Category: News

The regulations governing journalists’ professional activities at the National Assembly are not new and have been in force since 2021, Acting Speaker of Parliament and Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan said in a Facebook post.

Rubinyan was responding to criticism following the adoption of new security rules for the National Assembly’s premises and building, with critics claiming that the decision restricts the professional activities of accredited journalists.

“The ‘new and unprecedented tightening and restrictions’ on journalists’ professional activities in the National Assembly have been in force since 2021,” Rubinyan wrote.

According to him, the latest amendments to the decision on security rules in the National Assembly building did not introduce any changes related to journalists’ professional activities.

“The latest amendments to the decision on security rules in the National Assembly building did not include any changes concerning journalists’ professional activities, let alone restrictions on them,” Rubinyan said.

He urged journalists to compare the previous and the new regulations.

Earlier, security rules for the National Assembly’s premises and building were approved by a decision signed by Rubinyan.

Under the decision, security and protection of the National Assembly’s premises are provided by the State Protection Service.

According to the rules, accredited journalists may carry out their professional activities in designated areas, while work in other parts of the parliament building requires permission from the Chief of Staff-Secretary General of the National Assembly.

Lists of journalists wishing to attend committee meetings must be submitted at least two hours before the meeting begins, while journalistic activity is prohibited in specially controlled areas.

The rules also prohibit photographing, filming or recording State Protection Service personnel while they are performing their duties. People in the galleries of the National Assembly chamber are also prohibited from using photographic, film or video equipment, as well as telephone or radio communication devices.

The issue was also commented on by Marianna Ghahramanyan, an elected lawmaker from the Strong Armenia Alliance, who argued that the decision restricts journalists’ freedom of movement and creates additional obstacles to covering parliamentary activities.

This article is published under an agreement between Armenpress and the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA)

The summer edition of Plovdiv Jazz Fest opened with a concert by pianist Tigran Hamasyan and his band at Orpheus Summer Cinema on Tuesday. The Plovdiv performance was part of Hamasyan’s European tour, BTA reports.

“It has been far too long since I last played in Bulgaria. Thank you to the organizers for making this meeting possible and to all of you for being here tonight,” Hamasyan said.

The pianist combines jazz improvisation, progressive rock and Armenian folk music. Born in Gyumri, Armenia, in 1987, he began playing at three and won the Montreux Jazz Festival piano competition at 16. In Plovdiv, he performed music from Manifeste, an album blending Armenian folk, progressive rock and choral mysticism.

Tickets for both summer concerts, featuring Hamasyan and saxophonist Jan Garbarek, were sold out, Plovdiv Jazz Fest Artistic Director Miroslava Katsarova said. “These concerts again made me believe there is enormous value in building Plovdiv’s jazz community,” Katsarova added.

Garbarek will perform at Orpheus Summer Cinema on July 31, 2026, with Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, German pianist Rainer Brüninghaus and Brazilian bassist Yuri Daniel.

The festival’s autumn edition will run in Plovdiv from November 6 to 8, 2026. The programme includes the Aaron Parks Trio, Elina Duni, the Shai Maestro Group, the Antonio Forcione and Cenk Erdogan Duo, and Rosen Zahariev with a tribute to Miles Davis.

Markovo Music Summer will follow in August with two garden concerts and a free concert in the village centre. Jazz and Baroque, featuring mezzo-soprano Svetlina Stoyanova, the Hristo Yotsov Trio and the Pilekadone Quintet, will take place on August 19, 2026. The Miroslava Katsarova Trio will perform on August 21, followed by Stefan Valdobrev and The Usual Suspects on August 22.

The summer and autumn programmes are supported by the Ministry of Culture and Plovdiv Municipality and form part of the 2026 National Cultural Calendar and the Plovdiv Cultural Calendar. BTA is the festival’s media partner.

Armenia and Iran have the technical capacity to increase the volumes of gas and electricity exchanged under the gas-for-electricity swap programme, Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Davit Khudatyan said, adding that the timeline for the programme’s expansion has yet to be determined and will be discussed by a joint working group.

“During the meeting, we noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran needs more electricity, while the Republic of Armenia needs gas. We are successfully implementing the gas-for-electricity programme at a certain scale, and it is clear that we have the capacity to expand it. For example, the pipeline has greater transmission capacity,” Khudatyan told reporters.

According to the minister, once the Armenia-Iran 400-kilovolt power transmission line is completed, Armenia will also be able to increase electricity supplies to Iran.

“Therefore, we have the opportunity to expand this arrangement, meaning to mutually supply and receive larger volumes of gas and electricity. We have agreed to establish a working group,” Khudatyan said.

On July 25, Khudatyan met with Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad in Tehran. The sides discussed increasing the volume of Iranian gas supplies to Armenia, expanding energy trade and exploring new areas of cooperation.

Lilit Makunts will be appointed Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced during a briefing with reporters.

“Lilit Makunts will be appointed Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister,” Pashinyan said.

Makunts has served as the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser since August 29, 2025. From 2021 to 2025, she was Armenia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States.

Previously, Makunts also served as Minister of Culture and as a member of the National Assembly.

The post of Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister is currently held by Arayik Harutyunyan, who was appointed to the position on July 1, 2021.

The situation surrounding export restrictions imposed on Armenia is not only Armenia’s problem but also an issue for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said after a meeting of the Civil Contract party’s board, warning that failure to resolve the issue promptly could mark “the beginning of the end” for the bloc.

“We all acknowledge now that this is not Armenia’s problem. Armenia is not the issue. It is the EAEU’s problem, because what is effectively happening is that the Eurasian Economic Union is paralysed and not functioning. If this issue is not resolved quickly, allow me to predict that this will mark the beginning of the end of the EAEU,” Pashinyan said.

The prime minister also commented on his conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the two sides had reached a common understanding on a number of issues.

“The most important thing is that the Republic of Armenia has the legitimate right to develop alternatives for itself. I told the President of Russia that we have declared this course and we will follow it, especially now that the people of the Republic of Armenia have voted in favour of it,” Pashinyan said.

According to him, Armenia must have alternatives in every sphere.

“As I said during the election campaign, I cannot imagine ending up in a situation as a result of our policies where the Republic of Armenia has no alternatives. Armenia must always have alternatives in every matter, and the era of having no alternatives is over. The question is when those alternatives should be put into practice,” the prime minister said.

Commenting on the possibility of a referendum on choosing between membership of the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, Pashinyan said that before such a referendum could be held, Armenia would at least need to have formally applied for EU membership.

Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party has selected its nominees for the chairmanships of the National Assembly’s standing committees through a closed, secret ballot, Prime Minister and Civil Contract Board Chairman Nikol Pashinyan announced after a meeting of the party’s board.

“The Civil Contract Party Board has decided to recommend that the Civil Contract parliamentary faction nominate the following candidates for the chairmanships of the National Assembly’s standing committees:

* Nazeli Baghdasaryan – Standing Committee on Labour and Social Affairs;

* Sisak Gabrielyan – Standing Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport;

* Lusine Badalyan – Standing Committee on Health;

* Sona Ghazaryan – Standing Committee on European Integration;

* Sargis Khandanyan – Standing Committee on Foreign Relations;

* Vilen Gabrielyan – Standing Committee on Defence and Security;

* Zaruhi Batoyan – Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs;

* Arusyak Julhakyan – Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs;

* Trdat Sargsyan – Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration;

* Vahe Ghalumyan – Standing Committee on Territorial Administration and Environmental Protection;

* Babken Tunyan – Standing Committee on Economic Affairs;

* Tsovinar Vardanyan – Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs,” Pashinyan said.

A significant proportion of the underlying causes of negative incidents in the armed forces are not directly related to the military itself, and addressing the issue requires broader socio-psychological change in society, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said when commenting on non-combat deaths in the army.

“I see the solution in changing the socio-psychology of our society, because I have had the opportunity to say that the origins of approximately 70% of the incidents occurring in the army are not related to the army itself,” Pashinyan told reporters.

According to the prime minister, the officer corps also bears responsibility, but each case must be examined individually.

“The officer corps has its share of responsibility, but every individual case should be considered separately. In general, this is not the first time I have expressed my position on this issue. It is, of course, a problem that we must resolve,” he said.

Pashinyan stressed that the problem has persisted regardless of changes in officials or even governments.

“Unfortunately, ministers change, even governments change, but this problem remains. That means the causes are much deeper than we generally tend to imagine when dealing with these issues,” the prime minister said.

There is currently no discussion within the ruling Civil Contract party regarding the case involving Avet Konjoryan, the brother of Civil Contract parliamentary faction leader Hayk Konjoryan, as legal proceedings are underway, Prime Minister and Civil Contract Board Chairman Nikol Pashinyan said after a meeting of the party’s board.

“All citizens of the Republic of Armenia are equal before the law. Being a member of Civil Contract gives no one any privileges, but neither does it diminish anyone. There is no discussion within the party. A legal process is underway,” Pashinyan said.

The prime minister noted that there had been previous cases in which legal proceedings were followed by party decisions.

“There have been similar cases where a legal process took place, a legal assessment was made, people were expelled from the party, and then either before or after that they were convicted,” he said.

Asked whether the party might reconsider its decision to nominate Hayk Konjoryan for the post of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly in light of the case involving his brother, Pashinyan replied:

“Why should it be reconsidered? Every individual is responsible for their own actions.”

He added that Civil Contract has an oversight body which, if necessary, can examine the matter and submit its conclusions to the party’s board.

A criminal case has been launched by the Kotayk Regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee over an incident in Abovyan in which Avet Konjoryan was allegedly subjected to physical assault by a group of individuals.

Within the framework of the proceedings, five people have been charged with committing physical assault as a group. Two of them have been placed under restrictions prohibiting them from leaving the country and released on bail.

Suren Papikyan and Arpine Sargsyan will be reappointed as Armenia’s Minister of Defence and Minister of Internal Affairs, respectively, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a briefing with reporters following a meeting of the Civil Contract party’s board.

“Yes, they will be reappointed,” Pashinyan said in response to a journalist’s question.

Papikyan has served as Minister of Defence since November 15, 2021.

Sargsyan has held the post of Minister of Internal Affairs since November 20, 2024.

The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 29 July, USD exchange rate down by 0.34 drams to 366.2 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.57 drams to 416.96 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.0512 drams to 4.6098 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 486.75 drams.

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

Gold price down by 666 drams to 47356 drams. Silver price down by 22.6 drams to 673.1 drams.