Author: Manouk Vasilian

 11:47,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with his US and French counterparts, Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron, on Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, reports TASS.

In his words, the Putin-Biden talk is expected to take place on Saturday evening, Moscow time. The conversation was requested by Washington, and "the request was preceded by a letter from the US side," he said.

The last time Putin and Biden held a phone conversation was at the end of last year. Before that, on December 7, they held a video conference. The first face-to-face meeting of Putin and Biden as the heads of state took place in Geneva in June 2021.

 14:58, 8 February, 2022

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Three new Vice Mayors of Yerevan were appointed by the City Council at the February 8 session.

By law, Vice Mayors are appointed by the City Council at the nomination of the Mayor.

Gevorg Simonyan was appointed Vice Mayor with 51 votes in favor, 0 against and 2 present (53 registered city councilors took part). Simonyan will coordinate the healthcare and sports areas.

Suren Grigoryan was installed with 50-0-1 votes (53 registered city councilors took part), he will be in charge of the legal, trade and advertising sectors.

Stepan Machyan was appointed with 52-0-2 votes (55 registered city councilors). Machyan will be in charge of urban development.

Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan said the City Hall doesn’t have a position of chief architect anymore, but he believes that the office must be restored.

 10:58,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Academy will be established at the Office of the Ombudsman of Armenia in the upcoming two years, Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan said in a statement on social media.

He informed that the initiative has been proposed by him and will be funded by the European Union.

On January 25 Tatoyan attended the launch of a new international program, which, among other events, also envisages creation of a Human Rights Academy, new divisions of the Office of the Ombudsman in provinces, creation of teenagers and youth councils, introduction of new, electronic tools of jobs and digital technologies, strengthening of control on implementation of Armenia’s international commitments and many other events.

He informed that these programs will be implemented by the funding of the European Union and within the frames of the UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and the OSCE program.

 14:40,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament Arsen Torosyan from the ruling Civil Contract party says President Armen Sarkissian’s reasons for resignation are “strange”.

He said that President Sarkissian was well aware that the position was largely ceremonial when he took office. 

“And it’s very strange that this is being cited as an obstacle for making some changes or as a reason for inefficiency,” Torosyan told reporters.

“As you know, in many countries of parliamentary administration the presidents have ceremonial functions, or functions of maintaining balance in emergency situations. Even the appointment of Cabinet ministers or other high-tanking officials are ceremonial. It’s not up to the president to decide who will be minister, deputy prime minister or even prime minister. The same goes for the foreign policy.”

At the same time, Torosyan underscored that he respects Sarkissian’s decision.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with him as minister and as head of the prime minister’s office, we’ve talked about this issue many times. I can either share or not share his opinions, but nevertheless it is his decision,” Torosyan said.

President Armen Sarkissian announced his resignation on January 23.

By law, the resignation will take effect in a week if Sarkissian doesn’t retract it. Then, the parliament must elect a new president no sooner than in 25 days but no later than 35 days. After the resignation is accepted and until a new president is elected the functions of the president will be fulfilled by Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan.

 17:55,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS.  Prospects for the development of the wine industry were discussed at a consultation chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan presented the results of the research on promoting the development of wine production. He touched upon the statistics of the global and Armenian wine markets, trends, directions of development for 10 years, the volume of expected investments, target indicators, challenges and other issues.

Discussions were held on the opportunities and mechanisms of Armenian wine production, export, sales promotion. In the context of the development of winemaking, the successful implementation of other agricultural reforms and programs, including land reform, intensive gardening, etc. were highlighted. Details were also provided on the process of geographical indication of Armenian wines.

Summing up the discussion, Nikol Pashinyan highlighted the interoperability of development strategies and programs of different branches of agriculture and their integration into the Government's Action Plan. The Prime Minister instructed to discuss the joint activities with the representatives of the sphere on the platform of the Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia taking into account the results of the consultation.

 17:36,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. A serviceman of the Armenian Armed Forces was wounded when his military position near Verin Shorzha in Gegharkunik Province came under fire from the Azerbaijani military around 15:15 on January 11, the Ministry of Defense said.

The serviceman’s injuries are of “moderate severity”, according to the Armenian Ministry of Defense.

“The enemy fire was suppressed by countermeasures of the Armenian side. As of 17:00 the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is relatively stable and is under the full control of the Armenian Armed Forces,” the Ministry of Defense said.

Kazakhstan detains former national security chief on suspicion of treason

 11:40, 8 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Authorities in Kazakhstan have detained former chairman of the National Security Committee Karim Massimov on suspicion of treason, the security committee said, Reuters reports.

Massimov, who was fired this week as protests raged across the Central Asian country, was detained along with several other officials, the National Security Committee said in a statement. It did not name them or provide further details.

On January 2, protests sparked in several cities of Kazakhstan. In several days, they escalated into mass riots and assaults at the bodies of authority in many cities. Thousands of people were injured, and there were casualties. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for assistance. CSTO peacekeepers have already commenced their mission in Kazakhstan. According to the authorities, the constitutional order in Kazakhstan was generally restored on January 7. The situation in Almaty remains the most complicated, reported by TASS.