Overview
- The cabinet backed an amendment to the Land Code that ends the Armenian Apostolic Church’s ability to receive state or community land for free in ownership, while preserving free use rights, with the bill now headed to parliament.
- Ministers voted to dissolve the joint-stock company that operates the Shogakat channel, instructing a liquidation commission to be formed within 15 days and requiring the transfer of documents and assets to the commission.
- Current Time reported the shutdown of Shogakat is slated to take effect on January 1, 2026, citing the October audiovisual media law changes as the legal basis.
- The measures extend a protracted standoff between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Catholicos Garegin II that has also seen detentions of senior clergy and the arrest of benefactor Samvel Karapetyan.
- On December 26, imprisoned Archbishop Mikael Adjapahyan underwent surgery in Yerevan and his lawyers said it was successful, following his two‑year sentence on charges of calling for a power seizure.