Category: News

The World Bank project a 2.7 percent growth in Armenia in 2017, reflecting the sustained expansion of the tradable sectors and a modest recovery in domestic consumption.

“Medium term growth is projected to average 3-3.5 percent a year, given structural weaknesses in the domestic policy framework, and remaining uncertainties in external environment. The government’s planned expenditure restraint and full implementation of the Tax Code are expected to keep the fiscal deficit below 3 percent of GDP over the medium term. Policy changes envisaged in the Tax Code would boost revenues by 2 percentage points of GDP by 2021,” the World Bank says.

Future poverty reduction will hinge on the recovery of the domestic economy, labor-market dynamics, and remittance inflows. Low growth rates, unfavorable external conditions, and limited fiscal space could slow the pace of poverty reduction; as a result, the poverty rate is projected to fall from 23.8 percent in 2017 to 22.2 percent in 2019.

According to a new report, Armenia’s medium-term outlook remains sensitive to internal and external factors, which entail both upside and downside risks. Growth prospects depend on the government’s ability to scale up high-quality investment, and speed up structural reform.

The second Semi-Final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest took place in Kyiv, Ukraine. In total 18 countries competed for the remaining ten places in the Grand Final.

The second Semi-Final was broadcast live from the International Exhibition Centre in Ukraine’s capital. The following ten countries qualified for the Grand Final (in the order they were announced): Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Denmark, Israel, Romania, Norway, the Netherlands and Austria.

The final result was determined through a combination of scores received from national expert juries and televoting. The national expert juries had already casted their votes after watching the live feed of the Dress Rehearsal held on 10th May.

Serbia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Malta, Ireland, San Marino, Switzerland, Lithuania and Estonia failed to make it through to the Final.

ArmComedy’s Sergey and Narek help Conan expand his Armenian vocabulary with phrases like “may I go blind instead of you.”

ArmComedy made a guest appearance on Conan O’Brien’s late night talk show on TBS, that aired Thursday, May 11.

Narek and Sergey interviewed Conan on their own show in Armenia in 2015.

More episodes are available on the show’s

Manchester United moved a step closer to a first Europa League triumph – and a Champions League return – by creeping past Celta Vigo to reach the final, the  BBC reports.

Leading 1-0 from the first leg, United took control as Marouane Fellaini headed home Marcus Rashford’s cross.

But Celta, needing two goals, levelled on the night through Facundo Roncaglia to set up a nervy finish.

United’s Eric Bailly and Roncaglia were sent off after a mass brawl as the hosts joined Ajax in the final.

The Red Devils will meet the Dutch side, who beat Lyon in the other semi-final, in Stockholm on 24 May, with the winners guaranteed a place in next season’s Champions League.

The Artsakh Foreign Ministry has commented on the shooting at the vehicle of TV crew, which left the cameraman wounded.

“This incident is another proof that Azerbaijan does not abandon its traditional policy of aggravation of the situation and escalation of tensions on the Line of Contact,” Ministry Spokesman Artak Nersisyan said in comments to Tert.am.

“The incident comes to reaffirm the importance of immediate implementation of the agreements reached at the Summits in Vienna, May 16, 2016, and St. Petersburg, June 20, 2016, aimed at the stabilization of the situation on the Line of Contact,” he said.

 

 

 

Armenia has always been interested in the extension of mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tighran Balayan said in comments to .

The remarks come after accusations of failure to prevent the closure of the Office in Armenia.

“Those who declare that Armenia, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have not taken steps to ensure the extension of the mandate, do not understand the processes taking place within the OSCE,” Balayan said.

Second, he said, “they are not aware of the statements made by the current Austrian and the previous German chairmanships of the OSCE and the European Union.”

The Spokesman said the accusations are “void and have nothing to do with reality.” “Armenia has been declaring until the last moment that it’s interested in the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and continuation of its activity in the country,” Tigran Balayan stated.

On May 11 Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received the delegation of the Yerkrapah Volunteers Union (YVU) headed by chairman of the organization’s board Manvel Grigoryan.

A range of issues related to the situation along the Karabakh-Azerbaijani borderline, army-society ties and upbringing of the younger generation were addressed during the talks.

For courage and bravery shown during the defense of the Homeland and in connection with the Victory Day, the 25^th anniversary of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Defense Army and Liberation of Shushi President Sahakyan handed in high state awards to a group of YVU members.

The crew of Armenian Shnat TV Company came under Azeri fire in the northern section of the line of contact at about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The rival opened fire at the vehicle carrying the crew using large-caliber firearms, Shant TV reports.

Cameraman David Atoyan was wounded in the incident. No additional details are reported.

The Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun signed a coalition agreement today.

Under the coalition the two forces assume responsibility for the activity of the government. The document outlines the strategic goals of cooperation, the priorities of the coalition, its activity and rules of organization.

“The cooperation will focus on the state and the citizen. We have a number of similarities in our value systems, based on which we’ve developed the text that will determine the cooperation between two national parties during the coming five years,” Vice President of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan told a briefing following the signing ceremony.

Among the main directions of cooperation Ashotyan pointed out anti-corruption struggle, the full implementation of the “Nation-Army” concept, legal reforms, development of competitive economy and further development of human rights institutions.

The Azerbaijani side used firearms of different calibers as it violated the ceasefire more than 65 times at the line of contact with the Artsakh forces, firing over 1,700 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The Azeri forces also used a 82mm mortar (4 shells) and D-44 cannons (8 shells) in Martakert direction.

Aside from ceasefire violations, the Azerbaijani side moved armored vehicles (about 10 tanks) in Tapkarakoyunlu-Talish direction at about 13:30, May 10. The tanks returned to their initial positions at 14:55.

The front divisions of the Artsakh defense Army resorted to response actions to pressure the activeness of the rival and continued with their duty all along the line of contact.