COVID-19 Daily Briefing (April 27)

According to the Ministry of Environment, nitrogen dioxide levels in Armenia decreased in the period of April 1-16, compared to March 1-15. The largest drop was recorded in Vanadzor (49%).

Yerevan: -4%
Kajaran: -12%
Hrazdan: -36%
Vanadzor: -49%
Kapan: -32%
Alaverdi: -42%
Tsaghkadzor: -48%

2 p.m.

In a Facebook live, Arayik Harutyunyan, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport spoke about how the academic year will close and the university admission process will be organized. Speaking about online education, Harutyunyan said that, although the Ministry is pleased with the process in general, there are issues with content delivery, methodology and organization. Harutyunyan also said that online classes will continue during the month of May and in-person classes will not be held for the rest of the academic year. He noted that, when the results of online education are fully assessed (at the end of May), the Ministry will be in a better position to evaluate the situation on whether the curriculum has been completed. If needed, they will discuss the possibility of starting the new academic year a week early and holding classes on Saturdays to help students catch up.

The examinations that fourth and ninth grade public school students are required to take to advance to the next grade will be cancelled. Instead, exams that students took on March 13 for each subject area will determine whether they move to the next school grade. The same rules will apply to examinations that tenth and eleventh grade high school students are required to take.

The Minister also presented how final exams in schools, universities and colleges will be organized. Similar to fourth and ninth grade exams, final twelfth grade school exams will also be cancelled. Harutyunyan explained that, considering the fact that some of the students already took their final exams in December 2019, they will have an opportunity to choose either the exam grade or the final grade for the subject as the mark that will be recorded on their school diploma. Students will receive their diplomas by May 25. Harutyunyan noted that the process has been organized so that it does not conflict with the army enlistment process. He went on to say that, because the country is operating under the restrictions imposed by the State of Emergency (SOE), the Ministry could not have possibly achieved ideal results. But everything was still done to ensure that the overall situation has minimal impact on how students’ final grades are assessed.

Final exams and thesis defenses will be cancelled in colleges. Instead, grades will be finalized based on the marks students have received during the academic year (similar to the process for twelfth grade students). Students will receive their diplomas by June 5. Harutyunyan explained that discussions were held with rectors of universities and it was decided that each university will decide how to conduct its final exams, while following the regulations introduced to limit the spread of the pandemic. The universities are required to finalize the process by July 1.

Harutyunyan also spoke about graduation ceremonies. While acknowledging their significance and importance for all students, all ceremonies will be postponed. Noting that young people who get infected with COVID-19 usually do not exhibit symptoms but still remain carriers, there is a threat that large-scale ceremonies or events can exacerbate the spread of the virus. Harutyunyan promised that, once the virus is no longer a threat, the Ministry will choose a date and graduation ceremonies will be held in schools across Armenia.

The Minister also provided clarifications about university admission exams. He noted that, after a number of discussions, it was decided that the best option to effectively assess applicants’ knowledge while not undermining the government’s efforts at halting the spread of the virus, would be to have students take only one admission exam (usually students take two or three exams). By April 30, the Ministry will announce which exam students will be required to take for each major. Oral exams, which are usually required for students applying for language programs, will be cancelled. The logic behind the decision is to ensure students are accepted to universities not solely based on their final grades but also based on the assessment of their knowledge. Small numbers of students will be assigned to each of the exam rooms across Armenia. Exams will be held at the beginning of July. Students can start submitting their applications to universities starting from May 25 using an online platform, which will be announced later.

The admission process for students applying for master’s and PhD programs will be held from June 16 to June 30, and the results will be finalized by July 5. The Ministry is also recommending removing the requirement for the TOEFL exam, because deadlines for taking the exams have already passed and applicants could not take it because of the virus. The admission process at colleges will start in August and will be entirely based on diploma grades, except for colleges specialized in art and healthcare. Similar to the admission process for higher educational institutions, in these two types of colleges applicants will be required to take only one exam.

12 p.m.
During a press conference, Deputy Minister of Economy Naira Margaryan gave a briefing about the third assistance package targeted towards small- and medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs). Margaryan presented the requirements that potential beneficiaries of the loan program are required to comply with. Businesses in the processing industry, accommodation and catering, transportation and storage, tourism services or healthcare, with an annual turnover between 24 million to 500 million AMD in 2019 are eligible to apply. Based on the applications the Ministry has received, they have updated the list by adding construction, entertainment and leisure services (except Internet cafes), kindergartens and sport centers to the list of businesses that can apply for the third assistance package. Margaryan noted that the requirement entails that the turnover for each of the previous year’s quarters should not be less than 10% of the annual turnover. Because of this requirement, a number of companies in the tourism sector and seasonal sectors were left out of the program. The Ministry decided to amend this requirement and now companies, whose turnover for each quarter of the previous year is not more than 70% of the annual turnover can apply. Margaryan said that, after this change was introduced, the number of beneficiaries significantly increased.

A good credit and tax record still remains the most important condition of the package, but changes were introduced in the tax record filter. According to the previous regulations, companies eligible for this assistance program should not have administrative proceedings initiated against them within the last 365 days because of unpaid taxes. The new regulations say that, although this requirement is still in force, companies that do not comply with this requirement but as of December 31, 2019, did not have unpaid taxes can also apply for this assistance package. Margaryan clarified that companies that apply for the assistance because they do not have unpaid taxes as of December 31, 2019, will be required to pay a 1% fee for the provided loan (the companies with no record of administrative proceedings because of unpaid taxes will not pay the 1% fee).

All companies that comply with the above-mentioned requirements can apply for loans from 2.5 million to 50 million AMD, depending on their turnover. The loans are for 36 months and do not require repayment to begin until six months into the term of the loan. The interest rate for the first two years is 0% but jumps up to 12% in the third year. Loans can be used to cover specific costs, including salaries, state taxes, purchase or import of raw materials (with the condition that the raw material will be used for production within the territory of Armenia) and rental fees. Margaryan explained that loans can be used to cover acceptable expenses that occurred after March 1, despite the fact that the affected companies may have already made those payments. To date, 1,200 applications were submitted, 350 of them were rejected, while 461 applications, with a total budget of 5.2 billion AMD, were approved. Margaryan said that those SMEs whose applications were rejected because of the requirements that were later amended do not need to submit a new application. If they comply with the amended requirements, their previously rejected application will be considered again. Online applications for the assistance package can be found here: https://smednc.am/hy.

Speaking about other forms of assistance provided to SMEs, the Deputy Minister noted that the Business Support Office initiated a series of webinars on specific topics recommended by SMEs. She went on to say that the online webinars had 100 to 200 participants. The Business Support Office has also decided to hold one-on-one consulting sessions for SMEs with experts based in Armenia.

11 a.m.
The Ministry of Health reported that there were 62 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Armenia, bringing the cumulative total to 1808. Fifteen patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 848 and the number of active cases is now 931. One patient died within the last 24 hours, bringing the number of deaths to 29. To date, the Ministry has conducted 18,547 tests.