Category: 2022

 13:08, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. A decision was made to lift customs duties for the imports of a number of products of high importance in the Eurasian Economic Union platform, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting.

“This will definitely have a positive impact on prices,” Pashinyan added.

Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan said the March 17 decision made at the EEU session was unprecedented.

“We treated the list of products exempting from customs duties very delicately in order to avoid conflict of interests for our producers,” the Deputy PM said.

Another list of products is under discussion at the EEU for exempting from customs duties.

 13:21, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MRCH 24, ARMENPRESS. In 2022 7000, and in 2023 8000 electric cars can be imported to Armenia at a 0% custom duty rate, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting today.

“The import of electric cars is exempt from VAT until 2024. I think this is an exclusive opportunity for this trend to take place in Armenia. Electric cars are the future, and we all must accept it”, the PM said.

He tasked members of the Cabinet to give priority to electric cars as much as possible while purchasing a vehicle.

 13:35, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MRCH 24, ARMENPRESS. The Russian military during a special operation took control of the city of Izyum in Ukraine’s Kharkov region, Chief Spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov announced on Wednesday, reports TASS.

“The armed forces of the Russian Federation continue to carry out the tasks of a special military operation. By the morning of March 24, units of the Russian army have completely taken control of the city of Izyum in the Kharkov region”, he said.

 13:47, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government approved the government support procedure for commercial organizations and private entrepreneurs in the IT sector.

“With this decision we return 50% of the revenue tax for newly created jobs to improve certain conditions for IT organizations,” the State Revenue Committee Chairman Rustam Badasyan said.

“There are two goals: First of all we have a big group of freelancers who work in the shadow, at home, they work under various contracts for foreign organizations and work in the shadow. We offer the kind of conditions for them to benefit from state social credits upon being registered legally, and that being registered becomes more beneficial than not registered. Secondly, many countries fight to keep highly qualified IT experts and there is big competition in this sector. Particularly, various privileges exist in both European countries and in CIS countries. For example in Uzbekistan, Georgia there are various IT sector privileges,” he said, adding that they want Armenian IT companies to be competitive in this context.

Companies qualifying for the support program must have at least 50 new jobs as of March 1. “I mean not the work contracts but the legal contracts. And for these 50 employees the companies must not have had paid revenue tax for the preceding 6 months before March 1. Meaning, this is about completely newly opened jobs.”

 13:57, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government will subsidize the Poti-Port Kavkaz regular ferry connection for imports or exports.

The decision was made at the March 24 Cabinet meeting.

“Armenia faces various problems while importing or exporting, the Upper Lars road gets closed and leads to vehicle congestion from different sides. In this new situation, when food security is a top priority for every country, there is a need for fundamental solutions. We suggest subsidizing the Poti-Kavkaz regular ferry connection, which is carried out twice a week, in order to be able in a certain period of time to shift a significant part of our logistic shipments to railway mode,” Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said.

 14:13, 24 March, 2022

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. Women in Artsakh held a peaceful rally in Stepanakert to make their voices heard by the international community, drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis which occurred after Azerbaijan deliberately cut off gas supply.

“….All international organizations should take clear actions pursuant to humanitarian principles, instead of making calls,” said of the women.

The demonstrators said that right now there is a humanitarian disaster in Artsakh and the whole world knows that Azerbaijan is the perpetrator.

They warned that Azerbaijan could exploit the situation and aggravate it even more.

The women said that the residents of Artsakh, the citizens of Artsakh are equally entitled to all the rights that citizens of other countries have.

“But the most painful thing is that there is no single organization, structure that could force the aggressor to stop its atrocities,” one of the demonstrators said, asking the international organizations to deal with the issue of the security of Artsakh’s population.

“None of us wants to leave their home. Let Azerbaijan understand this, the people of Artsakh lived here and will continue living here.”

 

The authorities of Artsakh said that the main pipeline supplying gas from Armenia to Artsakh was damaged on March 7 and the supply stopped.

The Artsakh authorities had said the area where the damage occurred was in Azerbaijani-controlled territory. It was reported that the Azerbaijani military deliberately damaged the pipeline.

The Azerbaijani authorities obstructed repair works for days. Only on March 16 the authorities in Artsakh announced that the Azerbaijani side itself began the repair work. However, days later, the gas supply was cut again. Authorities they have reasons to believe that during the repairs the Azeri authorities installed a valve on the pipeline in order to shut it down whenever they want.

Meanwhile, the population of Artsakh is without gas and heating amid freezing temperatures and snowfalls. The Artsakh foreign ministry described Azerbaijan’s actions as humanitarian terrorism.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry the current situation emphasizes the urgency of clear response of the international community towards preventing the humanitarian crisis.

On March 22 the Human Rights Defender of Armenia Kristinne Grigoryan and the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan issued a joint statement, calling on international human rights organizations to pressure Azerbaijan and eliminate its gross and continuous human rights violations against the Armenians of Artsakh.

On March 23, the FM of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan they utilized all diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation.

On March 23, the European Union expressed its concerns.

On March 24, Freedom House urged Azerbaijan to prevent humanitarian crisis and restore gas supplies to Artsakh.

Speaking on the gas supply cut-off, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the March 24 Cabinet meeting that Azerbaijan seeks to finish ethnic cleansing in Artsakh.

 14:28, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. The United Kingdom will announce a new package of support for Ukraine at the March 24 NATO and G7 leaders’ meeting, the British Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

“The measures announced today include 6,000 missiles, consisting of anti-tank and high explosive weapons, and £25 million in financial backing for the Ukrainian military. This more than doubles the defensive lethal aid provided to date to more than 10,000 missiles, and comes on top of the £400 million the UK has committed in humanitarian and economic aid for the crisis. The Prime Minister will set out the UK’s intention to work with partners to bolster Ukraine’s defence capabilities, including longer-range targeting and intelligence, as the Ukrainian people face down an unprovoked invasion.

The UK will also provide an additional £4.1 million for the BBC World Service as part of a cross-government effort to tackle disinformation in Russia and Ukraine, as well as new financial and policing support for the International Criminal Court’s investigation into war crimes,” Downing Street said in part.

 14:57, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MRCH 24, ARMENPRESS. Turkish historian Taner Akcam delivered a lecture on the Anatomy of the Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1878-1924, at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on March 23.

The lecture was organized by the Armenian Embassy in Greece and the Faculty of Political Science and Public Management of the University, the Embassy said in a news release.

The lecture was attended by the University’s students, lecturers, representatives of the Greek parliament and the Armenian community.

Ambassador of Armenia to Greece Tigran Mkrtchyan addressed the event participants online and thanked the University of Athens for assisting to hold the lecture. He highly valued Taner Akcam’s activity in greatly contributing to the education on genocide by his valuable scientific works about genocides and crimes against humanity.

In his remarks the Ambassador touched upon the importance of resolutions authored by Armenia in the UN Human Rights Council on prevention of genocides, and stated that many countries, including Greece, acted as co-authors of the resolution.

During his lecture Turkish historian Taner Akcam talked about the genocide committed against the Christian population in the Ottoman Empire and mentioned the factors which served a base for its implementation.

He said after the assassination of Hrant Dink, the Turkish society has started to face its historical past, however, he adds that Turkey still has a long path to pass for recognizing the fact of Genocide at a state level. He says this is also a matter of legal consequences which is also not clearly perceived in that country.

 15:07, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. Exports from Armenia to Russia dropped 30%, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said when asked on the economic impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

He said the figure is concerning.

At the same time, Kerobyan said there is growth of exports in other directions.

“We are now working with exporters so that they re-sign their contracts in conditions of new prices, which will result, we think, in increase of exports volumes because the deficit which appeared in the Russian market after many Western companies shut down allows us to assume that we can increase the share of our market in the Russian market,” he said.

 15:13, 24 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. With support of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, the authorities in Artsakh continue negotiations with the Azerbaijani side for the restoration of gas supply, the Artsakh authorities said on March 24.

“The government of the Republic of Artsakh seeks to resolve this highly important humanitarian issue as soon as possible and we assure that we are taking all possible measures also in the diplomatic arena, which naturally aren’t subject to publicizing,” the government’s Information Center said.

It added that the President Arayik Harutyunyan authorized Secretary of the Security Council Vitaly Balasanyan to act as the negotiator.

The authorities of Artsakh said that the main pipeline supplying gas from Armenia to Artsakh was damaged on March 7 and the supply stopped.

The Artsakh authorities had said the area where the damage occurred was in Azerbaijani-controlled territory. It was reported that the Azerbaijani military deliberately damaged the pipeline.

The Azerbaijani authorities obstructed repair works for days. Only on March 16 the authorities in Artsakh announced that the Azerbaijani side itself began the repair work. However, days later, the gas supply was cut again. Authorities they have reasons to believe that during the repairs the Azeri authorities installed a valve on the pipeline in order to shut it down whenever they want.

Meanwhile, the population of Artsakh is without gas and heating amid freezing temperatures and snowfalls. The Artsakh foreign ministry described Azerbaijan’s actions as humanitarian terrorism.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry the current situation emphasizes the urgency of clear response of the international community towards preventing the humanitarian crisis.

On March 22 the Human Rights Defender of Armenia Kristinne Grigoryan and the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan issued a joint statement, calling on international human rights organizations to pressure Azerbaijan and eliminate its gross and continuous human rights violations against the Armenians of Artsakh.

On March 23, the FM of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan they utilized all diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation.

On March 23, the European Union expressed its concerns.

On March 24, Freedom House urged Azerbaijan to prevent humanitarian crisis and restore gas supplies to Artsakh.

Speaking on the gas supply cut-off, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the March 24 Cabinet meeting that Azerbaijan seeks to finish ethnic cleansing in Artsakh.