Category: 2023

 14:13,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan held a meeting with the new Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Armenia Chang Hojin.

Speaker Simonyan congratulated the South Korean Ambassador on assuming office and said that the development of cooperation with countries of East Asia, including with Korea, is highlighted in the Armenian foreign policy agenda, the parliament’s press service said in a read-out.

The role of the friendship groups was highlighted in the parliamentary format in the relations of the two countries.

A discussion took place around the development and strengthening of bilateral relations between Armenia and Korea, with both sides expressing desire to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in a number of sectors. In this context, the Speaker and the Ambassador attached importance to opening the Embassy of Korea in Armenia, which will allow to ensure big progress in the Armenian-Korean relations.

Speaking about the Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia’s territorial integrity and the blockade against the Armenians of Artsakh, the Speaker of Parliament appreciated Korea’s balanced position in the NK issue.

 14:33,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The director of the Surmalu trade center of Yerevan has been arrested in the ongoing criminal investigation into the August 14, 2022 deadly explosion at the trade center’s warehouse.

Surmalu director Irina Madatova has been taken into custody, the Office of the Prosecutor-General told ARMENPRESS.

4 people, including the trade center’s deputy director are facing criminal charges in the investigation.

Authorities had earlier said that fire safety violations and illegal storage of pyrotechnics were the cause of the fire and subsequent explosion.

The August 14, 2022 explosion in Surmalu trade center killed 16 people and injured over 60 others.

 12:32,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The government of Armenia will sign a 250,000,000 dollar agreement with Lydian Armenia, the company who owns the license to operate the Amulsar gold mine, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan told lawmakers at the parliamentary committee on economic affairs.

“Today at 17:00, we will sign a 250,000,000 dollar package, which will allow to restart the operations of one more mine, regarding which there are obligations for a long time, Lydian, Amulsar,” Kerobyan said at a discussion.

The agreement mentioned by Kerobyan is a trilateral MoU between the Armenian government, the Eurasian Development Bank and Lydian Armenia.

 14:40,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will receive 12,5% shares of Lydian Armenia for the company to resume operations, the Ministry of Economy told ARMENPRESS.

Furthermore, the Armenian government will not make any spending.

Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan earlier said that a $250,000,000 agreement will be signed with Lydian Armenia, the operator of the Amulsar gold mine, which will restart operations.

Asked whether or not the government is buying $250,000,000 in shares of the company, the ministry said the government is not making any spending. “No, the government isn’t spending anything,” a ministry official told ARMENPRESS.

 20:19,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. On February 21, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received the delegation headed by Edouard Philippe, the former Prime Minister of France, Mayor of Le Havre and President of Le Havre Seine Metropole, with the participation of parliamentarians, public and political figures, ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia.

The interlocutors commended the privileged relations between Armenia and France characterized by a high-level political dialogue and an expanding multi-faceted bilateral agenda․ They also touched upon the prospects of Armenian-French cooperation.

The agenda of the meeting included issues of regional security and stability.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia highly appreciated the targeted assessments and efforts of the French side at different levels and formats, including the members of the delegation, aimed at establishing peace in the South Caucasus and addressing the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

The sides also highlighted the importance of deploying a new EU Civilian Monitoring Mission in Armenia.

 21:08,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. The development of cooperation with China is in the series of the foreign political priorities of the Armenian Government. High level of political dialogue was formed between Armenia and China, more than 5 dozen agreements and memoranda were signed and political consultations are held, ARMENPRESS reports, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Mnatsakan Safaryan said during the debate of the draft law on Ratifying the Agreement on Technical-Economic Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Government of the People’s Republic of China at the sitting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport on February 21. The Agreement was signed on November 15, 2021.

The Deputy Minister informed that during the past more than 3 decades a number of agreements on technical-economic cooperation were signed, which essentially promote the deepening of cooperation existing in a number of spheres.

As a result of ratification of the Agreement under debate, China will provide free of charge assistance in amount of 100 million Chinese Yuan, which will be used for designing, construction of the broadcasting hall of the Public Television and implementation of other inter-agreed projects.

The Committee endorsed the draft law.

 20:34,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. The US President Joe Biden's administration has expressed readiness to meet with Russian partners to discuss the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction and Limitation Treaty, in which Russia recently suspended participation, ARMENPRESS reports, Gazeta website informed, citing the representative of the National Security Council of the White House.

"We are ready to meet with Russia to discuss issues related to the treaty and nuclear stability," the US official said.

The US administration has also announced its willingness to work on key arms control measures.

In his address to the Federal Assembly, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, informed that Moscow is suspending the participation in the "Treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms", signed in 2010.

 21:40,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. According to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Galuzin, the decision of Brussels to launch an EU civilian mission in Armenia has a clear geopolitical context, which does not contribute to real stabilization in Transcaucasia, ARMENPRESS reports the Russian Foreign Ministry said, noting that the Russian diplomat announced this during a telephone conversation with Toivo Klaar, the EU's special representative in the South Caucasus.

On the initiative of the EU side, on February 21, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Galuzin, and the Co-Chair of the International Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasia, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar, held a telephone conversation.

While discussing the topic of normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, Mikhail Galuzin noted that Brussels' decision to launch an EU civilian mission in Armenia has a clear geopolitical context, which does not contribute to real stabilization in Transcaucasia. The lack of consensus between Baku and Yerevan on this initiative was emphasized.