About wording of Nagorno-Karabakh

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that no agreement was reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the phrasing on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Because of the lack of consensus, Michel decided to create comments that, in his opinion, would reflect as many things as possible about both sides' positions on formulations, according to Pashinyan.

In answer to a question from Civil Contract Party member Arman Yeghoyan, Pashinyan remarked during a Q&A session in parliament that Michel's words gave the impression that "Artsakh's right to self-determination remained off the menu."

"In Brussels, there was a very serious conversation on the Karabakh problem, and as a consequence of that discussion, the differences between Armenia's and Azerbaijan's perspectives were noted," the Prime Minister said. He emphasised that those differences are expressed publicly. Azerbaijan views the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as resolved, while Armenia does not consider the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolved. "And in the possible context of the peace talks, you know that Azerbaijan has presented its 5 principles, and we have presented our observations and agenda in this regard. We have said that talks should be held on that basis. With the principles we have brought forward, the security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the clarification of the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh are recorded," Pashinyan said.

About number of jobs in Armenia

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the event dedicated to presenting the report of the State Interests Fund of Armenia (ANIF)'s activities between 2019 and 2021, during which all the programmes implemented by ANIF during the reporting period were summarised.

Taking the opportunity, Pashinyan referred to the impact of several previously adopted decisions on the economy. "For example, in 2018 we made a political decision to introduce a flat income tax in the Republic of Armenia. Do you remember there was a lot of criticism then, a lot of pessimism, but I must say that, for example, according to the data for April, we have a new absolute record in the Armenian labour market. In other words, the absolute number of jobs registered in the Republic of Armenia as of April is greater than ever before. Usually, we consider the last such record to be in December 2021, which is traditionally the month with the highest number of jobs, but already in April we surpassed the previous record by more than 5,000 jobs, and compared to 2018, the number of jobs in the Republic of Armenia has increased by 123,310. I am talking not only about registered jobs, but also about paid jobs, because there are jobs from which no income tax is generated," Nikol Pashinyan said.

“In spite of everything, it seems that the economic mood in our country is not bad, because according to the data of the first quarter, we have a real GDP growth of 8.6%, and in Armenia, while according to the data of the first 4 months, we have an additional trade turnover of 1.1 billion euros against last year. This shows that there is a certain mood. In the near future we are expecting a number of interesting investment programs of the Armenian Government, i.e., the launch of the new airline founded by ANIF. We hope that the presence of ANIF in the Armenian economy will become more and more visible, of course, with positive and bright indicators," he concluded.

About first Armenian satellite

On 26 May, a regular Cabinet meeting took place, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

"On May 25th, 2022, at 22:35 Yerevan time, Armenia’s first space satellite was launched into the Earth’s orbit on a SpaceX spacecraft from Cape Canaveral in the United States. This happened thanks to the cooperation between the Armenian state Geocosmos company and the Spanish Satlantis," he said. "In the near future, more specifically in 2022, by the end of 2023, a satellite control centre-receiving station will be established in the Republic of Armenia, around which a scientific team of specialists will be formed. One of the main functions of the control centre is to control the satellite and receive space photos. It is planned that the receiving station will provide satellite data transmission services also to other satellite operators.

The satellite photos will be used in Armenia for border control, emergency prevention and management, environmental protection, including climate change monitoring, urban planning, road construction, geology, and more," he added.