According to preliminary data, consumer prices in Armenia in January-February 2026 increased by 4.1% compared to January-February 2025. This is evidenced by the data of the Statistical Committee of Armenia report.

Moreover, in February of the current year, compared to February of the previous year, the increase was 4.3%, and compared to January of the same year, 0.5%.

According to the statistical committee, the prices of industrial products increased by 9% in the first two months of the current year, compared to the same period last year. In February, the growth was 9.5% on an annual basis, and 1.4% on a monthly basis.

According to the preliminary data of the Statistical Committee of Armenia, the economic activity index of Armenia registered a 7.4% increase in January-February 2026, compared to the first two months of 2025.

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Imagine for a moment that there was a person in power in Azerbaijan who would carry our theses and our ideas word for word. Let’s leave aside its factuality. just go and repeat them verbatim on the subject of Artsakh.

Imagine if it was preached so actively that a part of the Azerbaijani public would start to think the way it suits us, the way we consider fair, start thinking the way we want. Say that it would be a greater success than any war and victory in it. That would mean defeating them not only on the battlefield, but also ideologically. Roughly speaking, ruling over their brains…

It would be good for us, wouldn’t it? This is exactly what is happening against us during this time. Imagine how happy it is for them to stay in the current government in Armenia…

Azerbaijanologist Tatev Hayrapetyan

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Armenia allocates more than one billion drams to the large-scale modernization of regional infrastructures. Within the framework of the state co-financing program, eleven communities of the country will receive support, where vital projects will be implemented, starting from the construction of solar plants to the overhaul of roads and educational institutions.

The relevant decision was adopted by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure at the March 26 meeting of the government Davit Khudatyan initiative. The total amount of allocated funds will be 1 billion 100 million drams, which will make it possible to implement subsidy programs in Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Syunik and Tavush marzes. According to the minister of the sector, the total volume of co-financing of similar projects from the state budget of 2026 has already reached 3 billion 57 million drams.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan detailed the main directions of investments. State funds will be used for the installation of seven solar photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of more than 350 kilowatt-hours, the overhaul of the roofs of residential buildings, the asphalting of roads, as well as the modernization of irrigation and outdoor lighting systems. In addition, replacement of old elevators, improvement of playgrounds and repair of kindergartens are planned.

During the session, special attention was paid to the deplorable condition of the administrative building of Aragatsotn Marzpetaran. The head of the government considered the current conditions of the building unacceptable for the state department, emphasizing the need for an urgent solution to the problem. In this regard, a part of the funding will be directed to the development of design and estimate documents for the fundamental repair of the structure and the acquisition of consulting services, which, according to Minister Khudatyan’s assurance, will be implemented in stages.

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan urges the Armenian society to make a transition from political peace to socio-psychological peace, finally abandoning the agendas of confrontation and “return”.

At the March 26 meeting of the government, the head of the executive emphasized that maintaining the achieved peace requires profound changes in public consciousness. Pashinyan warned that the continuation of conflict speech inevitably leads to isolation and confrontation with everyone. According to him, after realizing the insufficiency of its own resources for such a confrontation, the society starts looking for external guarantors, which only complicates the situation. Turning to an analogy, the Prime Minister compared the establishment of peace with returning to a peaceful port. He called on the citizens to “destroy the trunks and arrange them in the closets”, finally moving to a permanent and quiet residence regime. Attempts to turn the wheel of “return agendas”, as Pashinyan noted, will turn into a disaster, where the initiators of the process will suffer the most.

For reference, it should be noted that Armenia and Azerbaijan initialed the draft peace treaty on August 8, 2025 in Washington. For the final signing of the document, Baku demands from Yerevan to amend the Constitution, removing the reference to the Declaration of Independence, in which the Azerbaijani side sees territorial claims, as well as to officially agree to the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. The opposition of Armenia strongly criticizes these processes, considering such steps as unilateral concessions that put the country’s state sovereignty and national security under attack.

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The beginning of 2026 was marked by tectonic changes in the structure of the cryptocurrency market. While retail investors are watching memecoins fluctuate, institutional players and large net worth holders (HNWI) are showing record activity in the over-the-counter (OTC) sector. According to the latest data, the trading volume of Binance’s OTC platform in the first two months of 2026 has already reached 25% of the total volume of the entire year of 2025.

OTC phenomenon: growth under pressure

The acceleration of OTC trade is taking place against a complex macroeconomic background. February 2026 was risk-off due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and corrections in the US technology sector due to concerns over artificial intelligence.

Interestingly, during this period, the fluctuations of traditional defensive assets, such as gold, exceeded the fluctuations of Bitcoin. This is a rare reversal of historical norms that underscores the depth of macroeconomic uncertainty. Under these conditions, institutional investors prefer OTC desks for the ability to conduct large transactions confidentially without significant impact on the market price.

Bitcoin: searching for the “floor” and strategic stacking

Despite the early February correction, when BTC tested the $60,000 level, experts note the formation of strong structural support in the $55,000 – $69,000 range.

Key OTC Desk Considerations: Tenfold increase in interest in BTC. Bitcoin’s share of total OTC trading volume increased from 4.91% in January to 45.81% in February.

Capital inflow: The volume of fiat and stablecoin cryptocurrency conversions more than doubled in one month, reaching almost 49% of all transactions.

Institutional optimism: The massive inflow of funds in spot BTC positions around the $60,000 level indicates that major players are viewing current prices as a profitable strategic entry point.

Technological efficiency and liquidity

The modern crypto market requires not only liquidity, but also high speed of execution of complex transactions. An important factor behind the growth was increased activity on the Ethereum network, where the number of daily transactions reached an all-time high following the Fusaka update and the growth of the Real Asset Tokenization (RWA) sector.

A demonstrative example was the conversion of Wrapped Beacon ETH (WBETH) to ETH in the amount of more than $105 million. If the standard withdrawal process would take 9 days, the OTC service completed the transaction in just 2 hours. At the same time, the strike price was 75% better than the expected slippage in the open market.

Conclusions for the market

The current dynamics show the maturity of the sector. Institutional demand is moving from simple speculation to in-depth portfolio management that requires professional tools (eg RFQ and IOI).

The fact that BTC is holding in the $71,000 – $78,000 range amid global turmoil, as well as aggressive accumulation in OTC channels, may indicate the end of the correction phase and the start of a new phase of growth.
In 2026, the main advantage of large investors becomes not just the possession of assets, but access to deep liquidity pools and flexible settlement mechanisms.

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The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science informs that the deadline for submission of documents for deferment of compulsory military service for activities in the fields of education, culture and sports is April 30, 2026. This is reported by KGSMN.

In accordance with the requirements of the RA Government’s decisions N 450-N, N 451-N and N 457-N of April 12, 2018, citizens with significant achievements in the fields of science and education, culture and sports can apply to the Ministry of Education and Culture from April 1 to May 1, 2026 to receive a deferment from compulsory military service.

The citizen or his representative (in the case of a representative, a power of attorney is also submitted) must submit the application (according to the submitted form) and the originals or copies of the necessary documents in accordance with the requirements of the decisions of the RA Government of April 12, 2018 N 450-Н, N 451-Н and N 457-Н to the e-mail [email protected].

In order to increase the efficiency of the administration of the extension process, we suggest, if possible, to submit the application and the attached documents in a digital, electronic version.

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The RA government has approved large-scale changes to the state housing program for families forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, significantly simplifying the conditions of support and increasing the amount of funding for a number of communities.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the decision is aimed at the prompt solution of the problems that appeared in the legal practice. As explained by the Minister of ASR, Arsen Torosyan, one of the key innovations is to recognize children born before the end of 2026 as full beneficiaries of the program, regardless of the application submission dates. In addition, the bureaucratic process has been radically simplified. previously denied citizens will automatically receive beneficiary status if state bases certify that they worked or studied in Karabakh for at least one year between September 2020 and December 2022.

The financial mechanisms of the project have also become more flexible. From now on, the state support covers not only the classic mortgage, but also consumer loans secured by real estate taken until July 2025 for the purpose of refinancing housing loans. The rules for the use of residual funds were also revised. the purchase of furniture and appliances can now be carried out by direct transfer to the seller, based on an expanded list of tax documents.

Significant changes have been made in the financial geography of the project. About 150 communities adjacent to Yerevan have been moved to a higher support group. the payments there increased from three to four million drams per person. Thus, the three million dram certificate will be valid only in the capital, five million drams in the separate border zones, and in all other marzes the amount will be four million drams. Out of 5,232 housing certificates provided, 2,336 have already been successfully used for the purpose of buying or building new houses.

The mass deportation of the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh took place in the fall of 2023. On September 19, Azerbaijan started a large-scale military operation in the region, which ended a day later with the agreement of a ceasefire and the disarmament of local self-defense forces. Due to security reasons, more than 100 thousand people, almost the entire ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh, left their homes through the Lachin Corridor and moved to Armenia within a few days. Soon, the leadership of the unrecognized republic signed a decree on the termination of its existence. In order to accommodate and integrate forcibly displaced people, the Armenian government launched a number of state initiatives, including the aforementioned housing program.

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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted signs of stagnation in the anti-corruption fight. Expressing deep dissatisfaction with the current results, the head of the government called for more decisive and systematic reforms, including at the level of local self-government.

During the briefing following the government session on March 26, Pashinyan emphasized that despite the significant progress recorded by international reports since 2018, alarming signs of stagnation have recently been observed. According to him, these indicators first of all testify to the need to continue the process of reforms. As an example of a systemic approach, the prime minister cited the introduction of a performance-based remuneration system, which, according to him, is a step leading to more decisive changes.

The head of the executive also pointed out the urgent need to root the “zero corruption” policy at the local government level. Pashinyan noted that although this issue was raised by him earlier, it remains unresolved until now. Admitting his disappointment with the current indicators, the Prime Minister added that while analyzing the causes of the created situation, he comes to the conclusion that sometimes the necessary political determination is not enough to advance the reforms. He concluded his speech with a call to demonstrate maximum consistency and uncompromising attitude in this matter.

The Prime Minister’s statements are directly consistent with the current assessments of international institutions. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published annually by Transparency International, after a noticeable increase in the first years following the 2018 change of government, Armenia’s indicators have really stagnated in the last few years, ranging from 46-47 points out of a possible 100. International experts attribute this stop to the weak practical implementation of already adopted anti-corruption strategies, and also emphasize the need to further strengthen the real independence and effectiveness of the judicial system and law enforcement agencies.

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Sargis Khandanyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the RA National Assembly, was appointed by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office as the head of the international observation mission for the parliamentary elections to be held in Hungary. As a special coordinator and head of the mission, Sargis Khandanyan will coordinate the work of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, PACE and OSCE/ODIHR short-term observation missions.

During his working visit to the capital of Hungary on March 24-26, Sargis Khandanyan had meetings with state institutions involved in the electoral process in Hungary, political parties participating in the elections, representatives of the Hungarian Parliament and Government, civil society and media representatives, as well as the OSCE/ODIHR team carrying out a long-term observation mission.

During the meetings, Sargis Khandanyan got acquainted with the preparations for the elections and the course of the campaign.

Parliamentary elections in Hungary will take place on April 12.

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