‘Armenia lost 2 million 300 thousand people during independence year

‘Armenia lost 2 million 300 thousand people during independence years’

`2 million 300 thousand people are our greatest loss during the years
of independence. 5 million would live in Armenia today, but only 2
million 700 thousand currently live here,’ sociologist Aharon
Adibekian told reporters today.

In his words, most of the Armenian economy was based on
`sovietization’, but `after gaining independence, we lost it’.
`Besides, our population has halved. If 5 million people lived here,
we would have a serious market and a large workforce,’ Adibekian
noted.

According to him, independence is not the most important thing for the
country. `It is important that people have jobs and live a life of
dignity in their country,’ the sociologist said.

`While gaining independence, we lost our powerful economy, and in that
case at least we should have maintained close cooperation with Russia.
So I believe that the decision on entry into the Customs Union has
been the most correct one in the history of independent Armenia,’
Adibekian said.

From: A. Papazian