13:01,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. So far there is no agreement on a concrete timeframe for holding the first meeting of the special envoys of Armenia and Turkey, the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said.
But he added that the meeting could be held in Moscow.
“The possibility of holding the meeting in Moscow is under discussion,” Hunanyan said.
13:39,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The economic activity index in Armenia grew 5,2% in 2021’s January-November compared to the same period of 2020, according to the Statistical Committee.
The volume of industrial output grew 2,7%, while construction volume grew 6,9%.
Trade turnover grew 7,9%, while service volumes (excluding trade) grew 7,3%.
The consumer price index grew 7,1%, the industrial output price index – 9,9%, while electric-energy output volume dropped 2%.
16,6% growth was recorded in the foreign trade turnover volumes – exports grew 19,4% and imports grew 15,1%.
14:55,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, the leader of the opposition Hayastan bloc argues that if he were to lead the country again he would be able to set some things rights in the issue of Artsakh.
He did not go into details when he made the comments at a press conference.
“Yes, I see a chance to save something in this situation through active diplomatic work, I see this path. But this administration won’t even try do to so because during the course of their entire conscious lives these people have thought the way they are acting now,” he charged at the incumbent authorities.
“The expectation from them is zero. Now, I suggest change, let’s enable the people who’ve showed during their entire lives that they are thinking otherwise,” Kocharyan said.
He said that this path will be difficult.
“Indeed, in some directions we are able to correct some things. Indeed also in terms of the status of Artsakh. I see the sequence of steps through which something can be salvaged,” the ex-president said.
16:08,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan says he favors transitioning back to a semi-presidential system of governance but disapproves the implementation of constitutional reforms through the path adopted by the incumbent authorities.
“I don’t think it’s right for every government to come and bring the constitution it wants,” Kocharyan said at a press conference. “I don’t even know what model they are proposing. I can only say that no president has had the kind of powers which today the prime minister has. This is not normal, but the re-distribution of these powers can be done today with laws. For example, the investigative bodies can be removed from the subordination to the prime minister. Unlike the previous constitution, when all changes implied a referendum, now there are many changes which can be done through parliament,” Kocharyan said.
The ex-president proposed the incumbent authorities to take some steps in decreasing the powers vested in the prime minister.
17:24,
YEREVAN, 27 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 27 December, USD exchange rate up by 0.51 drams to 478.48 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.96 drams to 541.11 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 6.51 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.39 drams to 641.35 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price up by 29.60 drams to 27770.27 drams. Silver price down by 1.93 drams to 348.67 drams. Platinum price up by 15.92 drams to 14937.37 drams.
18:43,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan visited the Constitutional Court and met with the judges of the Court. The President of the Constitutional Court Arman Dilanyan, judges of the Constitutional Court Vahe Grigoryan, Yervand Khundkaryan, Ashot Khachatryan, Arayik Tunyan, Arthur Vagharshyan, Edgar Shatiryan took part in the discussion, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.
Issues related to the development and strengthening of democratic institutions were discussed.
19:58,
YEREVAN, 27 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. Switzerland expressed readiness to provide a platform for holding of Russia – NATO Summit, if there will be its necessity, ARMENPRESS reports official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland Valentin Clivaz told “RIA Novosti”.
“That includes implementation of the role of a host country by Switzerland or provision of support for organization of conferences and meetings”, Clivaz said.
Clivaz mentioned that due to the principle of confidentiality, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn’t comment the requests of the parties.
Earlier the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg made a decision to convene a Russia-NATO Summit.
19:59,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan chaired a consultation on the process of the impementation of the construction, renovation or overhaul of 500 kindergartens and 300 schools defined by the Government Action Plan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.
Referring to the topic, the Prime Minister said, "During the pre-election campaign of this year's early parliamentary elections, we recorded our commitment to make investments and reforms in Armenia's education, particularly in the field of general education. In particular, we talked about the program to build, renovate or overhaul 300 schools and 500 kindergartens.
Our main goal is to increase the level of access to quality education in the country. As the year draws to an end, we will enter 2022 in a few days, the purpose of today's discussion is to record how far we have reached in the implementation of the program. Needless to say, it is included in the Government's Action Plan for 2021-2026 and in the list of measures for the implementation of the Government’s Action Plan. Today we will try to be more detailed, to make our future plans in this direction as predictable as possible."
Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan presented the methodology for achieving the goal, the work done using that methodology and the upcoming activities. It was mentioned that in all the regions of the Republic of Armenia and in the capital Yerevan need assessment of pre-school and school service was carried out with the following principle: Needs identification, complete diagnosis and determining the method of complete organization. The enlarged community of Kapan in the Syunik Province was selected as an example, which includes 31 rural settlements, the number of beneficiary children reaches 1000.Here it is planned to organize education in 13 places. Within the framework of the preparatory works, the buildings were inspected, the list of necessary inventory was clarified, the transport routes were mapped, and tenders for the design and estimate documentation were carried out. The financial component of the program is currently being discussed. The need for educational services for the enlarged communities of Tatev, Kajaran and Meghri in Syunik has been determined by the same model, the need assessment in other enlarged communities of the Province is in progress. There is a working group consisting of representatives of the departments in-charge, the work is carried out in accordance with the terms of the respective decision of the Prime Minister of Armenia. After summarizing the works in Syunik, it is planned to launch the same methodology in other provinces.
According to the plan, in 2022 it is expected to carry out construction, overhaul and repair works of about 170 schools, 130 kindergartens, which are currently in progress or in the phase of completion. Moreover, these target indicators do not include possible subsidy or other alternative programs.
In response to the Prime Minister's question, the process of developing a common policy for the involvement of professional staff was presented.
Other issues related to the necessary steps to achieve the target, the current pace, the implementation of subsidy programs with the same criteria, infrastructure availability and other issues were discussed at the meeting. A number of proposals were presented.
The Prime Minister highlighted the application of the conceptual approach at the heart of the program, under which pre-school, school, cultural, sports and other components are considered as a whole. Nikol Pashinyan gave instructions to Deputy Prime Ministers Mher Grigoryan and Hambardzum Matevosyan, proposing to discuss the ideas aimed at fostering the process, highlighting the joint synchronized work.
20:33,
YEREVAN, 27 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. NATO’s confronting political course against Russia forces Moscow to strictly put forward the issue of legally binding security guarantees, which will exclude any further movement of the NATO to the East, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy Minister of Defense of Russian Federation Alexander Fominsaid.
He reminded that the draft agreement on security measures of Russia and the NATO member states was transferred to the American side on December 15, 2021.
20:43,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took part in a reception organized at the Central Bank on the occasion of the New Year and Christmas. Nikol Pashinyan congratulated the personnel of the Central Bank and the banking sector of Armenia on the coming holidays, wishing them success and all the best, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.
In his speech the Prime Minister particularly said,
“Distinguished Chairman of the Central Bank,
Dear representatives of the executive power and the banking sector,
Our economy has gone through very difficult times, I hope we can already say it this way, because the coronavirus pandemic hit since 2020, which was a strong blow to the financial and economic system, followed by the second blow in the form of the war, and then the third blow – the domestic political crisis. We should state that during this entire period the banking sector of the Republic of Armenia, which had previously been able to withstand serious trials, successfully overcame this challenge, and this is extremely important not only for economic, but also for political and psychological stability.
In this regard, I think we should express words of appreciation to the banking sector of Armenia, to the Central Bank for its policy during this difficult period. After all, following the war and the coronavirus we needed a great resource of resistance, serious professionalism in order to be able to maintain the stable situation we have. Especially given the next challenge that came after the coronavirus outbreak, the global challenge of inflation which continues to this day.
In contrast to the banking sector of other countries, our banking sector, in fact, went through double, triple shocks. It’s important to record that the banking sector is not only a very important partner for the Government, but also an indicator, because modern economies, especially the banking sector, are the mirror of moods and in many cases this is a guideline for the Government to develop and implement policies.
I think the dialogue that exists between the Government and the Central Bank is very important in terms of developing and implementing our future strategies. Yes, we should admit that, like in many countries, in many cases in Armenia attempts are made to create certain negative moods around the banking sector, because it is clear that people always take money with pleasure, but returning is not always a pleasant process, mostly due to interest rates.
I recently had the opportunity to say during a discussion about banking sectors. In fact, the modern world is the world created by banks, and this should be recorded with all its disadvantages and advantages. There are many projects that characterize modern civilization, which are growing, evolving, changing the world with huge steps. It should be noted that these mega-projects could not exist in the world if the banking system did not exist.
We have seen such effects in Armenia as well, but I hope that we will be able to implement an agenda of cooperation between the political, economic and financial systems, which will allow to make Armenia a country that meets all modern standards. In this regard, I attach importance to the agenda adopted by the Government to open an era of peaceful development for Armenia and the region, which, I must say, is cadjusted by signals coming from the economy and the banking system, which are often not expressed in texts, but are expressed in numbers, digital signs, statistical data. In this context, I would like to hope that the link between the Government policies and the financial and economic system will be more organic, because that system is the most sensitive indicator that senses risks the earliest, sees opportunities the earliest, which helps the Government to be more operative.
Once again, I want to thank you for the resistance shown over the last two years. I hope that at the state and national level we will finally be able to overcome this situation of survival, procrastination, or short-term thinking, and get out into an era of long-term, stable, peaceful strategic development. In this regard, of course, the role of the banking system is extremely difficult to overestimate. I reiterate, the Central Bank and the banking system are key and essential partners for the Government.
In terms of overcoming the problems caused by the coronavirus, the post-war situation, we have been in a very close partnership, I appreciate that partnership.
Congratulations to all of you, to your families on the coming New Year; we hope that in 2022 it will be really possible to create completely new moods in Armenia and Artsakh, which will be reflected in the reduction of interest rates, prices, exchange rate stability and better moods for investment, working and spending. The Government, of course, is willing to spend, to invest, to point out that strategic perspective by its own example. But all the same, the private sector, the banking system are a very important teammate in this respect, so that we all succeed in that team game and process.”