Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Narine Ghalechian
Pashinian Raises ‘Overall Literacy’ Concerns After Armenia Scores Low In Global Survey
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing.
More People Hospitalized In Armenian Town Amid Suspicions Over Tap Water
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Images Multimedia Embedded Content Comments More People Hospitalized In Armenian Town Amid Suspicions Over Tap Water Կիսվել Կիսվել Ավելացրեք մեզ Google-ում A third instance of multiple hospitalizations involving symptoms characteristic of an intestinal infection has been reported in the Armenian town of Byureghavan in the past five months, with residents continuing to suspect contaminated drinking water.
More Subsidies Approved For Armenian Exporters Hit By Russian Sanctions
The government already allocated a similar amount of financial aid to them in early June after Moscow blocked imports of Armenian fruits, vegetables, fish, flowers, mineral water and some alcoholic beverages on supposedly sanitary grounds. It set specific amounts of compensation for each of those items exported to countries other than Russia.
Armenian Fish Farmers Protest As Russian Sanctions Bite
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Images Multimedia Embedded Content Comments Armenian Fish Farmers Protest As Russian Sanctions Bite Կիսվել Կիսվել Ավելացրեք մեզ Google-ում Armenia - Fish farmers demonstrate outside the main government building in Yerevan, July 21, 2026.
Armenian Government Hopes To Redirect Fish Exports To EU
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Images Multimedia Embedded Content Comments Armenian Government Hopes To Redirect Fish Exports To EU Կիսվել Կիսվել Armenia - A fish farm in Ararat province. Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian sounded a note of caution on Thursday as the Armenian government approved new licensing rules aimed at helping local fish farms blacklisted by Russia redirect their exports to the European Union.
Russia Widens Bans On Armenian Food Imports
Citing sanitary grounds, Russian authorities blocked multimillion-dollar imports of Armenian fresh fruits and vegetables, mineral water, flowers, fish and some alcoholic beverages in the run-up to Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections. The state agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said the embargo has been extended to all other products subject to quarantine controls.
Pre-Election Arrests Of Armenian Oppositionists Continue Unabated
Ten of the suspects are linked to billionaire Samvel Karapetian’s Strong Armenia bloc widely regarded as Civil Contract’s number one election challenger. They included Mariam Sargsian, the 25-year-old head of Arbat, a village just south of Yerevan, and her parents. Their relatives, friends and lawyers gathered outside the headquarters of the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) in hopes of receiving information about their whereabouts.
Pashinian Vows To Jail Opposition Challenger’s Son
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Images Multimedia Embedded Content Comments Pashinian Vows To Jail Opposition Challenger’s Son Կիսվել Կիսվել Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian campaigns in Yerevan for the June 7 parliamentary elections, May 12, 2026.
Armenian Opposition Youths ‘Bullied’ Ahead Of Elections
This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Images Multimedia Embedded Content Comments Armenian Opposition Youths ‘Bullied’ Ahead Of Elections Կիսվել Կիսվել Armenia - Opposition leader Arman Tatoyan launches his Wings of Unity party's election campaign in Tavush province, May 8, 2026.
Online Sales Of Armenian Goods Halted In Russia
Some Armenian entrepreneurs using the Wilberries and Ozon online marketplaces were the first to report the disruption on Friday morning. Both Russian firms implicitly confirmed it later in the day, citing new customs rules and procedures introduced in Russia late last month. They also said they continue selling goods already imported from Armenia and stored in their Russian warehouses.
Armenian Mineral Water Banned in Russia
By Narine Ghalechian YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — One month after President Vladimir Putin’s stern warnings to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian authorities have reportedly banned on sanitary grounds sales of Armenia’s most famous brand of mineral water.
Armenian Mineral Water Banned In Russia
A senior Russian official, Revaz Yusupov, told the RBC news agency on Tuesday that the state consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor initiated the temporary ban, citing the need to “prevent possible harm to the life and health of Russian citizens.” In his words, some 338,000 bottles of water produced by Armenia’s Jermuk Group from February 17 through March 5 will be taken off the Russian market pending the findings of an ongoing safety inspection.
Six Dead In Car Collision In Armenia
According to the Armenian Interior Ministry, two cars carrying them collided on a rural road in the northwestern Shirak province. The victims included two children. Officials said all of the injured persons were hospitalized from the scene. Three of them, a 28-year-old woman and her children aged 1 and 3, were reported in critical condition. The woman, who lost her husband in the accident, was in intensive care at the Erebuni Medical Center in Yerevan.
Six Dead In Car Collision In Armenia
According to the Armenian Interior Ministry, two cars carrying them collided on a rural road in the northwestern Shirak province. The victims included two children. Officials said all of the injured persons were hospitalized from the scene. Three of them, a 28-year-old woman and her children aged 1 and 3, were reported in critical condition. The woman, who lost her husband in the accident, was in intensive care at the Erebuni Medical Center in Yerevan.
Armenian Brandy Exporter Faces Russian Ban
The state alcohol and tobacco regulator, Rosalkogoltabakkontrol, accused the Proshian Brandy Factory (PBF) of fraud earlier this week. In particular, it said, an “unplanned inspection” of brandy imported by the PBF to Russia found that it was not distilled from grapes. The agency said it has therefore asked a Russian economic court to annul the company’s license.
Russia Reports Tighter Controls On Food Imports From Armenia
The head of the Rosselkhoznadzor agency, Sergei Dankvert, claimed on Thursday that many of those products do not conform to sanitary standards set by the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a Russian-led trade bloc. He said a sharp rise in their exports to Russia observed in recent years suggests that they were produced in third countries. “The range and quantity of products arriving gives us reason to believe that not all of them are from Armenia,” Dankvert told Russian state television.
Ter-Petrosian’s Party Eyes Alliance With Karapetian’s ‘Strong Armenia’
In a speech to participants at the HAK’s March 14 convention, Ter-Petrosian’s close ally Levon Zurabian said the HAK is prepared to take concrete steps toward uniting opposition groups, singling out cooperation with Karapetian’s Strong Armenia party. “It is necessary to unite all influential democratic, rational, realistic political forces.
Armenian Trucks Still Blocked In Georgia
Their drivers say the Georgian customs service blocked their passage on February 12 without any explanation. Officials in Tbilisi have still not publicly commented on the situation which Papoyan said is “incomprehensible” for the Armenian government as well. “A few days ago, Georgia’s economy minister [Mariam Kvrivishvili] was here,” Papoyan told reporters on Thursday.
Armenian Trucks Again Held Up In Georgia
Some of their drivers told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service at the weekend that the Georgian customs service blocked their passage on February 12 without any explanation. “They are telling us to wait until they are ordered to let the Armenian cargo through,” said one of them. “We’re talking about 100 trucks. More than 20 of us are here at the X-ray inspection zone of the Russian-Georgian border crossing.
Armenian Policeman Prosecuted Over Torture Video
A short video posted by journalist Suzy Badoyan on social media on Tuesday showed the officer, Hayk Hakobian, slapping, threatening and swearing at a middle-aged man described by her as the father of a criminal suspect. The Armenian Interior Ministry was quick to react to the release of the embarrassing video apparently shot in October. It said Hakobian has been suspended pending investigation. The policeman was detained on Thursday on charges carrying between four and eight years in prison.
Another Yerevan Official Prosecuted
The company called Impex went to court after the official, Vazgen Harutiunian, annulled in 2023 its contract for the delivery and placement of new road signs in the Armenian capital. He said that Impex failed to provide a 10-year bank guarantee in accordance with the terms of a tender won by it. The company countered that it could not have produced such a document because it was set up only eight years ago.
Armenian Parliament Approves Government’s Health Insurance Plan
The system will be officially launched on January 1. It will initially cover underage Armenians, pensioners aged 65 and older, disabled persons, recipients of poverty benefits as well as employed citizens earning at least 200,000 drams ($525) per month. Officials say that they will make up roughly half of the country’s population. A special insurance fund which is due to be set up for that purpose will collect no payments from the minors and socially vulnerable groups of the population.
Court Annuls Opposition Member’s Ouster From Yerevan Council
The pro-government majority in the council ousted Grigor Yeritsian and two other councilors in September 2024 on the grounds that they skipped most sessions of the local legislature or its standing committees. They dismissed the official explanation, saying that their absence was part of legitimate political boycotts and accusing the authorities of stifling dissent. Yeritsian challenged his ouster in court. A judge of a Yerevan court of first instance declared it null and void earlier this week.
Wildfires Approach Armenian Resort Town
They spread to surrounding wooded hills the previous night despite Armenian authorities’ heightened efforts to contain the country’s worst fires in years that broke out at the weekend amid unusually high temperatures. Photographs posted on social media show that massive flames were visible from Dilijan on Tuesday night. The local government urged town residents not to “panic,” saying that hundreds of firefighters, police and civilian volunteers are hard at work.
Wildfires Rage In Armenia
The fires were first reported over the weekend at mountain pastures around the village of Tetujur in the country’s eastern Gegharkunik province. They burned up to 80 hectares of grassland before being mostly extinguished on Monday, according to the Armenian Interior Ministry. Fires also broke out in other parts of Gegharkunik as well as five other Armenian provinces in recent days. The potentially most dangerous of them burned in and around wooded areas in the northeastern Tavush province.
Armenian Truckers Vow To Resume Protests
Citizens of Armenia and other countries who can travel to Russia without a visa were allowed until this year to stay there for a total of up to 180 days per year. Legal amendments that took effect on January 1 reduced that period to 90 days. Armenian truck drivers need many days for each of their frequent journeys to the vast country. At least 200 of them have reportedly been deported from Russia and/or banned from entering the country for having already breached the 90-day limit.
Yerevan ‘Negotiating’ On Russia’s Tighter Immigration Rules
Citizens of Armenia and other countries with a visa-free regime with Russia were allowed until this year to stay there for a total of up to 180 days per year. Legal amendments that took effect on January 1 reduced that period to 90 days. The change has first and foremost affected hundreds of Armenian truck drivers shipping goods to and from Russia, Armenia’s number one trading partner. They typically drive to the vast country on a virtually monthly basis.
Truckers Want Armenian Government Action Against New Russian Entry Rules
Citizens of Armenia and other countries with a visa-free regime with Russia were allowed until this year to stay there for a total of up to 180 days per year. Legal amendments that took effect on January 1 reduced that period to 90 days. The change has first and foremost affected truck drivers shipping agricultural produce and other goods to Russia, Armenia’s number one export market.
Russia’s Tighter Immigration Rules Affect Armenian Truckers
Citizens of Armenia and other countries with a visa-free regime with Russia were until recently allowed to stay there for a total of up to 180 days per year. Legal amendments enacted by the Russian government last year reduced that period to 90 days. The change has first and foremost affected truck drivers shipping agricultural produce and other goods to Russia, Armenia’s number one export market.
Government Signals No Action To Unblock Armenian Trucks In Russia
The more than 100 trucks laden with agricultural produce were effectively seized by authorities in various Russian cities for still unclear reasons. Their owner, the Spayka company, says that it has still not received a clear explanation for the unprecedented punitive measure that has disrupted its operations essential for the Armenian agricultural sector. The company claims to be suffering millions of dollars in losses. One of its senior executives, Karen Baghdasarian.
Key Armenian Exporter Warns Of Russian Crackdown’s Impact On Farmers
The trucks laden with agricultural produce were intercepted in various Russian cities three weeks ago for still unknown reasons. Spayka dispatched lawyers to Russia to negotiate with relevant authorities there. According to a top company executive, Karen Baghdasarian, they have still not received a clear explanation for the unprecedented punitive measure that has disrupted the company’s operations essential for the Armenian agricultural sector.
Armenian Trucks Still Blocked In Russia
A top Spayka executive, Karen Baghdasarian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on September 2 the trucks carried fruit and vegetables as they were stopped in various Russian cities without any explanation. The company will dispatch lawyers to Russia to negotiate with relevant authorities, he said, adding that the crackdown disrupted its operations essential for the Armenian agricultural sector. Baghdasarian said on Monday that the company has still not received any explanations from Russian officials.
Armenia’s Leading Food Exporter ‘Paralyzed' By Russian Ban
One of its top executives, Karen Baghdasarian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the company has still not received any explanation for the extraordinary measure which he said has disrupted its operations essential for the Armenian agricultural sector. “Within a day or two they stopped all our trucks in Russian cities and said, ‘The trucks won't move; if you have cargo in them, you can transfer the cargo to other vehicles and take it to its recipients,” said Baghdasarian.
Pashinian Motorcade Officer Gets 18 Months For Deadly Accident
The 28-year-old Sona Mnatsakanian was hit by the SUV while crossing a street in central Yerevan. The vehicle did not stop after the collision. Its driver, police Major Aram Navasardian, was twice arrested by investigators but freed by courts. The Armenian police did not fire or suspend him even after he went on trial in November 2022. In an initial ruling handed down on July 30, a Yerevan court convicted Navasardian of reckless driving and negligence.
Yerevan District Chief Returns To Work Amid Corruption Trial
The official, Aram Azatian, and his two deputies were arrested when law-enforcement authorities raided the district administration building in July 2024. They as well as eight other persons are currently standing trial. Azatian is accused of twice accepting hefty bribes and ordering his subordinates to commit “forgery” in the administration of public procurements. He was held in detention for more than ten months and then moved to house arrest.
Pashinian Motorcade Officer Convicted In Death Of Woman
The 28-year-old Sona Mnatsakanian was hit by the SUV while crossing a street in central Yerevan. The vehicle did not stop after the collision. Its driver, police Major Aram Navasardian, was twice arrested by investigators but freed by courts. The Armenian police did not fire or suspend him even after he went on trial in November 2022. Mnatsakanian’s parents have repeatedly alleged an official coverup of the accident.
Pashinian Denies Responsibility For Motorcade Death
The 28-year-old Sona Mnatsakanian died while crossing a street in central Yerevan. The police SUV did not stop after the collision. Pashinian’s limousine and six other cars making up his convoy also drove past the dying woman. “Don’t you understand that it wasn’t not my convoy, it was the bus of Armenia’s prime minister, to put it bluntly?” Pashinian told reporters, responding to lingering questions about his role in the deadly accident.
Armenian Flower Farmers Hit Hard By Russian Import Curbs
They said that due to the restrictions imposed late last month flowers grown by them are no longer shipped to Russia, their principal market. The Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor first threatened to ban the rapidly growing Armenian flower imports on June 3.
Yerevan Reports Deal On Armenian Brandy Transit Through Georgia
Shipments carried out by several Armenian brandy firms were effectively disrupted following Georgian authorities’ introduction in late April of physical checks on the alcoholic beverage. Many trucks loaded with brandy have since been held up in Georgia pending the results of lengthy quality tests. Citing this “congestion,” the Armenian customs service temporarily banned on June 10 other trucks from entering the neighboring country en route to Russia.
Yerevan ‘Still Awaiting Explanation’ For Georgian Transit Hurdles
The measure announced in late April caused significant delays in several Armenian brandy companies’ shipments carried out through Georgian territory. The companies say the checks take many weeks, causing them to miss their delivery deadlines and incur major losses. Some of them have suspended their production operations as a result.
Georgian Minister Cancels Trip To Armenia
The shipments carried out by several Armenian brandy firms were effectively disrupted following Georgian authorities’ introduction about two months ago of physical checks on the alcoholic beverage. More than 100 Armenian trucks loaded with brandy were reportedly held up in Georgia pending the results of lengthy quality tests. The measure baffled the affected exporters, who argued that their products only transit Georgia and are not sold there.
Authorities Reveal Another Criminal Case Against Sarkisian
Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) said Sarkisian had received in February-April 2008 an almost $3 million bribe in exchange for not impeding the sale of an unnamed private company. The law-enforcement agency did not name that company or give other details. It said it has already completed a criminal investigation into the alleged bribery and sent the case to court.
Armenian Brandy Exporters Protest Against Georgian Transit Checks
They said that the recently introduced checks involving laboratory quality inspections are taking weeks and disrupting their shipments to the Russian market vital for them. They said the resulting losses incurred by them are putting their continued operations at serious risk. The problem was first publicized a week ago as around three dozen Armenian trucks loaded with brandy were reportedly held up by Georgian authorities pending the results of quality tests introduced by them earlier this year.
Senior Yerevan Official Arrested Again
Arsen Karoyan, the head of the municipality’s department on public utilities, was first detained and charged by the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) with abuse of power on March 4. A Yerevan court of first instance refused the next day to allow the ACC to hold Karoyan in detention pending investigation and freed him on bail instead. Prosecutors appealed against that decision. The Court of Appeals agreed to overturn it, prompting criticism from Karoyan’s lawyer, Petros Petrosian.
Armenian Border Villagers Report Continuing Azeri Gunfire
“They were firing into the air, over the village,” Vahan Zakian, the head of the Khoznavar village administration, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “We don't see the gunshots, we just hear them,” Zakian said by phone. According to Kamela Ohanian, a resident of the nearby village of Khnatsakh, the automatic gunfire was less intense than in previous days. “But they still shot,” she said.
Armenian Border Village Reportedly Hit By Azeri Gunshots
The Azerbaijani military made the claims on Sunday and Monday. It said Armenian army units targeted its troops at various sections of the long border. The Defense Ministry in Yerevan dismissed the claims, again challenging Baku to present evidence of the alleged truce violations. It said Azerbaijani troops themselves fired at the village of Khnatsakh and damaged one of its houses shortly after midnight.
Tsarukian’s Indicted Son Still Not In Armenia
Armenian law-enforcement authorities have so far not divulged details of the incident involving Nver Tsarukian and his bodyguards that occurred at a casino in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor in October. One of them reportedly fired gunshots that did not injure anyone. The men also took away footage of the incident filmed by the casino’s security cameras. It is still not clear whether the investigators have recovered the video.
Another Yerevan Official Prosecuted
Arsen Karoyan, the head of the municipality’s department on public utilities, was arrested and charged by the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) with abuse of power on Tuesday. A Yerevan court refused afterwards to allow the ACC to hold Karoyan in detention pending investigation and freed him on bail instead. As of Wednesday evening, the ACC released no details of the accusations denied by Karoyan.
Uncle Of Woman Killed By Pashinian’s Motorcade Has Heart Attack In Court
The middle-aged man felt unwell at a court in Yerevan on Monday as he attended the latest hearing on the death of the 28-year-old Sona Mnatsakanian. “He simply told me, ‘I don't feel well, let me go out for a minute,’” said Raffi Aslanian, the lawyer representing Mnatsakanian’s family. “Moments later, they came and took his coat away, saying that an ambulance took him to hospital.
More Yerevan Officials Arrested
The law-enforcement agency refused to immediately name any of those officials or clarify what they are suspected or accused of. Sources told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the ACC rounded up seven persons, including the head of the Yerevan municipality’s Public Order Service, Aram Gyulzadian, and two senior officials from its department dealing with construction permits and land allocations. They allegedly took or gave bribes, the sources said. The ACC did not deny the information.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Narine
Contact Narine, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack