7 minutes of Armenia coverage by Transcaucasian Telegraph. Too lazy for a headline today.
anti-corruption: At the request of Pashinyan administration, the U.S. will confiscate and sell the mega-mansion purchased by Serj-era IRS chief Gagik Khachatryan’s family
The mansion, located in Los Angeles’s Holmby Hills luxury neighborhood, will be sold at a market value. The investigation against this 2,800 m2 property began in 2022.
The property was purchased in 2011 with $22 million transferred by Sedrak Arustamyan, the right-hand man of Armenia’s richest man Gagik Tsarukyan who has ties to former regimes.
Khachatryans deny wrongdoing and say the money was a result of legal transactions, while U.S. and Armenian authorities argue bribery was at the center.
The U.S. Justice Department today announced it has reached a settlement for the civil forfeiture case. The mansion, which is worth $46 million today, will be sold. The U.S. wants to keep 85% and give some or most of it to Armenia. Khachatryans will be allowed to keep 15%.
Regular readers of Transcaucasian Telegraph know from the May 3 report that Armenian authorities are negotiating asset forfeiture deals with their foreign counterparts for them to keep a percentage of confiscated properties as a compensation for their cooperation.
Similarly, in the case of Khachatryan’s mansion, Armenian Prosecutor General Vardapetyan’s office is negotiating with the U.S. to keep some, and return the "vast majority" of the amount to Armenia after the sale of the mansion. According to the U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. offices that brought the case intend to recommend the transfer of "some or all the forfeited proceeds to the Republic of Armenia."
weekend recap
• PM Pashinyan congratulated Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian. "The continuous deepening of warm relations between Armenia and Iran is of particular importance in the context of both bilateral cooperation and regional stability and prosperity."
• Armenia and the United States will hold a weeklong joint military exercise "Eagle Partner 2024" in Armenia starting July 15. Armenian peacekeepers, US ground forces in Europe, and Kansas National Guard will take part. Similar exercises were held in September 2023.
"Working side by side with our Armenian partners in exercises such as Eagle Partner strengthens the trust and friendships between our nations and the men and women of our military services," said Brig. Gen. Michael Venerdi.
• Armenia’s nuclear expert committee is using the IAEA methodology to analyze various nuclear reactor options. They will present the preliminary report to the Armenian government in late fall so it can decide by spring 2025 on what to build. Armenia wants to sign the 123 Agreement with the United States to unlock the ability to access American and South Korean nuclear technologies. South Korea uses American tech in its reactors. Armenia has done its legal paperwork to sign the 123 Agreement and is waiting for the United States to complete its part.
• Ruling party MPs visited the newly delimited borders in Tavush and took photos and videos near the new border fence with barb wires, days after the leader of Russian-backed protest movement Bagrat Galstanyan claimed that no fence existed there, suggesting that an earlier photo of the fence was taken on the border with Iran. The residents of Tavush later corrected Galstanyan, pointing him in the direction of the fence.
• Pashinyan visited the border fence. Farmers will be able to use the land "up to the last centimeter" before reaching the fence, said the border agent. video,
• Pashinyan visited Kirants, Tavush, to observe the construction of the new road for the border village. This road, connecting Kirants to Acharkut, will accept traffic by the end of this month. The second road, the main one, is also under construction. video, video,
• Pashinyan visited northeastern Armenia affected by floods to observe the reconstruction efforts. The Khashtarak bridge was damaged. Construction crews are building a small temporary bridge parallel to it. video,
• Construction is underway to renovate Yerevan’s Botanical Garden and build a new Park of Life. video,
• Armenians celebrated Vardavar by watering each other and washing the statues. video of preparation, video of celebrations in Yerevan, another video of celebration in Yerevan, they got the black guy,
• Around 30 court offices across Armenia are being renovated with "humane" conditions. video,
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Germany is helping Armenia meet EU standards after the "upgrade" of political relations in late 2023: VIDEO
Last month state agencies of Armenia and Germany met to discuss the progress on the implementation of several programs, mostly funded by Germany.
The programs relate to water use efficiency, Kaps reservoir, SME support, solar panel installations, municipal management support and staff retraining, etc.
German Embassy says it sees great potential in the areas of tourism, winemaking, etc. In addition to improving standards, Armenian manufacturers must replace their aging production lines with modern equipment to save on energy and lower production costs to become competitive in the European market, said the Embassy.
Germany was Armenia’s largest European trade partner last year. The number of German tourists has increased by 23%. Germany is the second largest donor state for Armenia.
Armenia’s poultry industry is developing: VIDEO
A third of the annual 45,000 tons of poultry consumed in Armenia is produced domestically. Most imports come from Georgia.
Domestic firms have applied for government assistance to modernize their factories with new equipment, as part of a modernization subsidy program.
Armenian producers complain about some importers advertising their frozen products as fresh.
USAID Administrator Samantha Power is in Armenia again
Power will stay in Armenia until July 11 to affirm the United States’ deepening partnership with Armenia, highlight USAID’s support for the Government of Armenia’s reform agenda, and advance efforts to enhance Armenia’s resilience.
She will also meet business leaders, youth and media representatives, and Nagorno-Karabakh refugees.
National Security Council, presided by PM Pashinyan, met on Monday to discuss the integration of an automated unified management system in the army
… and biological security.
Yerevan could have a new "state-of-the-art" mini-stadium constructed from prefabricated sandwich panels
YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY: The project will cost ֏800M ($2M). We are working with international partners and experts to bring this ambitious project to life.
The new stadium will have a seating capacity of over 1,000 spectators and will be equipped to host training sessions as well as major international tournaments and competitions across various sports disciplines. The building will span 60×80 meters, featuring a multifunctional field measuring 40×20 meters with a height of 9-10 meters, suitable for a variety of sports activities.
The phase to design it will last 5 months. The technical and economic feasibility study is underway.
video of a crane collapsing in Yerevan
gourmet stopover in the Armenian capital
French outlet Le Devoir about Armenian cuisine.
Golden Apricot Film Festival kickstarts in Yerevan
Kevin Spacey said he managed to get wet upon landing in Yerevan in the middle of Vardavar celebrations.
bears are entering Armenian villages more frequently as a result of climate change
There were 18 visits to the village of Yeghegis in April alone. They attacked dozens of chickens, rabbits, and beehives.
Experts believe the intrusions are a result of changing habitat and food sources in the wilderness, driven by climate change.
what will the introduction of universal healthcare change in Armenia?
Regular readers know from July 1 telegraph that Armenia will borrow $110 million from World Bank to implement universal healthcare coverage.
The UHC is a prerequisite for the EU visa liberalization and aims to make a broad range of services free for Armenian residents in exchange for a monthly fee, subsidized by the government for low-income residents.
The World Bank has approved a $110 million loan for Armenia.
Although Armenia’s health indicators have improved in recent decades for maternal and child health outcomes, non-communicable diseases still account for the largest share of deaths and illnesses. Low government spending on healthcare and the inefficiencies in the health system contribute to high costs, resulting in high out-of-pocket payments. Armenia’s share of these payments for health out of current health expenditures (81.4 percent in 2021) is among the highest in the world.
World Bank official:
Armenia’s high private health care costs are an outlier in the world with adverse effects on the quality of services provided to citizens. Ongoing reforms intend to create better financial and regulatory incentives for the provision of quality healthcare
The broader reform has the potential for fundamentally altering the disease patterns within the Armenian population and making health care more affordable for the population
About the universal healthcare plan and its financing:
The approved operation will use a Program-for-Results (PforR) financing instrument, which links the disbursement of funds directly to the achievement of specific program results. It will support an ambitious health reform in the country that includes introducing mandatory health insurance.
In addition to the measures for improving the quality of health services, the reforms will aim to increase the efficiency of government health spending such as the adoption of external reference pricing mechanism, which applies international price comparisons to selected publicly financed essential medicines.
World Bank research shows that 1 in 5 Armenians avoid a doctor’s office for financial reasons. Patients pay 81% of healthcare costs out of pocket today, with the state covering 19%. That’s going to change with the enrollment of UHC, said World Bank rep. Carolin Geginat, adding that there are 3 major ways the government will reduce expenditures. For example, the single-payer system will allow the government to negotiate the price of medicine and lower its cost by purchasing it in large quantities. It reduced the cost by 40% in neighboring Georgia.
The $110 million loan will help the Health and Finance ministries to implement the UHC, which will be a multi-year effort.
ruling party introduces a bill to amend the laws regulating abortion and women’s reproductive rights
The main purpose is to bring the language in line with international standards and practices and to remove ambiguous language. Some of this stuff already exists in the current law.
QP MP ZEYNALYAN: The amendments will make abortion more accessible and safer. In the current legislation, abortion is allowed only in hospital conditions with instrumental methods. But in line with the development of modern medicine, there are medicines that can be used to carry out harmless termination of pregnancy. According to the instructions of the World Health Organization (WHO), medical abortion is allowed up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, but since this regulation is new for us, sufficient experience must be accumulated, so for now, medical abortion will be possible at 8 weeks of pregnancy.
The age limit of persons having the right to use assisted reproductive technologies will be raised to 55.
The age limit for becoming a surrogate mother was also revised, increasing it from 35 to 38 years old.
Provisions have been added regarding the storage, export, import and destruction of gametes. //
• Surgical abortion continues to be legal upon request within the first 12 weeks, or 22 weeks if approved by the doctor. The law will not require the husband to be informed about abortion in advance.
• The resolution will likely see changes before it’s introduced for a vote. This was a preliminary discussion at a committee level.
https://old.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/1dymi3p/transcaucasian_telegraphs_july82024_report_has/
Posted by ar_david_hh
1 Comment
> The mansion, which is worth $46 million today, will be sold. The U.S. wants to keep 85% and give some or most of it to Armenia. Khachatryans will be allowed to keep 15%.
Why the F do these thieves get to keep over 6 million dollars from the sale of the mansion? Still an injustice.