Russia's all-out war of sanctions against Armenia will lead to deep recession of Armenian economy - ex-deputy prime minister

YEREVAN, November 6. /ARKA/. If Russia decides to impose extensive sanctions against Armenia, it will cause significant damage to the Armenian economy, former Deputy Prime Minister, Dean of the College of Business and Economics at the American University of Armenia Vache Gabrielyan said in the Special Opinion program on the YouTube channel of the Novosti-Armenia news agency.

According to the former deputy minister, the first concern is about the natural gas, which is shipped to Armenia across Georgia.

‘If Russia raises its price, a long string of Armenia-manufactured goods would become uncompetitive," he explained. 

Gabrielyan named market accessibility as the second negative consequence, namely the application of various tools, including tighter quality control of goods from Armenia at the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Georgian-Russia border.

Among other negative consequences, Gabrielyan pointed out possible problems with remittances, as a significant part of them comes from Russia.

"If all these restrictions are applied, the Armenian economy will be in a very bad state," the former deputy prime minister emphasized.

"The probability of this scenario is difficult to assess, as it is in the political realm," he said.

In this regard, Gabrielyan added that Russia, despite the aggravation of relations with countries such as Moldova and Georgia, did not apply a policy of total sanctions against them.

"Even in the case of Ukraine, Russian natural gas continues to flow to Ukraine and through it to Europe," he said. -0-