Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Vienna for the first formal talks after four informal meetings on the margins of international organizations.

The meeting started with the participation of the foreign ministers and the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Later on Pashinyan and Aliyev held face-to-face meeting which was again followed by an extended meeting.

Moody’s rating organization has changed the sovereign rating prospect and banking system prediction of Armenia from “stable” to “positive.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan touched upon this topic on Facebook.

“This attests to the fact that Moody’s assesses the RA’s economic developments as positive within the next 12-18 months,” Pashinyan said.

Armenia will send aid and rescuers to Iran to help the flood victims, Minister of Emergency Situations, Feliks Tsolakyan said.

 “Their Red Crescent organization has petitioned that help be organized,” the minister said. “We [Armenia] have decided to send humanitarian aid; we are organizing this work today and tomorrow. But the matter is that we are implementing that through the Russian-Armenian humanitarian [response] center.

“We will send technical means, vehicles, and rescuers; we are specifying the numbers,” he said.

The World Bank Group Board of Executive Directors endorsed the 2019-23 Country Partnership Framework for Armenia with around $500 million to support sustainable and inclusive growth and improve living standards in the country.

“The proposed World Bank Group strategy will capitalize on the momentum and political will for deeper reforms and renewed commitment to good governance sparked by recent changes in Armenia to support a rebalancing of the economy toward a new growth model,” said Sylvie Bossoutrot, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia.

Armenian Acting Culture Minister Nazeni Gharibyan dismissed on Thursday Constantine Orbelian as the General Director of the Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

Constantine Orbelian told reporters on Friday that he had noted received any warning over his dismissal and considers dismissal to be illegal.

 “She decided that I was illegally appointed to this post. Thus, she believes that the government did not have the right to appoint me a year and a half ago,” he said, adding that “the matter will go to court”.