According to the preliminary investigation carried out in the criminal proceedings examined by the RA Anti-corruption Committee, it was found that the person occupying the position of the head of the territorial division of the Cadastre Committee, using the official position against the interests of the service, in the absence of legal grounds, carried out the process of illegal registration of land ownership rights.

In particular, it was found that the said official registered the ownership right of a citizen in violation of the procedure established by the RA Land Code and in the absence of relevant documents to the land area of ​​0.2200 ha allocated by illegal decision with the right of indefinite use from the section adjacent to the Yerevan-Sevan highway, citing the non-existent decision of the head of the village of Arinji on October 1, 1996 as the basis.

As a result of the criminal actions of the above-mentioned official of the Cadastre Committee, the land with a market value of AMD 15,900,000 was illegally removed from the balance sheet of Abovyan community.

In addition, based on the outlines of buildings with an area of ​​3965.65 square meters presented by another employee of the Cadastre Committee, the above-mentioned official included false data in the ownership certificate and without legal grounds registered the same plot with an area of ​​0.08 ha more.

As a result, land with a market value of 9,760,000 AMD was illegally removed from the balance sheet of Abovyan community, without any legal basis, and the community was deprived of the opportunity to use this land according to its intended purpose and to serve the interests of the public.

During the preliminary investigation, a criminal prosecution was initiated under Article 308, Part 2 of the RA Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003, and Article 314, Part 1 of the same Code (corresponding to Article 441, Part 2, Clause 5 and Part 2, Article 445, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code adopted on July 1, 2022).

The preliminary investigation in the criminal proceedings has been completed, and the materials of the proceedings have been sent to the RA Anti-Corruption Court with an indictment.

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At the final session of the 29th extraordinary Supreme Assembly of the ARF and at the congress of the “Forward” party, the first three dozen of the pre-election list of the alliance of “Armenia” parties were approved.

The order of names of the MP candidates is as follows:

Robert Kocharian
Prince Saghatelyan
Anna Grigoryan
Sevak Khachatryan
Arthur Khachatryan
Christine Vardanyan
Aghvan Vardanyan
Gegham Manukyan
Agnesa Khamoyan
Levon Kocharian
Arthur Sargsyan
Lilit Galstyan
Mesrop Manukyan
Garnik Danielyan
Christine Nazaryan
Boris Tamoyan
Narek Mantashyan
Lusine Karamyan
Gerasim Vardanyan
Karen Simonyan
Anush Arakelyan
Arman Ghazaryan
Arthur Ohanyan
Armenuhi Kyureghyan
Mihrdat Madatyan
Igor Sargsyan
Rubina Petrosyan
Samvel Hakobyan
Artsvik Minasyan
Anush Brutyan

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Armenia does not plan to reduce cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) or withdraw from it. CIS General Secretary Sergey Lebedev informed “Izvestia” about this.

“No, reduction of [Armenia-CIS cooperation] is not planned. [Yerevan is interested in contacts with the CIS] in many directions: in the economic, political and, of course, humanitarian spheres. In the military-political sphere, in connection with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), they have certain doubts and complications. In the rest of the issues, as far as the CIS is concerned, there are no problems,” he noted.

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The Armenian government announces zero compromise in the quality of infrastructure construction. Due to poor quality work, the state not only refuses to pay the contractors, but also forces to rebuild the facilities built with defects from scratch with its own funds.

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures at the government session on April 9 Davit Khudatyan announced that the construction company will suffer a loss of about 500 million drams due to the violations recorded as a result of the joint inspections of the Urban Development Committee and independent laboratories. According to the minister, the road should be of high quality during the entire period of its operation, and not disintegrate a month after its commissioning.

Accordingly, he pointed out as an example a newly built road, whose 20 km section will be completely demolished, because it does not meet the established quality standards. 

Control over imported building materials has also been tightened. In particular, as a result of laboratory checks of bitumen quality, eight out of ten trucks that crossed the border of Armenia recently were returned.

According to the minister, this strict control also has its objective consequences. savings from tender processes have been reduced. If previously about 40% of participants offered a price lower than the estimated value, now that figure has decreased to 20%. In addition, former market leaders, who in previous years carried out up to 50% of road construction works, today are satisfied with only 10-12%. Khudatyan directly conditions this fact with the state’s principled position of not accepting low-quality work.

“We don’t pay for low-quality work. Last year, we demolished and rebuilt about 30 km of roads at the expense of the builders. In 2025, that number will be higher. In the near future, I ordered to demolish a road, which is good even according to the impression of the citizens, but we are dissatisfied with the quality, and we will demolish the entire 20-kilometer road again,” Khudatyan announced.

The executive is also transitioning to a new model of road maintenance, excluding companies with small capacities and insufficient equipment from participating in tenders through enlargements. Unified quality standards are implemented in both state and Yerevan municipal budget funded programs.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in his turn, reaffirmed the policy of excluding compromises in the matter of quality. As a precedent, he mentioned the construction of the sports complex named after Artur Aleksanyan in Gyumri, where complete sections were also demolished due to insufficient quality.

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The Armenian government intends to introduce state-of-the-art technologies working with artificial intelligence in the field of road construction, which will allow to ensure “surgical precision” in repair works.

At the same time, the executive announced the return of an unprecedented amount of about 4 billion dollars to citizens with unplanned social and assistance programs since 2018.

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures at the government session on April 9 Davit Khudatyan announced plans to acquire a unique piece of equipment of regional significance: a road stratification system, or “road tomograph.” This technique, worth about 500-600 million drams ($1-1.5 million), will use artificial intelligence to analyze the road surface up to 70 centimeters deep.

According to the minister, the equipment will automatically assess the hidden cracks and injuries while passing the road, suggesting what type and depth of repair is needed in the given area. According to Khudatyan, they bring paving closer to the accuracy and logic of surgery, which will help to clearly separate the need for average and major repairs.

Referring to the introduction of new technology, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noticed that the acquisition of such expensive equipment is not a loss of finances, but a long-term saving, because due to quality and competent repair, the costs of further operation will be significantly reduced.

During the session, the head of the government also spoke about the economic results of the support programs implemented after 2018. He reminded that the state has implemented a number of non-compulsory, incentive programs, including leasing of agricultural equipment, support for border villages, loan subsidies, energy-efficient renovations and income tax refunds.

“As a result of the revolution, since 2018, the state budget has generated an additional amount of around 6 billion dollars. We can record that out of those 6 billion, we have returned 4 billion to the citizens through various programs,” the Prime Minister announced, adding that the increases in pensions and other mandatory payments are not included in this calculation.

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Armenia has been ready for any scenario of the development of events for a long time, but the technical problems emerging in the Armenian-Russian trade and economic relations should not be politicized. As for the supply of Russian gas, it is regulated by long-term contracts. This was announced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, responding to the questions about the obstacles to the export of Armenian products (in particular, brandy and flowers) and the possible increase in the price of gas.

During the briefing following the April 9 cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister refused to comment on hypothetical scenarios regarding the intensification of economic pressures, stating that one should be guided by the facts. According to Pashinyan, the problems related to export are mostly technical and refer to product quality and standards.

He reminded that since 2018, the government has been talking about the need to modernize the economy and standardize products, for which the state has allocated millions of dollars to businesses.

“We support and will continue to support economic operators in modernization, but we also do not agree that an attempt is made to present technical issues under a political umbrella,” Pashinyan emphasized. He also added that there are clear rules for the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor in the Eurasian Economic Union, and as a member of the Higher Economic and Intergovernmental Councils of the Eurasian Economic Union, he will be consistent in their smooth operation.

Referring to the risks of the possible price increase of Russian gas and the termination of contracts, the head of the government emphasized that Yerevan and Moscow have long-term contracts, and there is no basis for such assumptions.

“We cannot relate to Russia or any other country with the logic that one of the parties thinks that the other will violate all its agreements. That would mean that the violating party is not a contractual entity at all. How can such a thing happen?” concluded the RA Prime Minister.

Why did the gas price issue arise?

Discussions about the possible increase in gas tariffs intensified after the Pashinyan-Putin meeting held in Moscow on April 1. During the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin specially emphasized that Russia supplies gas to Armenia at preferential prices. According to him, when the price of 1000 cubic meters of gas in Europe exceeds 600 dollars, Armenia receives it for 177.5 dollars. The Russian President also noted that he is familiar with the approaches of the Armenian side regarding pricing mechanisms, over which the parties often “debate”. 

Let us also add that Russia, represented by Gazprom, is the de facto monopolist supplying natural gas to Armenia. According to the data of 2024, Armenia imported a total of about 2.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the vast majority of which, about 2.3 billion cubic meters (or about 84% of the total volume), fell to Russia. The rest is imported from Iran, providing only 16% of the country’s domestic demand (mainly through the “gas for electricity” barter program).

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Justice in Armenia operates regardless of political affiliation, and being a member of the ruling party does not give anyone immunity. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this at the April 9 briefing, referring to selective justice and criminal cases against former teammates.

According to the Prime Minister, a situation often arises when people close to the “Civil Contract” (CP) party or the ruling team think that they have an indulgence and can take bribes with impunity or engage in personal business (for example, import and export of livestock) using their political position.

“Justice in Armenia works both for the representatives of the ruling party and for other persons. People start beating their chests from the pulpits not because they became oppositionists and are being judged for that, but on the contrary, they become oppositionists when they are being judged,” Pashinyan emphasized.

The head of the government noticed that many people used to take oaths of loyalty, hoping that it would absolve them of responsibility, but when faced with the force of the law, they immediately change their political camp, presenting themselves as political victims.

Referring to the future plans of the ruling power, the Prime Minister reminded that the political agenda issues will be included in the KP pre-election program and will be submitted to the people’s court, and the upcoming elections will have concrete consequences.

Answering the journalist’s clarifying question about the party affiliation of one of the former teammates and his role in the team, Pashinyan stated that he is not aware of his formal status, but assured that the person in question is not currently involved in any work in the party.

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Voters’ lists will be published both on Elections.am and Elections.mia.gov.am with the possibility of searching and downloading.

The preliminary list, according to the election precincts, will be posted before April 28, with the possibility of downloading. This will give citizens an opportunity to identify possible inaccuracies and apply to the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And the final lists will be published before May 31.

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It is not possible to ask for a ceasefire, accept terms, agree to a ceasefire that also applies to Lebanon, and then watch your ally [Israel] just carry out massacres. Said Khatibzadeh, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, stated this in an interview with BBC.

According to him, the USA “must make a choice” whether it wants war or peace.

To the question whether Iran will withdraw from the negotiations if Israel’s strikes continue, he answered. “We are very focused on the welfare of the entire Middle East.”

Khatibzadeh reiterated that the agreement included Lebanon, and Iran and its allies were ready to “accept the ceasefire only on those terms.”

The deputy minister stated that the “exchange of messages” between the parties through Pakistan continued last night.

He added that Iran is “focused on completing this process” because it “comes from the country’s national interests”.

According to him, JD Vance will lead the negotiations on behalf of the USA, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of the Parliament, on behalf of Iran.

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The Mother See of St. Etchmiadzin strongly condemns the inclusion of objectionable provisions regarding the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in the pre-election program of the “Civil Agreement” party.

In the pre-election program of the party, fixing the forced agenda of reforming the Church, revising the charter, removing the Catholicos of All Armenians and holding new Catholicos elections is a clear violation of the constitutional order, the right of self-government of the Church, as well as international fundamental principles of freedom of conscience and religion.

With pre-election promises to continue the obviously illegal actions against the Church, once again the entire anti-Church essence and purpose of the ideology of the ruling political power is demonstrated.

The adopted illegal way of working is harmful to the nation and absolutely unacceptable. It contradicts the interests of our people around the world, threatens the foundations of the national value system and undermines spiritual security.

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