Victor Krivopuskov, head of Rossotrudnichestvo Office in Armenia, at a press conference today, said that he “as a resident of Yerevan, and why not, as an Armenian” has seen and felt the severity of those days when everyone was waiting for this important event, referring to Armenia’s joining the Customs Union. In this respect, “Aravot” inquired from Mr. Krivopuskov as to how everybody was looking forward to the event, if no one was aware of it, very few people were assuming about Armenia’s joining the Customs Union before September 3, it was a shock for many people, Mr. Krivopuskov answered, “In a few days, I am completing my mission in Armenia and returning to Moscow. But I would like to say that there was a shock, yes, but who had the shock, the officials, to those who were thinking about their own well-being, were oriented to other values. And, I know very well about the orientation of the wide society of Armenia and especially the ordinary people. It is a science of sociological facts, and social surveys have shown that approximately 60 % of Armenians supports going in that direction. It is clear that if a referendum is held, the result would have been different. I am sure that, in that case, the number of those welcoming the orientation of Armenia towards Russia would have made much greater percentage. Ordinary people and the majority of public mind in Armenia, of course, were happy with this choice of RA authorities, because we are united not only spiritually, in contrast to the values that are preached in the West, but also in terms of economic development. The words will not make you feel full, will they? And it’s all natural. Where are the priorities, the achievements, the directions, which were developed in Armenia by the European Union? Where was the EU in these 25 years? Why do not they set up an enterprise here? No, well, to be honest, there are some things, but they are not significant for the economy of Armenia. Who will feed the country free? The country must work, produce, and sell. Let us remember that in the Soviet period, Armenia was receiving 80 trains of products every day, but also 80 trains of high-tech products were sent from Yerevan to all the countries of the world, mostly, to USSR Republics. And, now, where are these trains going…? Certainly, today, we cannot talk about trains, to put it mildly, but even those sporadic wagons that came out of Yerevan, where are they going, to Russia, or CIS countries? The volume of economic relations of Armenia, the enterprises predicting Armenia’s future are totally and fully dependent on Russia on equal basis. And, where is the European Union?” Then, continuing to criticize the European Union, he noted that Armenian enters into the Customs Union without any preconditions and as an equal partner, “You know what, I consider myself a Yerevan resident, no, why do I consider, I’m just a Yerevan resident, and like everyone is going to a store every day, I am socializing with people every day and I am very well aware of the informational and ideological pressures that the EU was making, it was putting forward thousands of preconditions to Armenia, if you do this, you will have this, if you do not do this, you will not have this and so on and so forth. Moreover, not only me but also no one in the society knows what was there in those Association papers. No one was aware of what was going to be. So, it is absolutely clear that Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union, and later on to the Eurasian Union, was quite realistic and tangible.” To the question of “Aravot” that you constantly are trying to convince how good and how correct it was for Armenia to join the Customs Union, and what it gives to you, Russia, just a regular score, Mr. Krivopuskov was a little offended. “I’m sorry…. You know what, we have never abandoned our friends and colleagues. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, we are not only together, side by side… We, together, keep the Armenian-Turkish border, we ensure the safety of our people. In our relationships, we have never been guided by a commercial point of view. You know what, we have never built our relationships with our friends as such, even though, today, pragmatics is also important.” “You say that you are not building relationships with your friends from the commercial aspect, but when Russia sold the offensive weapons of $1 billion to Azerbaijan, it explained only by business,” in response to our reversibility, Mr. Krivopuskov answered, “He who is not blind will see, who is not deaf will hear… I definitely do not want to comment on the sale of these weapons, but there are alternatives that should be properly assessed. I do not think that the billion smashed the thoughts of the Armenian elite, especially the minds of ordinary people. Russia and Armenia, together, are in CSTO, we are strongly connected to each other with a variety of military-technical agreements, partnership. I think these words are enough to say that Armenia’s joining the Customs Union was realistic. And as for the fact of selling the weapon, I do not think that it had any effect on the Armenian-Russian relations.”
Melania BARSEGHYAN
