“The closure of the Russian market against Armenia will paralyze not only the sector of winegrowers, but also the economy of the entire country.” of 168.am said in a conversation with Artak Sargsyan, President of the Union of Grape Growers of Armeniatalking about Russia’s restrictions on exports from Armenia and its impact on the market.

He emphasizes that viticulture cannot survive or advance without processing entrepreneurs.

Artak Sargsyan is sure that if the market is suddenly closed to Armenian cognac or wine, the grape grower will remain hungry, because if the seller of the grapes cannot sell it, he will not buy new products from the grape grower.

“You know that today a peasant in Armenia, as the popular saying says, is a person who lives by his daily bread, if he suddenly has a problem of realization for a year, everything will turn upside down. This will put us, grape growers, in front of the most unpredictable situation.

As for the statements of the authorities about exporting Armenian goods to the EU markets, then let me say that if a person is more or less literate, has a more or less idea about the EU, knows about these 21-22 countries, then he will know that, like the former communist regime, the EU plans its actions in advance.

In addition, it is self-sufficient, has a closed economy that organizes trade among themselves. Today, no one is ready to carry out trade turnover in a surprise way, especially when it is not a border with the given country,” added Artak Sargsyan.

Continuing, our interlocutor said that the EU does not need Armenian products, moreover, the EU has standards regarding exports from Armenia. Armenia’s economy has not yet joined the European Union for so many years.

“Now they fell asleep and woke up, they realized that after June 7, those standards will change, or like the Golden Fish, what dream we keep, will it come true? This is a fairy tale.

I want to say that the EU is not waiting for us first, they are only words, they only make flattering and populist statements for only one thing: to remove Russia from the region, and to remove the Russian military base from Armenia. The rest, what the EU says: we love you very much, we don’t sleep for you at night, we are concerned about you, they are from the genre of fairy tales. This is my opinion.” Artak Sargsyan mentioned.

As for the yield of grapes, Artak Sargsyan said that at the moment they are waiting for an abundant harvest, and if the harvester only eats a part of the harvest, then if the other part is not exported, it will remain and spoil.

“The grape grower will have to take the rest of the crop and dump it. The Armenian market is not economically independent yet, and the closing of the Russian market is a catastrophe for Armenia, so to speak, everything will turn upside down. Not only brandy, wine, grapes are included in it, the entire economy of our country is connected to it.

I don’t want to say too many bad things, but may God grant that our diplomacy will be flexible, at least until August restores relations with the Russian Federation, our friendly relationship will continue, and the matter will not come to the point where the grapes remain on the ground, and the grape grower will not face a shameful situation. I just don’t want to imagine how disastrous the situation can be for us,” said the president of the Union of Grape Growers of Armenia.

He also said, thank God, there are grape growers who have contracts with procurement companies, those contracts will be legally valid, and there are unlikely to be force majeure situations for them.

“As of now, we are expecting a very abundant harvest, God forbid, there will be a force majeure situation, we will face the facts,” emphasized Artak Sargsyan.

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