Category: 2022

 13:00,

YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Parliament is debating the ruling Civil Contract bloc’s bill on banning cash gambling, including through payment terminals.

Six months after the law takes effect betting through e-wallets will also be banned.

MP Gevorg Papoyan, a co-author of the bill, told lawmakers that this bill is part of the government’s consistent effort to fight against gambling addiction. “The main target of the bill is citizens who are socially vulnerable but at the same time have gambling addiction, which worsens their social condition,” he said.

Current regulations allow bookmakers to accept bets in three ways – in cash, in electronic money and by bank transactions.

“If the law takes effect, the cash option will be banned. Then, after 6 months the e-money option will also be banned, leaving only the bank transaction, meaning the non-cash payment option,” he said.

“Being an adult is a mandatory condition for having a bookmaking account, an age threshold is in place for having a bank account as well. Therefore, the participation of minors will not be possible,” he added.

 13:00,

YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. On April 11 the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Armenia hosted the “Maraga 30: Unpunished and Ongoing Genocide” Seminar dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Maraga massacre – the genocidal killings of peaceful Armenian population of the village of Maraga in Artsakh’s Martakert region committed by the Azerbaijani military.

The seminar was organized by the NAS Institute of History, the Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO and the Center of Human Rights and Genocide Studies NGO.

“This is history and we must remember it. This was the beginning of a series of genocides perpetrated by Azerbaijan against the Armenian people. Historians, all of us must work in order for this to remain in history as a memory, and that generations remember it,” NAS President Ashot Saghyan said in his remarks.

“Genocide happened all across Armenia. This was committed not only by the authorities of Ottoman Turkey but also by Azerbaijan which was created by the Young Turks and Turkey,” said Against Legal Arbitrariness Executive Director Larisa Alaverdyan.

NAS Institute of History Director Ashot Melkonyan said the Maraga massacre was one circle of the entire chain of genocidal policy.

“The genocidal policy directly passed on from the Ottoman Empire to the First Republic of Azerbaijan, it had other manifestations in the Soviet years, and during the third Republic we saw what manifestations happened by Azerbaijan in 1991-1994, in April of 2016 and in 2020. The Maraga genocide was left in the shadow. It was an example of a war crime against the peaceful population. This seminar will be another occasion to study in depth and note the entire genocidal policy which Azerbaijan inherited from Ottoman Turkey and continues to this day,” he said

The grounds and possibilities for a possible application to the international court over the Armenian Genocide was also discussed at the seminar.

The continuous genocide against Armenians, the responsibility of the Turkish-Azeri authorities and the issues of Armenians and Armenian communities in the post-war period were also discussed.

The Maraga 1992: Golgotha of the late 20th Century film was screened.

 13:43,

YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan and his deputy Narek Teryan are in Russia since April 10 on a three-day visit. During the visit the Armenian delegation was hosted by Russia’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Volvach, the Armenian ministry said in a news release.

Thanking for the welcome, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said Armenia is interested in deepening and expanding the cooperation with Russia in industry, trade and mutual investments, taking into account the targeted and successful work aimed at improving the bilateral business environment.

“Depending on the location and targeted direction, foreign investors could register a company and conduct an effective activity in Armenia in the fields of energy, light and heavy industry, pharmaceutics, telecommunication, jewelry or diamond production, logistics and transport, as well as IT”, the minister said.

The Russian deputy minister of economic development said the trade turnover between Armenia and Russia in 2021 increased by almost 13% and has reached 2,6 billion dollars, whereas the mutual trade only in January 2022 has increased by 50% compared to the same period of the previous year.  

“These are high figures, and today, in new conditions, we continue the mutual cooperation for keeping our partnership rates. There is a big potential for that. We don’t want to stop on the existing achievements and are interested in searching for new joint projects and developing the investment potential”, Dmitry Volvach said.

He also said that there are more than 40 large Russian companies operating in Armenia. Russia has invested around 2 billion dollars in the real sector of Armenia’s economy.

For the development of commercial partnership, the Russian side made effective proposals for the development of transport, energy, social infrastructure, implementation of prospective investment programs in Armenia.

The inter-regional cooperation was also touched upon during the meeting. Today Armenia maintains relations with more than 70 regions of Russia. Moreover, it is planned to organize works to select inter-regional cooperation projects and assist their implementation.

The activities being implemented within the Eurasian Economic Union were also discussed. At the moment the focus is on the macro-economic situation and the sustainable development of the economies of the Union’s member states.

 13:08,

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan’s public transport fleet will receive an additional 100 new buses. The current fleet is made up from 54 buses.

Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan instructed city officials to prepare the procurement tender package.

The Chinese-made Zhong Tong buses will also start operating new routes from May 1.

In addition, city authorities will soon announce the tender for buying 15 new trolleybuses.

 14:12,

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense of Armenia Suren Papikyan chaired a consultation in the ministry on April 11, attended by the leadership staff of the ministry, the Armed Forces and the General Staff.

The commanders of army units also participated in the meeting online, the ministry said.

Reports were presented about the works done in winter, as well as the future plans were outlined.

Based on the consultation results, the Defense Minister tasked the heads of responsible units to solve the problems in a short period of time.

 14:37,

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received today French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Brice Roquefeuil, the spokesperson of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vahan Hunanyan said in a statement on social media.

“On April 11 Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan received French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Brice Roquefeuil. Details later”, the spokesperson said.

 14:52,

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS. Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, newly appointed Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the Republic of Armenia (residence in Moscow), handed over his credentials to President Vahagn Khachaturyan, the Presidential Office reports.

The Armenian President congratulated the Ambassador on appointment and expressed confidence that he will serve his experience and professional skills at best for the development of the Armenian-Dominican relations.

The Ambassador assured that he will make all efforts to further enrich and promote the agenda of the relations of the two countries.

The prospects of boosting the bilateral ties, developing the mutual partnership were touched upon. Both sides attached special importance to the development of tourism between the two countries, highlighting lifting the visa regime and establishing a direct air communication as a key factor contributing to tourism growth.

 15:34,

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS. During their meeting in Yerevan today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and the French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Brice Roquefeuil highlighted the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in the settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within its mandate, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

“The role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in the settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within its mandate was highlighted.

The current situation caused by the incursion of the Azerbaijani armed forces into Parukh village and adjacent sections, which are under the responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh, was discussed at the meeting. The Armenian FM presented the humanitarian problems that Azerbaijan is creating deliberately for Armenians of Artsakh and its actions aimed at conducting ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh. The necessity of the return of Azerbaijani armed units to their initial positions as of March 23 was emphasized.

Ararat Mirzoyan presented the position of Armenia on starting negotiations with Azerbaijan around a peace treaty, in this context highlighting the mediation role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship and the Co-Chairing countries”, the statement says.

 17:09,

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Food Safety Inspection Agency ordered a temporary ban on imports of Kinder chocolate products from Germany after studying reports from European countries linking the chocolate to salmonella cases.

According to the Food Safety Inspection Agency, two companies are importing Kinder products to Armenia – Slav Group is importing from Russia and SAS Group is importing from Germany.

The agency said it is carrying out inspections in both companies and the products were taken for laboratory analysis.

The Food Safety Agency told ARMENPRESS that they are likely to order a recall of the Kinder products imported from Germany pending the lab results.

The ban relates only to the Kinder products imported from Germany, the agency added.

Last updated: 18:15

 17:47,

YEREVAN, APRIL 11, ARMENPRESS. The representatives of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) visited the Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan and helped them to maintain contact with their families, the ICRC Armenia Office said.

“We have tried to keep the frequency of visits at this period in the form of telephone calls, videotaped messages and letters and will continue to do so as long as these persons are in detention”, Communication and Prevention Program Manager at ICRC Office in Armenia Zara Amatuni said.

The ICRC does not publish the information about the detention conditions of the captives, the attitude to them and their health condition, stating that they are in the scope of a closed dialogue.

Zara Amatuni said the purpose of the regular visits is to get acquainted with the situation of captives.  

Recently Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan announced in the Parliament that there are currently 38 Armenian captives held by Azerbaijan, 3 of whom are civilians.