Raffi Hovhannisyan is going to the elections

“Heritage” party will take part in the June parliamentary elections. Raffi Hovhannisyan, the chairman of the party, announced this.


He noted that it is not worth burdening the field with separate participations, especially since he does not suffer from the burden of being a candidate for the prime minister. But at the moment there is no clarification as to which force the “Heritage” party will join.

Railway to “Zvartnots” airport. discussions have begun

Armen Simonyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia, received Alessandro Ferranti, the Ambassador of the Republic of Italy to the Republic of Armenia. This is reported by TKEN.


The deputy minister welcomed the guests, highlighting the close partnership relations formed between the two countries in air transportation, land transportation with bilateral permits and other areas.


During the meeting, the parties also referred to the plan to create a railway infrastructure to “Zvartnots” airport, considering possible cooperation with Italian companies.


The ambassador emphasized that the direct air connection between Armenia and Italy stimulates the flow of tourists, which is increasing year by year, which, in turn, arouses interest among Italian companies to be involved in infrastructure development projects implemented in Armenia.


At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue discussions on sectoral issues.

It’s funny that those funded by the US or the EU criticize Samvel Karap

The funny thing is that people who obviously receive funding from the government funds of the United States or the European Union, individual EU countries, present the fact that Samvel Karapetyan has a business in Russia as a threat to “sovereignty”.


This is also one of those categories where it could be a joke, but it is actually sad because it is consumed in certain public circles.


In this matter too, there is a lot of work to be done in order to increase the resilience of our society. Great and fundamental work. This is what will give Armenia the greatest capacity for sovereignty.


Analyst Hakob Badalyan




A new batch of diesel fuel was sent from Azerbaijan to Armenia

A batch of diesel fuel with a volume of about 4.5 thousand tons from Azerbaijan is going to Armenia, Gegham Gevorgyan, the chairman of the RA Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, told the “ARKA” agency on Monday.


“He should have arrived already. I cannot say exactly where the cargo is now, but it is definitely on the way,” said Gevorgyan.


On February 25, 2026, Azerbaijan sent a shipment of about 4.5 thousand tons of diesel fuel to Armenia through the territory of Georgia. It was reported that a train consisting of 39 tank cars left Guzdek station in the direction of the Georgian border.

New regulations on compulsory pre-school education for 5-6 year old children

The proposed regulations will make it possible to ensure the implementation of compulsory preschool education for 5-6 year old children. In particular, it refers to changes in two directions. the first is the unification of the certification process. A certificate is required for the management of institutions in the fields of preschool, general education and professional education. Corresponding changes have been made, which define in a unified manner the requirements for a person to apply for certification, as well as the cases of termination of certification and general approaches.


This was stated by RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan, presenting the legislative package for amendments and additions to the laws “On Preschool Education”, “On Public Education” and “On Vocational Education and Training” at the session of the NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sports.


According to the minister, it is suggested to revise the certification requirements in the laws of the fields of preschool, general education and professional education and refer to the article 40.1 of the RA Law “On Education”, which defines the unified standards. The reporter noted that this will make it possible to conduct a unified policy and bring the certification examination procedures closer to each other in the future.


The next amendment envisaged by the legislative package refers to the law “On Preschool Education”, by which it is proposed to reduce the age limit of preschool to 4 years. Zhanna Andreasyan noted that two age limits are proposed. in general, a preschool is established for children aged 4-6, and in those settlements where there is only preschool service, it is possible to ensure the activities of preschools for 3-6 year olds.


The regulation will make it possible to expand the enrollment of preschool children and ensure the implementation of compulsory preschool education for 5-6 year old children, according to the strategic goals of the Government.


The issue was discussed in the first reading at the meeting of the commission on March 17 and received a positive conclusion.


The discussion of the second reading of the draft law providing for amendments and additions to the law “On Audiovisual Media” has been postponed for a period of up to two months.

Alisa Gevorgyan won. another one of the Director of Public Radio was invalidated

Lawyer Karine Gghshangyan writes on her Facebook page:


“Another illegal decision of the Director of Public Radio was invalidated


The decision of Public Radio Director Armen Koloyan to severely reprimand Alisa Gevorgyan, senior journalist of the Radiolur program, was invalidated by the decision of the Civil Court of First Instance of Yerevan City No. ED2/4514/02/25 (presiding judge: A. Petrosyan). According to the court’s assessment, the decision (Decision 52-L of the Public Broadcaster Council of 2019) and the annex, which was the legal basis for the decision, have lost their legal force since 2020, as a result of the repeal of the RA Law “On Television and Radio”, as well as the legal basis specified in the disputed order and the applied disciplinary penalty do not correspond to each other.


Let me remind you that a disciplinary penalty was applied to Alisa Gevorgyan, a severe reprimand, for sharing Hovhannes Ishkhanyan’s post on the Facebook platform. Another disciplinary penalty was applied to Alisa, a reprimand, for sharing Aram Abrahamyan’s post, which was also declared invalid by the court’s decision,” he wrote.

Any problems with previous investments in public administration

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the 3rd Public Sector Innovation Forum, which was organized by the Sustainable Development Goals Innovation Center of Armenia of the United Nations Development Program.


Members of the Government, diplomats, representatives of international organizations, local and international experts, representatives of civil society, leaders of innovation and technology were also present at the event.


Before the start of the event, Nikol Pashinyan familiarized himself with the solutions of the technological sphere of the public administration field equipped with artificial intelligence at the COPA booth. It was presented that ParlOur is an open source tool developed by COPA, collecting on one platform the speeches of RA National Assembly deputies, legislative initiatives, committee meetings, votes and other parliamentary content. It allows citizens to understand which MP expressed what position, what initiatives he took and how he voted on various issues through a thematic search. The tool was created to make parliamentary processes more transparent, accessible and analyzable. It is aimed at strengthening the informed participation of citizens and informed public control over political decisions.


Before the award ceremony, the Prime Minister made a speech, welcomed everyone to the third Public Sector Innovation Conference and noted: “First of all, I think it makes sense to record that the quality of work in the public sector very directly means the quality of public life. Perhaps the impression is that this interdependence is not always and not everywhere perceived. in order for us to make the life of the public better, we have to make the management of the public sector better, and in order to make the management of the public sector better, in general, there is a tool to make something better – it is additional investments in that sector.”


According to Nikol Pashinyan, in reality there is another problem of improving the public sphere: the public sphere is somewhat demonized at least on a subconscious and emotional level. “This is related to our historical experience, because what has our several hundred years of historical experience shown? we are dealing with a public sphere that is repressive, destructive, inhibiting, and disruptive. Such has been our historical experience for the past 500 years, with some exceptions. This perception persists in our reality, while the reality is that the public sphere is the rail on which the train of our public life runs. We can make the biggest possible investments on the train, gild the seats and carriages of that train, but if proper investments are not made on the rails, that train will either simply not move or will crash very often, which in our reality, let’s admit, happens very often,” said the head of the country.


According to the Prime Minister, it is important to record that no citizen of the Republic of Armenia has and cannot have as much influence on his personal well-being as the sphere of public administration has on that citizen’s well-being. And therefore, changing the public attitude towards the sphere of public administration is one of the most important things to do. “I want to emphasize once again that no, absolutely no, family in the Republic of Armenia spends on its own well-being and cannot spend as much as the state budget and community budget of the Republic of Armenia spends on the well-being of that same family. It is excluded, there is no such unique example in the Republic of Armenia. In the Republic, we don’t have a single family, a single individual who spends more for his personal well-being than the state budget of the Republic of Armenia spends for that same person’s personal well-being. Every dram of tax paid by every citizen of the Republic of Armenia is returned ten times more to that citizen. Moreover, this is an exact formula. if a citizen pays 1 dram, he gets 10 drams back, if a citizen pays 10 drams, he gets 100 drams back, if a citizen pays 100 drams, he gets 1000 drams back,” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized.


Referring to the innovation of the public sector, the Prime Minister noted that innovation is education, because without education it is not possible to innovate. According to the head of the country, this is the reason why the Government’s policy for at least the last 1-1.5 years is aimed at making large investments in the field of public administration, introducing self-employed education systems. “We make sure that education in the public sector becomes a motivation, and as a result of education, new motivations for work and innovation, new knowledge are acquired. Today, we have a situation where thousands of civil servants are focusing on their education thanks to these investments and the program. After work, they participate in various educational programs and trainings to improve their qualifications and the quality of their work. It is done, first of all, to improve the lives of citizens of the Republic of Armenia and people living in Armenia. Any problems and any unsolved problems that we see today are the result of our previous investments in the field of public administration.


Summarizing the speech, Nikol Pashinyan thanked the organizers of the forum and all the public sector workers who are engaged in their education, continuous improvement of their professional level, promote so that the public sector workers have additional motivation to increase their professional level. “Thank you to those who turn what they know into a public product by innovating in the public sphere.”


Next, the award ceremony took place. The four award categories are: “Innovation Driven by Digital Solutions”, “Innovation Driven by Technology Solutions”, “People-Centred Innovation”, and “Innovation in Management”. The purpose of the Public Sector Innovators Awards is to highlight innovation, recognize and value those people and teams that, through their daily work, improve the quality of public policies and services, as well as strengthen Armenia’s commitment to modern, mission-oriented and people-centered governance.


Nikol Pashinyan handed over the prizes to the winners in the above categories. Thus, in the category “Innovation stimulated by digital solutions” the winners were Anna Harutyunyan, advisor to the minister coordinating the digitization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Arpine Sargsyan, the minister of internal affairs, “Innovation stimulated by technological solutions” – the head of the subsoil control department of the Environmental Protection and Subsoil Inspection Vahan Grigoryan and the head of the Environmental Protection and Subsoil Inspection Body Hovhannes Martirosyan, in the nomination “Human-centered innovation” – Education, Science, Culture and National Educational Technology under the Ministry of Sports Raisa Avetyan, head of the distance learning organization department of the center, and Zhanna Andreasyan, Minister of Education and Culture, in the “Management Innovation” nomination: Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arayik Yesayan, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan.

Northern Europe-Baltic countries cooperation format MFA presentation

On March 17, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Ruben Rubinyan, received the directors of the Eastern European Departments of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Northern Europe-Baltic Eight cooperation format and ambassadors accredited to Armenia.


Welcoming the guests, Ruben Rubinyan emphasized cooperation with the Nordic-Baltic countries.


Issues related to regional developments were discussed.


The guests were also interested in the process of regulating Armenia-Turkey relations.

Verelq: The Embassy of Iran in RA issued a call for help

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Yerevan made a statement.


“In response to numerous calls from many compatriots living in Armenia, as well as Armenian friends, regarding the provision of financial and humanitarian aid (especially medicine), we hereby inform you that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s “Red Crescent” company has expressed its readiness to urgently receive any necessary medicine and medical supplies from individuals, as well as from humanitarian organizations, medical equipment suppliers, pharmaceutical companies and rescue organizations,” the embassy said in a statement.


According to the statement of the Red Mahik Company, taking into account the increase in the number of wounded and the overloading of medical centers, medical assistance, vital drugs, surgical equipment, serum and medical supplies are urgently needed.


“Therefore, we invite all compatriots and individuals, Armenian organizations and suppliers to initiate the delivery of the mentioned items in the shortest possible time.


The following account was opened for cash assistance at the Yeraevni branch of Mellat Bank:


2080000000330400,” the statement said.

Asbarez: Hamazkayin Sayat Nova Choir Performs with Nune Yesayan at the Alex Th

Glendale — The Hamazkayin Sayat Nova Choir will return to the Alex Theatre on Saturday, March 21, for its much-anticipated annual concert featuring world-renowned Armenian vocalist Nune Yesayan. The cultural event, presented by the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society, will begin with violin entertainment and appetizers on the theatre terrace from 4:30 to 7 p.m., with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. and the main performance starting at 7 p.m. 

Yesayan, an Armenian pop and folk singer celebrated across the diaspora and beyond, began her musical rise in early 1990s, gaining prominence as a gifted vocalist with the Armenian National Jazz Orchestra before launching a successful solo career. Over the years she has earned numerous awards and accolades, becoming one of Armenia’s most beloved performers both at home and internationally. 

The Sayat Nova Choir, known for its rich choral tradition, is part of the cultural programming supported by Hamazkayin, a major Armenian educational and cultural organization founded in 1928 and active in communities around the world. The choir’s annual concert has become a staple of the Southern California Armenian arts calendar, bringing together singers, musicians and audiences to celebrate Armenian musical heritage. 

This year’s concert will be conducted by Gayane Baghdasaryan with Maestro Mikayel Avetisyan leading the live orchestra. Hamazkayin’s productions typically combine choral arrangements with orchestral accompaniment, offering a blend of traditional Armenian songs and contemporary compositions designed to showcase vocal and instrumental talent. 

Nune Yesayan’s appearance at the event underscores her enduring popularity. With decades of experience performing Armenian folk, pop and jazz music, Yesayan’s voice has become synonymous with cultural pride and artistic excellence in the Armenian community. She has previously toured internationally, performing programs that highlight the depth and diversity of Armenian musical _expression_. 

For many attendees, the annual concert is more than a performance; it is a cultural gathering that reinforces community identity, heritage and connection. In addition to the musical program, the social aspects of the pre-concert entertainment offer a chance for families and friends to reunite and celebrate shared traditions. 

Tickets for the Hamazkayin Sayat Nova Choir Annual Concert with Nune Yesayan are available now, and organizers encourage early reservation as demand is expected to be high for this vibrant and inspiring celebration of Armenian music and culture.