10:21, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. “Ucom” closed joint-stock company has decided to discontinue the practice of using stamps on contracts, protocols, and other related documents, in line with the amendments introduced in the RA Law “On Joint Stock Companies”, the RA Civil Code in 2012. This decision was approved by the executive body of “Ucom” CJSC. The legislative changes have rendered the use of round seals mandatory requirement null and void.

“We are now officially announcing the discontinuation of stamp usage, and we assure all our partners that it will have no impact on their cooperation with Ucom,” stated Ralph Yirikian, the Director General of Ucom.

 10:01, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. 1 trillion 265 billion drams in tax revenues and state duties was collected by the State Revenue Committee in January-July 2023 –  178,4 billion drams or 16,4% more compared to the same period of 2022.

In a statement released Thursday, the State Revenue Committee said that 210,2 billion drams was returned to corporate taxpayers and natural persons in the reporting period, which is 63% more compared to the previous year’s same period.

 10:33, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed deep concern on the ongoing blockade of Lachin Corridor, describing it as ‘continued challenges related to the freedom of movement along the Lachin Corridor’, and called for urgent steps to facilitate access for the delivery of humanitarian aid. 

“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the reports of continued challenges related to the freedom of movement along the Lachin Corridor,” Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said in a statement. “He recalls his previous statement on the need for the Parties to implement the Orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), including the Orders issued on 22 February 2023 and reaffirmed on 6 July 2023, related to measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  He is particularly concerned about reports of the deteriorating humanitarian situation on the ground and calls for urgent steps to facilitate access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to people in need.  He urges both parties to intensify efforts towards the long-term normalization of relations for the benefit of peace and security in the region,” the Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General added.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. The ICJ reaffirmed its order on 6 July 2023.

Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations.

On July 25, the Government of Armenia said that it will try to send over 360 tons of flour, cooking oil, sugar, and other foodstuffs and medication to Nagorno-Karabakh to mitigate the humanitarian crisis resulting from the blockade of Lachin Corridor. Armenia requested the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh to escort the aid but Azerbaijan has blocked the convoy at the entrance of the Lachin Corridor.

 11:35, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has urged Azerbaijan not to block the Armenian humanitarian aid convoy’s access to Nagorno-Karabakh as a step showing commitment to the peace agenda.

Speaking at the August 3 Cabinet meeting, PM Pashinyan said that the humanitarian convoy carrying 361 tons of emergency food and medication remains blocked at the entrance of Lachin Corridor. He said that Azerbaijan is grossly violating the terms of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement and the blocking is illegal.

“I call for not obstructing the access of the humanitarian goods sent by Armenia through the Lachin Corridor, as a step of commitment to the peace agenda, moreover because obstructing the passage of the goods is a gross violation of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement and the decisions of the International Court of Justice,” Pashinyan said.

The Armenian Prime Minister pointed out Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s recent statement in an interview with Euronews, where the latter again falsely claimed that the Lachin Corridor is open. Pashinyan said that the Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh ought to comment on this statement, as to why the Russian peacekeepers are failing to ensure the humanitarian convoy’s access to Nagorno-Karabakh if Azerbaijan insists the corridor to be open.

“I believe that an explanation of this issue is important and our relevant bodies must work in the direction of receiving explanations over this matter,” the PM added.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. The ICJ reaffirmed its order on 6 July 2023.

Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno-Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations.

On July 25, the Government of Armenia said that it will try to send over 360 tons of flour, cooking oil, sugar, and other foodstuffs and medication to Nagorno-Karabakh to mitigate the humanitarian crisis resulting from the blockade of Lachin Corridor. Armenia requested the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh to escort the aid but Azerbaijan has blocked the convoy.

 11:44, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has said that there is a chance of achieving long-term and sustainable peace with Azerbaijan and called on Baku to refrain from steps aimed at decreasing these chances.

“Despite all difficulties, we really do have a chance of achieving long-term, sustainable and lasting peace. And I call on Azerbaijan to refrain from steps aimed at decreasing this chance, for example the continuous torpedoing of Stepanakert-Baku dialogue within the framework of an international mechanism, the illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor and the kidnapping of Vagif Khachatryan, who was being transported by the ICRC to Yerevan, from Lachin Corridor earlier this week.  The release of Vagif Khachatryan, other captives, prisoners of war and detainees would be an impressive signal of commitment to the peace agenda,” Pashinyan said.

 12:54, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect has issued an atrocity alert for Nagorno-Karabakh amid the ongoing blockade by Azerbaijan.

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

The organization called on Azerbaijan to immediately lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor and allow for unhindered and safe passage of civilians and goods along the corridor, as well as guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access in line with international law and the order by the International Court of Justice.

 “For more than seven months Azerbaijani authorities have blockaded the Lachin corridor, the sole road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, precipitating a humanitarian crisis. The blockade has deprived over 120,000 ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, including 30,000 children, of life-saving resources such as food, medicine, electricity and fuel. On 28 July Armenian authorities accused Azerbaijan of denying transport of over 400 tons of humanitarian aid into Nagorno-Karabakh. In a statement issued on 25 July the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that despite persistent efforts, ‘the last time the ICRC was allowed to bring medical items and essential food items into the area was several weeks ago’,” the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect said in a press release.

The organization mentioned Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan’s request to Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, for an expert opinion on the blockade. “While the opinion has no legal implications, it may help determine if the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh merits further investigation,” the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect added.

“Deprivation of resources indispensable to survival imposes excessive burdens upon civilians that may eventually result in immense suffering and loss of life. Under International Humanitarian Law, all sides must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, including medical supplies and essential food. The intentional and unlawful denial of humanitarian assistance may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the organization further said. 

The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect called on Azerbaijan to immediately lift the blockade and comply with ICJ orders. 

“Azerbaijani authorities must immediately lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor and allow for unhindered and safe passage of civilians and goods along the corridor, as well as guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access in line with international law and the order by the ICJ. States must engage in further dialogue with all parties, as well as support calls from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to establish an independent fact-finding mission to assess the humanitarian situation,” the organization said.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. The ICJ reaffirmed its order on 6 July 2023.

Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations.

 13:28, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan believes that the water crisis in Armenia is getting worse, which is caused both by people’s attitude towards water and by mismanagement of water resources.

During the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, the Prime Minister emphasized that it is necessary to change the attitude towards water at all levels.

“The water crisis in Armenia is getting worse. It is a global crisis, and in Armenia it is deepening due to lack of or worn-out infrastructure, as well as our attitude towards water,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan said he realized the seriousness of the water problem while visiting various towns of Armenia.

He said that the water problem will be the government’s next strategic plan after implementing the plans related to roads, schools, kindergartens and health system.

“We must treat water seriously, which is not managed in Armenia, but just flows. There are organizations, officials, procedures, laws, government decisions, but the water is not managed in the republic, which is our biggest problem. There is also a problem of knowledge here. We don’t know what water management is. It is a serious issue, on which serious decisions should be made,” Pashinyan concluded.

 14:25, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has appointed his advisor Hrachya Sargsyan as Deputy Minister of Defense.

Sargsyan is a former Mayor of Yerevan.

The decree on appointing Sargsyan as deputy minister and dismissing him as advisor to the prime minister was published at .

 11:57, 3 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has denied Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s claim that the border between the countries is undefined.

“The borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan were defined under the 1991 Almaty Declaration, and this was reiterated during the 6 October 2022 quadrilateral meeting in Prague, where the Almaty Declaration was adopted as the foundation for delimitation and demarcation of borders between the two countries. There’s an impression that Azerbaijan has the following plan: to sign a peace treaty with terms that would allow for disputing the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan stipulated under the Almaty Declaration and subsequently make territorial claims against Armenia during the delimitation and demarcation process. If the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan are undefined, then what territories is Azerbaijan talking about regarding various parts of the border? If such a question is raised, then the borders are defined, and Armenia’s proposal on reciprocal withdrawal of troops from that border line is still in force. While the delimitation and demarcation of borders attests not to the absence of borders, but on the contrary, to the defined, meaning, the reiteration of the administrative borders between Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan at the time of the Soviet Union’s collapse, and its reflection on the ground as a state border,” Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday. 

PM Pashinyan reiterated the agreement on establishing peace based on the reciprocal recognition of respective territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 km2) and Azerbaijan (86,600 km2) and said that he is waiting for Azerbaijan to publicly reiterate this agreement.