Lately, the agreement of Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union was approved at the Russian Government session and presented to Vladimir Putin for endorsement. It will come into effect as of January 1, 2015. Prior to it, various senior officials keep convincing that by entering into the Customs Union, Armenia’s future will be rescued. The Chief of Staff to the President of Armenia, Vigen Sargsyan, at the meeting with students of “Luys” foundation, spoke of the 170 million-value market, the doors of which are opened to Armenia. He announced, “Even the data by the international rating organizations suggest that in comparison with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, Armenia has a more favorable business environment and opportunities for investors. We believe that the international companies that want to explore this huge market can consider Armenia as the best place to commence their business.”
In the conversation with Aravot.am, Deputy President of “Free Democrats” party, Anush Sedrakyan, countered Vigen Sargsyan. According to her, “By entering into the CU, we lose the chance of having a choice, because if we firmly join a Union, where the prospects are quite uncertain, we lose the attempt of being successfully integrated into already established EU and the Western world. We should always keep in mind that we cannot put a sign of equality between the EU and the CU, for the very simple reason that the EU is already an established unit, whereas the Customs Union and accordingly, the EEU are uncertain units. The member states of this Union have not yet reached full agreement on any issue.
These are economy agreements, the distribution of political responsibility, it is eventually the attitude by the members of the Union towards Armenia. If we exclude the RF, we need to understand you need to have the respect and acceptance by all members of the Union, without exception, to be an equal member of an equal Union.”
Vigen Sargsyan said that for Armenia, which is in transport blockade, it was extremely important to have an advantage in our industry. “Here, the transport infrastructures and energy resources play an important role. Since we were unable to change the situation dramatically in terms of transport infrastructure, as the border with Turkey remains closed, it was very important to compensate this gap by importing cheap energy carriers, and we did it by deciding to join the Customs Union. Now, we import gas and oil at Russian domestic prices, without customs duty.”
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As observed by Anush Sedrakyan, by entering into the CU, we should not expect any change in this regard. “Armenia has never come out the economic zone under Russia’s influence, it was always there. Our major facilities are handed over to Russian facilities, and as a result, the infrastructure are not established, are weak and are not developed well. Now to expect that in the event of EEU, when the main player and dictator here is Russia, no change is expected for this role-playing issue, to expect that in this context, Armenia’s situation will be improved is a little romantic vision. Of course, we all want our country to be in a good shape, therefore, we need to visualize all the possible risks that are on the way. On the way to the Customs Union, the risks are numerous. One of them is that the international community is actually isolating Russia, and Armenia may appear in this international isolation, without being guilty.”
As for a good business environment in Armenia and investment prospects, Anush Sedrakyan said, “I will just ask you to look at the CU and its partner countries, this small number of countries that want to trade with the Russian Federation. I would look you to look at the same Russia, which possesses such huge resources, what investment projects are carried out, to what extent the number of these investments is reduced, what kind of business environment prevails in this country and how the economy evolves today. I do not think that Armenia, without having even 1/100th resources of RF is able to develop new investment projects. If investment projects are not introduced to the oil center, then hardly they would move to little Armenia”.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
Photo by Sona Margaryan
