Category: 2023

 13:40, 17 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. If Armenia had signed the document on deploying a CSTO monitoring mission it would have gotten a more stable situation, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The document, which was prepared ahead of the CSTO Yerevan summit in 2022 upon Armenia’s request, had been “entirely agreed upon on the foreign ministerial level”, Lavrov said in a televised interview.

“And then, at the last moment, during the summit, our Armenian friends asked to postpone its adoption. It’s still on paper up to this day, and it’s not implemented. Had Yerevan approved it, which was already agreed upon, and stood ready to sign it for implementation, I am sure that Armenia would have benefited and gotten a more stable situation,” Lavrov said.

Armenia did not sign the document because it did not contain an assessment to the Azerbaijani attack on Armenia in September 2022 and called for amending it.

On 20 April, 2023, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan Armenia was ready for the CSTO deployment.

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 14:58,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenian National Interests Fund’s (ANIF) subsidiary “Entrepreneur + State” Investment Fund will jointly invest with Universal Closures CJSC in expansion of the company’s bottle closures and caps production.

With years of experience in the field, Universal Closers manufactures closures and supplies local and regional companies such as Coca Cola, Bjni, Baikal, Tassay (Kazakhstan) and others.

As a result of this investment, the company will additionally acquire new machinery and equipment, which will increase the current production and sales volumes of TALOG/MASC type closures for about 80%.

With a joint project, the company will also acquire a new line for the production of Crown Cap type closures. These are produced from special steel rolling used in the food industry and are used mainly for beer, as well as water and alcoholic beverages.

All imported equipment and production lines are exclusively of Western European production, and the raw materials will be purchased only from leading European manufacturers.

The products have a strong and stable demand in the local and international markets and the project has a very specific export orientation. It is planned to export more than 85% of the total volume of products.

The "Entrepreneur+ State" Investment Fund will invest 3.9 million euros for the expansion of the factory's production.

Universal Closures CJSC was founded in 2017. The total production capacity of the company's equipment is up to 180 million closures per year.

Universal Closures is the only manufacturer of TALOG / MASC type closures in Armenia, and is also one of the main suppliers of the EAEU and CIS markets. The company's products are sold in Georgia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Director of the “Entrepreneur + State” Investment Fund Bella Manoukian commented on the investment "The fund invests with companies with tangible growth potential in various fields in order to create competitive business environment. This program is a big achievement in the direction of making Armenian products visible to the international market. We aim at enabling the growth of local production and the promotion of exports and this investment project is aimed at the realization of that goal.”

 16:01,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reiterated at the 4^th Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland that sending an international fact-finding mission to Lachin Corridor and Nagorno Karabakh is of high priority and starting Baku-Stepanakert negotiations for ensuring security and human rights to Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh under international mechanisms is of vital importance.

In his speech at the summit, the Armenian PM said that the Council of Europe will promote democracy and stability in the South Caucasus by assisting in addressing these issues.

Below is the transcript of Prime Minister Pashinyan’s speech:

“Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen,

Based on our own experience, we can say that war is the biggest threat to democracy.

For a long time, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict served as an excuse for the lack of democracy in Armenia. In 2018, our Velvet Revolution provided great democratic developments in Armenia. But in September 2020, Azerbaijan attacked Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia had to get involved in the war. Many still think that the cause of the war was Armenia’s aspiration for democracy in the region where democracy may be viewed with suspicion. On November 9, 2020, I signed a trilateral ceasefire agreement which became the reason for attacks on state institutions in Armenia. But we were able to maintain the country’s democracy, we decided to conduct early elections to safeguard public accord. On May 12, 2021, two days after mine and National Assembly’s resignation came into effect for the purpose of the elections, Azerbaijan invaded the territory of Armenia. If we diverted from our way of democracy, we would have lost our statehood. But we provided internationally recognized free and democratic elections and shaped the agenda of peace. But our agenda of peace was also attacked. In November 2021 and September 2022 Azerbaijan again invaded the territory of Armenia. On October 6, 2022 with support of the French President Macron and President of EU Council Michel, we reached an agreement with the President of Azerbaijan that we normalize our relations on the basis of the 1991 Almaty Declaration, according to which the administrative borders of the former Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan would become our state borders.  Three days ago, with the mediation of the President of the EU Council Charles Michel, we made a step further, emphasizing that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territory of 86,6 thousand square kilometers and Azerbaijan recognizes the territory of Armenia of 29,8 thousand square kilometers. But as a result of the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh have been under siege for five months and are facing a humanitarian crisis. To send an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno Karabakh is of high priority today, and to start Baku-Stepanakert negotiations aimed at providing security and human rights for the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh under the international mechanism is of vital importance. Assisting in addressing these issues, the Council of Europe will promote democracy and stability in the South Caucasus. Thank you.”

 16:42,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Police received a report on May 17 that an attempted kidnapping targeting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s son Ashot Pashinyan took place on Wednesday, a police spokesperson confirmed to ARMENPRESS.

“The police have received a report with that content. The documents will be sent to the Investigative Committee,” a police spokesperson told ARMENPRESS when asked to validate the newspaper reports.

The Armenian Times newspaper reported that Ashot Pashinyan suffered injuries in the attempted kidnapping. 

The attempted kidnapping happened near Ashot Pashinyan’s residence in Yerevan, according to the report.  

Ashot Pashinyan managed to escape.

According to the report, the kidnappers were members of an NGO called Call of Sons. They reportedly forced Ashot Pashinyan into their vehicle and drove off. At one point, when the vehicle stopped, the PM’s son jumped out of the vehicle and was hit by a car which was travelling behind, also belonging to members of the same organization.

 16:38,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis within the framework of the 4th Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.

Pashinyan and Iohannis discussed “issues related to the ongoing processes in the South Caucasus region,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

The Armenian Prime Minister also spoke about the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor.

Views were exchanged around other issues of mutual interest.

 16:47,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Tiny Kox during the 4th Council of Europe Summit in Rejkjavik, Iceland.

Pashinyan and Kox “discussed the course of the ongoing democratic reforms in Armenia and the planned programs in this direction,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

PM Pashinyan said that strengthening democracy is a strategy for the Armenian government and that Armenia will consistently move forward on this path. Kox welcomed the policy and proactivity of the Armenian government in this direction.

Issues related to the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan were also discussed.

Pashinyan then held a brief meeting with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel.

 17:25,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire at an Armenian military position deployed in the direction of Sotk around 16:15, May 17, wounding an Armenian soldier, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Then, the Azerbaijani forces opened fire at the ambulance which was evacuating the wounded soldier. The ambulance medic was wounded in the shooting, the defense ministry said. 

The Defense Ministry said it will issue additional updates on the condition of the wounded soldier and medic.

 17:21,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. A trilateral meeting between Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov will take place in Moscow on May 19, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing, adding that the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers will also hold separate bilateral talks.

“On May 19, trilateral and separate bilateral meetings between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the foreign ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Republic of Armenia will take place in Moscow. Armenian-Azerbaijani bilateral negotiations around the peace treaty will be held separately,” she said.