ARMENIAN EXPERT WARNS AGAINST SWITCHING TO SINGLE EEU CURRENCY

YEREVAN, March 12. / ARKA /. Shushan Khatlamajyan, program coordinator
from the Armenian Institute of Civil Society and Regional Development,
said Russia’s plan to switch to a single currency together with other
members of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) will become
a problem for Armenia’s authorities.

According to Russian news agencies, on March 10, Russia’s president
Vladimir Putin ordered the Central Bank of Russia and the Russian
government to work in conjunction with the national banks of the EEU
member states to determine by September 1 “the further directions of
integration in the currency and financial spheres”. He also said that
“the feasibility of establishing a monetary union within the framework
of the EEU in the long term should be considered.”

In an interview with Russian RIA Novosti Ms. Khatlamajyan said the
idea of switching to a single currency is likely to be used by the
Armenian opposition in its spring attacks against the administration
of President Serzh Sargsyan.

“Indeed, Putin’s order is not quite financial. It is rather a
far-reaching political measure, affecting the foundations of the
independent states which have joined the EEU,’ said Khatlamajyan. To
substantiate she cited three arguments.

‘First, the institution of the national currency is not only a question
of image, but also a symbol of sovereignty, which the opposition and
many Armenian citizens say president Sargsyan and his Republican Party
of Armenia are constantly infringing in order to please the Kremlin.

Second, no one doubts that the Kremlin sees its own currency,
the ruble, as the single EEU currency. This will only strengthen
Sargsyan’s critics. And third, Putin’s order comes against the backdrop
of a sharp weakening of the ruble, combined with serious economic and
financial crisis in Russia, which, according to leading international
and Russian experts, is going to protract,” said Khatlamajyan .

According to her, Russia’s confrontation with the West suggests no
speedy recovery of its economy. The Armenian economy that depends
strongly on Russia’s economy is also going through hard times.

“Against this disadvantaged background, if Armenia switches to the
single currency we should expect tectonic political turmoil and even
a change in the country’s foreign policy vector”, she concluded -0-

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress