7-minute read.
EU invests €70 million on educational programs in Armenia: Ambassador Maragos
A forum was held on Tuesday attended by government and EU officials to discuss education reforms in Armenia.
ME AMBASSADOR: Investments in human capital are necessary for Armenia’s competitiveness and the diversification of the economy.
The strategic cooperation between the EU and Armenia in the field of education was launched in 2019 through a comprehensive political dialog. The EU supports the implementation of the recently approved Strategy for the Development of Armenia’s Education Sector until 2030, which envisages important reforms.
(1) New STEM-science laboratories in provinces.
(2) New curricula.
(3) New schools.
(4) Develop the school management system and principles for the appointment of principals.
(5) Research towards a green economy.
(6) Evaluation of school results.
Armenian government approves €236 million loan from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to build the North-South highway in Syunik, which would halve the southern distance from 118 km to 60 km
The map: video
MINISTER THANOSYAN: The Sisian-Kajaran section of the highway with a length of about 60 km is divided into three sections – northern, Bargushat tunnel, and southern (27 km, 9 km and 24 km respectively). The cost of all three projects is estimated at €708 million. //
Today’s €236 million from EBRD, plus another €137 million from the European Investment Bank, will fund the 24 km southern section.
The average speed will increase from 50 km/h (31 mph) to 100 km/h (62 mph).
The highway section will pass near Lernadzor and Nor Astkhaberd villages in Kajaran municipality, approaching the under-construction part of the Bargushat Tunnel exit
They have to build another 5 small tunnels and 11 bridges.
It’s expected to be completed by 2030.
Armenian government approves €10 million loan from EBRD to build a customs & logistics center in Syunik
It comes with a €2 million grant from Eurobank. The center, adjacent to the North-South highway, will be built in the village of Shaki, some 7 kilometers from Sisian.
It will obviously come with solar panels, vehicle and human inspection rooms, an office for customs procedures, etc.
Aliyev’s office again "threatens" to build a route via Iran if Armenia continues to reject the surrender of a Russian-controlled corridor to Azerbaijan
Aliyev’s representative Amirbekov said the link via Iran will be "just 10 kilometers longer" than the one through Armenia. When asked whether there could be another war against Armenia, Amirbekov categorically rejected the idea.
government advances a bill to require doctors to undergo continuous professional & ethics retraining, will encourage classes by foreign experts
Today, medical workers must take classes and collect a certain number of credits in a 5-year period. How they earn the credits is up to them. It could be a class, a publication in a scientific magazine, participation in forums, etc.
HEALTH MINISTER: Currently, medical workers choose the types of classes to take. Some classes will become mandatory regardless of the specialty. For example, skills to provide emergency assistance to victims of natural disasters, knowledge of ethics code, etc.
Some medical workers will receive financial subsidies to participate in paid online classes hosted by international organizations. //
tourism stats
January-March 2024: 436K (-3% YoY)
April 2024: 164K
April 2023: 180K
April 2022: 97K
… share of tourists by country of origin
Russia: 42% (-22%)
Georgia: 14% (+15%)
Iran: 8% (+33%)
India: 3%
pro-West public figure Styopa Safaryan has prepared a video showing the delimited areas of the Baghanis-Voskepar border section near the church
The church and the surrounding territory are part of Armenia. The video shows the location of the white border markings.
France welcomes the April 19 border demarcation agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on 1991 Almaty principles
REPORTER: Other Western states have publicly welcomed the demarcation agreement. Why is France silent?
AMBASSADOR OLIVIER: It is good that the delimitation is launching. It’s even better that it relies on the Almaty Declaration. This is obviously a positive development which must continue. Armenia has expressed readiness to make certain concessions based on the Almaty Declaration and we expect Azerbaijan to also make concessions. Azerbaijan currently occupies large pieces of Armenia and they must leave those territories. The PM of France recently reminded that. So we believe this is a positive development which needs to continue.
It must start from somewhere. Tavush is a good starting point. We eagerly wait for the delimitation to continue based on the agreements reached in Prague, which is the Almaty Declaration that defined the international borders of ex-Soviet republics.
REPORTER: Is Tavush a "good" place to start, or was it the only possible option for launching the process?
AMBASSADOR: It has started and we should be positive about it.
REPORTER: The opposition parties who criticize the delimitation have announced plans to meet the ambassadors of Western states. Have you met them?
AMBASSADOR: Our embassy is open for all political parties. We have not yet met around that topic.
U.S. Ambassador welcomed the April 19 border delimitation agreement during a meeting with Armenian opposition MPs who oppose the ongoing delimitation under the 1991 Almaty borders
They discussed the US’s support for Armenia’s democratic institutions, human rights, and the AM-AZ peace process. The US supports Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, said Ambassador Kvien.
Armenian government confirms that it has no plans to help finance the Russian-led CSTO military bloc’s activities
Putin’s assistant revealed it on Tuesdayconfirmed by Armenia’s foreign ministry on Wednesday. Armenia has frozen its participation in CSTO, including in budget discussions.
French Ambassador about Armenia-EU relations
REPORTER: The former Ambassador of France said recently that the Armenian people can become a link between countries with opposing interests. Do you share this view?
OLIVIER: I think Armenia is in an interesting situation. It’s at the crossroads of Europe, Middle East, and the former USSR. This is a very interesting geopolitical position. Today the conflicts dominate but opportunities may arise again.
REPORTER: Do you see Armenia as a candidate for the EU?
OLIVIER: It’s up to Armenia to decide, and the Armenian Prime Minister has declared during his European Parliament speech…
REPORTER: … that Armenia is ready to be as close to the EU as the EU allows us?
OLIVIER: … that is a very romantic way of expressing it, I like it. It’s a love confession. Armenia is already a part of the European political community, and it is France’s policy to bring countries that share values with the EU despite not being a member of the EU. It is within this framework that the most important progress was achieved in the negotiations with Azerbaijan at the Prague meeting: the recognition of the Alma-Ata principle. Thus, Armenia already has its place in the European family. I’ve served here for 8 months already and I see a strong desire to move towards the EU. In this process, Armenia has adopted several very bold decisions, like the ratification of the Rome Statute. So it’s Armenia that must clarify its position but we already share commonalities, some common policies. Recently in Brussels, the entire range of cooperation with Europe was discussed with the representatives of your government. This wasn’t a small event. The temperature is rising.
U.S. Department of Agriculture sent representatives to discuss Armenia’s food security
They want to transition from the status quo to a "flexible public-private cooperation" system.
Pashinyan chairs the EAEU trade bloc meeting
Armenia holds the rotating presidency of the EAEU. The government delegation went to Moscow on Wednesday. The topics include negotiations with Mongolia over a temporary trade agreement, the electronic exchange of information with Vietnam, and other boring things.
… Pashinyan and Putin met after the summit
PUTIN: Armenia EAEU big trade my friend.
PASHINIAN: Let’s discuss regional and bilateral issues in private.
gross output of agriculture and livestock production grew in Q1 2024
agriculture +3.7%
livestock production +0.4%
milk -4%
eggs -6%
industrial output in Q1 2024
industrial output +30%
mining output -5%
processing industry +48%
food & drink prices in April 2024 vs April 2023
bread & grains -4%
meat -2%
seafood -6%
dairy, cheese, eggs -2%
oil -15%
fruit -5%
vegetables -8%
chocolate and sweets -3%
other food -5%
coffee +3%
mineral water +1%
vodka +10%
wine -1%
beer +5%
cigarette +8%
the government is accused of ignoring the "subpar" performance of French water management company Veolia
In 2016 Armenia signed a contract with Veolia. The company was supposed to reduce the water loss in its area of responsibility from 80% to 64% by 2023. As of last year, the losses were 69%, slightly short of the mark.
An independent environmental protection NGO says there is no hard evidence that the loss was 80% and that today it’s 69%. They believe that out of every 100 liters of water that Veolia manages, 35 are wasted during transit, 35 are stolen [presumably by water users]and only 30 is sold to consumers.
Veolia insists that the water waste was lowered from 80% to 69% and that a major contributor was the post-2019 installation of water meters at the entrance of condos.
The press accuses Veolia and the utility regulator of not acting transparently and failing to regularly disclose the company’s activities.
tens of European Parliament MPs, citing Tbilisi’s decision to adopt a Kremlin-style anti-NGO law, demand Joseph Borrell remove Georgia from the EU candidacy list
The head of the Georgian parliament dismissed the EP MPs, adding that the opinion of the European Commission is what matters and that the latter has supposedly told the Georgian government to "ignore" the European Parliament MPs [presumably on a different occasion in the past]. The Georgian parliament leader sees "zero chance" of Georgia being removed from the EU candidacy list.
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan hosted families of political prisoners
Aliyev regime arrested tens of journalists and opposition activists since late 2023 after the worsening of AZ-West relations.
EMBASSY: The United States believes strongly that an independent civil society is an integral part of a functioning and responsive society and that those unjustly detained should be released to be able to continue their important work.
Armenia grants asylum to a Belarusian man Yaroslav Novikov accused by the Lukashenko regime of evading army service
At least one other Belarusian man, Maxim Vaitkiavichus, has applied for asylum in Armenia.
cars with Russian flags and no license plates were reportedly seen driving on the streets of Yerevan on Wednesday
justice reforms: a new independent body will evaluate judges
U.S. experts visited Armenia to meet representatives of the Armenian government, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the parliament to discuss justice reforms in the area of assessing the judges’ performance. A new system will be introduced.
some gross motherfucker attempted to smuggle meth into Sevan prison by absorbing it into socks
Caught and arrested. 10 points for creativity.
Jermuk cute under snow
Take a good look before Nikol gives it away.
https://old.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/1cnk0j0/france_us_welcome_tavush_border_delimitation/
Posted by ar_david_hh
4 Comments
The French ambassador’s words are reassuring.
Hope our government is working closely with them on this.
Pretty big deal! Hope it does not take a decade!
Armenian government approves €236 million loan from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to build the North-South highway in Syunik, which would halve the southern distance from 118 km to 60 km
>[source,](https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/item/2024/05/08/Nikol-Pashinyan-met-with-Vladimir-Putin/)
Why do Nikol Pashinyan and Vladimir Putin use different last names in their quotes from the meeting’s press release? (**Nikol Vovaevich** and **Vladimir Vladimirovich**). I’m American, I’ve never seen this before afaik
Meth is becoming a massive problem in Armenia, mostly because of how taboo it is to talk about and idiot qyarts do it because they saw on tv hwo cool boys snort white powder.
If nothing is done to educate people on meth the Mashtots is gonna become a skid row