2020 May 14

Anti-Corruption Daily

May/14/2020 News: (1) Housing subsidies to boost birthrate (2) 18th aid package (3) Church about child abuse convention (4) Hay Park (5) Judge's private info leaked (6) Military audit stats (7) COVID vs Marriages & Tourism (8) Masks required; Transport & preschools; Max 5 people (9) Visitors' fate..
by ar_david_hh

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.

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Church goes easy on Lanzarote Convention

Parliament ratified the Lanzarote Convention to reduce child sexual abuse.

The church says some of its wording has raised concerns among some people, so the govt should do better to inform the public on what exactly the convention does, to address the concerns. The memo states that the church welcomes reasonable steps to reduce child exploitation.

https://news.am/arm/news/578700.html

Felony case after Roboserj activists leak personal info of the judge...

...who kept Kocharyan in jail. Judge Anna Danibekyan underwent surgery a few weeks ago. The former regime's media activists circulated her personal medical info. The Supreme Court condemned the move and asked prosecutors to investigate.

There is now a felony case for "illegal gathering and publishing protected info."

Judge Anna Danibekyan is the one who was earlier chased and harassed by Rob's bloggers for her first verdict to keep Kocharyan in jail. Yesterday she gave a similar verdict to keep him in jail.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187913

Audits in the military for 1Q2020 vs 1Q2019

Military prosecutors audited +52% cases (total 119).

3x more felony cases.

4x more warnings to recover state property.

75% more suggestions aimed at govt to prevent future abuse.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1015307.html

QP MP sues activists over cigarette smuggling rumors

The cigarette story was twisted by former regime's activists and blamed on QP MP Hakobyan (Pashinyan's brother-in-law).

The MP decided to sue the activists for alleged defamation. The defendants will be Adekvad Danielyan, VETO Samsonyan, as well as two other anti-QP political figures.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187802 , https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/giitpc/may122020_news_1_ejmiatsin_mayor_accuses_mafiosi/? , https://factor.am/249895.html

COVID stats

+142 infected. +72 healed. Active 2218 (not all require hospital care). Artsakh has 20.

600 have pneumonia, 30% of whom without symptoms. 66 serious. 33 critical.

Armenia has 100 lung ventilators (soon 170). Only 6 are being used.

The intensity index is 1.48.

YoY deaths are down because people stayed home and didn't hurt themselves on the streets.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187876 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187877 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187930 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187932 , https://factor.am/249997.html

COVID vs Economy

53k fewer tourists arrived in Q1 YoY. That's a $41mln loss (20bln Drams).

Q2 will be worse, with 458k fewer tourists (in Q1+Q2). That's $353mln loss (173bln).

Two major festivals about Tolma and Yerevan Wine were canceled.

https://factor.am/250098.html

COVID vs Marriages

March-April 2019: 2639 marriages & 625 divorces

March-April 2020: 1211 marriages & 472 divroces

https://www.civilnet.am/news/2020/05/14/Ինչպես-է-կարանտինն-ազդել-ամուսնությունների-և-ամուսնալուծությունների-քանակի-վրա/384804

COVID vs prisoners

Justice Minister Badasyan:

Prisons will begin to allow family to visit and bring food to inmates once a week.

Prisons are safer than outside. 0 infections. Eventually, some will be infected, but that's expected. Since Armenia has one of the best Prison Load Index at 43%, we have no issue with social distancing.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187889 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187899

It's officially out of control

Govt was unable to find every circle of every infected person. Some people don't even know how they got it. Armenia has entered the final 3rd stage where COVID is "in the community".

Nonetheless, they continue the practice of identifying as many contact circles as possible.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187898 , https://factor.am/250109.html

Ministers are quarantined

Employees at Infrastructure and Healthcare Ministries got COVID. Ministers Papikyan and Torosyan quarantined themselves.

Both Ministers tested negative. They'll remain isolated.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187891 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187901 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187916 , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1015330.html

When will govt re-introduce restrictions?

Govt extended the Emergency Situation by another month, while gradually easing the restrictions. LHK is against the emergency extension, saying "it's illegal and govt is doing it for political reasons" (probably refers to delaying the referendum).

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Pashinyan: 75% have no symptoms. It's hard to convince some patients that they were sick. Some citizens think COVID is a hoax.

The initial restrictions gave healthcare system time to expand by 5x.

If at any time >1,500 people need active hospital care, we'll re-introduce movement restrictions to avoid the "Italian scenario" which could give us 10,000 deaths.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187880 , https://factor.am/249850.html

Transport and kindergartens to resume with safety requirements

Businesses began re-opening at some capacity earlier. Someone has to watch the kids while parents are at work, and someone has to take parents to work.

Public transport will resume on May 18th.

Kindergartens will reopen on May 18th. A survey was conducted to find the parents who returned to work, and ask if they need to send their kids to kindergarten. The majority believe it's safe.

"Please don't take your child to kindergarten unless it's absolutely necessary," said deputy PM Avinyan.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187924 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187931 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187934 , https://factor.am/250014.html

Masks will be required...

...in open public and closed public areas, beginning May 25th. Police will ticket the violators. Homemade cloth-mask can be used.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187929 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187937

Complaints about gloves

QP MP: gloves worn by cafe workers can transmit COVID. They use the same gloves to handle food, then cash, before cleaning the table. Isn't it better to require bare hands that are sanitized frequently?

Deputy PM Avinyan: there is truth to it, but gloves are known to reduce mechanical habitual touching of the face. There are ways to sanitize gloves.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187939

What to do with new arrivals?

BHK MP: airlines will soon resume operations. We can't quarantine everyone in hotels and hospitals. Should we require them to take a COVID test before arrival, and to self-isolate upon arrival?

Avinyan: we'll require them to self-quarantine at home. They'll be monitored and penalized for violating it.

https://factor.am/250031.html

Armenia is split into 119...

...each region will have a group of experts who'll travel around and make sure the self-quarantined residents don't leave their homes.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/187965 , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/187959

sticter large gathering restrictions

Public events cannot have more than 5 participants. Earlier 20 were allowed.

https://factor.am/250042.html

Govt approves 18th COVID aid package

Businesses with <100 employees, that didn't do layoffs or didn't significantly reduce salaries since the Emergency, will qualify. Every 5th worker's salary will be paid by the govt.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1015281.html

Lithuania sent aid...

...11k masks and PPE produced by Lithuanian businesses.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187883

update: the new undercover road police...

...will only monitor specific areas to catch reckless drifters and other major violators, but not Level 1 Crooks, said the police to address some concerns about over-policing.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187892

3-year tax waivers were given...

...to Nanman Co (textile) and Green Farmer Co (agriculture) to invest billions, create 49 jobs, expand their large fruit gardens, build a big agricultural refrigerator to keep the fruits fresh for 14 months.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187909

The man who was attacked by a rare leopard...

... tells the story on video: I heard a growl near these rocks and moments later saw a big mouth and an incoming leopard. Reflexively I raised my hand to defend. She grabbed my hand for 4 seconds then knocked me down and began dragging towards the cave. I grabbed the rifle and shot in the air twice. That scared her away. No injuries to the leopard, as seen in recent CCTV footage.

(There is a 100-500mln penalty for harming a leopard. It was recently raised from ~2mln. Unclear whether he would be penalized, though.)

https://youtu.be/f5jMxN-p07E?t=96

Abovyan's state college area will have a...

...new loft-style public library, created by Smart Foundation and Governor. Almost finished. It'll have rooms for classes besides a reading area.

https://www.1lurer.am/hy/2020/02/18/Աբովյանը-loft-ոճի-հանրային-գրադարան-կունենա/192583

President Sarkissian wasn't bluffing...

... about his idea to create a new 103ha Hay Park near Tsitsernakaberd

Today he met Yerevan mayor, chief architect, All-Armenia Fund, and others. World-renowned "Randle Siddeley Associates" park designer firm earlier examined the area and made an offer.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187933 , https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/g4yz2m/apr202020_daily_news_digest_student_loan/

Sucker News

Henrikh Mkhitaryan's transfer from Arsenal to Roma is stalled again after Roma refused to pay $15mln.

Someone create a GoFundMe so we can buy this homeless kid and send him back to Armenia.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1015296.html

Housing aid to boost the birthrate

Govt approved the 2020-2023 housing aid package for families "to boost the birthrate". It'll apply to families who have small kids and expect a new birth after July/1/2020.

Down-payment subsidy equaling ~10% of apartment cost, one-time cash to buy a home in a province, mortgage aid, mortgage insurance aid.

Aid equaling 10% of the outstanding principal balance for 1st and 2nd kids, or 50% for 3rd++ kids. (Aid % is cut in half in Yerevan, some restrictions apply.)

If the mother is under-25, the aid is increased in half.

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Apartment price is limited to 30mln, but goes up +5mln for every 3rd and subsequent childbirth. The one-time cash aid for a newborn child will be automatically used to pay back the mortgage.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187895 , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1015280.html

Amended rules will make it easier for contractor soldiers to obtain free housing

Less paperwork, less beurocracy. The process will become "significantly shorter" than the current 3 months.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/187904

Daily life at Berqaber..

...the village under Azeri sniper fire.

https://youtu.be/7RdARPDsA3E

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/gjt1mm/may142020_news_1_housing_subsidies_to_boost/