ARMENIA SHOULD BUILD UP STOCKS TO SMOOTH OUT AFTEREFFECTS OF POSSIBLE CONFLICT AROUND IRAN: PM

/ARKA/
APRIL 16, 2012
YEREVAN

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.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress