The central market of Stepanakert is one of the sights of the capital of Artsakh. Tourists from all over the world are rushing here to buy Zhengyal bread, a brand of Artsakh.
We met Ella Davtyan, a former teacher, at the Stepanakert market, who has been selling vegetables there for over ten years. According to her, she stays all day long in the market, to barely earn for a day’s living: “Today there is no trade, no people, from morning till evening you can hardly see 10-20 people in the market. If people arrive from abroad, or from Armenia, there is some movement in here, but our local people are passive. They buy cucumber, eggplant just for the daily meal, and that’s it”.
According to Mrs. Ella, the situation has deteriorated as compared to previous years: “There were so many people visiting from abroad, but now after this four-day war, people probably are afraid, they do not visit anymore. We were so happy when they were visiting, were encouraging us, telling that they were by our side, and that they were always ready to fight with us till the end, but not anymore. We are trying to encourage ourselves, we hope for peace, so we won’t lose our home, won’t become Karabakh refugees”.
As in Yerevan, supermarkets are growing in Stepanakert as well, and people, according to her, the locals prefer to shop in supermarkets rather than in markets: “You enter supermarkets, and become impressed with goods, and people say, not a problem, we better pay 10 drams more, but shop in supermarket. But small businesses are getting lost, being swallowed up by big ones”.
Ami CHICHAKYAN
