2021 October 24

Daily news wrap-up

News from Oct/22-24/2021: Armenia will make it easier for diasporan tech experts to move in and work __ Geopolitics, agreements, borders __ Major infrastructure works __ Kindergartens & tech hubs __ COVID news __ Soccer Federation's plans __ Many boxing medals __ NSS vs miner __ Worker protections
by ar_david_hh

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9-minute read. 2247 words[1]

Armenia will make it easier for diasporan/foreign tech experts to relocate and work in Armenia

Armenia Engineering Week 2021 event was held in Yerevan, attended by ranking officials.

Deputy Parliament speaker Arshakyan: Armenia's high-tech sector is growing thanks to public-private cooperation policies. We're taking steps to ensure continuity.

2015: ֏60B, 8k workers, 1.2% of GDP

2020: ֏200B, 19k workers, 3.2% of GDP

2025: ֏500B and 35k workers expected

We will soon introduce a bill to launch a new tech development phase and set the priorities. After legal reforms, to fill the tech labor shortage gap, Armenia will allow experts to use the "One Window" e-platform to easily apply to live and work in Armenia. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066231.html

Tags: #HighTech

Summit of Minds: Global Transformations in a New Quantum World

Armenia is hosting the international summit for the third time, after efforts by President Sarkissian.

This year it was held in Dilijan, attended by ex-Premier of Italy, ex-President of Argentina, ex-President of European Commission, FIDE president, Russian tech giant Yandex reps, and others.

The main topics are geopolitics, AI, and biotech in the 21st century.

Pashinyan: hopefully this will become a platform for modeling economy and geopolitics. Modeling helps understand processes that are taking place. Geopolitics is very similar to tides, which are taking place constantly and regularly, and in the modeled world, all these are becoming predictable.

Central Bank chief: Armenia can become a home for many innovations. It is the perfect place where transformative solutions can be identified and implemented. The future will be built on science and tech. //

More speeches by Noubar Afeyan, Sarkissian, and others: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066309.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066329.html https://youtu.be/FA0NIqMEyXs https://youtu.be/dXbAxvmhPTU https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1066328.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066300.html https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1066300.html https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1066301.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066313.html

innovative knowledge hub for youth opens in Shirak province as part of the EU4Youth program

The aim of the modern tech-equipped hub is to provide young people with conditions to build their capacities, raise awareness of environmental challenges, and promote social entrepreneurship. "Here it will be possible to generate new ideas, acquire knowledge and apply it in practice."

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066210.html https://www.eu4youthdays.eu/index.php?option=com_sppagebuilder&view=page&id=56&Itemid=208

Yerevan will renovate 6 more kindergartens with seismic resilience and energy efficiency in mind

The capital has a shortage of affordable public kindergartens. Last year they rebuilt 12 facilities, with another 8 in progress.

These 6 are part of a joint project by Europe and Yerevan municipality.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066310.html

COVID stats

17k tested, 2.3k infected, 1k healed. 38 deaths. 27k active.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066336.html

Healthcare Ministry invited residents to Yerevan's Opera square for free vaccination

A line was formed on Sunday. 810 people got shot.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066340.html https://factor.am/432299.html

new and old Healthcare Ministers release a joint statement in support of vaccinations

Ara Babloyan, Ararat Mkrtchyan, Armen Muradyan, and Arsen Torosyan agree that vaccination is the only way to overcome and pandemic.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066283.html

Healthcare Minister: 88% of our staff has been vaccinated

There are 16,000 people who work in various departments under the Ministry.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066320.html

Armenia signs an agreement with Moderna and Norway to receive 620,000 Moderna doses

European humanitarian agency will help deliver the massive batch of vaccines, which is a donation.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066249.html

VIDEO: small nuclear reactors could be the future of energy

Unrelated to events in Armenia.

https://youtu.be/y6JUsZzwrC8

President Sarkissian congratulated Kim Kardashian on her 41st birthday

It's unclear how she managed to be born 41 times when most people do it only once.

Sarkissian wrote: Happy Birthday, dear @KimKardashian. So glad that even from so far away you feel and understand so well that Armenia is our Homeland: your one, mine..., Homeland all of us. Wishing you good health, happiness and all the best to you!

https://twitter.com/Arm_President/status/1451450620242767881

Soccer Federation will renovate the FIMA pitch located next to Yerevan's Vazgen Sargsyan Stadium

The government will allocate funds to help install artificial turf next year. Additionally, a new soccer school will open named after Khoren Hovhannisyan, a famous USSR national team player and Ararat FC legend.

Soccer Federation chief and Hovhannisyan visited the pitch ahead of the renovation project.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066297.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoren_Oganesian

Armenia is holding the first-ever countrywide school soccer tournament

Soccer Federation: 4,000 students representing 400 schools are taking part in the tournament. The goal is to promote the sport on a mass scale, bring it to a new professional level, and promote a healthy lifestyle. //

The participants are M12 and M10 boy's teams. The games will be held in provinces and Yerevan.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066296.html

VIDEO: Armenia's Henrik Chghrikyan wins gold in European junior boxing championship

89kg category: https://www.facebook.com/ArmenianBoxingFederation/videos/եվս-մեկ-եվրոպայի-չեմպիոն-բուդվայում-եվրոպայի-երիտասարդների-առաջնությունը-հայ-բռն/367358055113712/

...four other boxers won medals in the tournament, an unprecedented result in Armenia's modern history

51kg Henri Sahakyan won gold, 60kg Elida Kocharyan and 57kg Manvel Petrosyan won silver, 60kg Eric Israelyan won bronze.

https://factor.am/432149.html

Washington-based Armenian group files a lawsuit against Azerbaijan in ECHR for hiding information about 20 POWs

The ACL wants to know the fate of 20 Armenians who are known to have been captured as POWs during the war in 2020. Their whereabouts are currently unknown. European Court for Human Rights is asked to force Azerbaijan to disclose information.

https://factor.am/432088.html

Armenian army and the 102nd Russian military base held tactical exercises

They do it several times a year. Artillery and armored vehicles were used.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066237.html

Defense Ministry "fact-checks" and Human Rights Ombudsman's border report

HRO released a statement accusing Azerbaijan of reinforcing its positions in Armenia's Gegharkunik with a new road, winter supplies, and large-scale engineering work, in the territory where they illegally encroached in May.

The MOD denied the "very inaccurate" report about recent large-scale engineering works or movements within the Armenian territory. "The army is successfully preventing such attempts."

MOD responds: we held a phone conversation with HRO today and requested more information on where the aforementioned engineering works were conducted. HRO stated that it was mostly outside Armenian territories. //

HRO stood by his report and said it was meant to raise awareness about the illegal encroachment that began earlier, and wasn't meant to discredit the soldiers who are currently deployed to monitor the area. HRO shared the map and photos that show where the Azeris are currently located, and road work that was done back in July.

After becoming MOD in August, Arshak Karapetyan instructed the army to "immediately open fire" at Azeri soldiers if they attempt to reinforce their positions. The army has since reported several instances of preventing such engineering attempts.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066267.html https://factor.am/431760.html https://factor.am/431850.html

Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh cleared 2 hectares from landmines

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066319.html

Azerbaijan plans to build a railway network to connect Goranboy district to Artsakh's Karvachar

The Delimamedli-Karvachar railway will be 89km long and have 220 engineering structures, said the railway company.

https://factor.am/431754.html

Pashinyan, Aliyev, and Putin will soon meet to sign a new trilateral statement

Russian and Armenian sources say the meeting will be in the first ten days of November. The topic is likely to be the ongoing negotiations about borders, unblocking of communication routes, and humanitarian acts.

Putin said last week that Russia possesses the Armenia-Azerbaijan border maps from the Soviet era, a claim made by Pashinyan several months ago, and that Russia will use the maps to help the two to demarcate the official borders. Discussions to draw borders began earlier this year. On January 11, the three countries met to discuss the opening of communication routes in the region.

Putin's spokesman about the new meeting: we will let you know if we reach an agreement to hold such a meeting. //

Foreign Ministry of Armenia: there is no meeting on the schedule right now. The opposition is currently circulating provocative rumors. They did the same before the January 11 meeting. Read the news and "revelations" before the January 11 meeting, and compare them to the actual content of the meeting. [which turned out to be efforts to unblock regional communication routes]

Pashinyan stated on multiple occasions about his willingness to resume Nagorno Karabakh negotiations at the highest level under the auspice of OSCE Minsk Group. At the same time, Armenia has been engaged with January 11 talks to lift the regional communication blockade.

Beginning in May, trilateral talks have been held about the withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenian territories, and the launch of the border demarcation process. The EU, US, and France have expressed willingness to provide advice during the border demarcation process.

The government revealed this agenda months earlier, and it will take steps to protect the interests of Armenia and Artsakh, and to establish long-term peace and stability. //

Parliamentary opposition parties will resume the street rallies with a hope to oust Pashinyan, announced ARF MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan (HD alliance). The first rally will be on November 9.

https://riafan.ru/1541850-vstrecha-putina-alieva-i-pashinyana-mozhet-proiti-v-pervoi-dekade-noyabrya https://factor.am/432031.html https://factor.am/432045.html https://factor.am/432256.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066324.html

NSS uncovered large-scale illegal mining operations

NSS reports: the director of a company violated land exploitation laws and conducted illegal mining in Kotayk's Zoravan settlement in 2012-2019, while evading ֏816M in taxes. A criminal investigation is launched. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066277.html

controversial ex-HHK MP Mher Sedrakyan's son will quit parliament

Davit Sedrakyan received a mandate under the HD alliance. He is too busy for Parliamentary work so the mandate will pass to the next in line. He has seven days to change his mind.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066260.html

prosecutors summed up the June 20 election fraud statistics

91 individuals have been charged with crimes. 67 bribery, 3 violence, 6 violating voting secrecy, 3 abusing powers to force voters to participate in rallies, 2 instructing people on whom to vote for.

8 defendants were MP candidates themselves: 2 Kocharyan-ARF (HD), 4 Serj-Vanetsyan (PU), 1 Tsarukyan, 1 Verelk. They were all arrested; the court later freed some of them before their trial date.

Of the trials that have already reached the courts, 9 are against Kocharyan-ARF activists, 22 against Serj-Vanetsyan, 1 against Verelk, 1 against BHK.

1 bribery trial has ended with 5-year probation instead of the 4-year prison sentence that prosecutors sought.

The felony investigations rose 7x compared to the 2018 elections, and 4x from 2017.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066224.html

diplomatic meetings

Armenia-Sweden

Armenia and Sweden will work on reforms in the justice ministry. It's important for us to continue to work on the reforms that resumed in 2019, to strengthen human rights and democracy, said the Swedish ambassador.

Armenia-France

Pashinyan met the French ambassador. They discussed France's role in the OSCE Minsk Group. Armenia is not just another country for us, said the French ambassador, and reminded of the friendly relations between Pashinyan and Macron.

Pashinyan wants French companies to be more active in Armenia, especially in infrastructure projects. The two discussed the planned €2.6B European package for Armenia.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066281.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066282.html

new law to allow workers to file anonymous complaints against the employer via a new online platform

The Healthcare and Labor Inspection body has launched 286 investigations this year. 81 ended with the employer being instructed to correct its mistakes. Most of the time it's a result of employers not knowing their obligations.

To make it easier for workers to file complaints, the employeeprotect.am portal was launched on October 1. Applicants specify where they work, what the issue is, description of the incident, upload photos and videos, etc.

The planned reforms will allow workers to submit these complaints anonymously.

Employers who hire unregistered workers illegally can receive a $100 fine for each illegal worker.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066250.html https://youtu.be/lodbubX7nOQ https://factor.am/431611.html

construction crews are deployed to improve the safety of Yerevan-Gyumri road after microbus incident kills several passengers

5 were killed and 14 injured in an incident last week in a curvy part of the highway that wasn't properly marked, reportedly after recent road works. Today the construction crews modified three sections of the road with safety barriers and thermoplastic road signs to prevent incidents.

https://factor.am/432274.html

large-scale infrastructure renovation kicked off in Jermuk restort town

The renovations include two roads, the market, and alleys that lead to Gndevank and waterfall. A "deer" observation deck is in the works.

The $6 million project is co-funded by the government and the World Bank.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066311.html

infrastructure projects in Artsakh

roads

Artsakh is building roads to connect Dahrav, Astghashen, and Patara to the highway, with the All Armenia Fund resources. Expected to finish next year. The plan is to asphalt every road that leads to villages by 2025.

houses

President Arayik visited the site of one of the new housing districts that is being built in the capital Stepanakert. There will be 15 four-story apartment complex buildings with surrounding infrastructure, playgrounds, and parking lot.

water

The construction of a new reservoir is in the design stage. Ready by 2024. This will bring drinking water to 13 settlements.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066326.html

Armenia and Iran discuss trade and exports

Two Iranian trade delegations visited Armenia to discuss the removal of barriers to expand the trade. Iranian polymer and plastics exporters are studying Armenian regulations and the possibility to launch a joint production.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066327.html

UN program will make solar energy more accessible to small businesses in Gegharkunik

UN rep.: the program will help micro-businesses in the food industry to install solar panels with a 30% cost subsidy. The down payment is only 10%. The remaining balance will be paid within 5 years.

The energy savings will lead to higher profits. We encourage businesses run by women, youth, and disabled individuals to apply, especially if they produce non-traditional food. The applicant cannot have more than 10 workers.

51 such panels have been installed on school rooftops, leading to energy savings. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066316.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

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/qf8ji6/news_from_oct22242021_armenia_will_make_it_easier/