Armenia should build up stocks to smooth out aftereffects of possible conflict around Iran: PM
16.04.2012,
18:30
The Armenian government has to build up enough reserves which it might need to smooth out the aftereffects of a potential conflict around Iran, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said in an interview with Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
YEREVAN, April 16. /ARKA/. The Armenian government has to build up enough reserves which it might need to smooth out the aftereffects of a potential conflict around Iran, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said in an interview with Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
"We should have a three-month supply of essentials - medicine, food, fuel and lubricants. We have developed a list of materials and volumes that we may need in case of emergency and wartime so that our country is able to function normally," he said.
Sargsyan said approximately 20% of Armenia’s trade is implemented via Iran's territory. He said the country would face problems in case of a conflict around Iran.
"There would be a lot of problems: we have a natural gas pipeline, we have high-voltage electricity transmission lines, we have a flow of Iranian tourists, investments, there is an Iranian bank in Armenia. And for each category we are calculating a variety of scenarios and negative consequences," he explained.
He said the brief 2008 August war between Russia and Georgia that disrupted imports to Armenia served as a good lesson.
"We were forced to transport goods by vehicles because the railway did not operate, and used also aircrafts that increased our expenses," he added. -0-
