CIVILNET

📍 The European Commission today announced the launch of the Connectivity Agenda Platform and the signing of agreements with international financial institutions expected to mobilize more than $2 billion for strategic connectivity investments in the Black Sea region and the South Caucasus. 📍 Armenia’s Ministry of Infrastructure published a draft decision yesterday outlining plans to nationalize 100% of the shares of Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), a utility owned by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan.📍 Russian sanctions against Armenian products have hit the country’s agricultural sector, particularly the flower industry. Producers have lost a key market, facing expensive logistics and debt, and are now urgently seeking buyers in Europe.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #dailyarmenia

📍 Armenia’s Telecom Armenia and Azerbaijan’s Azertelecom have announced a deal that will allow for the transfer and provision of transit internet services across their infrastructures.📍 Russia has not commented on reports that Azerbaijani authorities destroyed a World War II memorial in Nagorno-Karabakh despite lashing out on Armenia over an act of vandalism at a similar memorial in Gyumri earlier this month. 📍This Week in Business: https://youtu.be/EYfkbu-uXFg?si=ytSknErSm7P01v3c #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #dailyarmenia

Following Armenia’s parliamentary election, Insights host Eric Hacopian examines the controversy surrounding the official vote total and what it means for the balance of power in parliament. He also explains what will likely become the defining political issue of the coming years: the proposed constitutional referendum demanded by Azerbaijan. Hacopian examines the political calculations behind the referendum and what the outcome would mean for Armenia’s future.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #insightswitherichacopian

📍 Russia has broadened restrictions on trade with Armenia to cover most agricultural products as relations between the two countries continue to worsen.📍 Armenia’s Central Bank voted to keep interest rates unchanged at 6.5%.📍 Interview with Davtyan Farms’ Davit Davtyan (in Armenian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI_aavAzrgk#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #civilnetbusiness

📍 An Armenian court yesterday ordered the seizure of a large land plot in the ski resort town of Tsaghkadzor from the country’s National Olympic Committee, which is headed by Gagik Tsarukyan, a business tycoon and opposition leader.📍 A coalition of election monitoring groups known as the Independent Observer has criticized Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission for refusing to hold a rerun of the June 7 parliamentary elections at three polling stations where results were annulled due to violations on voting day.📍 U.S. approves creation of ‘Trump route’ company with Armenia: THIS WEEK IN BUSINESS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vOSuZ92iNI #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #dailyarmenia

Independent journalists Viktoria Dumbrava of Moldova-based Agora and Yulia Hyra of Ukraine-Babel join CivilNet in Yerevan for a special edition of the Synergies on Air podcast series. The show is produced through the Seizing Synergies project, a journalism initiative linking independent media outlets across Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Drawing on their experiences in Moldova and Ukraine, they discuss cross-border journalism, independent media, and reporting under growing political, economic, and disinformational pressures. The lessons they share from their countries about public trust in the media and combating foreign influence resonate deeply with Armenia. 0:00- Introduction 0:50- Independent Media in Ukraine: Babel 2:58- Independent Media in Moldova: Agora 4:28- Importance of cross-border collaboration 5:47- Stories aided by cross-border collaboration 8:00- Similarities in reporting the elections in Moldova & Armenia9:51- Issues of public trust in the media 14:50- Effect on "brain drain" on media landscape 20:52- What does Europe mean to Ukraine and Moldova? 26:34- What keeps independent outlets going despite the obstacles? #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ

This special edition of the CivilNet Podcast is part of the “Synergy on Air” series, produced through the Seizing Synergies project, a cross-border journalism initiative connecting independent media outlets across Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. CivilNet speaks with Markus Niedobitek, Project Manager at the Berlin-based Network for Cross-Border Journalism (n-ost), which coordinates the Seizing Synergies, and Filip Noubel, editor-at-large for Global Voices. They discuss how collaborative journalism can counter disinformation, break national media bubbles, and bring human stories back to the center of reporting across Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus.0:00- Introduction0:47- n_ost's Seizing Synergies project 5:05- Why is cross-border journalism so important now? 11:01- Day to day of cross-border journalism collaboration 14:20- Stepping outside your domestic audience 17:30- What other countries can learn about and from Armenia? 20:23- Finding the news hook for Armenia 26:50- Good journalism is about explaining nothing is black and white #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #SeizingSynergies

Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission has confirmed the final results of the June 7 parliamentary election after a week of recounts and legal disputes, with the ruling Civil Contract party retaining a parliamentary majority. The outcome has been rejected by several opposition parties, while attention also remains on its implications for Armenia’s constitutional agenda and peace process with Azerbaijan. #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #dailyarmenia

Following Armenia’s parliamentary election, Insights host Eric Hacopian examines what ultimately decided the vote and the factors behind the ruling party’s victory. The episode also looks at why the opposition performed better than expected and what this reveals about the country’s evolving electorate. Finally, it explores the deeper political divide emerging from the election and what it signals for Armenia’s future direction. #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #insightswitherichacopian

📍 The first phase of a major data center in Armenia is nearing completion, according to High-Tech Industry Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan. The mega-project is a public-private partnership of the Armenian government and Firebird, an Armenian-American startup.📍 A key U.S. government agency approved the formation of the TRIPP Development Company, an American-American joint venture, to oversee the development and operations of a major new transit route planned in the South Caucasus.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #civilnetbusiness