Category: News

On March 24, Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, received Ibrahim Rahimpour, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran.

Edward Nalbandian congratulated Ibrahim Rahimpour on the occasion of Nowruz wishing progress and prosperity to the people of Iran.

Ibrahim Rahimpour conveyed to Edward Nalbandian good wishes from Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The parties touched upon the process of implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of the President of Iran to Armenia late last year. Ibrahim Rahimpour underlined that visits of the President, First Vice-President and a number of ministers of Iran to Armenia in 2016 attest to the importance attached by Iran to the relations with Armenia.

Minister Nalbandian and Deputy Minister Rahimpour discussed a wide range of issues on bilateral agenda. Both sides highlighted the importance of continuous efforts aimed at further deepening of trade and economic cooperation.

Issues of EAEU-Iran cooperation were on the agenda of the meeting.

The interlocutors noted with satisfaction the presence of numerous Iranian tourists in Armenia on the occasion of Nowruz and emphasized the importance of the agreement on visa liberalisation reached between the two states last year.

Edward Nalbandian and Ibrahim Rahimpour touched upon the issue of regular consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries.

The sides also exchanged views on urgent international and regional issues and the situation in the Middle East.

Asbarez – May 17 will be a special day for eight Armenian-American who are slated to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor during an official ceremony at the iconic and historic gateway for hundreds of thousands who were welcomed into the United States by the Statue of Liberty and made America their home.

From successful businessmen, to a pioneering physician, to artists who enrich our lives through art and music and those who dedicate their lives to the advancement of our community through philanthropy, service to church and our organizations, the eight Armenians represent a cross-section of our ever-expanding reality.

The National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, which awards the medals, announced that Varant Frank Melkonian, Dr. Garo M. Tertzakian, Ara Tekian, Joan Agajanian Quinn, Lucine Mardirosian, Harvey, Andy Andranik Madadian, Ruth Bedevian and Kurken Yetvart Berksanlar will receive medals of honor.

According to the NECO website, “the Ellis Island Medals of Honor embody the spirit of America in their celebration of patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity. They recognize individuals who have made it their mission to share with those less fortunate their wealth of knowledge, indomitable courage, boundless compassion, unique talents and selfless generosity; all while maintaining the traditions of their ethnic heritage as they uphold the ideals and spirit of America. As always, NECO remains dedicated to the maintenance and restoration of America’s greatest symbol of its immigrant history, Ellis Island.”

Past Armenian-American Ellis Island Medal recipient s include, Harry Nadjarian, Mike Sarian, Vahe Karapetian, Elizabeth Aghbabian, Maria Mehranian, Dalida Keuroghlian and Christopher Atamian among dozens of others.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan received today Vazil Hudák, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The Prime Minister hailed the cooperation with EIB aimed at implementation of projects in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture and tourism. He attached importance to the Bank’s cooperation with the private sector and added that “the government has adopted a clear-cut policy of implementing reforms in absolutely all spheres.”

“Our steps will be targeted at creating a predictable and transparent field for business,” he noted.

Vazil Hudák noted, in turn, that “The European Investment bank is interested in maintaining cooperation with the Armenian government in all domains.”

Karen Karapetyan welcomed the willingness to cooperate and said that “serious reforms to be implemented in regional governance will allow to improve the transparency and efficiency, involve private investors in different public services.”

Photo: AP

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been freed from detention, six years after being overthrown, the BBC reports.

Mr Mubarak left a military hospital in southern Cairo and went to his home in the northern suburb of Heliopolis, his lawyer said.

He was ordered freed earlier this month after Egypt’s top appeals court cleared him over the deaths of protesters in the 2011 uprising.

Mr Mubarak, 88, became president in 1981 after Anwar Sadat’s assassination.

He had been at Maadi Military Hospital since 2013, when he was transferred there on bail from Torah prison.

Mr Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in 2012 of complicity in the killing of protesters who died at the hands of security forces in February, 2011.

Another trial was held and a judge decreed in May 2015 that Mr Mubarak could be released from detention.

“Terrorism is an evil that can occur anywhere. Therefore, it’s always necessary to be on the alert and take measures,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with .

“I understand that large sums are being spent in London and Paris, but this is a crime that can never be predicted. It’s different when you have an obvious enemy. But when people with a different task penetrate into Europe under the cover of migrants is a completely different thing. This is very difficult to fight,” President Sargsyan said.

“Security threats are very different in today’s world. For us, the threat is the situation in our region, i.e. Azerbaijan’s wish to solve the Karabakh issue though force,” President Sargsyan said.

“Armenia is situated about 400 km away from the area of Islamic State activity. This means that the events taking place in the Middle East are directly linked to our security. Considering that many citizens of CIS member states are involved in IS actions, there will sooner or later be people in the region with military experience, with barbaric methods, who will create additional difficulties in this fragile stability. Unfortunately, we already hear Arabic language and different voices across the line of contact. It seems people from the Middle East are gradually getting involved in conflicts in our region. This is of course very dangerous. There are other challenges in the modern world,” he said.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) are hosting a conference in Yerevan today to discuss strengthening the local capital market and increasing local currency lending.

The event builds on the successful cooperation between the EBRD and CBA following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in March 2016 about reform of the local derivatives market.

CBA Deputy Governor Nerses Yeritsyan will open the seminar with a presentation about “Money Markets and Derivatives – The International and Armenian Perspectives”. Over 100 participants, including regulators and market participants as well as representatives of international financial institutions, banks and other financial institutions, are expected to attend the event.

The conference will provide an excellent opportunity to discuss recent developments in Armenia’s capital markets and consider further steps towards developing a stronger, more resilient financial infrastructure in the country.

Another important topic of the seminar will be the development of the derivatives markets and the related legal and regulatory framework.

In October 2016 the Armenian parliament passed a milestone by approving a package of laws regulating the local financial markets and also approving amendments to the law on the securities market.

The new laws were developed in close cooperation with the EBRD. Experts, funded by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund, worked with the Central Bank of Armenia on the legal reform. The project was also coordinated with, and supported by, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).

Mark Davis, EBRD Head of Office in Yerevan, said: “We welcome and support the authorities’ determination to implement the jointly drafted programme. We share the goal of improving the functioning of the local capital markets, increasing liquidity and streamlining regulatory processes to stimulate issuance, trading and hedging activities.”

Jacek Kubas, representing the EBRD Local Currency and Capital Markets Development team and in charge of the programme, added: “Following the successful reforms introduced by the authorities last year, the EBRD is keen to further develop the Armenian capital market, working with the central bank and other stakeholders, including to increase capacity-building among market participants about hedging tools such as foreign currency and interest-rate risk management.

The EBRD launched its Local Currency and Capital Markets Development Initiative in May 2010 to help reduce the reliance in parts of the EBRD region on foreign capital and excessive use of foreign-currency borrowing, which had emerged as key vulnerabilities during the global financial crisis.

A number of EBRD teams, including Treasury, Banking and the Office of the General Counsel, are working together with the Local Currency and Capital Markets Development team on the Initiative.

Aude Pacatte, Director, Head of Portfolio Management, EMEA, in the EBRD Treasury team, commented: “Armenia is a very important market for the EBRD. We strongly promote the development of the money market in the country and since 2014 we have been an active issuer of bonds denominated in Armenian dram.”

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Armenia with investments of over €1.13 billion in 157 projects in the country’s financial, infrastructure, energy and corporate sectors. Of these projects, 88 per cent are in the private sector.

A Ural vehicle of the Defense Ministry crashed into a Volkswagen Golf on Sotk-Karvachar highway.

Ten soldiers were injured as a result of the accident, two of them seriously, Defense Ministry Spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told Tert.am.

Hovhannisyan refrained from further comments on the servicemen’s health condition, but said they will be transported to Yerevan.

Photo: DSNS

Some 20,000 people are being evacuated after a series of explosions at a massive arms depot in eastern Ukraine described by officials as sabotage, the BBC reports.

The base in Balakliya, near Kharkiv, is used to store thousands of tonnes of ammunition including missiles and artillery weapons.

Rescue teams are overseeing a huge evacuation effort for people living in the city and nearby villages.

The total area of the dump spans more than 350 hectares, the military says.

Sabotage was said to be the cause of explosions followed by fire at an ammunition depot in the city of Balakliia in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Region, causing their detonation, the country’s military prosecutor said Thursday, according to Sputnik.

“As a result of sabotage, an explosion occurred (fire broke out) at 03:02 a.m. [01:02 GMT] at several rocket and artillery weapons storage sites (125 and 152 mm tank and artillery shells), which caused the detonation of ammunition,” Anatolii Matios wrote on his Facebook page.

The Armenian “Taron-Avia” air company will start operating regular and  non-regular flights from Gyumri’s Shirak Airport from April, 2017, Press Service of the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia reports.

The launching of flights will contribute to the creation of new jobs and intensification of economic development and tourism in the region.