast live.