Aravot Daily asked the mayor of Gyumri, Samvel Balasanyan, whether the ‘My Step for the Shirak Region’ produced any spectacular results for Gyumri.
“The governor was the one who organized the conference, so you will have to ask him. But there is one project that I am following so it can be implemented. It’s a project that will allow us to have a logistics center. We have already set aside 343 hectares of land for it. We are trying to come up with a solution so that it can serve as a free economic zone. The maternity hospital opened a few days ago, and I once again approached the Minister of Economics, Khachatryan, and asked him to speed up the process. He said that he will include this project on the agenda for the next government session. If a free economic zone is set up, then they will start the process. And this is an important process because it will create jobs. It’s a serious investment.”
He continued, “I don’t want to give numbers, but the investor is saying things that seem like a fairytale to me. This will be the most important investment in Gyumri. So, I am aware of this investment, and I am also aware of investments made by private individuals such as restaurants and hotels. For example, an Armenian businessman living in Russia, Gagik Petrosyan, came here and bought property on Alek Manukyan street. Now he wants to create a hotel. He’s coming up with a plan,” Samvel Balasanyan said.
Mayor of Gyumri Samvel Balasanyan and Chairman of the Armenia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Tsvi Kan-Tor met a year and a half ago to sign an agreement on creating a free economic zone in Gyumri. The Israelis were interested in making investments in Gyumri due to the fact that it has an airport, which will allow products from different brands to be transported to Gyumri, where they will be held, packaged, and sent to countries in the Eurasian Economic Union.
