Category: 2023

 13:50,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. The economic activity index grew 12,5% in January-May 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, according to official data published by the Statistical Committee.

Industrial output grew 3% in the reporting period.

Construction grew 16,7%.

Trade turnover increased 24,5% while services grew 19,9%.

The consumer price index grew 5,2% and the producer price index dropped 1,6%. Electricity production dropped 3,1%.

Foreign trade turnover grew 86,9% (exports grew 93,3% while imports grew 83,3%).

 14:31,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. On June 26, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan received the outgoing Ambassador of Iran Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri.

Alen Simonyan thanked the Ambassador for the efforts made in strengthening the Armenian-Iranian relations and raising the efficiency of cooperation during his tenure and wished him successes in his further working activities, the parliament’s press service reported.

Speaker Simonyan noted that Iran has been and remains a special partner for Armenia, which promotes the establishment of peace in the region and strengthening stability with its balanced policy.

In response, the Ambassador noted that Iran especially values the importance of relations with Armenia, which are conditioned by historical-cultural connections, mutual economic interests, as well as common approaches towards a number of regional problems.

At the meeting, the friendly close ties established between the two parliaments and the initiatives directed to the deepening of collaboration between the parliaments were highly appreciated. The Ambassador highlighted the uninterrupted work of the inter-parliamentary committees and the effective cooperation of friendship groups.

“One year ago the delegation led by me paid an official, productive visit to Tehran. We are waiting for the return visit of my distinguished colleague Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf to Armenia,” Simonyan said.

At the end of the meeting, Alen Simonyan once again underlined the Ambassador’s considerable contribution to the framework of the rich agenda formed between Armenia and Iran.

 15:03,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke today with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Pashinyan and Raisi discussed topics related to regional developments, as well as the further development and agenda of the relations between Armenia and Iran, the Prime Minister's Office said in a readout. 

The leaders stressed the importance of high-level mutual visits and contacts.

 15:13,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will soon complete the restoration of infrastructures in Margara and hopes that Turkey will likewise adhere to the agreement on opening the land border for diplomatic passport holders and citizens of third countries, Vice Speaker of Parliament and Armenia’s Special Representative for Normalization with Turkey Ruben Rubinyan has said.

“The last agreement was the following: that in the beginning of the tourism season the land border should get opened for citizens of third countries and diplomatic passport holders. The Armenian side is working to restore the relevant infrastructures in Margara, we will complete it very soon. And we hope that the Turkish side will also adhere to the agreement, and that the agreement will be implemented this summer,” Rubinyan told reporters on June 26.

The process hasn’t stalled, Rubinyan added, noting that he maintains contact with his counterpart in Turkey Serdar Kilic whenever needed. There’s no agreement on a new meeting yet.

“It’s very important for this agreement to be implemented. When there’s a lack of trust in such processes, it is highly important for agreements to be implemented. If implemented, trust would increase, if not, it would naturally decrease,” Rubinyan said.

 15:48,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Although Armenia and Azerbaijan both want to swiftly sign a peace treaty, there are outstanding issues standing in the way, analysts concur.

“The United States has great desire and capabilities to contribute to the normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but nonetheless this doesn’t mean that the U.S. will solve all issues instead of us or that it ought to,” political scientist Areg Kochinyan told ARMENPRESS.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has departed for the U.S. to hold another round of talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

“What matters here is how effectively Armenia is working with the American side and to what extent could the desires and capabilities of the U.S. serve to the normalization of relations,” Kochinyan added, noting that the Washington platform is a very promising format.

“There are fundamental disagreements regarding the main four packages. These are the protection of rights and security of Armenians of Artsakh, the basis for the delimitation and demarcation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, unblocking of connections and the existence of a guarantor of the document itself. You certainly can’t solve all issues with one meeting, but if progress were to be recorded and positions were to be brought closer in one of the packages during the Washington talks, then the meeting could be deemed as a success. Now what matters is to differentiate the fundamental issues and engage in focused talks around separately viewed issues,” Kochinyan said, adding that a general or packaged logic for resolving issues is a deadlock.

The analyst said that authorities ought to approach the process pragmatically, because it is easier to reach agreements in case of a phased process rather than a packaged option.

Meanwhile, political scientist Hrant Mikayelyan says that Armenia, Azerbaijan and the U.S. all want a swift signing of a peace treaty.

“But on the other hand, there’s a desire in Azerbaijan to change the negotiations process in terms of content, with the purpose of coercing more concessions from Armenia. In such conditions, it is highly likely that a final peace treaty won’t be signed at this phase. In the beginning the talks were proceeding around the status of Artsakh, then the main objective was to ensure stability, but now Azerbaijan says that there is no Nagorno Karabakh conflict at all, whereas the Armenian government insists that the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh must be given firm guarantees of protection of their security and rights. International organizations and structures are also calling for this, but Azerbaijan is ignoring these calls, seeking to navigate the talks in a course that would be beneficial only for itself,” Mikayelyan warned.

The expert said that the calls by international organizations won’t bring Azerbaijan into the constructive arena given the fact that it has disregarded the International Court of Justice ruling on the Lachin Corridor.

“Azerbaijan is thinking that if it succeeds in carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing and no one is interfering then it should continue doing so and then deal with the consequences,” he added.

Russia, the U.S., European organizations have all called on Azerbaijan to open Lachin Corridor, but Baku is ignoring the demands.

Azerbaijan won’t change its conduct unless faced with sanctions, Mikayelyan said.

Lachin Corridor, the only road linking Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since December 2022.

The United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan on February 22 to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. Azerbaijan has so far ignored the order. Furthermore, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor in violation of the terms of the 2020 ceasefire statement.

 

 

Manvel Margaryan

 16:17,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Azerbaijan still have disagreements over the main issues around the possible peace treaty, Vice Speaker of Parliament Ruben Rubinyan told reporters on Monday.

“We expect progress,” he said when asked on the upcoming Armenia-Azerbaijan foreign ministerial meeting in Washington D.C.

“Armenia’s position is that we want to have the kind of a text of a peace treaty that would be in our interests and would be possible to sign. Naturally, this is a difficult process, there are issues around which we disagree. But there are also issues that we already agree upon. But there are disagreements on main issues,” Rubinyan said.

The expectation is that it will be possible to bring positions closer.

Rubinyan said he hopes that the agreement on sovereignty and jurisdiction of parties in context of unblocking will be stipulated on paper.

He said Armenia wants to have a peace treaty in line with its interests as soon as possible and pointed out three most important issues. “First, to place a specific map in the basis of mutual recognition of territorial integrity. Second, address the rights and security of the people of NK, which we believe must take place through Baku-Stepanakert dialogue under an international mechanism. Third, the institute of guarantors,” he said, highlighting the need for guarantors because Azerbaijan has violated every clause of the 9 November 2020 agreement.

 16:04,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. U.S. Department of State Senior Advisor Justin Friedman is visiting Armenia June 26-27, the U.S. Embassy announced Monday.

Friedman is the Senior Advisor in the Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation.  During his June 26-27 visit, Senior Advisor Friedman will meet with senior Armenian government officials, as well as subject matter experts, to discuss opportunities for U.S.-Armenian cooperation on a secure and safe energy future for Armenia.

 18:26,

YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. On June 25, at around 16:00, Azerbaijani servicemen fired at Mikael Mezhlumyan, a 22-year-old resident of Myurishen village, Martunu region of Artsakh, from their combat positions. Mezhlumyan was doing agricultural work with a tractor in the field on the left side of the highway from Murishen to Avdur.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Police of the Artsakh Ministry of Internal Affairs, agricultural works were stopped as a result of the shootings, no one was injured. Russian peacekeeping troops were informed about the incident.

 17:13,

YEREVAN, 26 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 26 June, USD exchange rate down by 0.55 drams to 386.55 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.79 drams to 421.49 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 4.59 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.00 drams to 491.31 drams.

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

Gold price up by 98.41 drams to 23994.49 drams. Silver price down by 3.88 drams to 277.64 drams.

 18:36,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenia recorded the highest growth rate of construction works among EAEU member states in January-April 2023, ARMENPRESS reports, Taron Chakhoyan, Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office, informed on his "Facebook" page.

"The volume of construction works in Armenia increased by 36.0%, in Kazakhstan – by 15.4%, in Kyrgyzstan – by 8.7%, in Russia – by 7.4%, in Belarus – by 3.3%.

According to the data of the National Statistical Committee of Armenia, the construction sector in Armenia increased by 16% in 4 months to 94.9 billion AMD. Most of the construction works were carried out in the field of real estate (the share in the total structure: 53.7%), in the provision of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning (the share: 10.6%), in the field of transport (the share: 5.5%)", the Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office added.