up to the Iranian border. The town has a railway station that used to connect Yerevan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic during the Soviet years. Economy After facing serious difficulties during the economical crisis of the 1990s in Armenia, many firms in Artashat overcame the hard situation and started producing their products to serve the domestic and international markets. Currently, Artashat is home to many large industrial firms, mainly involved in food processing and building materials. The "Artfood Artashat Cannery" (since 1961) is among the leading processed food producers in Armenia. The "Shaumyan Alco" for brandy and vodka is operating in the town since 2007. In 2009, the "Ararat Group" for mineral water and soft drinks had opened its factory in Artashat with a total investment of US$27 million. Other industrial plant of Artashat include the "Izipanel" company specialized in sandwich panel manufacturing, as well as many small plants that produce building materials, textile, etc. Many large construction companies operate in the town as well. Education As of 2016, Artashat has 6 public education schools, 7 kindergartens, 1 musical school named after Alexander Melik Pashaev (opened in 1956), 1 art academy and 2 sport schools. In addition, the town has its domestic TV station, as well as a number of local newspapers. Sport Artashat has a municipal football stadium opened in 1960, where many competitions and championships for young football teams and athletics are held. FC Dvin Artashat, founded in 1982 as Olympia Artashat, was the only football club in the city. After the 1999 Armenian Premier League season, the club was dissolved due to financial difficulties and is currently inactive from professional football. The stadium of Artashat is the regular home of the annual National Athletics Championship of Armenia. Twin towns – sister cities Artashat is twinned with: Clamart, France (2003) Pestszentlőrinc-Pestszentimre (Budapest), Hungary (2003) Notable people Sergo Karapetyan, Armenian politician and former minister of agriculture Gusan Haykazun, contemporary Armenian composer Varuzhan Yepremyan, renowned Armenian painter Gegham Kadymyan, Armenian footballer Arayik Gevorgyan, three time world champion in wrestling See also Ararat Province Artaxata Verin Artashat References Further reading Arakelyan, Babken N. "Основные результаты раскопок древнего Арташата в 1970-73 гг.," Patma-Banasirakan Handes 4 (1974). _. Հին Արտաշատ [Ancient Artashat]. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1975. ___. "Les fouilles d'Artaxata: Bilan Provisoire," Revue des Études Arméniennes 18 (1984), pp. 367–395. Yeremyan, Suren T. Հայաստանը ըստ «Աշխարհացույց»-ի [Armenia According to the Ashkharhatsuyts].