Monday, 4 February 2013
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s interview to “Moscow News”
- What stood out in 2012 for Armenia: what determines the life of the country in the past year, what achievements, what problems?
- Our political system proved to be successful. It became obvious in the wake of the latest parliamentary elections which the international community described as the most democratic in the modern history of Armenia.
Economic activity is sufficiently high. GDP growth in 2012 was slightly more than 7% which is the best performance in the former Soviet Union. Given the fact that Armenia finds itself in rather a vulnerable geopolitical position - I mean the relations with 2 of our neighbors, the unsettled conflicts - this is a very serious figure.
- What is behind this achievement?
- First of all, the anti-crisis program of the government has proved to be effective. The priorities are as follows. Firstly, we had to diversify the economy. Secondly, industry should be supported effectively mediating loans, improved business climate and the State’s direct involvement in various projects, as well as through targeted investments in high-tech industry.
We started a program of import substitution and arranged with key Armenian importers to make investments at home. As a result, exports exceeded imports over the past few years.
- Armenia and Russia set up a working group last year to propose a format for Armenia’s participation in the Customs Union, given that your country has no common border with Russia. Are there any developments in this area? How likely is Armenia’s accession to the CU?
- Following a meeting between our heads of State on August 8, 2012, it was decided to establish such a commission. It is not question of lack of common borders. Armenia stands out in that its economy is quite different from that of other CU members which have considerable energy resources and are abiding by a policy of protecting domestic producers. They are practicing duties twice those used in Armenia.
Armenia was the first CIS country to join the World Trade Organization, and it adds another peculiarity to our relations with the Customs Union.
However, we have repeatedly said that Armenia is interested in facilitating investments within the CIS, because on the one hand, Russia is our strategic partner, and on the other, it represents a large and promising market, and we need to create an enabling environment for our businesses to enter this area.
The full text of the interview is available in Russian.
