Author: Andranik Taslakhchian

 12:17,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. The Parliamentary Committee on State-Legal Affairs approved the government-authored bill seeking to make amendments into the stolen asset recovery law.

The stolen asset recovery law, officially known as the Law on Confiscation of Illegally-Obtained Assets, was adopted by parliament in 2020 April. In September of 2020 the division in charge of investigating alleged illicitly acquired assets was launched in the general prosecution.

Deputy Prosecutor-General Srbuhi Galyan said at the committee meeting that the amendments will expand the meaning of the term “official person” and in addition to public office holders anyone having the obligation to asset disclosure in terms of public service will be considered an “official person”.

In addition, the amendments seek to authorize the investigative body to launch studies at its own initiative, but only in the event of suspicions arising on an illegally-obtained asset during existing proceedings. 

The term of the studies will be extended to 3 years instead of 2, among other envisaged changes aimed at more effective and comprehensive studies of suspected cases.

Armenia's Migration Service head refers to institutional reforms of the structure at a meeting with IOM Deputy Director

 17:54,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of his visit to New York, the Head of the Migration Service of Armenia Armen Ghazaryan met with Amy Pope, Deputy Director General for Management and Reforms of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Migration Service, the sides attached importance to sustainable bilateral cooperation. Armen Ghazaryan particularly praised the multi-layered activity of the International Organization for Migration, the work carried out in different directions, the support to the Government of Armenia in the reforms in the field of migration management.

The head of the Migration Service presented the changes of migration tendencies in Armenia, referred to the planned structural changes and institutional reforms. The importance of the digitalization agenda was particularly emphasized in the context of migration management reforms.

Amy Pope stressed Armenia’s significant progress in the migration management process in the context of capacity building. She stressed that a number of institutional-procedural solutions introduced in Armenia, in particular in the field of return and issuance of work permits, can also be exemplary for other countries, for which the International Organization for Migration will make appropriate efforts.

The parties discussed the directions of further cooperation, as well as the mechanisms of stable, long-term joint work in parallel with the interim program initiatives.

Head of Migration Service of Armenia Armen Ghazaryan is in New York to participate in IOM’s first International Migration Review Forum (IMRF).

 11:07,

YEREVAN, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS. The recent flow of international visits to Armenia has contributed to the increase in demand. However, these flows also had an inflationary effect from the perspective of the increase in demand, devaluation of the dram has been observed, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia Hovhannes Khachatryan said during the session of the parliamentary standing committee on financial-credit and budgetary affairs.

Speaking about the expectations in 2022, he said: “In the beginning of the year we were forecasting 6.5% inflation and 1.5% economic growth”. He said that the CBA doesn’t have updated forecasts, the last ones were made in March.

“The main reason, which is both inflationary and contributes to some extent to the economic growth, is the external environment. We have a significant growth in external demand. International visitors have created both demand and increased the inflationary pressures. The inflationary pressures increase also under the growth in uncertainties due to the drastic increase in risk premiers and the increase in international prices which happened because of the drastic disruption of international value chains”, he said.

He said that the CBA still keeps the uncertainties in the forecasts, depending on how long the effects of demand and capital inflow by non-residents will last.

As for the international prices, Hovhannes Khachatryan said they have less doubts that the prices of food and energy prices will be at a high level. The CBA made its last forecast in the period of the maintenance of the geopolitical pressure.

 16:02,

YEREVAN, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan met today with Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development Rostam Qasemi during his working visit in Iran, the Armenian ministry said in a news release.

During the extended-format meeting general issues on the exchange of information, the possibilities of operation of Iranian companies in Armenia, as well as issues relating to professional work were discussed.

Issues relating to cargo transportation were also discussed. Both sides outlined the existing problems and agreed to eliminate the barriers in order to increase the trade turnover between Armenia and Iran.

The minister said that Armenia is taking active steps on this direction.

“In this context we attach great importance to the roads that are under construction in Syunik, especially the north-south’s Syunik section, which will soon become more convenient for the Iranian cargo trucks and will cut the length of the road. When these works end, travelling by these roads would be more beneficial economically”, Gnel Sanosyan said.

After the meeting the Armenian and Iranian ministers answered the questions of reporters.

 12:00, 12 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Ministry of Defense denied Azerbaijan’s accusations on opening fire at the border.

“The Azerbaijani ministry of defense, continuing the practice of spreading disinformation about the border situation, released a statement according to which in the evening of May 11 the units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire at the Azerbaijani military positions located in the eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border”, the Armenian defense ministry said in a statement.

“This information has nothing to do with the reality”, the ministry said, adding that the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is relatively stable and is under the full control of the Armenian Armed Forces.