- Yerevan’s City Council will convene for a session on the mayor’s impeachment on Tuesday.
- Southern railway network between Armenia and Azerbaijan to be completed in two to three years, says Pashinyan.
- The IMF forecasts a 5.5% economic growth rate in Armenia in 2021.
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Galstanyan, outspoken archbishop, bids to become Armenia’s prime minister
By Mark Dovich Bagrat Galstanyan, the charismatic and outspoken clergyman who emerged last month as the leader of a growing anti-government movement in Armenia, was named Sunday as the opposition’s preferred candidate to replace Nikol Pashinyan as prime minister. It was not immediately clear how to square Galstanyan’s leadership bid with the fact that Armenia’s constitution bars dual citizens from serving as prime minister. Galstanyan, who serves as archbishop for Armenia’s northeastern Tavush region, also holds a Canadian passport. Gurgen Melikyan, a former dean at Yerevan State University and a well-known public intellectual, announced the news to tens of thousands […]
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3 dead as severe floods leave trail of destruction across
By Mark Dovich At least three people died and two others went missing Sunday after days of strong rainstorms caused rivers in northern Armenia to overflow their banks, sweeping away bridges and roads and inundating nearby communities. At least 265 people in Armenia’s Lori and Tavush regions have been evacuated so far. As of 7:30 p.m., search and rescue workers continued to comb through the destruction, the result of Armenia’s worst flooding in decades. Over the weekend, Lori and Tavush received 40-60% of the precipitation they normally get in a month, Armenia’s Environment Ministry said. That caused rivers in the […]
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Negotiations heat up over Zvartnots Airport expansion plan
By Mark Dovich Armenia has indicated the 20% internal rate of return it grants to Corporación América Airports remains a key sticking point in ongoing talks over a major expansion plan for Zvartnots, the country’s main airport. The Armenian government is seeking to lower that figure, which refers to the compounded annual rate of return the Luxembourg-based conglomerate earns every year for its investments, before greenlighting the construction of a second terminal, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan revealed Wednesday. “The negotiations are quite difficult, since we believe it is impossible to continue under the current concession agreement, since there are […]
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Armenia’s Darik Village has a mission to transform the country’s
By Paul Vartan Sookiasian At the end of a dirt road at the top edge of Armenia’s northeastern Shirak region lies a tiny village seeking to bring big changes to Armenia’s wool industry. Darik has a population of just three people, but what it lacks in people, it makes up for in about 1,600 sheep, all raised at a farm run by husband-and-wife duo Armen Khechoyan and Ira Tadevosyan. The majority of sheep in Armenia, including in Darik, are raised for their meat, with most of their wool going unused, often burned or simply thrown away. That untapped potential has […]
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Inside the mass uprising rocking Tbilisi
Today on Civilnet, Marika Mikiashvili discusses the large anti-government protests in Tbilisi, Georgia. As a member of the opposition DROA party and an activist involved in the demonstrations, she provides key insight into the goals of the movement and its demands regarding the controversial “foreign agents” bill. Mikiashvili also analyzes the mounting crackdown by authorities and wider implications of the unrest for the region’s democratic trajectory.