Artur Danielyan writes: “Fish breeders went bankrupt, and this one says, ‘What’s up? I haven’t eaten farmed fish for a long time.'” Before the election, in the literal sense of the word, he used to fill the rekh, but now he has not eaten the “grown” food for a long time. Moreover, that “old time” is from 2018, when the budget of the Dachshund tripled to 5,000 dollars a day. You would have to spend 5000 dollars a day on your coffee, you wouldn’t eat farmed fish… He says that Armenian brandy is not drinkable either, because it was not kept in an oak barrel, he only drinks French Louis 13a… a long time ago… by the way, he also grew tomatoes, flowers, strawberries and apricots. He didn’t grow dairy products alone, he actually mixed them (with milk). Wobsham, the culprit is the grower… they did the right thing by banning it.

This saint has been educating you for eight years, but you didn’t become human like that, dear people. What garbage you grow and eat…”

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Law and justice will prevail, and the public will see that the Government is not you. Liparit Drmeyan wrote about this on his Facebook page.

“Today, I learned that after the government session, the government remembered me. Let’s leave aside the fact that the presented facts have nothing to do with reality and the Government will still have to deny them.

I will say briefly. I acted for one entity and that one entity is the Republic of Armenia. The irony is that all this follows my political activity. Moreover, all this follows the arguments we presented in the Constitutional Court, which directly showed what kind of financial, administrative and repressive measures were used by the CP throughout the elections.

Law and justice will prevail, and the public will see that you are not the government,” he said.

—

In a conversation with journalists on July 29, Nikol Pashinyan said that Suren Papikyan will be reappointed to the position of RA Defense Minister.

When asked if you are satisfied with the fact that this year the 8th casualty in non-combat conditions has already been registered in the army, Pashinyan first responded. 

“A military parade was held in the Republic of Armenia on May 28.”

It is not clear what this had to do with the journalist’s questioning. Maybe Pashinyan understands its effect on the result of the NA elections in their favor.

On the other hand, perhaps, in response to the views that the military parade was excessively politicized and kept Nikol Pashinyan’s person “at the forefront”, he tried this time not to ignore the role of the defense department and the army in holding the military parade, emphasizing its, so to speak, military significance, not being a political report.

Of course, any military parade is also a political report, but it should not be turned into a political show (staying military equipment on the street for a day, being too accessible).

However, when the journalists repeated the question about non-combat deaths in the army, Pashinyan once again stated that he sees the solution to this issue in a change in the public’s socio-psychology.

“Approximately 70 percent of what happens in the military has no origins in the military. Of course, the officers are to blame, but each case must be considered separately. It’s a problem that needs to be solved. Unfortunately, ministers change, even the authorities are changing, but the problem is still present. which means they are much deeperthan we are used to dealing with,” he continued.

There has always been a problem of non-statutory relationships and non-combat deaths in the army.

The issue is that in February 2020 Nikol Pashinyan decided, in the context of the deaths in the army, that Karen Abrahamyan should be released from the position of the commander of the Armed Forces and replaced by Jalal Harutyunyan, there were also personnel changes. In the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia: the heads of the Department of Morale and Psychological Support of the Armed Forces and the Military Police were dismissed.

It should be noted that from January 1 to February 17, 2020, according to the statement of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the deaths of servicemen were registered in the Armed Forces. 13 cases, “from which 4 as a result of an accident, 4 o’clock due to circumstances unrelated to the service“Illness, personal problems”. criminal cases were initiated in connection with the remaining 5 cases, circumstances are revealed. This is the first.

Secondly, Pashinyan always says that they inherited a “ruined” army and now they have created a new army in terms of content, tactics and military technology. In that case, why can’t they create a new army in terms of the statute, to justify even one bit that this issue was difficult to resolve even under the previous authorities? Apart from this, are there no episodes in the army today that did not happen before, of course there are. In this case, is it only necessary to justify that the origin of 70 percent of these problems has nothing to do with the army? Of course not.

Because if the use of drugs and gambling spreads in the army, it becomes the problem of the “clean” army. The political leadership of RA is responsible for the criminal situation in the country, as a result of its poor work, such phenomena enter the army, and here the responsibility is divided between the political and military-political leadership, but this does not exempt the political leadership from responsibility.

For example, how does the drug get into the army, about which Hayk Sargsyan, a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, warned about it for several years?

Or, can Nikol Pashinyan say why being obsessed with lotteries among soldiers became a problem, did the freedom related to telephones, less control over the use of smartphones not play a role?

Why only about 2 years ago, the Ministry of Defense and the Investigative Committee? decided to within the framework of the draft law submitted to the National Assembly a restriction on participating in winning games should also be provided for servicemen and law enforcement officers. At the time, when Nikol Pashinyan’s government was warned about these risks, they did not take them seriously.

By the way, in the press conference after the government meeting on July 30, Pashinyan mentioned these very episodes. presented as the cause of soldiers’ suicides, and not only them.

“Why do soldiers commit suicide in our army? There are 3 main reasons. One reason is gambling, getting into debt and not being able to pay it off։ We have taken de jure measures to ban those who are in the service, but that system is still being implemented. I should also say that I know about this from the time I was in the Koshi colony. You don’t have to bet on your phone. There are shady dealers who place bets on the phone, on speech, then if you win, they give you what you won, but if you lose, they get it by any means possible.

The second is family or personal problems that arise in civil life, in various relationships.

The third is related to a very specific situation: sleeping while on duty in a combat position. There is a line in the song of one of the Armenian rappers, he talks about himself and says: I have never slept in a position. The person listening from the side will say: What is this sentence? I have never slept in this position. You keep the position, the others sleep and rest.

If the guard fell asleep, it means that he endangered the lives of others. Whoever reported that he fell asleep, the soldiers subject him to isolation. It is a criminal subculture, or in this case it is security overpressure, after stepping down from the position there is a certain isolation, psychological pressure, etc.” explained Pashinyan.

As we mentioned, the presented cases are common causes of suicides.

But Pashinyan, who advises to delve into the causes of problems, gives rather inflexible and careless qualifications regarding sleeping in position, and forgets the important thing: why does a soldier sleep in position?

For example, have they examined which army corps or military unit, especially after the reduction of the term of service, often have cases of sleeping in the position, what kind of tension does combat duty go through here, due to being close to enemy positions or frequent targeting, how acute is the problem of human resources?

That is, how many hours does the soldier sleep, how many hours does the shift take place, is there a problem of human resources, and depending on that, is there a problem of lack of sleep, if there is no such question, then the soldier’s inability to endure may be caused by other things.

These are questions that need to be answered and resolved.

If the head of the country does not talk about this and is satisfied with only presenting sleeping in position as a phenomenon that threatens the safety of others, this will only cause harm.

Of course, a soldier sleeping in a position, to whom a superior is reprimanding, must consider a number of security risks at that moment and try to think, maybe the officer is giving an emotional remark to him at that moment, thinking about his own safety. On the other hand, regardless of everything, an officer or a fellow soldier should be more careful in the position when making a remark to another soldier, that remark should not be offensive and humiliating.

All this presupposes quite consistent work by the leaders of military units and military units, with both soldiers and officers, whose age difference is not too big.

Let’s remind that there are cases of EMU members and reservists standing on combat duty in an inebriated state or, at least, performing combat duty in an improper state, which is no less a security problem, as Pashinyan mentioned above.

By the way, it is interesting that Pashinyan considered himself responsible for the situation in the army during the briefing after the government session: “I have that fault, it should not be blamed on the leadership of the army.”

In fact, this is exactly the case, because the removal of many experienced officers from the army is Pashinyan’s fault, the sometimes incorrect personnel appointments in the army are also the result of his decision, the removal of artillerymen from the army was also his demand, the fact that tomorrow the army may have a problem with combat capability is again under his responsibility, and so on.

It should also be noted that during his two-day briefings, Nikol Pashinyan tried to “soften” the atmosphere created by Anna Hakobyan’s statements describing the situation in the army, to which we have touched on.

On the other hand, Pashinyan confirmed our claim that he dismisses this or that member of his government for his own reasons, which may have little to do with his activities. And now it is not excluded that the re-appointment of Suren Papikyan had a tendency not to inflame passions.

By the way, according to Pashinyan’s decision, Vilen Gabrielyan was elected as a candidate for the chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the National Assembly. This commission is a supervisory body, and it will be quite interesting to follow Vilen Gabrielyan-Suren Papikyan interaction and working contacts.

—

The telephone conversation between Nikol Pashinyan and Vladimir Putin on July 27 effectively summed up the first two months of the trade crisis between Armenia and Russia.

After announcements about diversification of exports, state subsidies and reports about the opening of the European market, the Prime Minister of Armenia had to directly appeal to the President of Russia with a request to intervene in the situation.։

According to the statement of the RA government, Pashinyan stated that the restrictions on the export of goods of Armenian origin contradict the Armenian-Russian legal base and the norms of the Eurasian Economic Union, and asked to take measures to resolve the issues.

But there was no concrete promise to lift the restrictions or specify dates for their cancellation in the official messages. The Kremlin, for its part, emphasized Yerevan’s European course. Putin announced the need to hold a referendum on EU membership in Armenia a day ago.

So, about the export the conversation was directly related to the broader political issue of Armenia’s attempt to simultaneously maintain the advantages of the EAEU and move towards the European Union.

Restrictions began to be applied successively in the second half of May.  They touched on flower products, “Jermuk” mineral water, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, greens, stone fruits, grapes, dried fruits, fish and products of some alcoholic beverage manufacturers. Since May 30, “Rosselkhoznadzor” has limited the import of a number of vegetables, berries and greens from Armenia to Russia.

From June 2, the Armenian side was offered to stop the veterinary certification of live fish and fish products of all enterprises, except for the two companies that passed the Russian inspection. From June 12, the restrictions were extended to all quarantine goods of Armenian origin and their transit through Russia to other EAEU countries. The Russian side officially explained the decision with the systematic disclosure of quarantine facilities, insufficient traceability of products and problems in the work of the Armenian control system.

Therefore, legally, it is more correct to speak not about a complete ban on all Armenian exports, but about a wide complex of phytosanitary, veterinary and consumer restrictions, which were introduced by various Russian departments.

Moreover, it is impossible to ignore the political context.  The restrictions began to expand just before the parliamentary elections on June 7, due to the conflict between Moscow and Yerevan over Armenia’s foreign policy, CSTO, EAEU and its relations with the European Union. to the landscape:

The Russian side claims that the decisions are exclusively sanitary in nature. However, the simultaneous emergence of problems related to several important product categories at once՝ from flowers and vegetables to fish, mineral water and alcohol turned a technical dispute into a serious political and economic crisis.

The main problem of Armenia is the structure of its exports. For years, the Russian market has been not only one of the destinations, but also the main buyer of Armenian agricultural products.

According to the data provided by Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan, in 2025, Armenia exported 146.5 thousand tons of fresh fruits and vegetables. A significant part of that production was traditionally sent to Russia. According to Anna Fedyunina, associate professor of the Higher School of Economics, in 2025, the Russian market will account for about 98% of the Armenian export of vegetables and root fruits and about 90% of the export of fruits and nuts.

The value of the export of fruits and vegetables from Armenia to Russia was estimated at 142.5 million dollars. This means that it is almost impossible to redirect the product to other markets within a few weeks; it requires buyers, contracts, certification, logistics, appropriate packaging and competitive pricing.

Flower production should be considered separately. According to the Ministry of Economy, Armenia exported 1320 tons of flowers in 2025, compared to 566 tons in 2024. The industry expanded rapidly due to the possibility of supplying large volumes to the Russian market.

After the restrictions were imposed, the authorities announced trial deliveries of flowers to Latvia, Ukraine, EU countries and the UAE. These supplies are important as an attempt to find new directions, but they still do not prove that Russia has already been replaced.

In June, it was reported ohfor example, about sending 5.5 thousand flowers to Latvia and 9.5 thousand flowers to Ukraine.  For testing routes s:It is a result, but for the sector that exported 1320 tons of products in 2025, such batches cannot fully replace the former market.

A particularly difficult situation has arisen in the field of fish farming. According to the data of the Fisheries Union, in 2025, Armenia supplied Russia with about 9 thousand tons of fish and 72 million dollars worth of fish products.

Mostly trout was exported.  After the imposition of restrictions, exports were preserved only for two enterprises that passed the inspection, while a significant number of farms were deprived of the opportunity to send products to Russian buyers.

This is a direct threat to the industry. fish cannot be kept indefinitely as a normal industrial product. Live fish require water, electricity, feed and maintenance on a daily basis. It continues to grow, goes beyond the optimal product parameters, and economies have to pay wages and service loans at the same time.

On July 21, fish farmers and farm workers protested in front of the government building. According to the participants of the action, about 15,000 tons of live fish have been accumulated by the producers, not counting the products of the refrigerators and the batches previously returned to Russia. This is not a government statistic, but a statement from representatives of the industry, but it shows the supposed scale of the accumulated problem. The participants of the action claimed that the actual export of fish to Russia was stopped already on May 15.

The official Russian request to stop certification of almost all enterprises came into force on June 2, so these dates should be separated. May 15 is the date of the actual cessation of supplies announced by fish farmers, June 2 is the date of official certification restriction.

The fish farmers demanded a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, because, according to them, the previous discussion with the Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan did not yield results. They stated that the two support programs proposed by the government are unrealistic and cannot solve the problem of the sector.

The producers also emphasized that the domestic market of Armenia is not able to quickly absorb the accumulated volume. Attempting to sell fish en masse within the country will inevitably lead to falling prices, economic losses and the risk of loan defaults.

Action panorama The authorities announced the opening of the European Union market for Armenian fish. It is necessary to clearly understand the meaning of that statement. Armenia received a permit to export aquaculture products from the European Commission as early as March 16, 2025. However, one general permit for the country is not enough.

Each enterprise must pass an inspection, comply with European requirements and register in the TRACES system. Only on July 16, 2026, the RA government approved the procedure for the registration of producers and the issuance of veterinary sanitary certificates. Five Armenian companies have expressed interest in exporting, but only one has submitted a written application at the time of publication of relevant reports.

Therefore, the words that the EU market is “open” for now mean the emergence of a legal procedure, not the beginning of mass deliveries.  Businessman Harutyun Mnatsakanyan announced on July 21 that as of that moment not a single kilogram of fish was exported from Armenia to the EU.

This is a statement from a business representative, not a published customs statistic, but it has not been refuted by information about established commercial shipments. Not only registration and certifications, but also water and feed quality, production standards, packaging, refrigeration logistics and cost remain major barriers. A European buyer does not have to purchase Armenian fish just because a legal permit for shipment already exists.

For Russia, Armenian fish is only a small part of the huge market.  On the contrary, Russia was the main sales destination for Armenian producers. It is this difference that makes the negotiation positions of the parties unequal. The Russian market can replace Armenian products with supplies from other countries or with its own production, while Armenia has to look for buyers almost from scratch. The European market is significantly richer, but at the same time much more competitive and regulated.

Fish producers from Norway, Turkey, Greece, Spain and other countries that have sea and land logistics are already working on it. Armenian products must compete with them simultaneously in terms of quality, price and supply stability.

To mitigate the crisis, the RA government launched export subsidy programs. Compensation was provided for June shipments: 770 drams per kilogram of strawberries, 275 drams per kilogram of tomatoes, 400 drams per kilogram of pepper, and 37 drams per kilogram of flowers. This list was expanded in July.

The state has set compensation for one kilogram of apricots – 200 AMD, for one kilogram of plums, peaches, nectarines, dried fruits and vegetables – 250 AMD, for one kilogram of cherries – 400 AMD, for one liter of grape wine – 350 AMD, for one liter of fruit and berry wine – 200 AMD, for absolute brandy for one liter – 830 AMD, for one liter of mineral water – 150 AMD, for one kilogram of trout – 820 AMD, and for one kilogram of sturgeon – 1350 AMD.

Subsidies can partially offset freight and price differences, but they do not create buyers. The state actually begins to pay from the budget a part of the costs incurred after the loss of the regular market. At the same time, it is not clear how long the program will last, what volumes of products will be exported thanks to it, and whether the budget will be able to continuously support exports, which are not sufficiently competitive without subsidies.

If the state has to pay 820 drams for each kilogram of exported trout and 1350 drams for one kilogram of sturgeon, this in itself shows how expensive the attempt to reorient the sector has become.

The Central Bank of Armenia pointed out the scale of the macroeconomic risk. Central Bank President Martin Galstyan stated that the export of Armenian goods to Russia corresponds to approximately 6% of the country’s GDP, and the restricted categories account for about a third of that volume, that is, approximately 2% of the GDP. This does not mean that Armenia has already lost 2% of its GDP.

We are talking about an extreme scenario. if the restrictions are maintained for a long time and the products are not redirected to other markets, the potential negative impact can reach 2% of the GDP. Additional risks include a fall in domestic prices due to a surplus of commodities and a deterioration in the ability of farmers to service loans.

Thus, during the last two months, a fundamental difference between the political declaration and the economic reality has emerged. The European market can be declared open with a single announcement, but to actually enter it requires years of preparation, certification, investment and building trade ties.

Russia already had a ready sales infrastructure, an Armenian product known to the consumer, the absence of customs duties within the framework of the EAEU, and long-term contacts between suppliers and trade networks. For now, the EU provides an opportunity to go through the admission procedure, but does not guarantee either the volume of necessary purchases or the favorable price.

Pashinyan’s call to Putin should therefore be seen as an acknowledgment of the limitations of rapid diversification. If the new markets would already compensate for the Russian direction, there would be no need to appeal to the Russian president, asking him to intervene in the situation. Armenia really needs to diversify, but only on the condition of maintaining the main sales market, in particular, the Russian market.

While the authorities are talking about new opportunities in the EU, fish farmers are coming out, products are accumulating in farms, the state is forced to subsidize every kilogram exported, and the Central Bank warns of a risk of up to 2 percent of GDP in an extreme scenario.  As a result, it turned out that the European door can be officially opened, but the Armenian product is still not able to pass in the volumes that the Russian market used to accept.

Arman Ghukasyan

fondsk.ru

Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan

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On October 15 of last year, more than 10 priests of Aragatsot Diocese were invited to the investigative bodies of Yerevan for questioning. On the same day, a search was made in the presbytery of the diocese and the presbyter of the diocese was detained for 2 months.

Even at that time, the lawyers representing the interests of the priests stated that the case has nothing to do with the crime.

The law enforcement officers searched the apartments of many of the priests invited to the investigative bodies, phones were confiscated, including the phones of their family members.

The law enforcement officers had also entered early in the morning at that time Priest Vrtanes Baghalyan, spiritual pastor of St. Hovhannes Church in Byurakan to search the apartment, but they did not find anything, instead, they took the phones of the clergyman and his family members.

168.am–Fr. Vrtanes inquired from priest Baghalyan whether the phones were returned, is there an explanation from the law enforcement officers about what they have been looking for in the phones for almost a year?

“In that case, I myself was called to the investigative body as a witness, that I was present at the events in Aragatsotn Diocese, while I was not a priest of the diocese at that time, I was in Gugarats Diocese. In other words, after the elections of 2021, I was appointed to spiritual service in the diocese. I was called as if I had been directed by Reverend Mkrtich during the elections, but I was not on duty in the diocese at that time, moreover, I did not have time physically to participate in the 2021 elections,” noted Father Vrtanes.

He said that the law enforcement officers returned his daughter’s seized phone, but changed the password to access the phone, as a result, they are currently unable to use the phone, moreover, they received the phone from the investigative body with a non-working battery.

“Until now, the law enforcement officers have not returned my phone, they have kept my phone for so long without any reason. I told the law enforcement officers the password of my phone, they could check the whole phone in 10-15 minutes. Without a court notice, they first call for an investigation, confiscate my phone and don’t return it for almost a year. Imagine the frivolous environment created by them,” added the priest.

According to the clergyman’s observation, it seems that the law enforcement officers are not looking for anything in his phone, they just took it, because there is no secret information in his phone that could be “upset”.

“I have been serving in the diocese of Aragatsotn for 4 years, under the guidance of Bishop Mkrtich. He did not give us any instructions, on the contrary, he was a straitjacket for us in many cases. With his neutrality and paternal attitude, the bishop has been a supporter and helper for us in the spiritual service, what the law enforcement officers unreasonably assume did not happen. But until this moment, they forbid the reverend to go to the Presbytery and diocesan churches, to meet with us, in the event that we have the status of a witness. All of our priests in the diocese need the holy father’s advice on our way of service, but they do not allow us to meet with him.

You all remember that last year on December 18, during the invasion of the Mother See, I had an acute heart attack. If the reverend was free, he could have helped me with many questions. But I continue to serve in the high altitude zone, despite my health problems, because theoretically today they are not allowed to meet and talk with the reverend. The spiritual life of the diocese has been illegally obstructed,” emphasized priest Vrtanes Baghalyan.

Our interlocutor also added that until now Hovhannavank is occupied, the clergy of the church, Mr. Sargis and Mr. Manuk, cannot enter the church, because the disorganized priest is sitting there. People want to get married and baptized in that church, but they don’t want that ceremony to be performed by a disorganized priest. The police, which should have just kicked out the disorderly priest from the sanctuary owned by the Mother See, is supporting one more thing in order to keep the church occupied.

“Everyone knows that these processes against us are groundless, even the judges know that all this is frivolous, because it has never happened that the inner life of a spiritual structure was discussed by a secular court.

Until now, the people who broke into the Mother See have not been convicted, nor the group of drunken hooligans who tried to attack the Mother Cathedral, nor their leaders. “Let’s hope that the structure of the head of the CC, which is supported by our taxes, will return the telephones to us,” emphasized Reverend Vrtanes Baghalyan.

It should be noted that the Reverend Mkrtich remained in prison for about 5 months, in February his preventive detention was replaced by house arrest, and then in May, by administrative control.

According to the accusation, Reverend Mkrtich used his official powers to “obstruct the right to vote and forced priests of the diocese to participate in opposition gatherings.”

Let’s remind that these actions of Aragatsotn Diocese were carried out within the framework of the proceedings initiated on the basis of the statement made by Stepan Asatryan, the former spiritual pastor of Hovhannavank, on the air of Public TV. Ter Aram announced that in 2021 he was forced to participate in political gatherings.

The program was submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office by the NGO “Union of Informed Citizens”.

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In case of a unilateral review of obligations regarding the South Caucasian Railway (SCR), Russia will have the right to demand compensation from Armenia. Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. Maxim Reshetnikov responded to Pashinyan’s words

The main points of the statement.

• The South Caucasian Railway is not a free asset of a Russian company, but an enterprise in which more than 30 billion rubles have been invested.
• Pashinyan’s words are also an occasion to remind about the significant advantages that Armenia’s economy receives due to EAEU membership and, in particular, trade with Russia. During the EAEU membership, Armenian exports to the Union countries increased from $240 million to $3.2 billion, and more than 80% of traditional Armenian exports (food, agricultural products, and alcohol) are supplied to EAEU countries. Entering alternative markets requires long-term restructuring of production chains and involves high commercial risks.
• If we evaluate these deliveries from the point of view of the economic impact on the market from the rest of the Union, their importance cannot be called significant. Armenia’s share in Russia’s gross trade with the world does not exceed 0.9%.
• Armenia saves $120 million annually due to low Russian gas prices. In addition, if the country loses access to the EAEU market, exports to the EU countries will decrease by more than 60%.