Author: Emma Jilavian

COVID-19: EU, WHO hand over 22 ventilators to Armenia

Emma Jilavian

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 15:23,

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS. The European Union and WHO today handed to the Armenia Ministry of Health 22 ventilators, which can help save lives of patients with severe cases of COVID-19, the EU Delegation to Armenia told Armenpress.

The delivery of the shipment is a part of a larger assistance package to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Andrea Wiktorin, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia joined Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Health Lena Nanushyan, the WHO Representative in Armenia Egor Zaitsev, and UN Resident Coordinator Shombi Sharp at the ‘National Center of Providing Drugs and Medical Supplies’ SNCO to receive the equipment.

“The European Union stands by Armenia with continuous support to strengthening the capacity of health systems. In the time of COVID-19 pandemic, it is of vital importance to ensure an adequate response to public health emergencies, and save people’s lives. Together we will be stronger and will overcome the pandemic faster”, said Andrea Wiktorin, the EU Ambassador to Armenia.

Ventilators are of vital importance for COVID-19 patients with severe cases as they assist the patients by maintaining optimal air pressure and providing the lungs with oxygen. The ventilator can either partially or fully take over the breathing process for the patient.

Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijani grandmaster wins Superbet Chess Classic tournament in Romania

Emma Jilavian
10:22 (UTC+04:00)
522

By Trend

Azerbaijani grandmaster Shahriyar Mammadyarov has won the Superbet Chess Classic tournament held in the Romanian capital, Bucharest city, Trend reports on June 14.

The 36-year-old Azerbaijani chess player drew with Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the last round. Thus, Shahriyar Mammadyarov recorded six points to his asset and, ahead of all his rivals, became the winner of the tournament.

Another Azerbaijani chess player Teymur Rajabov drew with Armenian Levon Aronian in the last round. Teymur Rajabov finished the tournament with 4.5 points.

Washington ponders anti-dumping duties on Armenia

Emma Jilavian
EurasiaNet.org
Jun 10, 2021

The Biden administration is considering new tariffs on Armenia’s largest export to the United States.

Last month, the Department of Commerce made a preliminary determination that Armenian aluminum foil is being sold “at less than fair value” in the U.S. – “dumped,” in industry jargon. A final decision is expected in the fall. Until then, Armenian foil exporters will have to hand over to U.S. Customs a cash deposit equivalent to 188.84 percent of the product value.

Aluminum foil accounts for almost half of Armenian exports to the U.S., according to UN trade data. It was worth more than $33 million in 2020. The foil is manufactured by a plant in Yerevan known as Armenal, which is owned by Russian aluminum giant Rusal.

The Commerce determination is based on a complaint brought last year by an industry group arguing that aluminum foil manufacturers in Armenia and four other countries had "injured U.S. producers" with “aggressively low-priced imports.”

In its September filing, the Aluminum Association told Commerce that after Washington imposed anti-dumping enforcement actions against China in 2018, Armenia, Brazil, Oman, Russia and Turkey quickly moved into the American market with aluminum below fair market value.

"Between 2017 and 2019, imports from the five subject countries increased by 110 percent to more than 210 million pounds,” the Aluminum Association said in September.

Armenia potentially faces the stiffest penalty of the five, said the U.S. International Trade Commission.

A prominent Armenian lobby in Washington, the Armenian National Committee of America, assailed the "counter-productive proposal" in a June 10 press release, arguing instead for closer management of bilateral trade. 

"Armenal is a major taxpayer that contributes meaningfully to Armenia’s budget, directly employs over 700 skilled workers in the Arabkir region, and indirectly supports the livelihoods of thousands of families across Armenia,” ANCA said.

The timing could not be worse for Armenia, where the economy has been walloped by the pandemic. Output fell 7.4 percent last year, according to government figures. With the ongoing political crisis and an unresolved conflict on its eastern border, the IMF expects a painfully slow recovery.

Minsk Group co-chairs could visit the Armenian-Azerbaijani border – Lukashevich

Emma Jilavian
Public Radio of Armenia
June 1 2021
 

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russia), Stephane Visconti (France) and Andrew Schofer (USA) could soon agree on a visit to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Alexander Lukashevich, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the OSCE, told reporters today, TASS reports.

“It is very important that the [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairs manage to visit the region in the near future and determine the situation and talk to the parties on the ground,” he said. “This is very important. I think such opportunities could open up in the very near future.”

“Plus, of course, there is an acute issue of admission of international humanitarian organizations to help the population. There are also a lot of organizational details, which are interpreted in different ways by the parties,” Lukashevich added.

Azerbaijani armed forces attempted fortification works in the territory of Armenia – MoD

Emma Jilavian
Panorama, Armenia
June 5 2021

The Azerbaijani armed forces have attempted to carry out fortification works in the territory of Armenia near the area of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border for several times in the recent period which have been prevented on time by Armenian units, the country's Defense Ministry said on Saturday in a released statement. 

According to the source, on June 3, the Azerbaijani armed forces attempted to carry out land works with a tractor in the borderline areas in the territory of Armenia. The works were ceased after warning shots of the Armenian units. The Azerbaijani side was clearly notified about the necessity to rule out any similar attempts. 

"Nevertheless, then Azerbaijani armed forces continue engineering and fortification works  without crossing the Armenian border in the areas, where their combat positions are located. The movement of the Azerbaijani military and the areas are visible from Verin Shorja and Kut villages of Gegharkunik province and has raised concerns among the local residents which is reflected in the reported of the Human Rights Defender," the ministry added.

President of Armenia meets with speaker of lower house of Kazakh Parliament

Emma Jilavian

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 14:04, 4 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with speaker of the lower house of the Parliament (Mazhilis) of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nygmatulin on the sidelines of his working visit in Nur-Sultan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

Stating that this year is remarkable for Armenia and Kazakhstan as the two countries celebrate the 30th anniversary of their independence, Nurlan Nygmatulin highlighted the expansion of productive cooperation for the benefit of the two countries and peoples.

He said the implementation of the agreements reached during the Armenian President’s meetings with Kazakhstan’s President will contribute to the strengthening of the Armenian-Kazakh multilateral cooperation and political dialogue. He assured that the Kazakh parliamentarians will play a role in this process.

Speaking about the inter-parliamentary relations, Nurlan Nygmatulin highlighted the close cooperation of the Armenian and Kazakh parliamentarians within the EAEU, CIS, CSTO and other structures.

President Armen Sarkissian said Kazakhstan is a very close partner for Armenia in the CSTO, the EAEU and is actively engaged in all matters. He once again stated that the two countries have many commonalities and a great potential for joint projects.

The officials discussed the agenda of the bilateral and multilateral relations. President Sarkissian informed that Armenia will soon hold snap parliamentary elections, hoping that the new parliament and government will contribute to the development of the Armenian-Kazakh relations.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Artsakh’s State Minister-Minister of Finance to step down

Emma Jilavian

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 11:41,

YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh’s Minister of State-Finance Minister Grigory Martirosyan will resign from June 1, he said on social media.

“I have made my resignation decision back in 2020, but the war and the problems requiring urgent solution in the post-war crisis situation made me to delay my decision. During the entire tenure I have tried to do the utmost to resist the challenges in the field trusted me and solve the urgent problems for the benefit of the future of our country”, he said.

Grigory Martirosyan thanked President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan, third President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan for the high trust and joint work, as well as all his colleagues in Artsakh, Armenia and the Diaspora.

He added that he will continue serving Artsakh and its people regardless of future activities.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Prosecution opens criminal case on kidnapping of Armenian troops by Azeri military

Emma Jilavian

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 16:21,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian military prosecution opened a criminal case over the kidnapping of 6 Armenian troops by Azerbaijani soldiers from Armenian territory.

The Azerbaijani troops breached the Armenian border in the direction of the Kut village in Gegharkunik, surrounded the 6 Armenian servicemen who were carrying out engineering works and violently kidnapped them into Azerbaijan, where they are now held captive.

The criminal case is opened on articles of kidnapping and illegal border crossing.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia updates railway fleet

Emma Jilavian

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 09:56,

YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. 27 new passenger wagons will be imported to Armenia by July to replenish the railway system, with another three new electric trains expected to be brought during the year, the caretaker Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan said during a visit to Shirak province. The trains will supplement the active train fleet of the Yerevan-Gyumri route. The updated fleet will be used to launch railway transport spanning across the entire rail system – to Yeraskh and to Gyumri. Papikyan said the investments in this direction were planned for the following 15 years, but most part of it is being successfully implemented during 2021-2024.

Speaking about other projects, he noted that the renovation of the entire water supply system of Gyumri and other 12 towns of the province is now launched. The project is worth 7,3 billion drams.

He highlighted the importance of the North-South road, and noted that despite the obstacles this year’s construction has already begun as a result of successful talks with Chinese partners.

In turn, the Shirak governor said that investments and capital spending grew every year in the past three years, with approximately 40,5 billion drams in capital investments expected in the province in 2021 in the urban development sector.

 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Asbarez: European Parliament Reaffirms Armenian Genocide Recognition

Emma Jilavian

May 19, 2021



The European Parliament chambers in Brussels, Belgium.

Condemns Ankara’s overt support of Azerbaijan in its aggressive attack on Artsakh, including sending mercenaries to fight

The European Parliament on Wednesday reaffirmed its recognition of the Armenian Genocide with a resolution passed by the body that also urged Turkey to end its anti-Armenian propaganda and hate speech directed at Armenians, Armenia’s Embassy in Belgium reported.

The European Parliament first recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1987 and in 2015, on the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, strengthened its position.

Wednesday’s measure further reaffirmed the body’s commitment to justice, by placing a spotlight on Turkey’s overt intervention in last fall’s Karabakh War.

The European parliament also condemned the fact that Turkey decided to unconditionally support Azerbaijan’s military operations and contributed to its continuation instead of making calls for stopping the military operations and resuming peace talks under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs’ format.

Furthermore, it also decried that Turkey sent Syrian and other mercenaries to Nagorno Karabakh, which has been confirmed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairing countries.

Wednesday resolution-report also called on the European Union and its member states to including the extremist Turkish “Grey wolves” in the EU list of terrorist organization and ban the activities of its branches in EU member states, “as well as to attentively monitor their activities and counter their possible actions which are mainly a threat for the citizens of Armenian, Kurdish or Greek origin.”