Several Armenian business associations strongly criticized the government on Friday for seeking to raise some key taxes through new legislation tentatively approved by the National Assembly this week.
The Armenian parliament passed in the first reading on Wednesday a government-drafted comprehensive tax legislation strongly criticized by opposition parties and even some lawmakers loyal to President Serzh Sarkisian.
The Armenian government faced strong criticism from many lawmakers on Monday as they debated its new draft Tax Code envisaging higher taxes on relatively well-paid workers.
Hundreds of traders at Yerevan’s largest clothes market scuffled with riot police on Friday as they blocked a major street to demand lower rents for their kiosks and stalls suffering from what they call falling sales.
Voting began on Sunday in a referendum on controversial constitutional changes that would turn Armenia into a parliamentary republic after President Serzh Sarkisian completes his second and final term in office in 2018.
Three former employees of Yerevan’s underground metro system who were fired last year after attending an anti-government protest have appealed against an ambiguous court ruling on their efforts to regain their jobs.
Three ethnic Yezidi families have taken refuge in Armenia after leaving their homes in Iraqi Kurdistan close to the area controlled by Islamic State militants.
Authorities in Yerevan are not in a position to ensure an orderly evacuation of ethnic Armenians from war-torn Syria where the situation has lately gone from bad to worse, Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobian said on Wednesday.
Echoing the dominant mood in their home country, Iranian nationals living in Armenia welcomed on Wednesday Iran’s landmark nuclear agreement with six world powers which envisages the lifting of international sanctions imposed on Tehran.
Armenia’s cash-strapped government plans to inaugurate soon a $28 million facility with whirlpool bathtubs, restaurants and tennis courts which is supposed to serve as a “training center” for Armenian tax and customs officials.
A Russian energy company on Monday denied reports that it is holding negotiations on the sale of Armenia’s troubled power distribution network owned by it amid continuing protests in Yerevan sparked by a controversial rise in electricity prices.
The U.S. State Department has described “systemic corruption” as one of the most frequent and serious forms of human rights violation in Armenia, saying that the authorities in Yerevan are not doing enough to tackle it.
The Armenian National Olympic Committee (ANOC) named on Tuesday 25 athletes who will represent Armenia at the upcoming European Games in Baku despite widespread security concerns that have led some of their teammates to boycott the multi-sport event.
Armenian law-enforcement agencies and courts remain the principal source of serious human rights violations in the country, Ombudsman Karen Andreasian said in his annual report released over the weekend.
Hundreds of angry taxi drivers blocked the main squares of Yerevan and Gyumri with their cars on Monday in protest against new taxation rules introduced by the Armenian government.
A senior European Union diplomat urged the Armenian authorities on Thursday to properly investigate a spate of violent attacks on opposition activists which have heightened political tensions in Armenia.
The Armenian police guarded Russia’s military and diplomatic facilities in Gyumri on Friday one day after clashing with local residents protesting against a deadly shooting spree allegedly perpetrated by a Russian soldier.
Hundreds of angry people clashed with riot police outside the Russian consulate in the Armenian city of Gyumri late on Thursday on the second day of protests against the killing of a local family allegedly committed by a Russian soldier. (UPDATED)
The European Union allocated on Thursday about 10 million euros ($12.4 million) in fresh assistance to Armenia’s central and local governments as well as civic organizations.
The European Union does not exclude that a new agreement with Armenia considering the South Caucasus country’s commitments to an emerging Russian-led trade bloc may be signed in the near future, according to a Brussels representative in Yerevan.
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