Category: 2022

 15:12,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. An Investment Committee has been created at the decision of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Armenpress reports citing .

The PM has also approved the rules of procedure of the Investment Committee.

 15:19,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will leave for Munich on February 18 to participate in the workings of 58th Munich Security Conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said on social media.

“Within the framework of the conference, Minister Mirzoyan will have a number of meetings with his colleagues”, the spokesperson said.

 15:57,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Russia Vagharshak Harutyunyan presented today the copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, the Armenian Embassy in Russia said.

Congratulating Mr. Harutyunyan on appointment, the Russian deputy FM wished him success and expressed hope for conducting joint productive work aimed at further strengthening the Armenian-Russian relations.

The mutual partnership between Armenia and Russia was also discussed at the meeting. The officials touched upon the cooperation between the two countries in military-political, economic and humanitarian areas.

Harutyunyan and Rudenko also exchanged ideas about the vital issues relating to strengthening peace and security in the South Caucasus.

 17:48,

YEREVAN, 18 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 18 February, USD exchange rate up by 0.62 drams to 479.00 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.18 drams to 544.62 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 6.32 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.89 drams to 652.49 drams.

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

Gold price up by 512.22 drams to 29159.52 drams. Silver price up by 1.77 drams to 363.21 drams. Platinum price up by 575.20 drams to 16616.82 drams.

 17:52,

YEREVAN, 18 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. Pilot of “SkyBall” company Nairi Barseghyan performed a record with balloon flight with his Russian collegue Sergey Bazhenov on February 16.

ARMENPRESS reports, Armenia has become a record-breaking country first time in history in aviation sports due to SkyBall company organizing flights by air balloons.

In a conversation with ARMENPRESS pilot of “SkyBall” company Nairi Barseghyan mentioned that SkyBall launched the longest world record flight without landing from Orenburg province on February 16, 2022 at 08:00, the landing took place on February 17 at 18:45. The duration of the flight was 34 hours and 41 minutes.

The previous record lasted 32 hours and 12 minutes.

The record will be documented by the World Air Sports Federation and it is remarkable that for the first time in history the name of Armenia will be written in aviation sports. “I should mention that such records belong to superpowers. If we look at the list we will see the USA, Russia, Japan, and one or two European countries, now the name of Armenia will be in this list, which was our ultimate goal” concluded Nairi Barseghyan.

 18:24,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine should sit at the negotiating table with the representatives of the Donbas, and the sooner that happens, the better, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, Putin stated this after a meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

“We stated with the President of Belarus that the guarantee of the restoration of civil peace in Ukraine and the easing of tensions around that country is the fulfillment of the agreements of the OSCE Minsk Group. All Kyiv need to do is sit down at the negotiating table with the Donbass representatives to coordinate political, military, economic and humanitarian measures to end this conflict. The sooner that happens, the better,” Putin said.

The Russian President regrets that the opposite process is currently taking place in Donbas, the situation is getting worse.

 18:38,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. An online coordinating meeting of the heads of the parliamentary delegations of the CSTO member states took place on February 18 at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the parlaiment of Armenia, the meeting was chaired by Eduard Aghajanyan, Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, Head of the Armenian parlaimentary delegation to the OSCE PA.

Representatives of Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, as well as the CSTO PA Secretariat took part in the online meeting.

Welcoming the participants of the meeting, Eduard Aghajanyan spoke about the coordination of foreign policy activities of the parliamentary delegations of the CSTO member states at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Touching upon the goals of the working meeting, Eduard Aghajanyan stressed the need to coordinate joint positions on international political and security issues, mutual assistance, and the need to take into account the interests and obligations of the CSTO member states.

According to the head of the Armenian delegation, as the format of the OSCE PA winter sessions does not envisage voting on resolutions or adoption of any report, general views will be presented at today’s meeting, as well as the parties’ positions on the problematic issues of the forthcoming 21st OSCE PA winter session will be harmonized.

It was noted that the information on this meeting, the work of the delegations in the winter session and its results will be included in the agenda of the regular sitting of the CSTO PA Standing Committee on Political Affairs and International Cooperation. The sitting is planned to be held on March 11, 2022 in Yerevan.

In his speech on the coordination of the activities of the CSTO member states in the international arena, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Pankin spoke about the effectiveness of the use of flexible mechanisms of parliamentary diplomacy. The coordinated work of the CSTO PA delegations in various international structures was highlighted, taking into account the interests of the member states as well.

Afterwards, the participants of the remote discussion touched upon the issues of the forthcoming 21st winter session of the OSCE PA and exchanged views on current issues. They spoke about the need to develop and adopt a number of model laws.

Ukraine didn’t start military operations in Donbass and has no such plans – Kuleba

 19:12,

YEREVAN, 18 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba denied statements about offensives by the Ukrainian armed forces and sabotage operations on chemical plants in Donbass, ARMENPRESS reports, Kuleba mentioned on his twitter microblog.

“We strongly deny the statements of the Russian propaganda about alleged offensives operations or sabotage against chemical industy. Ukraine didn’t start such operations in Donbass and has no such plans. We are fully loyal to solely diplomatic resolution”, he wrote.

 20:09,

YEREVAN, 18 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan and First Deputy Mayor Levon Hovhannisyan met with the Head of the European Union Delegation, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of Yerevan Municipality.

“Today, Yerevan is implementing a number of cooperation programs with EU institutions, which cover various areas of the urban economy. Within the framework of the Yerevan Energy Efficiency Program, community kindergartens are being renovated, energy efficiency equipment and solar photovoltaic panels are being installed, providing seismic-resistant and comfortable conditions,” the statement reads.

Within the framework of the Yerevan bus program, the city’s transport network will be replenished with 100 new buses. € 25 million has been allocated to fund their acquisition, of which € 20 million is an EBRD loan and € 5 million is a grant from the Eastern European Energy Saving Partnership (E5P).

Within the framework of the “Covenant of Mayors” initiative, in the sidelines of “The European Union for Yerevan: Sun community” program photovoltaic panels and lighting systems will be installed in more than 90 buildings in Yerevan by the end of February.

Highlighting the mutually beneficial cooperation with the European Union, the Mayor of Yerevan stressed that the projects already being implemented are a good basis for new initiatives.

Congratulating Hrachya Sargsyan on assuming the post of Yerevan Mayor, Andrea Wiktorin noted that the European Union expresses its readiness to expand cooperation.

“Mr. Mayor, I hope that the joint programs will go faster, we will soon see results. I reaffirm our readiness to ensure the continuity of joint programs, as the efforts of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the Prime Minister and the city authorities are aimed at the common good,” said the Head of the EU Delegation.

The Mayor of Yerevan proposed to install solar stations on the roofs of two administrative buildings of the municipality, Shengavit sports school, within the framework of the joint program. After the meeting, Hrachya Sargsyan accompanied Andrea Wiktorini to the City Hall tower to observe the possibilities of the program on the spot.

 20:26,

YEREVAN, 18 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. A powerful explosion took place near the government building of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk. ARMENPRESS reports the correspondent of “RIA Novosti” informs a car exploded in the parking lot near the Government building. The whole city of Donetsk heard the explosion. The employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are at the scene.