By Lusine Shahbazyan
Armenian athletes surpassed Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia, winning the Cup at the Open Championship of the Black Sea region states, the president of the Federation of Armenia for powerlifting Gagik Saroyan told NEWS.am Sport.
“Over 200 athletes from 10 countries took part in the Cup. We ranked first in the team competition, the second place was taken by Georgia, the third was Iran. We dropped out of the struggle Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia,” he said. “Our team also included athletes with disabilities who even set world records. We went to the tournament with more than 50 athletes. Our team also included rescue firefighters of Ministry of Emergency Situations. The brilliant victory of the Armenian squad received a great response among the participating countries.”
The Youth Championship of Armenia and the Open Championship among adults will be held in Lake Sevan from July 25 to 26, said Gagik Saroyan.
A new nationwide poll of Armenia by the International Republican Institute's (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research shows high public confidence in government and optimism about the country's future, even as Armenians remain concerned about economic issues.
Poll results indicate a strong popular mandate for the new government to press on with reforms. More than 60 percent of respondents want the government to undertake both political and economic reforms quickly rather than gradually.
"The goodwill expressed by the Armenian people presents the Armenian government with an unprecedented opportunity to undertake fundamental reforms that strengthen the country's democracy and improve the economic well-being of its people," said Stephen Nix, IRI Regional Director for Eurasia. "The government's speedy delivery on reforms will be key to maintaining its strong public support and the momentum to press on with its agenda," Nix added.
Seventy-two percent of respondents expressed favorable attitudes toward the performance of the Office of the Prime Minister, and 60 percent of respondents think the country is heading in the right direction. Although this figure represents a 12-point reduction from October of last year, it remains a significant _expression_ of continued confidence in the new government. This attitude may also be reflected in high levels of optimism regarding the government's handling of reforms, as 59 percent of respondents believe that the government is making enough effort to fight corruption.
Despite these demonstrations of optimism, Armenians remain concerned about a number of issues facing the country. When asked about the government's greatest failure, respondents most often cited bad management (22 percent). The percentage of people who believe they can influence decisions made in Armenia has declined from 72 percent to 53 percent during the past six months.
In keeping with previous IRI surveys, jobs (30 percent), socioeconomic problems (18 percent), wages (14 percent) and pensions (12 percent) topped the list of priority issues the government must address within the next six months. Although 42 percent think that the economy as a whole has improved over the last six months, just 24 percent cite improvements in the economic situation of their own households over the same time period.
Methodology
The survey was conducted on behalf of IRI by Dr. Rasa Alisauskiene of the Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization, with the fieldwork carried out by the Armenian Sociological Association. Data was collected throughout Armenia between May 6 and May 31, 2019 through face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes. The sample consisted of 1,200 permanent residents of Armenia aged 18 or older and eligible to vote. It is representative of the general population by age, gender and region. The margin of error does not exceed plus or minus 2.5 percent for the full sample. This survey was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Armenia, Singapore discuss cooperation opportunities in technological sector
09:32, 8 July, 2019
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s official visit to Singapore continues. On July 8 PM Pashinyan met with the representatives of Temasek Holdings foundation led by co-chair of the investment group Nagi Hamiyeh, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.
During the meeting Nikol Pashinyan stated that the Armenian government is interested in discussing the cooperation opportunities with the Temasek Holdings, given the latter’s productive activity in a number of sectors of the economy, including high technologies. Pashinyan said the technological sector is one of priorities of the Armenian government as Armenia plans to build a technological economy the locomotive of which will be the IT field. He said since the Soviet times Armenia had a developed engineering system, currently engineering companies successfully operate in the country. The PM informed that in the past 7 years the IT field in Armenia has grown 5 times. Pashinyan introduced the government’s actions aimed at fighting monopolies, corruption, adding that institutional reforms are being carried out in a number of directions. “We invite you to get acquainted with Armenia’s technological opportunities and activities of companies”, the PM said.
Nagi Hamiyeh stated that there is a small, but organized Diaspora in Singapore the representatives of which successfully operate in different areas, including technological. The company representative added that Temasek Holdings is ready to discuss the cooperation and investment opportunities with the Armenian government, including in the field of engineering education. The co-chair of the investment group introduced the foundation’s activities in Singapore, China, US and India.
Thereafter, the sides discussed the prospects of creating a joint venture foundation, implementing startup programs, exchange of experience and technical cooperation.
The company representatives were invited to attend the 2019 World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) to take place in Yerevan in autumn. They accepted the invitation with pleasure. The sides agreed to continue the discussions in Yerevan.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Several Russian tour operators' demand of tours to Armenia has increased 45% over the past two weeks, however, that country cannot replace Georgia for tourists, the Russian Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) told Interfax on Thursday.
"Russian tour operators have a higher demand of tours to Armenia in the last two weeks. The sales rose from 10% to 45% as compared with the previous season" that is linked to Russia's temporary ban on the flights to Georgia, according to the ATOR.
In general, Armenia and Georgia can be compared in terms of hotel booking prices and the prices of excursion programs, while tourists can travel to Armenia with Russian national passports that is convenient for tourists, the association said. "Another matter is that Armenia has no outreach to the sea, and, respectively, beach resorts. Lake Sevan is a highland and cold lake, the vacationing season lasts only about two or two-and-a-half months there, while the base of hotels is scarce there," it said.
"People were mainly travelling to Georgia for excursion tourism, but such changes as those in the beach tourism are impossible here. All beaches are alike, while all cities are different. Georgia has interesting churches, cities, fortresses, gorges, while the range of excursions is slightly less in Armenia, these are mainly ancient churches and monasteries," according to the association.
The tour operators had a 75-85% share of summer excursion and city tours to Georgia, while beach holidays were 15-20% of bookings, according to the ATOR.
"Some tourists, whose flights to Georgia should have taken place after July 7, rebooked their tours to Turkey, Tunisia, Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic, and Montenegro. Some of them changed Georgia for Armenia, but the majority of them cancelled their trips at all," the ATOR said.
Armenian hoteliers have also not been active in the Russian market due to Russia's temporary ban on the flights to Georgia. "It's noteworthy that Armenian partners demonstrate almost no special activity, namely, special offers and marketing campaigns. Abkhaz hoteliers are not active, too," it said.
Putin signed an executive order on June 21 to temporarily ban Russian airlines from performing flights to Georgia after July 7. The presidential decree included a recommendation for Russian tour operators and travel agents to refrain from selling Georgia holidays. The Transport Ministry also banned Georgian airlines from making flights to Russia after July 7.
Sb iz
In the coming weeks Yerevan will install its first plastic recycling containers. They will accept and shred plastic items and additionally, hand out store or restaurant discount coupons as a “reward”. Mediamax has talked with Apaga, the company that came forward with this initiative and produced the SmartApaga Recycling Containers.
Why not?
That is the question UWC Dilijan graduate Cedric Solms asked himself while trying to figure out if he should return to his native Germany or stay in Armenia and help clean the country from waste.
In the end, Cedric joined forces with another UWC Dilijan student Mikhail Zamskoy to make recycling projects in Armenia.
“I came to the Dilijan college to change my life, try something new. When our initiative worked out, I realized I couldn’t just get up and leave, and that is when Mikhail and I met Haik Kazarian,” told Cedric.
What do you do with so many bottles?
And that is the question Armenian-Canadian Haik Kazarian asked himself during his 8th visit to Armenia. While in Yerevan, he would not throw out plastic bottles under any circumstances.
“I just collected them, although I had no idea what I was going to do with them. I kept looking for a solution and I couldn’t find any. One day I complained about it on social media, and Cedric and Mikhail responded. It turned out we had the same idea. In the end, we launched the smart containers startup,” said Haik.
Can it be profitable?
No, as they discovered. The initiators and executors of the SmartApaga Recycling Container neither profit nor lose from the project. The only beneficiary is the person throwing plastic bottles into the smart bin.
“Our sole objective is to clean up a little the city and the country from all that waste. These containers are not our invention, a number of developed countries have them. If it works there, why shouldn’t it work in Armenia?” said Haik.
What will the containers look like?
When you notice in the street unusual green and white boxes with specific signs and cameras, go ahead and try to put a plastic bottle or cup in the container – it is the smart one. The container is designed to withstand sunlight and humidity.
The startup spent AMD 2 million to make the first boxes.
Help choose the spots
The survey aimed at determining the best spots for the containers was conducted on Apaga community page, which opened in 2018.
“Now we want to figure out where to put the containers in Yerevan, because we have a long waiting list of client companies and individuals. The excitement that our initiative cause actually convinced us we were on the right way and it would work out in Yerevan nicely,” said Cedric.
“It definitely will, because these containers are also for people who care about environment and want to save the nature for the next generations,” added Haik.
According to him, as many as 40 companies (restaurants, supermarkets and stores) have expressed the readiness to cooperate and provide discount coupons.
“Now we only need to find supporters, investors and sponsors to expand the scale of production and installment of the smart containers.
The next key issue is to get help with finding users for the recycled plastic or the ways to export it,” concluded Haik.
Lusin Mkrtchyan
Photos by Emin Aristakesyan
ArmInfo.Decisions of the French courts on the abolition of the declarations of friendship between the French and Artsakh cities are reprehensible. Representative of the "Hay Dat" offices of ARF Dashnaktsutyun Kiro Manoyan expressed such an opinion in an interview with ArmInfo correspondent.
In his opinion, the number of similar verdicts of the French courts will increase over time. Dashnaktsakan stated that this is due to the fact that the French authorities believe that the French local governments do not have the right to conduct their own foreign policy. "The French authorities believe that representatives of the local governments deviate from the official foreign policy of the country by such steps, since official Paris does not recognize Artsakh's independence. However, I believe this approach is erroneous, as the local governments have the right to communicate with local self-government units," Manoyan said, in this context, he added that in February of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron at the annual dinner of the Coordination Council of Armenian organizations of the country tried to touch on this issue. At the same time, the Member of ARFD is convinced that no matter how the French side tried to argue their actions, this step proceeds from the interests of one of the parties, namely Azerbaijan.
"This is a violation of neutrality, which France has so far adhered to," said Manoyan. According to him, it would be more correct if the French authorities, as before, did not interfere in the activities of the local governments and maintained their neutrality. "We condemn this step by the French authorities. The "Hay Dat" office in Europe is already discussing how to respond and counteract this. We are deeply convinced that this decision was biased," Manoyan said. The representative of ARFD also categorically disagreed with the rumors circulating that the decisions of the French courts were due to the inaction of Hay Dat due to the attitude of the current authorities of Armenia to "Dashnaktsutyun". "There are issues that are fundamental for Hay Dat, among which Artsakh and the Bureau are doing everything possible to advance the interests of the unrecognized republic. However, this does not mean that the Armenian authorities should be inactive," Manoyan said, adding that these decisions became possible after the Azerbaijani side filed a lawsuit in a French court. According to him, the Armenian authorities did not adequately counteract these steps of Azerbaijan. At the same time, Dashnaktsakan pointed out that Armenia has enough leverage to initiate similar declarations of friendship between Artsakh and other units in the same United States or Australia, or other countries where there are no legislative regulations of similar in France and prohibiting direct interaction, however nothing is done in this direction. To recall, court of Cergy-Pontoise of the French Val-d'Oise department to declare invalid a declaration of friendship between the French municipality of Arnuville and Artsakh's community of Shekher .On the eve it also became known that the administrative court of the city of Grenoble decided to abolish four more charters of friendship signed by representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh with French settlements – the departments of Valence, Bourg-les-Valence, Bourg-de-Perange. The administrative court abolished the charter, guided by the arguments that they do not respect the international obligations of France and are contrary to the foreign policy of the country, which is the exclusive competence of the state.
Nikol Pashinyan, Perch Sedrakian discuss process of AGBU’s programs and planned initiatives
19:11, 5 June, 2019
YEREVAN, JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received AGBU President Perch Sedrakian, head of the AGBU Armenia office Vasken Yacoubian and AGBU Armenia Executive Director Talar Kazanjian.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan highly appreciated the activities of the AGBU for fostering the spiritual, educational and cultural development of the Armenian people and expressed readiness to assist the initiatives and projects aimed at the preservation of the Armenian identity in Armenia and the Diaspora.
Perch Sedrakian noted that Armenians of the Diaspora are very enthusiastic over the positive developments in Armenia, including the development tendencies in economy and tourism. The AGBU President underlined that the projects implemented by the support of the Union are aimed at strengthening Diaspora-Motherland links and solutions of the problems facing the Diaspora. According to him, their goal is synchronization of the AGBU projects with the Government programs, which will foster the effectiveness of the projects.
During the meeting the interlocutors discussed the process of projects implemented by the AGBU in various spheres, particularly education, science, and tourism, as well as the initiatives planned for the near future.
Nikol Pashinyan and Perch Sedrakian also exchanged views on consolidating the Diaspora-Armenians on national goals, preservation of the Armenian identity and other issues.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Lithuanian president congratulates Armenia on Republic Day
12:43,
YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė congratulated Armenian President Armen Sarkissian and the Armenian nation on Republic Day.
“The President wished that consistently developed and open cooperation on bilateral level as well as at the EU level did not lose the momentum and opened many more opportunities for our countries to achieve shared objectives and implement beneficial business, trade, culture, science and other relevant projects for the people of Lithuania and Armenia”, Grybauskaitė’s office said in a news release.
President Grybauskaitė wished Armenia continued prosperity, success and unity.
On May 28th, Armenia celebrates Republic Day, a holiday marking the established of the First Armenian Republic in 1918.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan