Category: 2022

 15:38,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Russia welcomes the readiness of Armenia and Azerbaijan to start preparations for a peace treaty and stands ready to support the negotiations process, the Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing.

“We welcome the readiness of Armenia and Azerbaijan to start the preparations for a peace treaty and we reaffirm our readiness to support the negotiations process,” Zakharova said.

She added that it is too early to speak about possible timeframes of the signing of the peace treaty.

On March 14, 2022 Armenia officially the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship to organize negotiations for the signing of peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

 16:50,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Thanos Arvanitis, conducted discussions during March 1–16, 2022 for the sixth review of Armenia’s economic program, which is supported by an IMF Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The SBA was approved on May 17, 2019 and will expire on May 16, 2022, the IMF said in a statement.

At the conclusion of the discussions, Mr. Arvanitis issued the following statement: “The IMF team has reached a staff-level agreement with the Armenian authorities for the conclusion of the sixth, and final, review of the economic reform program supported by a three-year Stand-By Arrangement. The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board, which is scheduled to consider this review in mid-May. About $36 million (SDR 25.716 million) would become available after the Board meeting, bringing total disbursements under the program to about $430 million.

The Armenian economy has continued to recover, posting 5.7 percent growth in 2021, and continuing to grow strongly in early 2022. Annual CPI inflation has steadily declined to 6.5 percent in February supported by monetary policy tightening. Fiscal policy helped to cushion the impact of the shocks on the economy in the last two years, but remains anchored on the broader objective of debt sustainability, and tax policy and administration reforms continue to broaden the tax base. The fiscal deficit is estimated to have narrowed to 4.7 percent of GDP in 2021, largely on the back of lower government spending. The external position has strengthened, especially in 2021, as the current account deficit narrowed during the Covid-19 pandemic while remittances stayed strong, and the Eurobond issuance and the SDR allocation added to international reserves. The banking system has remained adequately capitalized and liquid, and asset quality has improved.

The regional and global spillovers from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, however, weigh on the outlook and would inevitably have a notable impact on Armenia. The wide-ranging sanctions on Russia, higher food and fuel prices, lower remittances, increased global financial market volatility, are expected to widen the current account deficit, lead to a pickup in inflation, and reduce economic growth in the coming months. While there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude of the impact on Armenia, as the situation is still evolving, our preliminary assessment is that the economy could grow at around 1½ percent in 2022—a much slower pace than previously expected”.

 16:56,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan received today the delegation led by head of the Yerevan Resident Office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Dimitri Gvindadze, the ministry said in a news release.

Mr Gvindadze introduced George Akhalkatsi to the Minister. George Akhalkatsi has been appointed as the new head of the EBRD Yerevan Office and will take up his new role on 1 May 2022.

The Minister of Finance thanked for the productive cooperation and said that the working discussions with the EBRD have always been at a high level, adding that all necessary preconditions exist to promote and effectively implement the joint programs and ideas. According to the Minister, currently the protection of Armenia’s economic interest is priority for Armenia especially under the latest regional developments.

Dimitri Gvindadze thanked Tigran Khachatryan for the productive cooperation and many programs implemented with the Finance Ministry.

Topics relating to green economy, water infrastructure, development of political environment and improvement of transportation network were discussed during the meeting.

 15:53,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed George Akhalkatsi as the new head of its Yerevan Resident Office, replacing Dimitri Gvindadze, the EBRD said in a statement.

“Mr Akhalkatsi will take up his new role on 1 May 2022 and be based in the Armenian capital. He will oversee the Bank’s investments and operations in Armenia, reporting to Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, Regional Director for the Caucasus.  

Mr Akhalkatsi, a Georgian national, started his career as a lawyer before moving into banking at Société Générale. He joined the EBRD in 2009 and his most recent position was Associate Director, Senior Banker based in Tbilisi.

He has previously worked with the EBRD’s Manufacturing & Services and Credit Risk Management teams in London. He has a Masters in Law from Tbilisi State University and an MBA from INSEAD.

As the new Head of Office, Mr Akhalkatsi will draw on his significant country-level and cross-sectoral experience to maintain the Bank’s successful partnership with Armenia”, the statement says.

The EBRD has been working in Armenia since 1992. Its focus is on helping to diversify the economy by supporting investment in various sectors, as well as promoting the development of the financial sector and small and medium-sized enterprises.

To date, the Bank has invested more than €1.8 million in 200 projects across the country.

 17:17,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Nearly 4000 citizens of Ukraine arrived to Armenia in the last three weeks, according to the Ukrainian Chargé d’affaires in Armenia Denis Avtonomov.

Avtonomov said at a news conference that most of these 4000 Ukrainian citizens are ethnic Armenians. Avtonomov said those who arrived are either refugees, immigrants or tourists. “The peculiarity is that almost all of them are ethnic Armenians, and they have friends, families, homes here, that’s why they aren’t asking for help,” Avtonomov said.

He added that the Ukrainian Embassy in Yerevan has some possibilities to solve the accommodation issues for the arriving nationals, however the employment issue is far more difficult to solve.

According to Avtonomov, many citizens of Armenia – be it in Yerevan or in other cities – are applying to the Ukrainian embassy and expressing willingness to help the Ukrainian refugees in finding homes.

Overall, according to Avtonomov, “tens of thousands” of people from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have come to Armenia since February 24 as refugees, immigrants or tourists.

 17:35,

YEREVAN, 17 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 17 March, USD exchange rate down by 8.55 drams to 490.49 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 7.00 drams to 541.89 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 4.65 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 4.84 drams to 646.66 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 533.14 drams to 30170.43 drams. Silver price down by 1.89 drams to 393.37 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.

 17:39,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Syria Tigran Gevorgyan visited the People’s Assembly (Parliament) of Syria and met with Speaker Hammoud Sabbagh, the Armenian Embassy said on social media.

During the meeting both sides highlighted the role and significance of the parliamentary diplomacy in further deepening and developing the relations between Armenia and Syria.

Ambassador Gevorgyan said Armenia attaches great importance to the official recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide by the Syrian parliament, which was another evidence of the solidarity between the Armenian and Syrian peoples.

In this respect, the Ambassador conveyed the letter-invitation of the Vice Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ishkhan Saghatelyan addressed to the Syrian side to visit Armenia on April 24.

The sides also discussed a number of regional and international issues. The Armenian Ambassador thoroughly presented the regular provocations of the Azerbaijani side, particularly the latest steps on provoking humanitarian crisis in Artsakh. He also presented the latest developments in the Armenia-Turkey dialogue to the Syrian parliament speaker.

Hammoud Sabbagh accepted the invitation with pleasure and promised to inform about the decision on sending a delegation to Armenia in a short period of time.

 17:55,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. An unknown person reported about the threat of an explosion on a Moscow-Yerevan plane, ARMENPRESS reports a source in the law enforcement told TASS.

“Sheremetyevo Airport received an anonymous e-mail stating that there is a mine on a plane flying from Moscow to Yerevan. The inspection of the plane will be carried out at the airport of arrival”, the source said. The source did not specify from which airport the flight was carried out.

According to Flightradar24, two planes flying from Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports are currently flying to Yerevan. None of them sounded the alarm.

 19:31,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. The world will face a global food crisis in the next 12-18 months due to the events in Ukraine, ARMENPRESS reports, citing “RIA Novosti”, President of France Emmanuel Macron said.

“Because of the war in Ukraine, we will face a deep food crisis in the next 12-18 months, especially in countries that are heavily dependent on Russia in the Middle East and Africa, so Europe must be ready for the challenge, both for itself and for its partners.” Macron stated during a press conference.

He also said that he aims to ensure France’s food independence if elected president for the next five years.

 19:51,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. Due to the difficult terrain and weather conditions, the gas supply restoration works in Artsakh are not over yet, ARMENPRESS reports the Artsakh Information Headquarters informs.

“Dear compatriots, as we have already informed, the repair works of the damaged gas pipeline started yesterday. Due to the difficult terrain and weather conditions, the gas supply restoration works have not been completed yet. Additional information will be provided to the public in the near future,” the statement said.