2020 June 7

Anti-Corruption Daily

Jun/7/2020 News: (1) Dodi Gago comes out swinging (2) Armenian cards game (3) Good guy Colorado (4) Fake news for your entertainment (5) COVID unleashes hell (6) Crime plummets because of COVID (7) Internal tourism (8) Export stats (9) COVID donations (10) Major roads connecting Armenia-Artsakh
by ar_david_hh

---

Colorado State House...

... passed a bill to require Armenian and Jewish Genocide studies in the High School curriculum. ANCA sent a note of gratitude to their partner organizations for helping to lobby for the bill.

http://asbarez.com/194570/colorado-house-passes-bill-on-holocaust-armenian-genocide-education/

BHK leader Dodi Gago

...sharply criticized the Pashinyan administration with various accusations about "political persecutions", "failure to keep their promises to people" and said 100% of govt members must resign. He urged a consolidation against Pashinyan and will hold discussions with other parties.

--

Pashinyan's office responded saying Dodi Gago is making desperate comments because he knows his past tax evasions, illegal property dealings, voter fraud, etc. are being actively investigated, so he sensed danger and decided to go on offense.

High Tech Minister indirectly called Gago an illiterate man who calls others inexperienced.

Context: Two of Gago's top company directors are facing felony charges. The most famous money laundering case involving UCOM-owner is about Gago's director allegedly bribing HHK regime to allow Gago to evade taxes/laws.

https://youtu.be/EolAGj-6tOc

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189622

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189624

http://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/281759/

Russian outlet publishes cigarette smuggling "fake news"

Context: HHK-linked businessmen allegedly smuggled cigarettes to Russia and got caught. Serj's fugitive son-in-law published a conspiracy theory blaming the smuggling on Pashinyan family.

Today a Russian website vestivrn.ru published a story claiming another smuggling incident occurred and promoted fugitive Minasyan's accusations against Pashinyan.

Armenian IRS contacted its Russian colleagues for info and says this story was fake news.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1017685

https://web.archive.org/save/https://vestivrn.ru/news/2020/06/05/v-voronezhe-zaderzhali-samolyot-iz-erevana-s-16-tonnami-nelegalnykh-sigaret/

Bill Gates strikes again

This time his target is Healthcare Minister Torosyan. /s

Anti-vaxx Facebook user shared a photo of Torosyan with "Gavi Alliance" logo on the background.

"Torosyan is a member of Gavi Alliance funded by Bill Gates. It vaccinates kids in poor countries. We won't let you [Torosyan] vaccinate us and our kids. You must resign," wrote the anti-vaxx activist. It reached news sites like armday.am

--

What is Gavi Alliance? It vaccinates half of the world's kids, including 760mln poor kids who couldn't afford to buy it. They do so by working with vaccine companies to reduce the price for poor countries.

Bill Gates essentially pays the bill for poor kids. I REPEAT. Bill Gates is not shoving expensive vaccines in kids' throats to make money. It's the opposite.

--

Up until 2019 Armenia was considered poor, so it qualified for Gavi's hepatitis, diphtheria etc. vaccines.

In 2019 Armenia crossed the GDP-per-capita limit and now pays the full price. (no pun intended)

Minister Torosyan became Gavi board member in July-2019 after Armenia was already excluded form handouts.

https://fip.am/11741

https://www.facebook.com/ani.kaghinyan/posts/2752290108233469

Lt. General's wedding party

The chief of general staff of armed forces Lt. Gen Artak Davtyan is in hot water for organizing his son's wedding during COVID.

The army man, however, says they followed the regulations to limit the number of attendees and keep them apart. Hraparak outlet, however, claims there were hundreds of cars outside.

--

Pashinyan's chief of staff denied rumors by Roboserj outlets claiming that he, too, was involved with the wedding. The official asked the outlets to retract the "misinformation."

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1017712.html

https://armeniasputnik.am/armenia/20200607/23306165/zu-glxavor-shtapi-peti-vordu-harsaniqner.html

COVID stats

+776 infected. +294 healed. +10 deaths.

8844 active. 4014 healed. 200 deaths.

1 prisoner infected.

--

34% more women got infected.

Deaths: 58% men, 42% women.

--

Artsakh has 28 active, 31 healed, 70 isolated, 0 deaths.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189657

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189671

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189679

https://factor.am/257321.html

leave my hand, man

Cops arrested a mask-less man who began yelling and complaining about a rough treatment. "Leave my hand, man. Leave my hand. Your president will pay a big price."

https://youtu.be/xIMbA8zizU4?t=262

overall deaths are down this year

COVID messed up stats for some illnesses. 100 fewer people died from cancer this year. A cancer patient, who was "soon going to die from cancer", ended up dying from COVID. COVID essentially "stole" the statistic from cancer.

Armenia is among the countries that records these deaths as being from COVID, and not cancer. These deaths account for ~40% of all cases.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189626

settlement is quarantined after a funeral

Dzoragyugh resident went to a funeral in a nearby settlement, caught COVID, then returned home and participated in another funeral, leading to infections in his settlement.

63 are sick. Dzoragyugh is placed on lockdown for 2 weeks.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189638 , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189645

Healthcare system on the edge / Patients die without bed

Pashinyan reports:

We believe there could be 100,000 [mostly undetected] infections in Armenia.

Despite recently adding 2,000 suitable beds and building a new facility, 200 COVID patients are currently waiting for a free bed. 3 of them died while waiting.

132 beds will be ready soon. St. Gregory hospital is building a new reanimation facility. Erebuni hospital will follow suit.

At first, we decided to introduce a widespread lockdown, but our studies concluded that it won't be effective because people don't respect quarantine orders either way.

The last few days have shown us that even if we shut down certain public places, people will take their parties home and still get infected; the only thing we would achieve is a worse economy.

The moment we believe the public will take the situation seriously and is ready to comply, we'll immediately introduce a lockdown.

We are in a critical state. The line to Hell has been crossed. Everyone must understand that they can die from COVID without making it to a hospital bed.

--

Hospital chief reports:

While the cases were mild in March, nowadays we get more serious and critical cases. Many patients delay seeking medical treatment/diagnosis. Doctors need your help. Wash your hands, wear a mask, keep a social distance.

--

Policeman reports:

We patrol roads and sidewalks. Many times the youth unnecessarily rebels and refuses to follow police instructions about masks. We'd rather not to give tickets. Respect safety.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189651

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189661

COVID aid

My Step charity foundation gave tablets to 331 rural kids so they can participate in remove classes.

Armenian-Georgian businessman Pavel Oganezov donated 10 lung vents to Armenia.

https://factor.am/257359.html

http://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/281782/

exports in Q1

Russia -11%

Swiss -22%

UAE +4.3 times

Bulgaria +21%

China +11%

Iraq -27%

Iran +56%

USA +12%

Georgia -29%

Germany -26%

Azerbaijan +0.00000001% (someone found a box of Armenian cigarettes in Azerbaijan, security forces investigating)

https://hetq.am/hy/article/117976

COVID = protectionism for tourism

They can't fly, so they stay and explore their homeland.

Every year, thousands of Armenians visit Lori's Stepanavan Dendropark nature area to witness the pollination of pine trees. Nearby hotels and restaurants boom.

Many foreigners reserve a room before visiting. This year the reservations were canceled due to COVID. Local tourism is also down.

Nevertheless, the nearby "Sochut" recreation center is happy with the current tourist numbers. It's 100% booked. Last week the Dendropark attendance was so high the govt had to throttle it after seeing the long unprotected queue lines.

Not everyone is doing as well. Grig House Eco Resort says they're 80% full, while Tej Ler is <30% capacity.

Lori Tourism Development chief says their research shows that many of these local tourists were supposed to fly abroad but couldn't, so they visited Lori instead.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189357

tons of hail fell in Goris, turning the streets white

https://youtu.be/PlCRRCWVt6Y

Update: Former Environment Minister...

... Eric Grigoryan resigned a few weeks ago. He just created a new organization consisted of dozens of experts to provide advice to counties in East Europe-Central Asia-Middle East about climate change, water management, and how to use tech to tackle problems.

http://environment.am/

lockdown's effect on crime

Crime -42% YoY in March/16 - May/14.

43% of all crime was theft, which is down by a third YoY.

https://hetq.am/hy/article/117998

notorious budka on crosshairs

Last week Yerevan council members asked the mayor to investigate a fancy budka that was recently installed on a sidewalk - between two crosswalks - blocking the way for pedestrians.

Mayor Marutyan asked Ajapnyak district chief to remove it and to investigate nearby budkas.

https://factor.am/257204.html

roads connecting Artsakh with Armenia

Two main roads are connecting Artsakh to Armenia. The central 90km road connects Goris, Armenia to Stepanakert, Artsakh. It was built after independence with the help of diasporan donations.

Diasporan donations in 2013 allowed the govt to build the second 114km road, this one in the north. It connects Vardenis, Armenia to Martakert, Artsakh.

In late-2018 the govt announced plans to build the 3rd road to connect south-central Artsakh (Hadrut region) to Armenia's Goris region. The construction begins this year. The road will allow southern Artsakh to develop faster.

President Arayik said they're negotiating with an energy firm ArtsakhEnergo to revamp the electric grid in this region by 2022.

https://www.aniarc.am/2015/06/13/karvajar-new-road-2015/

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189637

https://artsakhpress.am/arm/news/120173/arcakhy-mayr-hayreniqin-kapox-hajord-karevor-eraky-klini-khndzoresk-mekhakavan-hadrut-mayruxu-kapital-karucumy-arayik-harutyunyan-tesanyut.html

Droshapolis / Made in Lockdown

Entrepreneur Hayk Mkrtchyan got bored during the lockdown and created a new card game "Droshapolis". People have always asked him to have a board game involving flags. "I'm bad at geography so it motivated me," said Hayk.

2 players are necessary. It's family-friendly. The game has several difficulty levels controlled by the number of cards.

195 cards contain each country's capital and other famous info, but not the ones you commonly find in school books.

The group was able to print the cards once the lockdown was lifted. The first batch had to be recalled because it contained a wrong info due to an error on a computer file.

In 10 days they sold enough sets to cover the 2mln production cost.

The creator will ask the Education Ministry to license the cards as a supplementary product. If approved, geography teachers can use it during classes.

Full: https://factor.am/257415.html

This is Goshavanq

...named after Mkhitar Gosh, a priest and Armenian Renaissance figure.

Pics: https://www.civilnet.am/news/2020/06/07/Գոշավանքը․-ֆոտոշարք/386760

---

Disclaimer: All the accused are innocent until proven guilty by the court of law, even if they may sound as being guilty. Currency in Armenian Drams ֏ unless specified otherwise. Helpful overview of Armenia's media ownership and leanings.

--

Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/gyqo24/jun72020_news_1_dodi_gago_comes_out_swinging_2/