Category: 2022

 14:08, 7 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. One of the world’s largest stock exchanges, Nasdaq, has congratulated BAJ Accelerator and Orion Worldwide Innovations for attracting  $27 million in investments in 2021. As previously reported, the investments were made in Armenian startups operating in the fields of Security, SaaS, Robotics, FinTech, and AI. Orion is a New York-based company that opened an office in Armenia two years ago. Startups in the accelerator portfolio are on pace to attract another $20 million in 2022.

The showcase congratulating both BAJ Accelerator and Orion Worldwide Innovations were published on the large Nasdaq screen in Times Square, New York (photo attached) with the following text: “NASDAQ congratulates BAJ Accelerator & Orion Worldwide Innovations for their program companies raising $27M in 2021.” 

“We are very honored to be recognized by Nasdaq. Armenian talent invent many innovative products, and we are glad that through Orion the successes of the Armenian startups are becoming more visible to the world. For the first time this upcoming summer, we will organize the “Orion Summit 2022,” which will be an opportunity to highlight achievements together with rising unicorns that are part of our portfolio, and the Armenian startup ecosystem overall,” said Diana Arzumanyan, CEO & Co-Founder of Orion Armenia.

About Orion

Orion Worldwide Innovations (“Orion”), is a startup growth and ecosystem acceleration hub and offers a full-service package to make companies investable and enter the US market, enhance their customer acquisition strategies, stay competitive, and protect their innovation. Orion is a U.S.-based company that was formed in 2017, with offices in New York City, U.S., and Yerevan, Armenia. Orion partners with companies and investor networks worldwide.

About “BAJ Accelerator”

BAJ Accelerator is a growth stage accelerator and is for startups at the Seed to Series A+ levels. BAJ Accelerator is the first one in the world “accelerating the acceleration of technology” by offering high-touch relationships for funding and growth, business and legal, investment and academia. Topics span an impressive range including technology, legal, finance, sales, marketing, leadership, storytelling and exponential thinking.BAJ Accelerator brings fast-paced Firing Range drive with the unique vision of “Less Talk, More Deals” slogan.

 15:25, 7 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. During the Brussels meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and European Council President Charles Michel the worsening of the security environment in Nagorno Karabakh was also addressed, particularly the incidents in Parukh, however these discussions didn’t lead to a common assessment of the situation.

“Naturally there was a discussion around the worsening of the security environment in Nagorno Karabakh, particularly the incidents in Parukh,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting. “But these discussions didn’t lead to a common assessment of the situation. I myself didn’t find the further discussion of this topic to be appropriate in the Brussels platform because nevertheless this is about the Azerbaijani military invasion into the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh, and this issue ought to be discussed with participation of our Russian colleagues, which we are doing and will continue to do.”

Reiterating the Armenian side’s stance over this issue, the PM added: “Therefore we expect that the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh will take steps to ensure the withdrawal of the Azerbaijani military units from their zone of responsibility. We also attach importance to holding an investigation into the adequateness or potential inaction of the Russian peacekeeping troops’ actions during the course of development of the events and in the theater of operations.”

The PM said he spoke about this during his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 15:39, 7 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. During the meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President of the European Council Charles Michel and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels on April 6, the possibility of cooperation on finding out the fates of missing persons was also discussed, the Armenian PM said at the Cabinet meeting today.

“The humanitarian issues were among the key topics of the discussion. The European Council President emphasized the necessity of releasing all captured persons. We also discussed the possibility and issues of cooperating around finding out the fate of the missing persons”, the PM said.

He reminded that after the two Artsakh wars the Armenian side has 985 missing persons, 208 of whom have been declared missing after the 44-day war, and 777 after the First Artsakh War. Pashinyan emphasized that it is necessary to continue the work on finding out their fate.

 16:02, 7 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. The security guarantees of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, the protection of their rights and freedoms, as well as the clarification of the final status of Nagorno Karabakh are of principled importance for the Armenian side, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting today. He said these issues are included in the responses of the Armenian side relating to the peace agenda and must become a subject of negotiations.

“Based on the meeting results a decision about two issues was achieved”, he said, presenting the results of his April 6 meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels, mediated by the President of the European Council Charles Michel. “Firstly, the foreign ministers of the two countries were tasked to start the preparations for the future peace treaty and initiate talks and contacts on this direction. This means that the principles and matters presented by Armenia and Azerbaijan over the peace treaty must be finalized and must be addressed with the results of negotiations”, the PM said.

He reminded that in response to Azerbaijan’s proposals the Armenian side has stated that there is nothing unacceptable for it in that. “However, they do not complete the matters of the peace agenda. And for us, the security guarantees of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, the protection of their rights and freedoms, as well as the clarification of the final status of Nagorno Karabakh are of principled importance. These issues are involved in our responses relating to the peace agenda and must become a subject of negotiations”, the PM added.

He emphasized that like in the past, now as well the Armenian side considers vital the engagement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in this process and stressed that it is necessary to continue working on this direction.

“The next decision made in Brussels was about creating a bilateral commission on Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation issues by the end of April. That commission will have a double mandate, the first one relates to the main delimitation works, and the second one is to ensure security and stability along the border. The discussions on this topic, including with Russia’s mediation, are taking place for around a year. And eventually, we came to such a compromise decision. You know that there are Armenian territories that are under the control of Azerbaijan, and there are Azerbaijani territories that are under the control of Armenia. These issues must be solved with the results of negotiations, of course, based on de jure-substantiated records and facts of legal significance”, he said.

He added that the Russian Federation has expressed readiness to assist the delimitation and demarcation works, the European Union is also expressing readiness to assist, and noted that it is necessary to move forward on this direction. “Our position is that there is a de jure border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and that is the borderline existing in the Soviet times. These border delimitation works must start with this record and it is necessary to try to achieve solutions, and also take measures to ensure security and stability”, the Armenian PM said.

Assessing the Brussels meeting, the Armenian PM said an agreement was reached to move on these two directions, and the further assessment depends on the results to be registered in the practical implementation stage of these agreements. He added that they will continue consistently pushing forward the agenda of opening a peaceful development era for the country and the region. “And we must do the maximum to make this agenda a reality. I repeat that, unfortunately, this doesn’t depend on us only. But we must carry out our part of the work consistently”, he said.

 16:03, 7 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that during his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels they recorded misinterpretations regarding the issue of opening of connections in the region and they agreed to continue the work.

Speaking at the Cabinet meeting, Pashinyan said that the opening of regional communications was a topic of discussion, among others, at the meeting.

“We recorded some misinterpretations around this and we agreed to continue working to find solutions,” the PM said.

 16:37, 7 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. Newly-appointed Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Armenia Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos (residence in Moscow, Russia), presented today the copy of his credentials to Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan, the foreign ministry said.

Congratulating the first Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Armenia on appointment, the deputy FM said Armenia is interested in developing multifaceted relations with the Dominican Republic.

The Ambassador thanked for the welcome and wishes and stated that he is committed to maximally developing the cooperation with Armenia in different areas during his mission.

The Armenian deputy FM presented to the foreign diplomat the current developments around the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the position of the Armenian side.

Issues relating to the development of political dialogue, formation of a legal-contractual field and multilateral cooperation were discussed during the meeting.

The sides also discussed a number of regional and international matters.

 17:22, 7 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. Crucial efforts and progress were made between Armenia and Azerbaijan to work towards lasting peace and a stable and secure South Caucasus, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the EU Commission Josep Borrell said in a tweet referring to the EU-mediated meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

“Crucial efforts and progress made between Armenia and Azerbaijan to work towards lasting peace and a stable and secure South Caucasus. In the current geopolitical context it is more important than ever to find ways to engage and to diplomatically solve conflicts,” Borrell said, sharing European Council President Charles Michel’s tweet.

Michel had tweeted that the meeting was productive and that concrete and tangible results were recorded.