18:37, 14 April, 2020
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Finance informs that a total of 959 million and 997 thousand drams has been donated to the Armenian government for its anti-coronavirus efforts, ARMENPRESS reports the government said.
The treasury account (900005001947) was opened on March 17th for citizens and organizations willing to make donations.
The government said a total of 3678 payments were made since.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
16:19, 31 March, 2020
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian today had a video talk with Ambassador of Germany to Armenia Michael Johannes Banzhaf, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.
The Armenian President and the German Ambassador exchanged information about the current situation in the two countries caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), as well as the actions being taken to prevent, overcome and treat the disease.
The Armenian President conveyed his greetings and wishes to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, expressing hope that his official visit to Armenia this year in September will take place. In this regard the Ambassador said the German President’s visit is on the agenda. President Sarkissian also conveyed his best wishes to his good friend, Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he knows for many years, since 1990s.
The sides also discussed the possible joint actions in fighting the COVID-19. President Sarkissian proposed to consider the possibility of Germany’s providing assistance to Armenia, in particular, delivering protective means, medical uniform, as well as other respective items.
Highly appreciating the German engineering experience and knowledge, the President said in case of possibility he is expecting the consulting of the Germany companies, as well as the possibility to establish a joint production of lung ventilation devices in Armenia.
President Sarkissian also introduced the presidential initiative ATOM (Advanced Tomorrow).
The Armenian President said that he had discussions on this topic with a number of German research centers, as well as major companies, in particular with Siemens. The program aims at developing artificial intelligence in Armenia in cooperation with the international partners.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
The Armenian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement in regard to the statement of Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on the elections being held in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
Below is the full text of the statement published by the ministry’s press service:
"The statement of the Foreign Ministry of Turkey on the elections being held in Nagorno-Karabakh is yet another _expression_ of Turkey's hostile policy towards the Armenian people.
In line with its traditional method of selective interpretation of international documents, on one hand Turkey invokes the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and on the other hand ignores their call to refrain from any hostile actions in the context of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict explicitly addressed to the states in the region. While it is Turkey that has been imposing land blockade on the Republic of Armenia for decades and supporting aggressive and atrocious actions unleashed against the people of Artsakh, including in April 2016.
The reference of Turkey’s Foreign Ministry to the OSCE principles and the Minsk process is equally groundless. We recall that the OSCE/CSCE decision of March 24, 1992, which laid a foundation for the Minsk process, refers to the elected representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh as a participant in the process. Elections must be held to have elected representatives, and from this viewpoint, elections conducted in Artsakh don’t contradict, but derive from the logic and fundamental documents of peaceful process.
Turkey's attempts to act as an international guardian of human rights and its appeals to the international community are more than bankrupted in the light of its constant violations of the rights of peoples and territorial integrity of its neighbors and its aggressive policy which breaches the norms of international law and democracy."
12:36, 20 March, 2020
YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Central Bank doesn’t see risk of increase in inflation under the current state of emergency in the country, CBA Board member Artur Stepanyan said at a press conference on the topic relating to inflation and macro-economic stability.
“On March 17 we reduced the refinancing rate in case when many countries in our region raised it or kept unchanged. It’s clear that in such situation the role of the monetary-credit policy is limited as it’s impossible to have an effect on the real economic developments and separate parts of the economy with the tools of this policy because of the ongoing health problems caused by the novel coronavirus. But it’s important to continue maintaining the macroeconomic stability which will enable the government to more effectively ensure the targeted actions connected with the various sectors of the economy. At the same time, as starting from 2015 we have low inflationary environment, and currently as well the inflation is quite low, with this step we allow to balance the economic activity and our price stability, economic development goals. The inflationary expectations are anchored for sufficient time, and here we carried out a certain enlargement policy. I can state for sure that the inflation will remain at a low level in coming months”, Stepanyan said.
The CBA official stated that the Bank conducts daily monitoring of economy and financial markets, discusses various alternative scenarios for the further development of the economy and is ready to respond to any development. At the same time, in order to keep the efficiency of the current policy the Central Bank is always in touch with the commercial banks and credit companies, as well as other participants of the financial market.
On March 16 Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency to fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus. The state of emergency is effective until April 14, at 17:00.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Yerevan/Sputnik/UNI: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus increased by 24 in Armenia over the past 24 hours, which brings the total toll of those infected in the country to 160, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.
"There are 160 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Armenia. One patient has recovered, no deaths from the disease have been registered," the health authorities said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has confirmed 53 cases of the disease on its soil so far, including a four-month-old baby among 28 patients registered in the capital of Nur-Sultan, which is under quarantine along with Almaty since Thursday. Earlier this week, the authorities declared a state of emergency.
A total of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Georgia has reached 47 as of Saturday, and nearly 2,000 people are under quarantine. One patient has already recovered from the disease. The authorities have closed al educational institutions, as well as all restaurants, cafes and theaters.
Kyrgyzstan, in addition, registered six new cases of the disease over the last 24 hours, which brings the total number of those infected to 12. All patients are quarantined and being treated now.