July 3, 2026
The government of Armenia approved the signing of the agreement on raising a loan of 80 million euros with the OPEC development fund at the session held recently.
The document was published on the government website. “According to the agreement, the International Development Fund of OPEC undertakes to provide the Republic of Armenia with a budget support loan in the amount of 80 million euros,” it is said in the justification of the decision. The loan is provided for a period of 18 years with a grace period of five years. The interest rate is floating, six-month Euribor (European Interbank Offered Rate) plus 1.56%. As of June 18, it was 4.166%.
In the broader context of external borrowing, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved more than $25 million in loans to Armenia shortly after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s party won the parliamentary elections.
It is reported on the website of the IMF that the executive board of the fund has completed the first review within the framework of the “Stand-by” loan agreement (SBA) with the republic. This It gives Yerevan access to an amount equivalent to 18.4 million SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which is about $25.1 million.
The SBA program aims to support government policies and reform programs to maintain economic and financial stability and to ensure sustainable, inclusive and long-term economic growth.
The total availability under the agreement reached 36.8 million SDRs (about $50.2 million). It was approved by the IMF Board on December 1, 2025. Armenian authorities continue to consider it as a precautionary measure.
“Precautionary arrangement” is a credit program status in which the member country has the right to receive the agreed amount, but is not obliged to do so and can refuse it.
In general, the program in Armenia is proceeding according to plan, notes the IMF. At the end of December last year, all quantitative performance criteria were met. The fund noted the need to continue efforts aimed at increasing the stability of the economy and announced that they welcome structural reforms aimed at diversifying exports and improving the business environment.
As of the end of 2025-beginning of 2026, the external debt of the Armenian government amounted to approximately 6.68 billion dollars, while the total state debt (including domestic liabilities) amounted to approximately 14.78 billion dollars (approximately 5.3 trillion AMD). External debt is approximately 45% of the total public debt. public debt has grown at a more moderate rate in recent years (about 21% growth over the past eight years).
State of Armenia The debt has increased by 110.6% since May 2018, when Nikol Pashinyan became the prime minister, according to TASS calculations, which are based on the state statistics of the republic. on the open data of the statistical committee.
According to the data of the socio-economic situation of Armenia as of April 30, 2018, the national debt of Armenia amounted to 6.87 billion dollars, and as of April 30, 2026 – 14.46 billion dollars. Moreover, the peak indicators were recorded in February 2026, when the state debt reached the mark of 14.78 billion dollars, which is 115.2 percent more than N. At the beginning of Pashinyan’s prime ministership.
Moreover, from December 2025, the Armenian government has changed the method of calculating the state debt, “foreseeing” not including the internal and external obligations assumed by the government, as well as the debt of the Central Bank. TASS calculations took into account these changes, both the liabilities and the debt of the Central Bank.
In recent years, economists they note, that in the event of dram exchange rate weakening, the debt burden will increase dramatically, because in addition to the increase in external debt, domestic debt has also increased dramatically. Thus, the state will find itself in a debt labyrinth, the exit from which will mostly be connected with new loans. But it is noteworthy that the new “method” of debt calculations does not raise questions for the IMF…
Meanwhile, according to the data of the statistical committee, the permanent population of Armenia as of April 1, 2026 was almost 3.1 million people.
Thus, every resident of Armenia now owes about 4,665 dollars. Meanwhile, as of April 2018, that figure was $2,312.
Alexey Baliev
vpoanalytics.com
Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan
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168: They turned the army into a place of exile. so tight, “Iskander” at the military parade
July 3, 2026
In the “Pressing” program Satik Seyranyan the guest Tigran Abrahamyan is the secretary of the “I have honor” faction of the RA National Assembly (NA), member of the Executive Body (GM) of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).
The main theses of the interview are below.
- At the moment, quite a number of people in the RPA are under political persecution, but I will not tell anyone a secret that Armen Ashotyan is one of the main striking forces in the RPA, and his isolation is a goal for the government. Armen has nothing to do with the act attributed to him, the government just aimed to isolate him. Ashotyan has already been unjustly detained for 2 years, and now it is already the 2nd month that he has been detained again on trumped-up charges.:
- For RPA, it is not the same whether Armen is outside or under prison or house arrest. Armen not only makes a public speech, but also solves a completely different functional problem outside. During the 8 years, the Republican Party continues to be the target of the government, starting with President Serzh Sargsyan, political persecution is being carried out against everyone.
- During the 44-day war, Nikol Pashinyan presented the defense army’s counter-offensive plan live. Wasn’t that a publication of a state secret? For this government, if there is a target, the criminal article is found and arrested. I have known Colonel Edik Maloyan for a long time, since 2016, when he was the battalion commander in Martakert. After the 44-day war, when the National Security Service deployed combat units in Artsakh, he was the deputy of one of them. Maloyan has always been a rebel by nature. The military, who refuse to become a propaganda tool of the government, to secure votes for them, become vulnerable. In general, I am aware that there are changes in the Armed Forces. And it is not new, but since 2018. Levon Mnatsakanyan was fired in 2018. was released because he had protected his soldiers who were killing Azerbaijanis. People with principles cannot enter into agreements with them, remove the gunners… This will continue until it has formed a homogeneous system for itself, has not turned all departments into party appendages.:
To remind: yesterday, law enforcement officers conducted a search at the residence of Colonel Edik Maloyan, winner of the “Combat Cross” 1st degree, after which he was arrested, then
They detained him for 2 months. Roman Javadyan, who is in charge of Edik Maloyan’s case, was detained for another 2 months.
The Investigative Committee reported that the criminal proceedings were initiated against him in connection with the case of publishing information containing state secrets, besides him, there is one more arrested. According to the media, Edik Maloyan came under the attention of law enforcement officers because the woman is related to the leader of the “Strong Armenia” party, Samvel Karapetyan, and the colonel did not follow the political instructions of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense before the elections. Moreover, he allegedly organized a leak about an internal directive sent to the army. Maloyan was the commander of Akhpradzor in Vardenis, he is a well-traveled and meritorious brave soldier who served in the city of Martakert of Artsakh for many years. After 2020, when a special purpose department was established in the National Security Service of Artsakh, he was appointed as a deputy. He participated in the April 44-day wars, in repelling the Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh in 2023, he is classified as a “baevoi officer”, after being forcibly deported to Armenia, perhaps that is why he was taken to serve in the Armed Forces, one of the hottest spots.
Freedom fighter Arman Petrosyan presented an interesting story about Maloyan. The story took place after the 44-day war.
“In Martakert, during the border demarcation with the Azerbaijanis, you know, it was a powerless situation. These Azerbaijanis come to the negotiation well armed, they line up in a line like a strong boy. The Iranian camp is approaching our trench, where the soldiers are on duty. On our side, Maloyan participates in the negotiation and is unarmed. The security forces are monitoring the process with cameras.
While talking to each other, the Azerbaijani commander lightly kicks the helmet of our soldier standing in the trench. As soon as Maloyan sees, he doesn’t look left or right, he immediately starts beating the Azerbaijani who hit the soldier’s helmet. After a good beating, they hardly leave an Azerbaijani. And after that, you know what happens? Maloyan is removed from the service by order of the commander of the Armed Forces Kamo Vardanyan,” Petrosyan said.
- This government needs the army as a component of propaganda. Their “uniform revolution” is in the same context of luxury and misery. What is the effect of the same parade? Our public sees the weapon, but does not know what kind of weapon it is, how it is used, whether it will be useful in modern wars or not. Do you remember the same SUs, why were they brought? to be photographed.
- Were there samadelka weapons in Armenia? They speculate that they have factory weapons, but what was there before?:
- In modern warfare, the emphasis is on unmanned aviation, long-range missile systems, and mobile groups. Now what kind of war are we preparing for? The only important thing is the military industry where investments should be made. By the way, the displayed ATSs, which were said to be of Armenian production, were manufactured by these companies back in 2015. They were tested and participated in punitive operations in Artsakh.
- You can have thousands of ATS, but it is important to understand whether the means of radio-electronic warfare and anti-aircraft warfare of Azerbaijan enable you to solve a problem. You can have a lot of equipment that you can’t even get out of hangarsl…
- Today, our country and the Armed Forces were not ready to shorten the mandatory military service period by 6 months. This was done at the expense of our state security so that Nikol Pashinyan would get 5% more votes. When you look on the ground at what is happening on the front line, you understand that reducing military service by 6 months is a threat to national security. Instead of us, no state could afford such luxury…
- In the army, you can hold all the temporary posts, but your staff will either be overburdened or physically unable to solve the problems before them. But for people, the emotional background comes to the fore. depth is not visible.
- They have turned the army into exile and try to use it as a threat in various situations. Training sessions are educational processes, their purpose is defined by law. Now, when you use it as a punishment to isolate the opposition, you nullify the purpose set by the law. Besides, it was also becoming a cause of internal enmity:
- When in 2018 people came to vote for them, they were puppets, now they are enemies. The hatred generated towards our Russian compatriots will leave its consequences for a long time.
- The specialization received by Ashot Pashinyan has not lost its relevance. Many people with that specialization now participate in training camps. So I don’t see an element of privacy here.
- When you constantly say: we are only going to defend ourselves, we don’t want war, we don’t want peace, subconsciously you are preparing people for something that people are not ideologically ready to solve another problem, you are instilling defeatist sentiments in them. Now it’s gotten to the point where the military says we’re going to work, when it’s service. People see serving the motherland as a job, not a mission:
- These are so poor that they were not shown during the “Iskander” military parade, because first they discredited this highly accurate and effective weapon, and besides, Serzh Sargsyan brought it to Armenia. There were other Russian weapons, but no Iskander. When you turn the army into “svo” and “chujo”, you will not have any success:
- In the past, all defense ministers, regardless of the party they represented, worked with both the opposition and the government. Their “crap” was that they corrupted it too.
- It is a difficult decision to take the mandates, but you have to understand: take a mandate, what you will do, not take it, what you will do. 2021-2026 along the way, as unhappy as I was with the outcome, there were 2-3 major moves that, if done right, could have led to impeachment. Now it is very important that the opposition forces form an agenda that will unite the opposition forces. 1-2 forces cannot solve a problem, consolidation is needed. The agenda of the forces entering the parliament should be comprehensible to all forces, because they will not have a chance to succeed without extra-parliamentary forces.
- For a long time, we refrained from talking about the forces and figures who supported the 2018 elections. the so-called revolution. But some took this as a weakness and started slandering us to shift the responsibility from them and focus on the Republican.:
Details in the video.
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RFE/RL – Armenian Opposition To Challenge Voter Disenfranchisement Bill In Cou
- Karlen Aslanian
Opposition lawmakers pledged on Friday to ask the Constitutional Court to declare unconstitutional a new law that will effectively disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Armenians living abroad and Russia in particular.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party drafted the law and hastily pushed it through Armenia’s outgoing parliament during its final session concluded on Friday. It stipulates that Armenian citizens will lose voting rights if they have stayed in their home country for less than half of the two years preceding elections or a referendum.
The opposition minority in the parliament says the law runs counter to the Armenian constitution which guarantees “universal, equal, free and direct suffrage” for all citizens without setting any residency requirements. Under Article 48 of the constitution, Armenians aged 18 and older “have the right to elect and the right to participate in the referendum.”
Civil Contract deputies denied any violation of these provisions during a short parliament debate that took place on Thursday.
“The bill is aimed at correcting practices recorded ruing the recent parliamentary elections,” one of them, Arusyak Julhakian, said.
She alluded to Civil Contract allegations that many Armenian citizens living in Russia were paid to travel to Armenia and vote for billionaire Samvel Karapetian’s opposition alliance in the June 7 elections. No such citizens are known to have been identified and prosecuted by Armenian law-enforcement authorities. Official figures show that the number of expats who entered Armenia from January through May was up only about 3,000 from the year-earlier period.
Opposition parliamentarians claim that the real purpose of the law is to make it easier for Pashinian to enact through a referendum a new Armenian constitution demanded by Azerbaijan. Under the existing constitution, it has to be backed by at least one-quarter of the country’s 2.5 million or so eligible voters, among them hundreds of thousands of Armenians living in Russia. The total number of such voters should decrease considerably after the disenfranchisement of expats.
Ruben Rubinian, a parliament vice-speaker and senior ruling party figure, denied any connection between the law and the planned referendum. He would not say how Pashinian’s political team could hold such a vote in the absence of a two-thirds majority in the new Armenian parliament elected on June 7.
“We will discuss and figure out,” Rubinian told reporters vaguely.
The current constitution stipulates that the draft of a new constitution must be approved by at least two-thirds of the parliament deputies before being put on a referendum. Some opposition figures and commentators have speculated that Pashinian could circumvent this requirement.
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Karapetian Trial Judge Denies Taking Orders From Pashinian
- Naira Bulghadarian
The judge presiding over the trial of Samvel Karapetian, a billionaire businessman leading Armenia’s largest opposition group, insisted on Friday that he is not acting on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s orders.
Vahe Dolmazian also said that he will not be influenced by Pashinian’s pledges to imprison Karapetian as well as the leaders of two other major opposition forces that challenged the ruling Civil Contract party in the June 7 parliamentary elections. Dolmazian downplayed such statements denounced by Pashinian’s critics as illegal.
“The leader of the country may make different political statements due to different circumstances,” the former prosecutor told journalists. “He does not give instructions.”
Karapetian was arrested in June last year hours after condemning Pashinian’s attempts to depose the top clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and vowing to defend it “in our way.” Pashinian responded by pledging to “deactivate” him.
Karapetian was initially accused of calling for a violent overthrow of the government. Law-enforcement authorities also charged him with tax evasion, fraud and money laundering in July after he announced plans to challenge Pashinian in the June 2026 elections. The Russian-Armenian tycoon, who strongly denies all charges, was moved to house arrest before going on trial in April.
Armenia – Businessman and opposition leader Samvel Karapetian stands trial in Yerevan, April 17, 2026.
At the start of the trial, Dolmazian refused to free Karapetian pending a verdict in the case. He thus prevented the tycoon from physically attending his Strong Armenia alliance’s election campaign rallies. Karapetian’s political allies and other opposition figures claimed that Dolmazian extended his house arrest in order to boost the ruling party’s electoral chances.
Pashinian has repeatedly vowed to send Karapetian and the two other top opposition leaders, former President Robert Kocharian and businessman Gagik Tsarukian, back to prison. He claims to have won a popular mandate for doing that. Pashinian’s party polled 49.8 percent of the vote on June 7, according to the official election results rejected by the Armenian opposition as fraudulent.
Law-enforcement authorities brought fresh criminal charges against Kocharian and Tsarukian in the immediate aftermath of the polls. Neither man has been arrested so far, unlike hundreds of other opposition members and supporters detained in recent months. Several dozen of them, including a number of prominent opposition figures, remain under arrest on what they call politically motivated charges.
Despite the wave of arrests mostly sanctioned by judges, Pashinian again lambasted Armenian courts on Thursday.
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RFE/RL – Tehran Warns Against ‘Foreign Interference’ In Armenia-Iran Ties
“Extra-regional” powers must not be allowed to interfere in Armenia’s relations with neighboring Iran, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian told Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during talks in Tehran on Friday.
Pashinian arrived in the Iranian capital to attend the start of weeklong funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of U.S. and Israeli forces air strikes against the Islamic Republic on February 28. He joined Iranian officials and clerics as well as foreign dignitaries in paying respects to Khamenei whose coffin was laid in state in a vast prayer hall.
Pezeshkian and Pashinian met shortly before the ceremony. The Iranian president was cited by his office as praising Armenian-Iranian relations and stressing the need to protect them against “foreign interference.”
“Friendly relations between Iran and Armenia should be developed independently of the influence of foreign actors and based on the common will of the two countries,” he said. “Experience has shown that the presence and interventions of extra-regional powers have not only not helped resolve regional issues but in many cases have complicated challenges and caused instability.”
Iranian officials have repeatedly issued such warnings in recent years as Pashinian has sought to reorient Armenia towards the West amid heightened tensions with Russia, its traditional ally. They have expressed serious concern at the Armenian government’s plans to open a U.S.-administered transit corridor for Azerbaijan that would run along the Armenian-Iranian border.
Tehran fears that the planned Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) could endanger the border and lead to U.S. security presence there. A top aide to Khamenei described it in December as a serious security threat to Iran. Yerevan has clearly failed to dispel the Iranian concerns with its repeated assurances that the TRIPP will not compromise Armenian sovereignty over the area.
Pashinian was reported to assure Pezeshkian that “Armenia has not and will not participate in any plan, project or action that is against the interests and security of Iran.”
“We do not hide anything in our interactions with different countries and are always ready to discuss any possible concerns or worries of Iranian friends and provide necessary explanations,” he said, according to the Iranian readout of the talks.
The Armenian government issued a much shorter statement on the talks. Pashinian discussed with Pezeshkian “issues of regional significance,” it said without elaborating.
U.S. President Donald Trump pointed to Pashinian’s commitment to the TRIPP when he endorsed the Armenian premier ahead of the parliamentary elections on June 7. Iranian diplomats said, meanwhile, that Tehran remains concerned about the transit arrangement. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Washington’s “malicious intentions” threaten regional peace and stability.
Armenia’s main opposition groups have also voiced serious objections to the TRIPP. Following his election victory rejected by them as fraudulent, Pashinian said that the project’s implementation will be one of his top policy priorities.
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Armenpress: Moldovan PM steps down
Moldovan Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu has announced his resignation, prompting the government’s resignation. He announced his decision in a post on X.
Munteanu, who has served as prime minister since November 2025, did not provide a detailed explanation for his decision.
“Today, my term as Prime Minister comes to an end. I accepted the responsibility of serving as Prime Minister with a deep sense of duty and the firm conviction that I could help bring about positive change. The moment I realized that I could no longer carry out my mandate in accordance with my principles and convictions, I chose to step down,” he wrote.
Munteanu added that he would continue to serve his country regardless of the position he holds.
“I would like to thank all my colleagues-my fellow ministers, their teams, and everyone who worked with professionalism and in good faith. I will continue to serve my country from whatever position I may hold, regardless of where I live or whether my future responsibilities are in the public or private sector. I believe that our duty to our country is not defined by the office we hold, but by the commitment we continue to uphold,” he wrote.
Reuters reported that the move presents a challenge for President Maia Sandu and her ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS).
Under Moldova’s parliamentary procedures, Sandu will hold consultations with parliamentary factions before nominating a candidate for prime minister.
The 62-year-old Munteanu was appointed prime minister following the September 2025 parliamentary elections, in which PAS defeated its pro-Russian rival and secured a new mandate to continue Moldova’s path toward European Union membership.
Before becoming prime minister, Munteanu spent nearly 20 years working outside Moldova, including at the World Bank.
According to various media reports, Moldova has faced a government crisis over the past two weeks following allegations of irregularities in recruitment at state-owned enterprises, unjustified payments to employees, and other violations.
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Moldovan government must successfully lead the country toward the EU, Sandu sa
This article is published under the cooperation agreement between Armenpress and Moldpres.
The government led by Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu has taken important steps in Moldova’s European integration process, and the country now needs a united and strong government team to successfully lead it towards the European Union, President Maia Sandu said following the prime minister’s resignation, Moldpres reported.
“We need a united, strong team in government that will deliver on our national goal of EU membership. Decisive steps are needed to implement economic development measures and clean up our institutions. We must succeed in bringing Moldova into the European Union and developing our country,” Sandu said.
At the same time, the president stressed that Moldova has undertaken ambitious commitments in its European integration process that must be fulfilled by Sept. 1.
In this context, she called on cabinet members to continue their efforts despite the current political situation.
“This outgoing government has done extraordinary work on European integration. We have very concrete and ambitious tasks that must be completed by Sept. 1. This government transition must not affect our objective,” Sandu said, urging ministers and other officials remaining in office after the government’s resignation to continue advancing the European integration agenda.
On the morning of July 3, Moldovan Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu announced his resignation after eight months in office. Shortly afterwards, President Sandu held a press conference, announcing the start of consultations with parliamentary factions on nominating a candidate for prime minister.
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Tusk says Ukraine is seeking to ease tensions with Poland
Kyiv is looking for ways to ease tensions with Warsaw, while Ukraine will need to come to terms with its history if it wants to join the European Union, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said, according to Reuters.
Diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries deteriorated after Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state honour, the Order of the White Eagle.
Nawrocki said the decision was prompted by Zelenskyy’s move to rename one of Ukraine’s military units in honour of figures from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), whose members were responsible for massacres of Poles during World War II.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of Nawrocki, has sought to ease tensions, saying he had received positive signals following a meeting in Warsaw on July 3 between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski.
“I do not know the outcome of the meeting, but I have received signals that the Ukrainian side is looking for ways to reduce tensions,” Tusk told a news conference.
Reuters noted that some Ukrainians regard the Ukrainian Insurgent Army as heroic for resisting both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and view it as a symbol of Kyiv’s struggle for independence from Moscow. In Poland, however, the UPA is chiefly associated with the massacre of ethnic Poles in Volhynia between 1943 and 1945, in which around 100,000 Poles were killed.
Tusk said Kyiv must come to terms with its history if it is to achieve its goal of joining the European Union.
“There is no European community without reconciliation, and there is no reconciliation without… coming to terms with a painful history,” the prime minister said. Tusk added that at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7–8, he would ask the Polish delegation to “exercise caution” over pledging additional financial assistance to Ukraine.
“Not because I don’t think Ukraine needs financial support, but because I believe Poland has very important obligations in protecting the European Union’s eastern border,” Tusk said.
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Georgia and Uzbekistan sign strategic partnership agreement
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev have signed a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries.
Sputnik Georgia reported that the Uzbek president is on a two-day visit to Tbilisi, where he has already met with Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili.
“The agreement confirms the existing friendship between our countries and lays a solid foundation for the sustainable development of bilateral relations and cooperation in the political, trade, economic, investment, scientific, technical, cultural, humanitarian and other fields,” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.
According to Kobakhidze, strengthening cooperation between Georgia and Uzbekistan will contribute to the further growth of regional trade flows, reinforce transport corridors and promote broader economic integration.
“Georgia is an important partner and a reliable pillar for us in the South Caucasus. In recent years, cooperation between our two countries has been developing dynamically across all sectors, and this is only the beginning,” the Uzbek president said.
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Trump says he congratulated Musk on becoming world’s first trillionaire
U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with CNBC that he had congratulated entrepreneur Elon Musk on becoming a trillionaire.
Trump said he had not spoken with Musk directly but had sent him a note.
“I wrote to him, ‘Congratulations. That’s great,'” Trump said.
He added that he has a very good relationship with Musk, although the two had disagreements after the administration rejected a proposal that would have effectively required all Americans to switch to electric vehicles.
“Elon wasn’t thrilled about that. And I can understand it. But he’s doing well,” Trump said.
Musk, the world’s richest person, became the world’s first trillionaire on June 12 following the initial public offering (IPO) of his aerospace company SpaceX. The offering involved 555.6 million shares and valued the company at $2 trillion.
However, on June 24, Musk lost his trillionaire status after a decline in the value of SpaceX shares. According to the latest data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth stood at $992 billion as of July 3.
According to Forbes, Musk’s net worth reached $342 billion in 2025, compared with $195 billion in 2024.
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