Author: Greg Madatian

                                        Friday, 


Russia, Armenia Tout Surge In Bilateral Trade


Kyrgyzstan - Prime Ministers Nikol Pashinian (left) of Armenia and Mikhail 
Mishustin of Russia meet in Cholpon-Ata, .


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin 
have touted a sharp increase in Russian-Armenian trade which reached a record 
high of more than $1.6 billion in the first half of this year.

Meeting with Pashinian on Thursday, Mishustin said it soared by 42 percent 
despite the Western economic sanctions against Russia.

“These are record indicators in our mutual trade,” Mishustin said during the 
talks held in Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of a meeting of prime ministers of 
Eurasian Economic Union member states.

Pashinian also hailed the “good news” in his opening remarks at the talks. “The 
figures mentioned by you are a very concrete result of our joint work,” he said.

Armenian government data shows an even sharper rise in bilateral trade: 50 
percent. According to it, Russia accounted for almost one-third of Armenia’s 
first-half foreign trade, solidifying its status as the South Caucasus country’s 
number one trading partner.

Armenia was initially expected to be hit hard by the barrage of sanctions 
imposed by the United States, the European Union and other Western powers 
following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian-Armenian trade fell in March 
but recovered in the following months as the Russian economy proved more 
resilient than expected.

“Together with our Armenian partners, we are making prompt decisions aimed at 
protecting our trade and economic cooperation in the face of, among other 
things, illegal sanctions against the Russian Federation,” Mishustin told 
Pashinian.

The Russian premier said that Moscow wants to “accelerate work” on more Russian 
investments projects in Armenia. He also announced that one of his deputies, 
Alexei Overchuk, will lead a “business mission of Russian companies” in Armenia 
in September.

“We are also doing a lot of work to expand the use of national currencies in 
bilateral trade. I am sure that this will contribute to the growth of our trade 
turnover and, what is very important, the diversification of its structure,” 
added Mishustin.

Yerevan announced in April this year that Armenia has technically started paying 
for Russian natural gas in Russian rubles, rather than U.S. dollars. The switch 
was in tune with Moscow’s broader efforts to minimize the impact of the Western 
sanctions.



Yerevan Reaffirms Support For OSCE Minsk Group

        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia - The Foreign Ministry building in Yerevan.


The Armenian government reaffirmed support for the OSCE Minsk Group on Friday in 
response to Azerbaijani criticism of apparent U.S. plans to continue using that 
mediation format for a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have an international mandate to assist 
in a lasting and comprehensive resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and 
nobody has invalidated this mandate,” Vahan Hunanian, the Armenian Foreign 
Ministry spokesman, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

A senior American diplomat, Philip Reeker, was appointed on Wednesday as the new 
U.S. co-chair of the group that has long been led by the United States, Russia 
and France. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that in his new capacity 
Reeker will strive for “direct dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan” aimed at 
a “long-term political settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry denounced Blinken’s statement, saying that the 
U.S. risks being left out of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process with its 
attempts to “revive” the group. It again claimed that Azerbaijan’s victory in 
the 2020 war with Armenia put an end to the Karabakh conflict.

Commenting on the Azerbaijani criticism, a U.S. Statement department spokesman, 
Vedant Patel, underlined later on Thursday Washington’s “commitment to 
facilitating peace in the South Caucasus.”

“As a country, we are committed to facilitating direct dialogue between 
Azerbaijan and Armenia bilaterally, multilaterally, and in cooperation with 
likeminded partners to achieve a comprehensive peace settlement between the two 
countries,” Patel told a news briefing in Washington.

Russia says that the U.S. and France stopped working with it in the Minsk Group 
format following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. U.S. Assistant Secretary of 
State Karen Donfried denied that when she visited Yerevan in June. She said the 
Minsk Group remains a “very important format” for Washington.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted afterwards that “the Minsk Group 
stopped its activities at the initiative of the American and French co-chairs.”

In recent months, Armenian leaders have repeatedly called for kick-starting the 
work of the mediating troika.



Four Arrested Over Yerevan Market Blast

        • Anush Mkrtchian

Armenia - Firefighters and rescue teams work at the Surmalu market in Yerevan 
rocked by a powerful explosion, August 14, 2022.


Armenian law-enforcement authorities on Friday made their first arrests in a 
criminal investigation into the August 14 explosion at a market in Yerevan that 
left at least 16 people dead and dozens of others injured.

The Investigative Committee said the suspects include the deputy director of the 
Surmalu market and three other individuals who used one of its warehouses. The 
committee did not name any of them.

A spokesman for the law-enforcement agency, Vartan Tadevosian, said the deputy 
director and another suspect, who rented the warehouse laden with fireworks, 
were charged with a grave violation of fire-safety rules. The two other suspects 
are facing accusations of negligence and involuntary manslaughter, he told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Prosecutors have already asked a Yerevan court to allow the investigators to 
hold them in pre-trial detention, added Tadevosian.

It remained unclear whether the investigators will also bring criminal charges 
against the market’s owner, Razmik Zakharian. The latter has still not been 
interrogated by them.

Armenia - A man is rushed to hospital after a powerful explosion at the Surmalu 
market in Yerevan, August 14, 2022.

The first arrests in the probe came two days after the Armenian Ministry of 
Emergencies ended search and rescue operations at the sprawling market located 
south of the city center. Rescue teams managed to extract 10 survivors and 16 
dead during the ten-day operations. But they failed to find the last person 
still listed as missing following the powerful explosion.

The investigators believe that the blast occurred in a market area where large 
quantities fireworks and other pyrotechnics were stored.

Right after the accident, the Investigative Committee urged businesses and 
individuals who bought fireworks at Surmalu recently to provide their samples to 
the Armenian police. Many of the buyers heeded the appeal, Tadevosian said, 
adding that the samples are now being examined by forensic experts.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Office of the Prosecutor-General 
pointed out that last year fire inspectors identified two dozen violations of 
safety rules at Surmalu. It said they did not carry out a follow-up inspection 
to see whether the violations were eliminated.

Tadevosian would not say whether the inspectors could also be charged with 
negligence. “Employees of the inspectorate have been questioned but they 
currently have the status of a witness [in the case,]” explained the 
Investigative Committee spokesman.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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