Union Post No. 2, 1 November 2026

Yerevan to Switch to Electric Buses

A trolleybus in Yerevan. Photo: Reem Al-Kashif, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Yerevan is set to fully convert its bus fleet to electric vehicles and will begin creating dedicated lanes for public transport this year. During a city hall meeting on October 26, Mayor Tigran Avinyan instructed that the next tender should be for electric buses only. He also ordered that the operating hours for the city’s electric transport, which currently ends at around 9 p.m., be extended to 11 p.m. or midnight.

The reason for these measures is the city’s traffic congestion, which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared a crisis a year ago. At the time, he recounted seeing such severe gridlock in the city centre the previous evening that “you couldn’t even get through on a bicycle,” and ordered that a crisis group be formed. Since that time, the issue of transport in the capital has been discussed at the government level.

The mayor does not consider widening the city’s roads to be a solution. “Our roads, forgive me, are not made of rubber; they cannot expand indefinitely,” he said. “Even if you widen them, science says that more cars will simply appear on the wider roads.” According to Mr Avinyan, public transport must become so convenient that even wealthy people who own several cars will choose to use it. “There must be at least one reliable way to get around the city, and that way must be public transport,” he stated. By 2030, travel time on public transport should be reduced by 30%, a goal the mayor considers quite realistic.

The city’s calculations show that dedicated lanes can achieve more than new vehicles: 15 buses in their own lane work better than 25 in general traffic, running more frequently, faster and more reliably. The mayor has suggested combining cycle paths with bus lanes. The first such lane will be separated on the right-hand side of the road and monitored by cameras. If it turns out that streets need to be rebuilt, the city will undertake major works and move the lane to the centre of the roadway. The deputy mayor is to present a phased plan this year, with work scheduled to begin in the same year.

Opera House to Open Small Hall

The Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre is opening a Small Concert Hall on November 1, the composer’s 155th anniversary. It is housed on premises where the ‘Opera Club’ operated for many years; theatre director Karen Durgaryan stressed that the space belongs to the theatre. On the opening night, pianist Hayk Melikyan will play music by Spendiaryan and other Armenian composers.

Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Tigran Virabyan promised the hall will be dedicated solely to the arts, hosting chamber concerts and children’s opera and ballet performances. Mr Durgaryan wants children to learn the entire theatre-going process, from buying a ticket to the show, saying this will cultivate a new generation of theatregoers. Renovations are ongoing, but concerts will begin immediately. The hall is promised to be finished by February with new seats and “beautiful solutions.”

Tadevosyan Receives Golden Globe Award

Armenian actor Samvel Tadevosyan receives a Golden Globe award in Tashkent — Photo: Zartonk

On October 23, Armenian actor Samvel Tadevosyan was presented with the Golden Globes Beacon Award at a ceremony in Tashkent. This award is given to young artists from Central Asia and the Caucasus whose work in film and television represents a new generation. The presentation took place at the inaugural ‘A Tribute to the Silk Road’ gala evening, where Kazakhstani actress Shugyla Yeshen was also a recipient of the award.

Tadevosyan is most widely known for his role as the volunteer Tigran in the 2016 military drama Life and Struggle. For this notable performance, he received the State Prize of Armenia and the Anahit Award from the country’s National Film Academy.

For his appearance on the red carpet and the stage, Tadevosyan wore a black suit custom-made by the Armenian designer Narek Jhangiryan, who had previously dressed the singer Brunette for Eurovision. His look was curated by Rien-à-Porter, a Yerevan-based platform that promotes local designers, which in March also dressed the Oscar-nominated director Madlen Sharafyan.

Schoolchildren from Gyumri Become World Champions

Armenian schoolchildren win the World Robot Olympiad — Photo: alphanews.am

A team from a Gyumri development lab became world and European champions at the World Robot Olympiad in Zagreb, where around 250 teams competed. Sylvie and Elen Khachatryan and David Petrosyan, aged 15 and 16, built a scanner robot that digitises books and converts text into speech, video or slides for people with visual impairments. The team’s mentor is Ashot Zilfimyan.

From Yerevan to Eindhoven

Wizz Air will fly from Yerevan to the Netherlands three times a week — Photo: MarcelX42, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

As of 26 October, Wizz Air flies from Yerevan to Eindhoven in the Netherlands three times a week: on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Tickets are sold on its website.