Author: Garnik Zakarian

 17:48,

Converse Bank has been announced the “Best Trade Finance Provider 2020 in Armenia” by the prestigous Global Finance Magazine at the 13^th BAFT Global Annual Meeting in London.

Presentation of the award speaks of Converse Bank’s outstanding achivements in the sphere of trade finance evidenced by the remarkable growth in the volume and quantity of transactions and the broad geographical coverage.

Among winners of “Best Trade Finance Provider 2020” award are Commerzbank AG (Germany), Raiffeisen Bank International (Austria), KBC Bank (Belgium), Citibank (USA), Societe Generale (France) and other leading banks. To see the full list of banks awarded by Global Finance visit https://www.gfmag.com/magazine/february-2020/2020-worlds-best-trade-finance-providers .

It is worth mentioning that during the recent years Converse Bank has been presented with several honorary awards in this sphere: the “Deal of the Year-Green Trade” by the EBRD and the “Trade Finance Award 2018” by Commerzbank AG, among others.

 09:00,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Numerous events will take place today across Armenia in honor of Hovhannes Tumanyan’s (1869-1923) 151st anniversary of birth. The main celebrations will take place in the poet’s hometown of Dsegh and Yerevan.

February 19th is also the Book Giving Day in Armenia.

Roza Ghazunyan, the Director of the Hovhannes Tumanyan House-Museum of Dsegh, told ARMENPRESS that students of the Dsegh school will recite the poet’s works during an event. “We will also host representatives from the Yeghishe Charents Literature and Arts Museum and the National Library of Armenia,” she said.

The Hovhannes Tumanyan House-Museum of Yerevan, in turn has prepared events to mark the anniversary. The museum will host the traditional “Tumanyan’s Toast” competition, books will be available on special discounts, and the presentations several children’s books and a concert will take place.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:30,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met on February 14 with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress.

The Foreign Minister said Armenia attaches great importance to the strengthening and expansion of the current productive partnership with the OSCE executive bodies through the promotion of new targeted programs and initiatives. In this context the officials discussed the cooperation within the OSCE partnership program with Armenia and the ways to make it more effective.

The Armenian FM and the OSCE Secretary General also discussed the peaceful settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the recent meetings held on the matter.

Minister Mnatsakanyan highlighted the importance of direct engagement of the Artsakh authorities to the peace process, especially on matters relating to the security and status of Artsakh.

Both officials emphasized the importance of actions aimed at strengthening the environment for peace and preparing populations to peace, as well as the role of the OSCE in this framework.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

Military Police commence unannounced inspections in armed forces, reveal violations

 10:15, 7 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan has ordered the Military Police to commence unannounced inspections at numerous military bases of the Armenian Armed Forces, the Defense Ministry said in a news release.

The actions aimed at inspecting the state of military discipline, particularly the participation of servicemen in the combat readiness trainings.

The Defense Ministry said the military police have revealed a number of violations.

A group of servicemen who were absent from the trainings have been detained by military police. Moreover, commanders who failed in supervising the military discipline will be under internal investigation.

The Defense Ministry said that the surprise inspections will be continuous.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 14:13, 7 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. After the Speaker of Parliament forwards the parliamentary resolution on calling a referendum regarding the constitutional amendments to the President, the latter has a three-day period to sign the document, ruling My Step bloc lawmaker Vahagn Hovakimyan, who is also a co-author of the bill, told reporters.

“We’ve already entered the phase of legal regulations. First of all, the Speaker of Parliament must sign it and forward it to the President of Armenia within a 7-day period. After receiving it, the President has a three-day period to set a referendum date. This is a legal process,” Hovakimyan said.

During a February 6 extraordinary session of parliament, the legislate body voted to call a referendum around the bill that envisages ending the terms of Constitutional Court President Hrayr Tovmasyan and some other incumbent justices.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenian humanitarian mission sappers clear 126,000 sq. meters in Syria in first year of operations

 11:34, 8 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. During the first year (2019 February 8 – 2020 February 8) of operations in Syria, the de-miners of the Armenian humanitarian mission have cleared a total of 126,000 square meters of territory.

The Center for Humanitarian Demining & Expertise, the organization that has deployed the sappers and medics to Syria, said in a news release that 91,000 square meters of the total territory has been inspected and commissioned back to the Aleppo provincial authorities.

During the 1st year, Armenian sappers have discovered and disposed of: 1 anti-vehicle mine, 10 TM62 anti-tank mines, 3 MON50 anti-personnel mines, 11 PMN2 anti-personnel mines, 8 OZM72 anti-personnel mines, 3 82mm mortar shells, 2 shells, 1 RPG 1 grenade, 1 D30 shell, 2 100mm shells, 1 cluster bomb, 1 fired missile propeller, 3 F1 grenades, 1 AO 2,5 PTM, 17 M42 sub-munitions, 7 IEDs.

The medical personnel have treated 10,114 patients and conducted 1354 lab tests during the one first of operations.

The Armenian humanitarian mission has also organized many mine hazard awareness campaigns and medical aid trainings. As part of the “We Are With You” and “A Handful of Smiles” campaigns, gifts have been collected and donated to Syrian children. The second part of the campaign is still in process. The medical personnel of the mission are regularly providing necessary medicine to the Aleppo Hospital.

In addition to the mission in Syria, the agency has also carried out mine-clearance work in Armenia during 2019 with a total of 25,000 square meters being cleared in Kapan Municipality.

In 2019, combat action territories in the Kornidzor settlement of Tegh Municipality have been cleared. Halo Trust has conducted mine-clearance work in nearly 40,000 square meters in accordance to the center’s plan.

The agency said it is using the gear and equipment provided by the US State Department.

During 2019, the Center for Humanitarian De-Mining and Expertise has also conducted mine hazard awareness trainings for more than 11,000 school students from Yerevan and provinces.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 20:53, 4 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS.  Detention has been chosen as a preventive measure for Davit Movsisyan who is indicted for the death of serviceman (conscript) Vahram Avagyan, ARMENPRESS reports head of the press service of the Investigative Committee of Armenia Naira Harutyunyan wrote on her Facebook page.

Davit Movsisyan is the son of former MP Arakel Movsisyan, known as Shmays.

Davit Movsisyan is charged under Article 359 (3) of the Criminal Code of Armenia, that is, breaching the rules of conduct of servicemen in the absence of subordinate relations between them, which negligently caused grave consequences.

The incident took place on January 30. Davit Movsisyan was the co-serviceman of the killed soldier.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan