Category: 2023

 10:39,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. Businesses in Armenia paid a total of 160,5 billion drams in income tax in April 2023, the final stage of the 2022 income tax.

PM Nikol Pashinyan said the number is a historic record in the country.

The numbers show that businesses received 337% more income in 2023.

“If we were to speak with the business representatives they would say that the 2022 incomes were unprecedented, but on the other hand the reduction of the shadow [economy] and the institutional reforms that contributed to this process are also important,” Pashinyan added.

 10:59,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government is spending debt only for capital purposes and it doesn’t take debt for raising salaries or pensions, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told lawmakers at a joint committee session for preliminary debates of the 2022 government budget report.

“We have a debt management strategy. We’ve also recorded in the government program that we will be satisfied if the debt-to GDP ratio stands below 60% by 2026,” Pashinyan said, adding that the debt-to-GDP ratio was 46,7% in 2022, while in 2017 the number was 58,9%.

Nominal debt has increased unavoidably, Pashinyan said, noting the loan projects such as the North-South and other programs, which were planned to be carried out by foreign resources from the beginning.

The COVID-19 pandemic also claimed much resources and the debt increased back then as well.

 11:32,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has commented on the likelihood of signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan during the upcoming five-sided meeting in Chisinau on June 1.

Commenting on discussions whether or not a peace treaty could be signed during the June 1 meeting, Pashinyan said: “We still haven’t received Azerbaijan’s comments regarding our proposals sent before the Washington [talks]. If I recall correctly, that was already the fourth editing of the peace treaty. We have conveyed the fourth version, and as of this moment we haven’t received their comments. Thus, as of this moment I can say that there is no agreed upon draft that could be possible to sign.”

PM Pashinyan is scheduled to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, together with the French and German leaders and the President of the European Council on June 1 in Chisinau.

 11:24,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. 55,000 apartments are currently under construction in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on May 29.

“Today, fifty five thousand apartments are in the most various stages of construction in the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan told lawmakers at a joint committee session for preliminary debates of the 2022 government budget report.

“I believe this to be a highly important social, economic and even political indicator. This means that people have faith and optimism in Armenia’s future, otherwise the investments of this many billions in apartment construction doesn’t have any other interpretation,” he added.

 11:36,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. Gymnasts of the Armenian team have won four medals in the World Challenge Cup held in Varna.

Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan took gold in vault and two bronze medals in the pommel horse and the rings.

Artur Avetisyan won gold in the rings.

 11:50,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. The residents of Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh who are unable to return home due to the closure of the Lachin Corridor are still accommodated in hotels in Goris, the Governor of Syunik Robert Ghukasyan told reporters on May 29.

He said that Goris hotels are accomodating forcibly displaced persons from Aghavno village and Berdzor and those who were stranded and are unable to return home due to the blockade.

Ghukasyan said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is supporting them.

The locals are supporting the Artsakhians in every possible way.

“The forcibly displaced persons from Aghavno village and Berdzor, and the residents of Artsakh who are unable to return home due to the blockade of Lachin Corridor live in Syunik Province. Our compatriots of Artsakh have been accommodated in hotels in Goris, they have food and accommodation. The International Committee of the Red Cross is also by their side constantly,” he said.

Lachin Corridor – the only road linking Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world – has been blocked by Azerbaijan since 12 December 2022. The United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan on 22 February 2023 to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.

Azerbaijan has so far ignored the order.

 11:43,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. One of the topics discussed last week during the Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan trilateral talks was the humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh and the illegal closure of the Lachin Corridor, PM Nikol Pashinyan said on May 29.

Armenia discussed the issue with Russia as well, and the results of the discussion are unsatisfactory, Pashinyan said.

Speaking at a joint parliamentary committee session for preliminary debates of the 2022 government budget report, Pashinyan said that the military-political situation in the region remains rather tense.

“Moreover, this is related not only with our difficult relations, but also the ongoing global processes, the events taking place in the relations of Russia, Ukraine, we are now receiving very alarming reports on the events taking place on the border of Iran and Afghanistan, and so on. We have adopted a peace agenda, a strategy of peace, and we are doing everything possible to bring this agenda to life,” Pashinyan said.

Speaking about the trilateral negotiations held in Moscow last week, the Armenian Prime Minister said that one of the topics related to the humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh and the illegal closure of the Lachin Corridor.  “We’ve discussed this topic also with our Russian partners. I can’t say that the results of this discussion were satisfactory. We must note that this is a very regrettable situation. And I also had a public occasion to say that the closure of Lachin Corridor took place basically right in front of, and in the presence of Russian peacekeepers, which is certainly very concerning. We will continue our discussions, including with our Russian partners, in the direction of resolving this situation,” Pashinyan said.

Lachin Corridor – the only road linking Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world – has been blocked by Azerbaijan since 12 December 2022. The United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan on 22 February 2023 to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.

Azerbaijan has so far ignored the order.

Furthermore, under the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement – the Nagorno Karabakh 2020 ceasefire agreement, control of Lachin Corridor should be exercised by Russian peacekeepers.

 11:57,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that one of the items discussed at the trilateral talks in Moscow was the opening of regional connections.

PM Pashinyan said he reiterated that Armenia is ready to open the regional connections under sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries through which they pass.

“This is about the connections underscored under clause 9 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statements. We are ready for the swift reopening of the connections under sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries, and we have emphasized this. We are trying to work on the opening of railway infrastructures. We are eager and interested in the opening of regional connections. I believe we have a rather flexible and constructive position here and we are really ready for the opening of connections, and I am convinced that when this happens it will be an additional boost for Armenia’s economic development. Unfortunately, the solution of this issue doesn’t solely depend on us. If it were to depend on us, it would have been solved long ago,” the Armenian PM said at a joint parliamentary committee hearing on the 2022 budget report.

 12:15,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. 50 farming businesses in the Tegh village of Syunik Province are unable to access their own lands because of the Azerbaijani military incursions. The lands are in the areas invaded by the Azeri military, as well as where the Armenian military are deployed and carrying out engineering work, Syunik Governor Robert Ghukasyan has said.

“When the equipping work of positions get completed it will be possible to exactly record the agricultural damage in order to be able to compensate in the future. Overall, 50 businesses are unable to access their lands,” he said.

The problem mostly exists in Tegh village.

Speaking about the general situation in Syunik province, Ghukasyan said the situation is tense and uncertain. But despite this, residents don’t intend to leave their homes.

The population of the province hasn’t changed after the 2020 war, and in some cases those who had left for unrelated reasons have returned.

 12:26,

YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made several incomprehensible statements yesterday.

Aliyev had said that the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border must take place only under Azerbaijan’s terms.

PM Pashinyan said on May 29 that Aliyev’s latest statement requires a clarification, as to whether or not Aliyev is thus abandoning the Brussels agreements.

In Brussels, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to reciprocally recognize each other’s territorial integrity of 29,800 square kilometers and 86,600 square kilometers respectively.

“In this regard, several statements made by the Azerbaijani President yesterday are at least incomprehensible. I think both Azerbaijan and international partners should at least clarify whether this means an abandoning of the agreements reached in Brussels. We must really get the answer to this question from our partners,” Pashinyan said.

The statement made by Aliyev is very close to constituting an abandoning, thus a clarification is required, Pashinyan said.