2021 October 21

Daily news wrap-up

I'm back with a news recap - Oct/14-21/2021: New nuclear plant & Metro, Armenia to borrow at lower interest rate, farming programs, regional communication routes, anti-corruption & asset forfeiture trials, borders & geopolitics, elections, water & gas fees, and many other topics from the past week
by ar_david_hh

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5396 words. 22-minute read. The maximum allowed by Alexis Ohanian.

authorities use the new asset forfeiture law against a ranking NSS/penitentiary official over alleged embezzlement

The new law aims to recover embezzled property more easily, without throwing suspects in jail. If there is evidence of large-scale fraud, the investigators can ask the court for a warrant to investigate and to force the official to prove they did not steal the property.

The first such trial began in Yerevan. Per investigators, Serob Harutyunan and Anush Antonyan failed to prove they obtained the property legally, so the court is asked to confiscate their >$1 million house, garages, income from rent and car sales, company shared, and պոռճ PANAMERA.

One of the suspects is Col. Serob Harutyunyan, the former head of Nubarashen prison and a ranking NSS agent. Last year he was accused of cooperating with the ex-regime to illegally leak the personal records of a ruling party official to inflict political harm; the charges were later dropped.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065865.html https://www.irazek.am/hy/news/3893 https://hetq.am/hy/article/128670

prosecutors win a lawsuit brought by Serj Sargsyan's family who wanted to suspend the asset forfeiture investigation

Serj's brother Levon's adult children Narek and Ani are among those who are suspected of owning stolen properties. Levon is accused of embezzlement during the North-South construction.

Narek and Ani filed a lawsuit against the prosecutors but the court threw it away, finding that prosecutors had the right to launch an investigation.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065921.html

anti-corruption: NSS uncovered bribery by high-ranking IRS agents

NSS reports: last week, the head of IRS's Investigation and Operative Intelligence Department conspired with two agents to ignore violations by a Yerevan business in exchange for a ֏1M bribe. They took the bribe during a meeting at a cafe. The bribe givers and takers were immediately arrested. The investigation revealed that one of the suspects had 5 other bribery instances this year. In all, four IRS agents have been arrested. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065908.html

municipal elections were held in 6 towns: ruling party gains 3, ex-regime loses all but 1

Dilijan (Tavush)

Pashinyan's QP won with 58% votes. They captured the city from Serj's HHK mayor who was charged with corruption in 2019.

Former Pashinyan cabinet members, who recently established the "Aprelu Yerkir" party, finished second. Of the five participants, only Arthur Vanetsyan's Hayrenik party represented the former regime, capturing 3% of the votes.

Goris (Syunik)

The incumbent Arush Arushanyan's alliance won re-election with 62%. QP finished second. Arushanyan is a Kocharyan ally.

Gyumri (Shirak)

The "incumbent" Balasanyan Alliance finished first with 36%, against Pashinyan QP's 29%. Although mayor Balasanyan was accused of being too cozy with the Serj regime and paying him "protection money in suitcases" years ago, after the 2018 revolution he established friendly relations with the new administration and cooperated on various reforms, and maintained the status as an "independent" mayor. The Balasanyan Alliance will have to form a coalition to govern the city. There are reports that the coalition might be with QP.

Meghri (Syunik)

Pro-Europe and Pashinyan-friendly "Republic Party", headed by late Vazgen Sargsyan's brother Aram Sargsyan, captured the town with 43% of votes, against QP's 33%. The town was formerly held by Kocharyan.

General Samvel Babayan's Azatakan Party finished third with 14%. Pashinyan's ex-allies at Aprelu Yerkir finished fourth. Of the four parties, none represent the former administrations.

Tatev (Syunik)

Pashinyan's QP captured the town with 49.9%. Until recently it was led by Murad Simonyan who was elected 13 years ago. The latter was one of the mayors who was going through an embezzlement investigation.

Shant Alliance, led by a prominent anti-Serj activist Shant Harutyunyan's family, finished second. The ruling party will form a coalition to govern the town, announced the runner-up after the recount was finished. Pashinyan's ex-allies at Aprelu Yerkir finished third.

Tegh (Syunik)

Pashinyan's QP captured the town with 65% of the votes. Incumbent Nerses Shadunts, who led the town for 5 years, did not run for reelection. The only other participant was Pashinyan's ex-ally Aprelu Yerkir.

observers

NGO Անկախ դիտորդ reported several violations involving voter secrecy and suspicious vehicles stopping near polling stations in Syunik province, and reports about one candidate's father distributing bribes (offices were raided). Ruling and opposition candidates were accused of abusing administrative resources in two towns. Observers complained about illegal conduct by journalists from several media outlets in polling stations in Goris.

Prosecutors received 20 reports about alleged violations in Gyumri, mostly about obstruction and voting secrecy, with two about bribery. 10 reports from Syunik, including about alleged bribery.

turnout

The turnout was low, around 33%. In Gyumri, it was only 24%.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065775.html https://www.elections.am/Elections/LocalProportional https://hraparak.am/post/2acc6dc491500129bcc446d9f895fae9 https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31398467.html https://www.aravot.am/2021/02/23/1172897/ https://armeniasputnik.am/20210807/tatev-hamaynqi-naxkin-xekavary-kkalanavorvi-28592510.html https://www.aravot.am/2021/09/23/1217762/ https://armeniasputnik.am/20210807/tatev-hamaynqi-naxkin-xekavary-kkalanavorvi-28592510.html https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31398467.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065788.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065789.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065800.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065823.html https://youtu.be/GONqrFvmiUo https://factor.am/429282.html https://factor.am/429494.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066059.html

Serj's PU alliance activist is found guilty of voter bribery during June 20 snap elections

A business owner in Lori has a son who ran under Serj's PU ticket. One of the employees of this business distributed bribes to help her boss's son to get elected. Some residents accepted the bribe, while others rejected it.

The bribe-giver was arrested. She confessed. The court handed 5-year probation instead of a 4-year prison sentence.

https://factor.am/430394.html

Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire in Artsakh last week

Six Artsakh Defense Army soldiers were wounded after a ceasefire violation. The incident happened in eastern Artsakh. The situation stabilized after several hours of shootings. No border changes were reported.

The peacekeeping mission was informed about the incident. Artsakh authorities condemned the provocation, saying it's an attempt by Azerbaijan to scare the local population.

Artsakh authorities published video evidence, likely from a different incident, showing how an Azeri soldier violates the ceasefire before running to take cover.

On the Nakhijevan border, near Yeraskh, Azeri soldiers intentionally torched stacks of hay collected by a farmer.

The army denied rumors about giving a hill to Azeris in Syunik. Armenians had withdrawn from that hills in December 2020, according to a local mayor. Azeris only recently established a presence there, with the "permission" of the Russian side.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065634.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065636.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065637.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065638.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065639.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065646.html https://youtu.be/YzkZncas1Vg https://www.armenpress.am/arm/news/1065691.html https://www.armenpress.am/arm/news/1065708.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065856.html

leaders of CIS republics held a meeting / landmines and borders

Pashinyan spoke about Armenia-Russia ties, Putin's role in establishing a ceasefire, the need to launch a border demarcation process, and to return the remaining POWs.

Pashinyan reminded about Armenia's readiness to launch the border demarcation process once Azerbaijan stops the provocations and proves it's prepared by withdrawing from Syunik/Gegharkunik borders.

Pashinyan also reminded about readiness to give partial landmine maps for areas that no longer serve as a security barrier between Armenians and Azeris - the areas located in the Azeri rear. In exchange, Armenia expects a humanitarian response from Azerbaijan.

France, Slovakia, and Croatia have agreed to help Azerbaijan to remove landmines from these areas in the rear, according to Azerbaijan after several meetings.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065677.html https://factor.am/428672.html https://factor.am/428914.html https://factor.am/430314.html https://factor.am/430784.html

Tags: #LandmineMaps

Azerbaijan returned 5 more Armenian POWs last week

108 have returned since the November 9 ceasefire.

https://factor.am/430447.html

two Iranian nationals were detained in the southern border after attempting to smuggle 340 grams of meth

One of them was arrested. It's part of a routine fight against narcotrafficking. A few months earlier, Armenian authorities participated in a major operation involving the U.S. and European agencies to monitor and bust a large-scale heroin trafficking.

In other news, the Iranian MFA criticized Azeri president Aliyev for claiming that Armenia and Iran are intentionally trafficking narcotics. Baku will receive the appropriate response, said Iran's MFA. Iran's national security services chief demanded an apology from Azerbaijan, urging Azerbaijan to "beware of the devil's precious traps".

Aliyev made the narco-comment during the CIS meeting. Pashinyan countered Aliyev's disinformation by citing anti-narcotics enforcement statistics. "The volume of confiscated narcotics has risen 3-4 times. Armenia and Iran are closely cooperating to fight narcotrafficking."

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065675.html https://www.armenpress.am/arm/news/1065731.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065741.html https://youtu.be/6x0admsPyYQ

Armenia and Iran will form an expert group to combat Araks River pollution

... announced Iran's general prosecutor after the Armenia trip. Pashinyan recently announced that an Armenian factory, located in southern Armenia, had switched to environmentally friendly technologies to prevent river pollution on the Iranian side.

https://factor.am/429651.html

Iranian businesses accuse Azerbaijan of sabotaging Iranian exports to Russia

RU-IR trade association chief Denis Jalalifar: 80% of our exports are agricultural goods, most of which travels through the IR-AZ border checkpoint in Astara. We're facing sabotage in this area, and a refusal by Azeri authorities to cooperate.

They don't want to admit that the border is closed, so they create artificial barriers instead. At first, it was the electricity that went out, then the x-ray device broke, then they had issues with K9 dogs. As a result, the line stretched 10 kilometers. //

Baku blamed the delays on the Iranian side, saying their trucks took too long to unload and their computers were broken.

In other news, Armenia's security council Grigoryan gave an interview to Iranian outlet Tansim and reminded that Armenia will finish building the alternative Syunik road by the end of this year. A larger North-South road construction, involving expensive tunnels and bridges, is scheduled for a later date, once the financial resources and the qualified construction firms are available.

https://factor.am/430030.html https://factor.am/en/5434.html

Azeri authorities arrest several pro-Iranian Shiite clerics

Five clerics were arrested on Tuesday. They are all connected to the same "made.az" website. At least one of them is facing treason charges.

One of them was sentenced to 3 years in 2017 for allegedly violating rules about holding religious events. Lawyers called him a political prisoner.

https://factor.am/430997.html https://factor.am/431509.html

Azerbaijan has freed the two Iranian truck drivers who were taken hostage on the southern road

Their arrest had escalated the crisis in AZ-IR relations. Military drills were subsequently held by Iran. Azerbaijan's complaint was that Iranian trucks were using Armenian license plates to enter Artsakh "illegally". Iranian cargo association chief has instructed Iranian cargo drivers to use the Azeri-held roads instead of the Lachin corridor to enter Artsakh.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066142.html https://factor.am/430988.html

deputy premiers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia met in Moscow

The topic was the unblocking of regional communication routes.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066088.html

Armenia will rebuild and modernize the Meghri border checkpoint with Iran

IRS chief Badasyan visited Russia, where he met his Iranian counterpart. They discussed rebuilding the Meghri-Norduz checkpoint. In February 2020, Armenia signed a deal with the European bank to finance the planned project.

https://factor.am/431494.html

Russia accused the U.S. of sabotaging attempts to launch the 3+3 regional cooperation platform

Russian MFA: the U.S. is spreading misinformation by claiming Russia was behind the 3+3 initiative. Russia supports the speedy implementation of the 3+3 regional advisory platform. It will benefit all participants. It will improve relations between the states, help address the existing differences, and discover the economic/transport/humanitarian potential. //

https://factor.am/431414.html

Vladimir Putin about regional cooperation

Vladimir Putin: I'd like to give credit to Pashinyan and Aliyev. Despite the tragedy, they were able to come to an agreement [Nov 9]. There are complaints in both countries by political forces who believe their country could have achieved more. But the question is, could the critics themselves do better?

It is necessary to establish long-term peace. This is possible when both sides accept the agreement as something that's long-term and see the benefits of the peace. This is possible. Our peacekeepers are doing their job in Karabakh. Over 50,000 refugees have returned to their homes.

The most important issue is to resolve the border conflict. Without Russia it's impossible. You don't even need someone else other than RU-AM-AZ, because our military base has the Soviet-era AM-AZ border maps. We can calmly draw the borders. There are locations where both sides will need to make concessions and exchange things. It should be clear that this process is best for both countries. //

https://factor.am/431502.html

Russian private donors sent 10 tons of humanitarian aid to Artsakh

Equipment for schools, toys, heaters, etc.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065853.html

one of the central parts of Paris is named after Armenia

The city council voted to name the part located between the Pont de l'Alma and the Pont des Invalides bridges, near the Seine River, after Armenia.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1065656.html

Emergency Ministry held exercises on how to protect bordering residents in the event of enemy attack

The drill was organized in the north-western part of Nakhijevan, where the ceasefire violation usually occurs.

https://factor.am/430726.html

Albert Hovhannisyan, the soldier famous for his artillery images, receives the title of Artsakh Hero posthumously

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065914.html

80% of Artsakh IDPs who reside in Armenia are ready to return if they are provided with house and security

... according to a survey by the Social Workers Association, Aurora humanitarian fund, and partners.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066183.html

ex-MOD Davit Tonoyan's lawyers argue that the weapons Tonoyan purchased for the army were not of poor quality

You may remember that Davit Tonoyan was recently arrested and charged with intentionally delivering bad quality and wrong types of weapons.

An expert group had to conduct tests to check the quality of the weapons and ammunition. Tonoyan's lawyer argues that the expert group recently left the checks incomplete because "they know the weapons are good". The lawyers want to take part in the full examination.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065916.html

Armenia imports 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065845.html

Russia sent 50,000 doses of Sputnik-5 vaccine to the Armenian army

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065620.html

Gilead Sciences will donate 3,000 doses of Remdesivir drug to Armenia's COVID patients

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065971.html

Healthcare Minister: authorities are monitoring every clinic in Armenia to uncover fake vaccination certificates

Last week the NSS and police raided several clinics and discovered 700 fake vaccination cards. Several doctors confessed and are facing criminal charges.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065761.html

vaccination rate is much higher in the army

... announced the MOD while addressing concerns about the prevalence of seasonal flu in the army. [peanut butter yum yum]

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065940.html

Russian company wins auction to design the new metro station in Yerevan

Yerevan has been holding talks since 2019 to build a new metro station. The Economy Minister recently said they were in close talks with a Russian company to build one for $150M.

It has to be designed before it's built. The designers will be Russian MetroGiproTrans company. The latter said it'll take 1.5 years to design it, but they promised active construction work if the government approves the design.

The company has also offered $500M to revamp Yerevan metro in general.

Yerevan metro is 12km with 10 stations. The 11th station will connect the busy Barekamutyun area to the Ajapnyak district. "It will significantly ease the traffic in the city," said MetroGiproTrans.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065900.html

Russia plans to invest $1 billion in Armenia's economy soon

...announced Russia's Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Volvach. It's in the fields of energy, infrastructure, and transport. "The investments will be very important for the development of economic, social, and cultural relations between Armenia and Russia," said Vovlach.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065943.html

Russian Orthodox church will be built in Yerevan

It will be located at the place of an old Orthodox church that has not been preserved, said the Russian church, which is currently going through a legal process to receive a status in Armenia.

https://factor.am/430317.html

Russian-language schools will open in ex-Soviet republics that have a large migrant workforce in Russia

As part of the efforts to strengthen AM-RU cultural ties, Russia pans to open multiple Russian-language schools in Armenia. Five Russian schools already exist in Armenia. A law was approved in 2010 to authorize foreign-language schools.

Critics are against opening more Russian-language schools. They view it as "colonization".

Ruling party MP: Armenian language is taught in many schools in Russia. By that logic, Armenia has "colonized" Russia long ago. I see nothing wrong with opening Russian-language schools. It will be an advantage for Armenia. //

During a recent CIS conference, Vladimir Putin said migrant workers from ex-Soviet republics are welcome to work in Russia, but they must be able to speak the Russian language and be familiar with the Russian culture.

Putin: it's important for you [CIS countries] and us that [migrant workers] adapt to normal life in Russia. At a bare minimum, they should know the language. It's necessary to understand what Russia is, what the Russian culture is, and the relations between the peoples of Russia. This is necessary to live a normal life while earning wages. //

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, two of the largest exporters of migrant workforce, are in the process of opening Russian-language schools.

https://factor.am/430416.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065986.html https://ria.ru/20211015/yazyk-1754717730.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066131.html

nuclear energy talks were held between Armenia and Russia

Deputy Premier Papikyan met his Russian counterpart and the head of Russia's Rosatom to discuss the planned construction of a new nuclear plant, the renovation of the current one, and using Armenia as an energy transit for the North-South energy route.

The director of Russian Rosatom Alexei Likhachov will visit Armenia next month to discuss the construction of a new NPP.

https://www.armenpress.am/arm/news/1065684.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066057.html

Metsamor nuclear plant renovation is complete

The reactor was relaunched and the NPP was connected to Armenia's power grid. Over 600 experts participated from Armenia, Russia, and Europe.

The safety components were modernized, the metal went through a process to restore its physical properties, 42km of cables were replaced, hundreds of pipes and devices were repaired.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065820.html

Deputy Premier Grigoryan about ongoing gas price negotiations with Russia's Gasprom:

We have a consensus about the gas price at the border and inside Armenia because of heavy negotiations since 2019. But here is where the problem is:

A deal was signed with Gasprom in 2013. The thermal plant's 5th bloc was modernized by Gasprom. Unfortunately, the bloc isn't operational today and doesn't bring profit, yet per the 2013 agreement, Gasprom was supposed to have an annual 9% profit from its investments.

If negotiations succeed, we'll have a very stable situation around the gas price. The world is paying $1,000 while Armenia is currently paying $165. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065931.html

public utility commission is negotiating with Veolia Water to have a fixed water price for 10 years

A 15-year contract was signed with Veolia Water in 2016 to have them manage Armenia's water network. Every year they ask regulators to raise the fees, due to inflation, contract obligations, etc.

Veolia wants the fee to go from ֏180 to ֏223 next year, but the regulator is against it. They want the fee to remain the same for low-income families and be capped at approximately ֏200 for everyone else for the next 10 years. The final decision is yet to be made.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066022.html

what's in the government's 2022 budget?

Read September 30 news for details. Almost all sectors will see double-digit budget growth.

Finance Minister Khachatryan: the debt will significantly reduce, from 63.5% to 60%. It's a very important precondition for providing a favorable environment for macroeconomic stability and long-term economic growth.

Taxes against GDP will increase to 23.4% from 22.5%.

Infrastructure funding will increase from ֏215B to ֏350B.

The economic growth target is 7%. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065846.html https://youtu.be/gVZp8w5ZU_o

top-1000 taxpayers paid $166 million more in January-September period

Total of ֏871 billion.

1) Gasprom ֏38B

2) Zangezur copper ֏38B

3) Defense Ministry departments ֏34B

4) Grand Tobacco ֏25B

5) GeoProMining ֏16B

https://factor.am/430871.html

VAT refunds issued by IRS increased 23% this year

IRS chief Badasyan: every year we refund more cash amid reforms in the refund system. In the first nine months of this year, it was ֏109B, compared to ֏88B last year. The time it takes to process the refunds is now 1 month instead of 3.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065869.html

IRS chief met the U.S. ambassador to discuss reforms

IRS plans to fully digitize the customs process, revamp the border checkpoints, retrain agents and set new standards for hiring. The IRS chief thanked the U.S. for the ongoing support.

https://factor.am/430532.html

Pashinyan met the EU envoy to South Caucasus to discuss the Artsakh conflict

They agreed that OSCE Minsk Group should resume the activities.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066170.html

Pashinyan met the NATO representative

They spoke about the regional conflict and the reopening of communication routes. Pashinyan gave importance to Armenia-NATO cooperation and wants to know what NATO's ideas are regarding future processes. NATO representative thanked Armenia for deploying peacekeepers in Kosovo.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066177.html

MOD Karapetyan criticized NATO for its member-state Turkey's direct involvement in the 2020 war

MOD Arshak Karapetyan met the NATO representative and presented the situation around Artsakh.

MOD Karapetyan: Turkey's role in the 44-day war has decreased the trust towards NATO's ability to achieve peace in the region. //

They discussed the prospects of Armenia-NATO cooperation.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066182.html

Parliament president Simonyan met Maria Burich, the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe

They noted that it's the 20th anniversary of Armenia's membership in the Council. They discussed regional conflicts and democratic reforms.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066180.html

what does Standard & Poor's rating mean for Armenia?

Last week the international rating agency gave its first-ever rating to the Armenian government, with a positive outlook for the economy.

Finance Minister: this will allow the Armenian government and private organizations to borrow money from international markets with lower interest rates.

In 2015 the government entered the eurobond market and borrowed at 6.2% interest. In 2021 we did it for 3.8%. The rate will further reduce in the future.

There are three international rating agencies: Moody's, Fitch, and S&P. Armenia already had a rating by the former two, but they mostly deal with large organizations. This year we decided to contact S&P, too, because they also deal with small organizations. This is necessary because, in Armenia, we have fewer giant companies and more small/medium ones.

Petitioning S&P to give Armenia a rating was essentially an "investment". Now, our private firms don't have to individually go through the same financial burden to receive a rating from S&P because the government has done the heavy lifting. Now, our goal is to encourage our private sector to contact S&P for individual ratings; right now we only have a dozen firms that have it. //

Pashinyan: in the past few years we issued eurobonds twice, and both times we set a new record in Armenia's history [with a low interest]. International investors trusted Armenia's capacity and they weren't wrong.

We need to work with our private sector so they'll enter the capital market. This will also pressure banks to lower interest rates because private firms will have more borrowing alternatives. //

https://youtu.be/c9DyM8FQqm0 https://www.armenpress.am/arm/news/1065804.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065557.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065553.html

Tags: #S&P

$50 million will be invested in the private sector

The government's ANIF fund and European banks will contribute $4 million to the Amber Capital Armenia fund. The latter will invest $50 million in the Armenian economy to expand businesses. Another investor is the Dutch FMO bank, partially owned by the Dutch government.

ANIF director: Armenia lacks alternative business financing tools such as private equity funds. This investment has strategic importance, especially since it involves a large European investor FMO. //

Economy Minister Kerobyan had earlier complained that Armenian banks are the only place where businesses can receive funding, adding that they were working on making alternative cash sources available.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065836.html

bill: some foreign companies will receive licenses more easily

Economy Minister Kerobyan: we've been studying the types of licensed activities to make Armenia more attractive for foreign firms. We singled out 13 licensing fields, including in transportation, nuclear energy, waste management, railways, construction, etc. It'll benefit investors from EAEU, EU, US, UK, etc. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066127.html

the bill about combatting disinformation through "anonymous sources" receives a green light to proceed in Parliament

The ruling party had earlier introduced a bill to hold media outlets accountable if they reprint defamatory/illegal content while citing unknown/unverified sources. It won't be against the law to reprint false or defamatory information, but the outlet won't be able to "hide" behind the claim that they were "simply sharing", if the original source was anonymous.

The bill was introduced amid a wave of fake news and targeted attacks that spread through Telegram last year. At the time, some media and TV outlets were criticized for misleading the public by blindly or intentionally reprinting false information from Telegram.

Kocharyan-ARF alliance is against the bill. They are concerned it will hinder journalistic work by "requiring media outlets to deanonymize sources". Media outlets owned by Kocharyan were among those accused of intentionally spreading misinformation by citing anonymous Telegram sources, some of which were later linked to pro-Kocharyan activists.

The authors of the bill said they removed several problematic parts of the bill after consulting with international experts.

Ruling MPs: there is no additional burden on media outlets to identify who the sources are, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be held accountable. It is the duty of journalists to verify the truthfulness of their report, sometimes by checking with multiple sources, before reprinting it. This is the cornerstone of journalistic ethics. This is how it works around the world.

Outlets can continue to cite their anonymous sources, and sources can continue to remain anonymous. Journalists can continue to cite their anonymous sources but they will be responsible for what they share from the anonymous source. Often, these unknown social media accounts are created outside Armenia to spread disinformation, anti-vaccine propaganda, create national security risks, etc. //

Journalists were invited to discuss the bill.

Sevak Vardumyan: every self-respecting journalist must understand where the information is coming from, whether it's trustworthy, whether it's worth reprinting, and be prepared to carry responsibility for what they share. But the law enforcement should not require journalists to disclose the source if the report was verified with multiple sources before being reprinted.

Chairman of the Freedom of Speech Commission: the bill was slightly amended. Its initial version was problematic so we had asked the authors to send it to European institutes for evaluation. The evaluation gave a negative opinion, so the authors amended the bill to remove the problematic restrictions regarding citing unknown sources.

We have always stated that if the journalist wants to share information, they should be able to do so while taking all the responsibility for it. There will be no ban on citing anonymous sources. You can share rumors from Telegram, but you will be responsible for what you share. There should be someone who takes responsibility while sharing information. //

Freedom of Speech Commission presents stats about press freedom in 3Q2021:

3 instances of assault on journalists, down by 5 from the previous period.

20 instances of pressure, down from the previous period.

37 instances of obstruction, up from the previous period.

15 lawsuits against media outlets, down by 8 from the previous period.

Q: is it fair to say that conflicts with journalists are now handled in courts instead of fists? Is there a cultural shift?

Free Speech Commission chief: Yes. Physical violence is not as common as it was 2-3 years ago. We don't see mass assaults anymore. The problem is that nine former and current public officials are suing media outlets [for defamation]. Public officials should have thicker skin. //

More: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065958.html https://youtu.be/Z_abEUQXQSM https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066144.html https://factor.am/431644.html https://youtu.be/FQpw6WdgZfw https://factor.am/431539.html

the government allocated $10M to finalize the launch of Fly Arna national airline

The airlines, which is a joint project with Air Arabia, is scheduled to launch next year and is expected to be competitive. It will be co-owned by Armenia and the Arab co-investor.

https://factor.am/428137.html

ostrich breeding farm opens in Armenia

Diasporan Armenak Asatryan studied the international experience and decided to open one in Masis. It has 100 ostriches now. They are not for riding, sadly. There will be a canned meat factory and leather processing.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065844.html

IRS has collected a record amount in taxes in January-September

2019: ֏1.079T

2020: ֏1.058T

2021: ֏1.137T

IRS chief: employment and avg. salaries are also up compared to 2019 and 2020

As of this August, there were 642,292 workers who received ֏139.1B in salaries, or ֏216k on average.

IRS chief: sales are up 24% this year compared to the 2019 period

The number of sales receipts and accounting transactions rose by 24%. That translates to ֏24B.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065579.html

hundreds of teachers will receive 30-50% raise after successful voluntary re-certification exams

Education Ministry: 47% of teachers who went through the attestation process have qualified for a raise. 87% of math and 65% of physics teachers passed the threshold. The threshold for 30% raise is 70 points, for 40% it's 80, for 50% it's 90. This is an experimental phase; the program will undergo reforms. //

https://factor.am/428492.html

Armath engineering lab opens in two villages of Gegharkunik province

Jil and Nerkin Getashen have the new engineering labs after donations from a U.S.-based diasporan group. Students will learn robotics, engineering, and modeling.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065651.html

the government wants landowners to replace bad trees with good trees, and water them with drip-irrigation

Pashinyan: 90% of our citizens do not view their backyards as a potential source of income. They view the trees mainly as decoration. We need to change this mentality. Citizens who agree to remove uncertified trees will receive certified ones from the government. They will need to have drip irrigation systems.

Land owners who install drip irrigation and rainwater management system on their land will receive free irrigation water for 5 years, for up to 3 hectares of land. To encourage the installation of drip irrigation networks, we are fully subsidizing the loan interest. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065614.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065612.html

Tags: #agriculture

the government will subsidize the purchase of high-quality seeds for farming

Economy Minister: this particular program was launched last year. 4,200 tons of wheat was planted on 15,000 hectares. If the average seed gives 1.8 tons, these high-quality ones gave 3 tons.

Pashinyan: often our farmers try to save by reusing seeds from their old crops, instead of buying new generation high-quality seeds. The purpose of this temporary subsidy program is to show them that it's worth buying certified high-quality seeds.

If the farmer can afford only a low-quality seed, the government will help by subsidizing the remainder so they can buy the high-quality one. The authorities must ensure that the seeds are actually of high quality. A similar program done years ago ended with farmers accumulating debt because the seeds turned out to be of low quality. Make sure the certified seeds are what they claim to be.

Economy Minister: we made changes based on last year's experience. For example, the seeds must be "disinfected" to prevent plant disease. //

The government decided to subsidize ֏70 per kilogram of high-quality seed.

https://youtu.be/HCd-qOSKxIE https://factor.am/428111.html

Tags: #agriculture

Pashinyan urges farmers to form unions so they can negotiate with grape buyers to avoid unpurchased harvest every season

The grape procurement problems happen every season. Every year, some farmers close roads because factories refused to buy their grapes.

Pashinyan called for the formation of unions of grape growers so they can better communicate with the buyers and the government. Although the government has the right to intervene in markets, ideally it should not instruct private buyers how much they should purchase from farmers, said Pashinyan, while referring to farmers' plea for government to convince winemakers to purchase more grapes. Such negotiation attempt was made several weeks ago with limited success.

Economy Minister Kerobyan brought the example of Finland and Australia, where farmers join dairy associations (cooperatives) to negotiate the milk price with large buyers. It gives individuals more negotiating power, said the minister.

The government created a registry of farmers to identify them and their products so the upcoming digitization efforts will make various processes more efficient and transparent, said minister Kerobyan.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065570.html https://factor.am/428111.html

the government fleet will gradually switch to electric vehicles

Nature Ministry: between 2018-2021, the government/parliament/ministries reduced the number of service vehicles by 172. To reduce expenditures on upkeep and fuel, we will gradually switch to EVs with the assistance of a global environmental foundation.

The program's budget is $5.4M, most of which is in the form of customs and tax subsidies. 12 EVs will be purchased for the govt fleet, with 2 new charging stations. //

https://factor.am/430633.html

Tigran Karapetyan has died

He was a Serj-era unsuccessful politician but a successful meme, known for his blatant bribery of voters. He had a TV channel where he would invite mostly low-income elderly residents to play trivia games in exchange for gifts. Elderly women would usually win epilators and end up begging for a TV set during the live broadcast.

Karapetyan was a great singer. He had another show where he would invite residents to sing. The ones who gave him joy would receive the title of "diamond".

RIP.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066190.html

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

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/qdvfmz/im_back_with_a_news_recap_oct14212021_new_nuclear/