Armenia among top three poorest countries in CISMarch 13, 2018 - 11:25 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia has one of the highest rates of poverty among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). According to data provided by the national statistical service, the 29.4% poverty rate was exceeded by only two countries in the CIS space in 2016. 32.1% of the population of Kyrgyzstan and 30.3% in Tajikistan, as well as 5.9% of the Azerbaijanis and only 2.6% of Kazakhs were poor in the reporting period. Armenia’s draft budget for 2018 envisages a 4.5% GDP growth. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Turkey extends military presence in Azerbaijan The Turkish parliament has adopted a bill submitted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend the mandate of Turkish troops. Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. |