Category: News

A postage stamp dedicated to the theme “Armenia-Vatican Joint Issue: 350th Anniversary of the Birth of Mekhitar of Sebaste”was put into circulation at the National Academy of Sciences.

Secretary General of Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Davit Karapetyan thanked partners from the Holy See for the joint issuance of the postage stamp.

“This provides a good basis for demonstrating the level of partnership we have with the Holy See. It also reflects very well the ties and opportunities that exist between our two states. We want this postage stamp to have as long a life as possible,” Karapetyan said.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Armenia, His Excellency Archbishop Ante Jozić, noted that the issuance of the postage stamp was one example of close cooperation between Armenia and the Vatican, particularly Vatican City State, Vatican Post and HayPost.

He recalled that the Mekhitarist Congregation is itself marking the 326th anniversary of its foundation this year and continues to be one of the most important cultural bridges between Armenia and the Catholic Church.

“This religious congregation of preachers is dedicated to raising the educational and spiritual level of the Armenian people, drawing on the examples of the Western Church. Faced with numerous complex challenges, Abbot Mekhitar of Sebaste urged the Republic of Venice to move the congregation to the island of San Lazzaro and build a monastery there so that he could continue his mission with the Mekhitarist brothers.

“Today, as we commemorate the 350th anniversary of Mekhitar of Sebaste and his ecclesiastical service as a discerning spiritual leader, we support the Mekhitarist Congregation in becoming a strong bridge of faith, literature and culture that connects the Armenian people more closely with the Holy See,” Archbishop Jozić said.

He expressed hope that the issuance of the postage stamp would remain an enduring testimony to a new and important milestone of historical, cultural and civic significance in the friendly relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Armenia, the first Christian country.

“The same ceremony is taking place at this moment in the Vatican as well, and thanks to this event our joint postage stamps will travel around the world, spreading the traditional, moral and family values of your country, to which Abbot Mekhitar of Sebaste remained faithful and which he preached while proclaiming the Good News of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

“May the cancellation of this special postage stamp bearing the dual postmarks of Yerevan and the Vatican transform an ordinary postal instrument into an enduring historical testimony and bear witness to our collective commitment to preserving the friendly ties, academic heritage and historical achievements that define our enduring relations,” Archbishop Jozić said.

President of the Armenian Association of Philatelists Hovik Musayelyan noted that Christianity is one of the most widely recognised themes in philately and that millions of people around the world collect postal envelopes, postcards and stamps dedicated to Christianity.

“For philatelists, it is highly symbolic today that a postage stamp is being issued through the joint efforts of the Vatican and Armenia. Vatican Post is one of the world’s most prestigious postal services and issues stamps dedicated to the most memorable events. There are many postcards, envelopes and stamps in the Vatican dedicated to Armenian themes. In doing so, the Vatican honours a people who were the first in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion,” Musayelyan said.

He recalled that stamps and postcards marking the 1,700th anniversary of Armenia’s adoption of Christianity had also been issued in the Vatican, as had stamps dedicated to the visits of Popes John Paul II and Francis to Armenia.

The postage stamp, with a face value of 380 drams, depicts Mekhitar of Sebaste — a political, public and cultural figure, Armenologist and founder of the Mekhitarist Congregation — against the background of an engraving of the island of San Lazzaro.

The stamp was cancelled by Armenia’s Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence Gevorg Mantashyan; Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Davit Karapetyan; Armenian National Assembly MP Arayik Harutyunyan; Apostolic Nuncio to Armenia, His Excellency Archbishop Ante Jozić; Archbishop Gevorg Noratunkyan, head of the Armenian Catholic Church in Armenia, Georgia and Eastern Europe; HayPost CEO Shushan Aleksanyan; and President of the Armenian Association of Philatelists Hovik Musayelyan.

The Komitas International Conference-Festival, dedicated to the memory and creative legacy of Komitas, kicked off on September 26, the birthday of the renowned musicologist and composer, and will continue until October 8.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia said in a press release that before the start of the festival, a requiem service was held at the Komitas Pantheon.

Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Alfred Kocharyan, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos, Member of Parliament Arayik Harutyunyan (Civil Contract), Ambassador of Italy Alessandro Ferranti, renowned composer Tigran Mansuryan, participants of the Komitas International Conference-Festival, scholars, artists and guests were present at the event.

The participants paid tribute to the memory of Komitas and laid flowers at his grave.

The opening of the festival-conference then took place. Deputy Minister Alfred Kocharyan emphasized the importance of the annual “Komitas” International Festival in the context of promoting Komitas’ legacy.

“Our main mission is to preserve Komitas’ entire legacy and pass it on to generations. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, as the authorized body, will always support the implementation of such initiatives, with programs aimed at disseminating and promoting Komitas’ legacy at the core of its policy,” Deputy Minister Alfred Kocharyan said, adding that the Komitas Museum-Institute is included in the agendas of high-ranking delegations visiting Armenia.

As part of the festival, the “Eden” temporary exhibition opened at the Komitas Museum-Institute, featuring artists from Armenia and abroad. Gago Chtchyan is represented from Armenia, Hermine Demiro from Mexico, and Arman Tadevosyan from France.

The festival program brings together different layers of Komitas’ legacy: his musical works, scientific and literary heritage, visual art, theatrical readings, as well as the preservation and public presentation of materials related to his life and activities.

Particular importance is attached to the donation of Komitas-related materials to the museum’s collection: Lusine Sahakyan, director of the Komitas Museum-Institute, donated Komitas-related materials to the museum’s collection, according to the ministry.

The final event of the festival will take place on October 8. During the evening, the book “Komitas Vardapet: Piano Works” will be presented, followed by a piano music concert featuring Honored Artist of the Republic of Armenia Hayk Melikyan.

The festival program is available at the following link.

Firebird AI press release 

Firebird Build took place on September 26–27 at AI9 Startup Campus in Yerevan, bringing together engineers and researchers for an intensive 24-hour development sprint. Participants used artificial intelligence tools to tackle real-world challenges, turning their ideas into working prototypes.

The event was initiated by Firebird in collaboration with OpenAI, NVIDIA, Picsart, the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE), AI9, and YerevaNN.

“This event reflects Firebird’s vision of bringing AI computing capacity and technology to markets with substantial talent and expertise but limited access to established infrastructure. Our goal is to help turn that potential into new products and companies. Firebird Build is a practical step toward that goal, enabling people to put their ideas into action right here in Armenia,” said Alexandr Yesayan, Co-Founder of Firebird.

Teams were challenged to develop working product prototypes within 24 hours using OpenAI Codex, with mentorship from technology professionals. Their projects explored AI applications in robotics and physical AI, healthcare, environmental protection, cybersecurity, and other fields.

“The response from our community has been incredibly encouraging. We received more than 500 applications, demonstrating how valuable this opportunity was to our technology sector and how strong the demand is. Armenia is becoming a regional AI hub, and we extended this opportunity to our international partners, welcoming a team from Georgia as well. Through the strategic partnership between Firebird and UATE, we will continue organizing events like this to create new opportunities for our technology community,” said Edita Ghazaryan, Executive Director of UATE.

Participant Sargis Ginosyan and his team developed a product for the advertising industry. He said the event helped them accomplish in a single day what might otherwise have taken months.

“We entered the hackathon as three friends, and it pushed us to achieve in 24 hours what could otherwise have taken several months. We even put together our sales plan during the event. I’m glad Armenia has a company of Firebird’s scale organizing events like this, because they open up opportunities to find new solutions and bring ideas to life,” Ginosyan said.

The hackathon offered a total prize package of $105,000, comprising $80,000 in cash prizes and $25,000 in API credits provided by OpenAI. The credits will enable the winning teams to use OpenAI’s services to further develop their solutions.

First place went to PhotonicsAI, which developed an AI control environment integrated with hardware. The team was awarded $50,000 in cash and $12,000 in OpenAI API credits.

Second place went to “Why isn’t there an Ollama for VLAs?”, which developed infrastructure for training vision-language-action (VLA) models for robotics. The team received $20,000 in cash and $8,000 in OpenAI API credits.

Third place went to EXPM, which developed an autonomous security platform powered by AI agents. The platform automatically identifies vulnerabilities, proposes fixes, and tests them. The team received $10,000 in cash and $5,000 in OpenAI API credits.

Firebird Build is part of the company’s broader vision to expand opportunities for local professionals and startups alongside the development of AI infrastructure. Through initiatives like this, Firebird is helping create an environment where teams in Armenia can access advanced technology and international expertise to develop products for global markets.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with Martin Eurnekian, CEO of Corporación América Airports, Marcelo Wende, CEO of Armenia International Airports, and General Manager Sergey Avetisyan.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout that PM Pashinyan emphasized the importance of the company’s activities in Armenia and noted that the Government is interested in developing and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation.

Martin Eurnekian presented the progress of programs being implemented by Corporación América in Armenia and prospects for expansion.

The meeting addressed the development of Yerevan’s Zvartnots and Gyumri’s Shirak airports, which are under the company’s concession management, improvements to infrastructure, as well as other investment projects. In this context, a number of issues related to the implementation of the projects were discussed, which will contribute to the development of the aviation market, increasing passenger traffic and airport capacity alongside the development of tourism, and providing quality services, among other things.

The sides agreed to continue discussions on further steps.

The parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7 gave voters a genuine choice between political alternatives and were generally well organized, the PACE observation delegation said in its report.

Election day was orderly and calm, and the process was assessed positively in the vast majority of polling stations observed by the international election observation mission, according to the report.

At the same time, the report said that direct pressure from abroad in the form of escalating trade restrictions and security threats during the campaign, aimed at unduly influencing voters in favor of opposition forces, was observed.

“The Russian Federation’s interference and foreign information operations reached a scale unprecedented in a Council of Europe member State,” it said.

“These elections were marked by foreign interference on a scale described by observers as both ‘unprecedented and worrying’. The Russian Federation, in particular, leveraged economic sanctions (embargoes on agricultural products and threatened gas supply revisions) and sharp diplomatic rhetoric to sway the election toward opposition-aligned or anti-government parties.”

The report added that “although far less pronounced and limited largely to declarative statements, the vocal and high-profile endorsements of the ruling party by Western and European officials – including the US President, the French President and senior EU representatives – were also perceived as external interference, albeit without the enormous coercive dimension associated with Russian actions.”

The PACE election observation mission, in its report on the June 7 elections in Armenia, has recommended that the Armenian authorities amend the Electoral Code to explicitly require a revote if fundamental representation is at stake, setting specific thresholds and procedures.

According to the report, “the main issues of concern were: the particularly tense geopolitical context, with direct foreign interference and unprecedented pressure, particularly from the authorities of the Russian Federation; persistence of vote buying; misuse of administrative resources in campaigning; major deficiencies in effective, timely judicial remedy for violations; and the disenfranchisement of an opposition party’s electorate, with significant parliamentary consequences.”

“These findings confirm the Assembly’s position that elections and their observation do not relate solely to polling day, but constitute a process comprising several stages, each of which must be analysed and assessed in order to reach a well-founded conclusion. The work done by the Council of Europe can be understood through the “electoral cycle”, which provides a guide to each step of the electoral process and is divided into three parts: the pre-election period (legal framework, planning and implementation, training and education, voter registration, electoral campaign); the election period (operations and election day, verification of results) and the post-election period. The PACE delegation therefore encourages the authorities of Armenia to: further strengthen national capacity for identifying and responding to information operations and economic leverage coming from the Russian Federation; strengthen the independence of appointments in election administration; allow a broader range of stakeholders standing to pursue complaints in courts; provide for extended timelines and more flexible remedy for precinct level and overall election disputes; close loopholes on pre-campaign and third-party finance; fully regulate use of administrative resources and sanction effectively any abuse; ensure public broadcaster impartiality and greater transparency of private media ownership; expand counter-disinformation mechanisms and digital literacy programs; end selective prosecution of opposition and ensure full due process in electoral-related trials; review law enforcement tactics for compliance with European human rights standards; guarantee peaceful assembly and the right to protest for all parties; simplify eligibility and documentation for displaced and vulnerable voters; accelerate citizenship and registration processes in line with best practice; amend the Electoral Code to explicitly require a revote if fundamental representation is at stake, setting specific thresholds and procedures.”

The report highlighted that the crucial post-election controversy centered on the Central Electoral Commission’s invalidation of results at polling stations 10/51, 35/65, and 12/13. The basis was: at two polling stations military voters were allowed to cast ballots after the legal close of voting; at one polling station party ballots for the National Democratic Pole were absent for most of the day.

“According to some calculations, had these turnout figures been included, Prosperous Armenia might have crossed the 4% parliamentary threshold, securing seats, and denying the ruling party’s 3/5 majority. The CEC determined in a one-sentence justification that “the invalidation of the results in these stations did not affect the overall result,” and declined to schedule a revote. That is a very insufficient justification for the decision, especially given the significance of its impact,” the report says.

Laboratory testing has found insecticide residues in fruit sampled from a Yerevan shop where an employee was filmed allegedly spraying an insecticide on fruit for sale, Armenia’s Food Safety Inspection Body said.

The samples were taken from a fruit and vegetable shop at 33/4 Saryan Street in Yerevan following a video circulated on social media that showed the employee allegedly spraying the fruit.

The Food Safety Inspection Body said it will conduct broader inspections of fruit and vegetable outlets to check compliance with sanitary and hygiene requirements. It will also take samples of fruit and vegetables for laboratory testing to determine whether similar cases have occurred at other shops.

Armenia’s Minister of Labor and Welfare Arsen Torosyan has met with visiting Georgian Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Health, Labor and Social Affairs Mikheil Sarjveladze.

The meeting discussed a number of issues of bilateral interest, including the development of cooperation in the areas of pension provision, assessment of an individual’s functionality, and the digitalization of social services.

The importance of the friendly relations established between the two countries and effective dialogue was emphasized. The possibilities of organizing mutual visits and exchanging best practices were also considered.

Following the official meeting, the ministers visited the Unified Social Service’s Department for the Assessment of an Individual’s Functionality and Provision of Assistive Devices and the Welfare Information Systems Enterprise Foundation.

At the Unified Social Service, Mikheil Sarjveladze familiarized himself with the specifics of organizing the process for assessing an individual’s functionality, the existing tools, and decision-making mechanisms.

At the Welfare Information Systems Enterprise Foundation, details were presented on the work being carried out to digitalize social services, data management, and tools aimed at improving access to services.

YEREVAN, 28 SEPTEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 28 September, USD exchange rate down by 0.18 drams to 363.34 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.15 drams to 413.19 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.0084 drams to 4.3043 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.19 drams to 481.64 drams.

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

Gold price down by 87 drams to 49776 drams. Silver price up by 16.39 drams to 759.48 drams.

A new public hearing was held at Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure on recognizing the 100% shares of Electric Networks of Armenia CJSC as being of overriding public interest.

The Armenian government enacted emergency legislation in 2025 to take over the management of ENA, owned by Samvel Karapetyan’s Tashir Group, accusing the power distributor of mismanagement. It later announced plans to nationalize the company through eminent domain.

Earlier in September, the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure drafted a bill seeking to declare an overriding public interest in 100% of the shares, pending public hearings and submission for Cabinet consideration.

The public hearing was chaired by Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Davit Khudatyan. The hearing was attended by Electric Networks of Armenia Interim Administrator Romanos Petrosyan, Public Services Regulatory Commission member Sergey Aghinyan, heads and representatives of companies in the energy sector, media representatives, and citizens.

Minister Khudatyan presented the content of the draft decision.

The ministry quoted Khudatyan as saying that the draft decision to recognize the shares as being of overriding public interest is based on the vital public importance of electricity distribution, the uninterrupted supply of electricity to the population, the normal operation of social and strategic facilities, the stability of the energy system, and the protection of consumer rights.

The participants submitted no proposals or comments on the draft decision.