2021 December 28

Daily news wrap-up

Dec/28/2021: Govt pays university to develop drone system __ Artsakh MFA about Tanzania __ NDAA __ 35,000 officials & families to submit wealth reports __ Yerevan budget; Dead animals __ Best soccer player & coach __ How universities became politicized __ Kerfuffle in Turkey __ Competition __ NFT
by ar_david_hh

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This is your 13-minute Tuesday report in 3229 words.

national soccer team's Joaquín Caparrós is voted as coach of the year

The national soccer team played well earlier this year. Caparros had a sizeable lead over Ararat-Armenia coach Dmitri Gudko. This is his second title as the best coach.

==national team's Varazdat Haroyan is voted as soccer player of the year

The Spanish "Cádiz" defender scored 92 points, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan finished second with 62

Henrikh Mkhitaryan plans to continue to play in Italian league

He rejected a transfer offer from Moscow's "Spartak" club. Roma doesn't give him enough playtime so he plans to move to another Italian team after this season.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071856.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071880.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071830.html

Joe Biden approved the 2022 NDAA bill

Section 1302 is about Armenia. The U.S. defense agencies will have to submit a report to Congress about the 2020 war, and the use of American technologies and weapons.

It'll have info about other foreign influences, hiring of mercenaries, sale of weapons, diplomatic activities of other states during the war.

The report should mention all the violations of the November 9 agreement, including about POWs and arrested civilians.

The U.S. should double its efforts as part of the OSCE Minsk Group.

https://factor.am/458954.html https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1605/text

Pashinyan visited St. Petersbourg for an informal CIS bloc meeting

A group of men gathered to say nice things about each other before returning home to their wives.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071891.html

Yerevan will collect the bodies of dead stray animals to fight disease

The Council has decided to find and remove dead bodies and disinfect the areas in and around Yerevan.

The decision comes amid reports from the past few years that numerous stray animals were found to have a dangerous disease such as leishmaniasis, which can transfer to humans through insects.

Yerevan's Center for Stray Animal Control will be tasked with the cleanup. There are proposals to create a new crematory for animals in the Center.

A member of the Council's ruling faction accused the Center director of wasting resources and being incompetent. She asked mayor Hrachya Sargsyan to fire him.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071883.html https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/228374

Yerevan Council approves the 2022 budget and development program

25 problems will be addressed. The goal is to have a "clean, green, comfortable" city that has both "traditional and futuristic" elements.

Budget: ֏94.6 billion

Expenditures: ֏98.8 billion

2022 plans: https://www.yerevan.am/uploads/media/default/0002/03/fb0920d549fb0bc7763ac4757567288254c37fe6.pdf 2022 budget: https://www.yerevan.am/uploads/media/default/0002/03/91156d97b073d2156ed53fd715659a67303bcf7b.pdf https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071864.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071869.html

Yerevan Bus CJSC will receive ֏347M from the capital to ensure normal operation of transport

In other news, two months ago the government signed €25M worth agreements with the European EBRD bank for the purchase of natural gas-powered buses. They need hundreds of 12-meter buses. The goal is to have 845 buses of different sizes to cover the capital's public transport network.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071853.html https://www.yerevan.am/en/news/storagrvel-en-erewani-avtobowsneri-tsragir-finansavorman-ew-irakanats-man-hamadzaynagrere/

lawyers: prosecutors will not seek "assassination plot" charges against "Sisian" volunteer detachment leader Ashot Minasyan and ex-NSS chief Arthur Vanetsyan

After November 9, 2020, an audio clip was shared in which a group of men are heard expressing anger towards the Premier. They were charged with plotting to "take him out". The defense argued not enough evidence was provided about an actual plot.

Prosecutors decided to drop the plot charges. Minasyan is still facing charges regarding illegal weapon possession.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071913.html

anti-corruption: 35,000 public officials and family members will have to submit wealth declarations

Corruption Prevention Commission (CPC) reps: in 2019 the government approved the anti-corruption strategy. The CPC was formed as a preventative institute. We finalized the Commission formation this year.

We have the authority to audit officials' bank accounts for suspicious transactions. This year we inspected 2,500 declarations submitted by 170 officials throughout several years.

On June 1, a new institute of expenditure reporting was introduced. Officials are required to report expenditures/purchases that cross a certain threshold during a period.

Beginning on January 1, we will audit political parties' financial activities. Currently, there are 9,000 officials who are required to submit declarations. That number will triple and reach 35,000 when taken into account the family members.

42 investigations were launched this year. Mostly about failure to submit declaration in time or unintentionally omitting information. 5 criminal cases were sent to the prosecutor's office.

A new registry will be formed to track the gifts received by officials.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071894.html https://factor.am/458984.html

Tags: #AntiCorruption #CPC

anti-corruption: former >!Transport Minister Gagik Beglaryan!< and family visited prosecutor's office

The HHK minister and family members were asked to show "receipts" that certain properties weren't embezzled, as part of an asset forfeiture investigation that began after Beglaryan was accused of embezzling ֏230M from Yerevan kindergartens. Beglaryan is also suspected of financial crimes relating North-South highway construction.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071860.html

anti-corruption: Artsakh authorities "spare" the >!former Healthcare Minister!< after recovering ֏5.9M in damages

Prosecutors: the ex-minister was unsatisfied with the activities of the Republican Medical Center director, and instead of firing him legally, he illegally signed an order in August 2020 in a way to give the departing director ֏5.9M in wages and bonuses.

The funds have been recovered, and since the ex-minister is a war veteran with a wartime contribution in the medical field, the charges have been dropped. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071848.html

anti-corruption: the mayor of >!Lanjaghbyur (Gegharkunik)!< is charged with abuse of power

Investigative Committee: the mayor had learned about plans by telecom operators to install antennas in the village lands, so he sold the lands ahead of time to his wife, who later leased the lands to telecom operators for ֏1.2M/year. The mayor is instructed not to leave the country pending trial. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071863.html

anti-corruption: >!Goris mayor Arushanyan!< will remain in jail pending election bribery trial

Arush Arushanyan was charged with distributing bribes with the help of others to help the Kocharyan-ARF alliance (which he is a member of) in the June 20 elections.

The court denied the ֏30M bail offer.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071844.html

anti-corruption: when the >!wolf becomes the prey!<

Prosecutor's office: the NSS and ACC (Anti-Corruption Committee) have learned that on July 15 an agent at Investigative Committee began investigating a hooliganism case but intentionally covered up evidence after learning that the suspect was a friend of a friend.

The suspect got away. The investigator then took a ֏1M bribe from the suspect. The investigator is arrested. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071868.html

Artsakh MFA recalls an episode from 1990s negotiations with Azerbaijan regarding Artsakh's status:

Azerbaijan wanted Artsakh to become part of Azerbaijan but we rejected it. There was an approach of forming a "common state", offered by OSCE co-chairs in 1998. This was the first and last such approach, which was accepted by all parties as a potential negotiation solution, but not as a final option.

Azerbaijan viewed Artsakh as a maximally autonomous republic within Azerbaijan, while we viewed it as a կոնֆեդերատիվ համադաշնություն (confederacy) in which Azerbaijan and Artsakh would be equal subjects.

Azerbaijan was taking steps to block our approach, while we took steps to block theirs.

Heydar Aliyev said that if we could bring any example where two subjects with non-equal populations could be equals, he would accept our offer. We brought the example of Tanzania, which consists of two countries: Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Their disproportion was bigger than that of Artsakh and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan rejected it and ended the process. //

https://factor.am/459097.html

$5M to connect Armenia's railway to Nakhijevan, and $221 to finish the Meghri railway

Infrastructure Ministry estimates that Armenia will need $226M to build the railway that would connect Armenia to Iran and Russia via north-south and east-west routes.

Two sections need to be built. 1km in Yeraskh-Nakhijevan and 45km in Meghri-Azerbaijan. It's $226M while taking into account the old infrastructure.

https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/297621/

High-Tech Ministry gives a grant to a university to develop drone system

Russian-Armenian University signed a ֏20M agreement with the Ministry. The main goal is to create a universal system for the construction, control, and management of small to medium-sized drones, which will allow the selection of equipment needed for a specific task, while the software will be universal for all configurations.

UAVs will consist of modules. There will be several alternative physical devices for each module, depending on the problem being solved.

The project is implemented within the framework of two new master's degree programs of the university: "Intelligent Systems & Robotics" and "Wireless Communication & Sensors".

14 students will take part. They'll get paid $400/mo.

https://factor.am/459313.html

Minister: Armenia's politicized universities used to transfer "fees" every year to organizations linked to the former regime

Pashinyan recently said they want to put an end to political activism by universities by sending "their representatives" to university boards to serve as a balancing force.

Education Minister Dumanyan: MOD Suren Papikyan was recently nominated and voted as the board chairman of Yerevan State University. He was a YSU student and had a very active role in his years. He is thoroughly familiar with YSU.

Papikyan is there to prevent the old practices in which YSU would allocate ֏120M/year from its already-small budget to certain organizations. And it's not just YSU that was doing this. We should prevent that from happening again.

At the same time, we had drafted a bill that would ban those with political positions from being on the university board of trustees. The bill was struck down by Constitutional Court due to some problematic parts about rectors.

Meanwhile, we couldn't sit and do nothing. The universities were in a crisis with the inability to form boards. We are forming them today under the current rules, which states half of the members are appointed by the Ministry.

When the newly proposed bill is approved, those with political positions will be prohibited from being board members.

The level of "politicization" of a university should be measured by the decisions made by the university. Can you explain why cash-strapped YSU was "donating" over 125 million a year to the Youth Foundation? What was this, if not a political move? As a board member, at the time I proposed donating half of that sum to the All Armenia Fund instead. They rejected it. The university wasn't independent of the government. If our administration forces universities to make similar donations today, only then you can accuse us of politicizing universities.

Mr. Papikyan and I are discussing reforms in the conscript draft process to prevent education disruption for certain professions. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071870.html https://factor.am/458994.html https://youtu.be/sITBdDno7yg

Education Minister Dumanyan reviewed the year:

The university admission system will change in 2023-2024. If you fail for any reason, you have to wait a year. We want to give you another chance. The exam can be taken twice. We want to reduce stress for school graduates. The unified exams are already stressful enough.

Modular kindergartens were built in 20 settlements to increase access to preschool education.

Alternative pre-school services were introduced in 10 settlements. Each received ֏7.8M grants. The state will provide funds per preschool student.

We need quality education in preschools. New standards were approved. New programs were developed based on the standards.

88 schools were renovated or rebuilt.

335 science subject laboratories were provided to 107 schools. Another 80 are underway in Syunik province, ahead of new experimental standards.

14 engineering labs will be built in Kapan settlements.

Scientists will receive a significant raise starting in 2022, until 2025.

The culture budget has been restored to ֏1.6B for 2022 after this year's drop.

Hundreds of diasporan teachers were retrained and diasporan education centers were supplied with thousands of Armenian books. //

More: https://youtu.be/Ns13wHgwOZU https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071896.html https://factor.am/458961.html

Turkey news: economy

>Turkey's lira weakened by as much as 2% on Tuesday, extending sharp losses seen a day earlier and eroding massive gains made last week, as worries about the country's monetary policy weighed on sentiment.

>Lira 37% weaker against dollar this year despite rebound

One low-income resident of Istanbul asked a bazaar trader if she could collect the disposed fruits and vegetables. She opened her wallet to prove it's empty. "I had 100 liras but it wasn't enough for everything. If I buy fruits, I can't buy vegetables. What can we do if we have 3-4 children," said the woman before thanking the generous seller. "Nobody has money. May God help those who are in need." The reporters observed several similar encounters between sellers and customers.

Turkey news: Erdogan vs opposition

Erdogan launched a massive crackdown against his main CHP opposition party in Istanbul. An "anti-terror" campaign was organized against 550 municipal workers. The usual "PKK" and "Gulenist" reasons were given.

CHP party, which had won the Istanbul elections years earlier, believes that Erdogan wants to hijack the city hall.

==Turkey news: polls

Bianet survey:

Ankara mayor Yavaş 54.4% vs Erdogan 32.2%

Instanbul mayor İmamoğlu 48.7% vs Erdogan 36.6%

Ruling alliance 30.4% vs Opposition alliance 32.3% (without counting HDP's 9.1%)

Aksoy survey:

60% distrust Erdogan's ability to fix the economy. That includes 33% of ruling AKP and 44% of ruling MHP voters. That number is 85-95% among opposition voters.

Turkey news: things get crazy

The Kurdish HDP party office in Istanbul was attacked by an armed assailant. He entered the office and threatened to kill everyone. One person was stabbed. The assailant was chased out and hid at a nearby bakery before being arrested.

https://www.duvarenglish.com/turks-suffering-from-poverty-collect-vegetables-thrown-away-by-sellers-news-59978 https://bianet.org/english/politics/255426-poll-erdogan-trails-both-imamoglu-and-yavas-by-over-10-points https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/turkish-lira-weakens-further-eroding-last-weeks-gains-2021-12-28/ https://factor.am/458900.html https://factor.am/459349.html https://factor.am/459264.html https://apnews.com/article/europe-middle-east-turkey-recep-tayyip-erdogan-istanbul-1567059362ea68023b423499a086f42e https://factor.am/459331.html

remember the Azeri journalist who confronted Pashinyan in a Paris church in 2019?

Ata Abdullayev has been sentenced to 7 years in prison. He denied committing financial crimes. "He stated that he knew what his guilt was, and repeatedly apologized for his actions."

Abdullayev had already served sentences for draft evasion and theft, years earlier.

https://regionmonitor.com/language/ru/41019/ https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/297641/

State Competition Commission reviewed the year

major acquisitions of the year

1) In the fuel market, Petrol Market's 100% shares were purchased by a group of businesses. They own the GULF brand. A new fuel player will enter the Armenian market soon.

>In August 2015, Russian Rosneft acquired 100% stake in Petrol Market LLC, which owned a network of gasoline stations and an oil storage facility in Armenia

2) Russian GeoPromining gold miner acquired 60% of Zangezur plant shares from other shareholders [and gave 25% to Armenia for nationalization].

3) Rostelecom was purchased by the Electric Networks of Armenia and private entities.

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investigating anti-competitive practices

2 cases of anti-competitive agreements.

15 abuse of dominant position

11 undeclared market concentration practices

13 public procurement processes investigated

4 cases against state agencies for anticompetitive actions

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eggs

We examined egg prices this year and found abuse of dominant position. The prices were unjustified. [likely about the pre-Easter price hike].

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Covid tests

PCR test company signed an anticompetitive agreement in Zvartnots airport. The airport itself is also under investigation for abuse of dominant position. The third case is about the abuse of the dominant position at the national level.

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Armenian poultry is finally competitive

The prices of imported and local whole bird meat are almost the same. Moreover, the local is fresh. You don't need to buy frozen imports.

The prices are still high. Even the quota systems do not help. Our EAEU friends with large poultry reserves are trying to use quotas. Our imports mostly come from Ukraine, Brazil, and the U.S. We see a decrease in poultry imports around the world.

We will have poultry import problems because of global developments. The Economy Ministry will soon hold a meeting with poultry business representatives to utilize Armenia's untapped potential.

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May-December: sugar & flour UP, oil and butter DOWN

Flour prices are up by 20 drams. Butter prices are down, from 4420 to 4380. We still have covid-related logistics problems, but the market is slowly stabilizing.

Sugar went from 390 to 400. Armenia has not produced sugar this year because of import problems. Last year we imported quota-based sugar to Armenia, as a result of which the price dropped for a while. However, this quota sugar is also distributed in the EAEU and it is not unlimited. Our main sugar source is Russia. They are having problems, too.

Cooking oil prices are finally reducing. They dropped by 300 since May, and will drop more as the covid retreats. There was a corn crisis that resulted in high oil prices.

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fuel prices went vroom

During the lockdown, a large amount of unused fuel was accumulated around the world. After reopening the economies and a rise in demand, the fuel manufacturing companies immediately raised prices.

There isn't much Armenia can do to influence prices, other than the fight against local abuse.

Prices in Iran are low because they produce oil locally and subsidize it for citizens.

Armenian prices are higher than Russian because we spend money to transport the oil.

There are ongoing efforts to create a common oil and oil product market in the EAEU bloc. All EAEU members would have the opportunity of equal price and conditions. But the transfer and other expenditure fees would still apply. Today we're trying to simplify the transfer chain to reduce prices.

Armenia's fuel market is open. The prices go down a bit whenever Iran opens it and there is an opportunity to supply more gasoline to Armenia. //

Full: https://youtu.be/ThOfYzjpJTQ https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071859.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071861.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071875.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071886.html

PHOTO: Armenian tolma and baklava filled the festive table in Syria's Khmeimim Air Base

... reported a Russian TV outlet Zvezda. Russians decided to throw a big party. The chefs, who are apparently not ethnic Armenian, had to Google the recipes.

Rate 1-10: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071872.html

Yerevan's Chamber (Kamerayin) Theater turned 40 this year

This year they've been playing the performance Ներոնի խրախճանքը based on Edvard Radzinsky's "Theater in the Time of Nero and Seneca".

Story: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071831.html

🍿 >!LOL!< 🍿

So there is this one "Kargin" comedy sketch in which a group of men struggle to move a coffin through a narrow doorway. Because of the 144p quality, the actor who plays the dead was mistaken for Parliament President Alen Simonyan because he DOES look like Alen Simonyan.

So people began speculating whether Simonyan was formerly employed by Hayk Marutyan's show.

The drama sadly ended when it was revealed that the dead man was famous actor Rafayel Yeranosyan. "Yes, it's me. Stop betting on it. Stop calling me about it," said the annoyed Yeranosyan

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/228344

NFT of Armenian TV series "Musk Factor" sells for $7,700

They sold it on the OpenSea platform for ֏3.8M.

Musk Factor: Where Will You be in 2028?, is a 10-episode TV show to promote Armenia as a tech hub. The protagonists are four guys who realize their seemingly impossible dream: cloning humans in the virtual world.

>The events are unfolding in 2032: spreading across the globe is the religion that proves that God is a programmer, the creator of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto is becoming the second savior, and Einstein’s theory of relativity is completely rejected, which allows the growth of new technologies.

Things take a turn when one of their fathers flies to Mars to become one of its first inhabitants.

They'll try to make the show available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Max. They are trying to pave the way for more Armenian content to make it to streaming services in the future.

The producer Rafael Tadevosyan, who is working with international experts, was inspired by Rick and Morty and other shows. Slated for release in the summer of 2022.

https://www.instagram.com/musk_factor/?hl=en https://en.armradio.am/2021/12/28/nfts-of-armenian-tv-series-musk-factor-sell-for-3-8-million/ https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/pur5cf/news_sep242021_it_begins_1b_project_to_build/

end of report

The accused are innocent unless proven guilty in the court of law, even if they "appear" guilty.

News archive: http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports

Donations: soldiers' families, humanitarian aid, US tax-deductible donation.

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/rqr6iu/dec282021_govt_pays_university_to_develop_drone/