“Economic freedom index” according to Papoyan’s evaluations. Why is he hiding it?

RA Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan started the working day on his Facebook page publication doing so, where he referred to the 2026 “Index of Economic Freedom” report of “The Heritage Foundation” last month.

First of all, it is surprising that the Minister of Economy at 10:00 in the morning, for example, has nothing else to do than to ensure the activity of his social page, especially when the published content has been discussed and analyzed for weeks. Secondly, it is impossible to ignore the fact that in the logic of the pre-election campaign, the minister chose to highlight only the paragraphs containing positive wording from the voluminous report.

Naturally, Minister Papoyan ignored the fact that, according to that report, Armenia has been ranked among “moderately free” countries for 5 years, which means that the government has not been able to ensure any qualitative progress, no matter how loudly they try to “shout” about it. Moreover, in 2026 the recorded increase of 1.7 points is not a new achievement, but a return to the figure recorded more than a decade ago in 2015.

In other words, the policy implemented for years has exhausted the previously accumulated potential: In 2017, Armenia even managed to make the transition to a higher group of “mostly free” countries. In short, the “reforms” trumpeted by the authorities over the last 8 years have not pushed the country forward, but pushed the country back, nullifying the previously recorded progress.

The current authorities will presumably try to rely on the growth of some sub-indices: “trade”, “monetary” or “financial freedom”. But even here the picture is very worrying.

For example, the current rate of “freedom of trade” is only surpassed by the rates of the previous five years, and before that such a low result was last recorded in 1999. It is simply frivolous to talk about any structural progress here.

Papoyan is not talking about the fact that, according to that report: The level of “freedom of labor” is significantly inferior to the indicators of 2007-2017., and a result lower than the current value of “investment freedom” was last recorded in 2007. This is a clear signal that the economic environment has lost its attractiveness for both internal and external actors.

And, most importantly, Papoyan is silent and does not find it appropriate to raise the fact that the most problematic image was formed in the “rule of law” group. Armenia ranks among the “economically oppressed” countries in two fundamental areas: “protection of property rights” and “effectiveness of justice”.significantly inferior to the world averages. This means that the fundamental conditions necessary for the normal development of the economy are not provided in the country: protection of property, applicability of contracts, independent and efficient judicial system.

In other words, the investor in Armenia does not have sufficient guarantees, the business does not trust the courts, and the citizen does not see the impartial application of the law. And this assessment is made not in the framework of internal political criticism, but in the analysis of an international authoritative structure.

In this context, it is not possible not to mention the state’s seizure of the HEC, the inglorious activities of the “ANIF” fund, as a result of which millions of dollars were lost. these are prime examples of possible developments for investors, which definitely did not escape the attention of the authors of the report. Forceful and non-transparent interventions by the state towards large economic objects create an atmosphere of uncertainty, where ownership becomes subject to political whims.

A reminder to the minister: no matter how much your political force is preparing for the next parliamentary elections, at the same time, you continue to hold the position of minister and are paid quite a lot for it.

Advice, exhortation: when you get to the office in the morning, deal with resolving the many economic gaps and challenges within the state as a result of your own team’s apocalyptic policies, in short, work, and finally sign out from the work computer and social media. from your personal accounts on the platforms because Since 2018, your entire political team has run the country with Facebook posts and for Facebook posts, be it foreign policy, war, economy or justice.

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