On April 3, the director of the Sardarapat community school in Armavir marz, Karine Smbatyan, wrote an application for dismissal, the reason being that she refused to remove the Artsakh flag from the “Corner of Glory” of the school.

“My removal or being deprived of my position is the smallest price for what I believe in and what I serve. I cannot remain silent when the spiritual and patriotic values ​​of our students are under attack. Mr. Governor, you can remove me from office, but you cannot remove patriotism from my heart.

The flag was sent from the Hadrut region of Artsakh to the students of Sardarapat as a sign of gratitude that the students of the school sent sweets to the soldiers of Hadrut both during the April War and the 44-Day Day.” had written Karine Smbatyan.

Today 168.am from the administrative head of Sardarapat, Artur Khachatryan asked whether the administrative head also urged Karine Smbatyan to remove the Artsakh flag.

In response, Artur Khachatryan conveyed that the office of the administrative head has nothing to do with the school, it is under the jurisdiction of the Armavir regional administration.

“The school is entirely under the jurisdiction of the regional administration. In connection with what happened, the governor’s office has already issued an explanation, saying why it happened.

“Regarding the Artsakh flag, no one has ever given an order anywhere,” said the administrative head of Sardarapat.

We also asked Artur Khachatryan if there was ever an Artsakh flag in his office, to which he said:

“There was always the flag of Armenia in my office, neither before nor now I have put the flag of Artsakh in the office.”

The Armavir Regional Governor’s Office also clarified that the school director was fired for not fulfilling certain work duties, which was recorded by the Education Inspection Body.

Earlier, Karine Smbatyan told the media that the mayor of Armavir visited the school a few days before the incident and noticed the Artsakh flag, after which these processes started.

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Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs Andranik Kocharyan, talking to journalists in the parliament today about the report of the 44-day war, said that the report is in the secret department.

“We have handed over all the latest documents and secret documents related to the report. It is 3 months, imagine the volume, how many documents were studied. This gives an opportunity not only to the deputies, but also to the relevant bodies to receive the report, to have it with its justifications, because the report is not just a written paper, is it? The actual report is more than 500 pages long. Parents, as they wish, are not empowered with such authority to get acquainted with that top secret document.” mentioned Andranik Kocharyan.

Arsen Ghukasyan, uncle of soldier Sargis Ghukasyan, who went missing in the 44-day war speaking about Andranik Kocharyan’s statement, he mentioned that recently he was the first to speak about it and told all parents that they should go and demand that the report be published.

“I sent a written application, the rejection of which I have already received in the form of a document. But they are so short-sighted that they do not understand that this is not the case and cannot be. We have already filed a lawsuit, we have submitted a lawsuit to the court, because they do not have the right to do such a thing by law. If the country suffers irreparable losses as a result of the actions of state bureaucrats and high-ranking officials, they have no right to put a seal of secrecy on such a document.

I don’t really want to comment on Ando’s words, no matter what he says or doesn’t say. The same Andranik Kocharyan came and told us that you have gone through all that, we need your materials in the commission, and we have said that there is no question, as you know, we will give them. of 168.am Arsen Ghukasyan said in a conversation with

He raises a rhetorical question: how is it that now Andranik Kocharyan knows everything, they don’t?

“It is not the case that now the government should find out for these parents in America who is a traitor, who is a deserter, spreading panic, reporting top secret information to the Turks, etc.

Andranik Kocharyan, Nikol Pashinyan said that there will be thousands of cases, he cannot tell me, and even more so, the relatives of the victims, because I have the status of the victim’s successor according to the court. My relative suffered as a result of the 44-day war, but I don’t know whose wrongful work caused those losses. It’s just that now they are trying to delay in every possible way, understanding very well that the moment will come when they will present the reality to the public, and that moment will undoubtedly come.

I do not give up hope that finally our public will wake up and demand it, every RA citizen has that right, it is a topic of public interest.

Now, if the people wake up and demand it, they will say it soon, if they don’t wake up, the day will come, and the good will come later. It’s just that they now understand that if the truth is revealed, many people’s heads will go crazy, but is this what they need now? Well, it’s the pre-election period, it’s their rating, etc., added Arsen Ghukasyan.

According to our interlocutor, even the authorities did not want to talk about the 44-day report, perhaps they decided that they had nothing to say to the people.

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Recently, Nikol Pashinyan visited the Russian Federation. The meeting, which was requested by the Armenian side, took place quite remarkably, according to some opinions, in a tense atmosphere.

The Russian side was well prepared for the match. Russian President Vladimir Putin in his speech, he addressed almost the entire palette of current topics of Armenian-Russian relations, from energy prices to EU integration, internal political tension in Armenia, limitation of pro-Russian forces, etc. After the long statements of the RA authorities regarding hybrid threats from Russia, Putin directly announced at this meeting that Russia would like all pro-Russian forces to be able to participate in the Armenian parliamentary elections.

“We always conduct a sincere dialogue with you, and we would like all political forces and politicians to be able to participate in the internal political processes. Some of them are in prison despite having Russian passports. It is your decision, we do not interfere, but in any case we would like them all to be able to participate in the internal political processes,” Putin said.

According to Putin, Armenia’s economy is developing at a good pace, exports to EAEU countries have increased 10 times in recent years. Putin claimed that Moscow is “completely calm” about the ongoing discussions on the development of RA-EU relations, but also reminded that it is impossible to be in the European Union and EAEU at the same time. The Russian president also spoke about energy carriers and announced that the price of gas in Europe exceeds $600 per 1,000 cubic meters, and Russia sells gas to Armenia for $177.50, which, according to him, is a “big and significant” difference.

Pashinyan in his turn, he responded to Putin’s observations, saying that Armenian-Russian relations will never be questioned, but also noted that as much as possible, Armenia will combine EAEU membership and EU integration agendas. He also once again expressed his displeasure with CSTO and said that before he recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan, it was done by Russian President Putin. Pashinyan also noted that persons with citizenship of another country cannot participate, run in the upcoming elections in RA and become a deputy or prime minister.

He also made a statement after the meeting Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexey Overchuk and assert that Yerevan is very close to the point after which Russia will be “forced to build” economic relations with Armenia in a different way. According to him, in case of Armenia’s accession to the European Union, Armenia will not have air communication with Russia. “Now there is no air communication with the countries of the European Union. This means that we will not have air communication with Armenia,” said the Russian Deputy Prime Minister.

According to Overchuk, the citizens of Armenia should be aware of the possible consequences of the decision taken by the official Yerevan regarding rapprochement with the European Union.

“Perhaps it sounds very harsh, but we want people in Armenia to understand that if this happens, it will happen, because the decisions of rapprochement with the European Union have been adopted,” said the Russian official.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also referred to the Pashinyan-Putin meeting, saying that the Armenian side showed understanding regarding the concerns expressed by Vladimir Putin during the meeting with Nikol Pashinyan. “The Armenian side showed that it understands the concerns expressed by Russia. We will see how relations will develop in practice,” Lavrov said in a conversation with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin.

The expert community records that the meeting was distinguished by unusually open and direct emphasis. In addition, according to a number of assumptions, the closed part of the meeting was no less remarkable and included a much wider range of discussions than the public part. Moscow, in fact, made public what has long been discussed in Russian expert circles and behind the scenes: the political component of the gas price, the limitation of pro-Russian influence in Armenia and the need to restore that influence.

We have repeatedly mentioned that against the background of the Ukrainian war, Russia has become passive in the regions where it traditionally had influence, but at the same time, Russian circles report that the South Caucasus is not leaving Russia, moreover, there is a desire to redefine the zones of influence and try to strengthen in the regions where there are still levers. The South Caucasus, especially Armenia, continues to be one of those points, but here Russia’s influence has significantly decreased.

And obviously, the attempts to make Armenia’s foreign policy multi-vector or towards EU integration are perceived in Moscow as a loss of control. Against this background, Putin’s direct speech seemed to be aimed at announcing the “red lines” of the Russian Federation in Armenian-Russian relations. Russia’s emphasis on gas being “cheap” for Armenia is not only economic. It is a clear political impulse, a reminder of dependence.

The price of gas in Armenian-Russian relations has always been an economic privilege in exchange for political loyalty, social stability in exchange for geopolitical choice.

At this meeting, Moscow formulated the issue publicly, trying to show what Armenia will be deprived of in case of EU membership.

According to a number of reports, these public comments at the meeting were intended for the people themselves, not so much for the government.

Putin’s talk about the limitation of pro-Russian forces in Armenia was the most sensitive and controversial issue, especially in the background of active talks about hybrid threats.

However, according to everything, this reference was not accidental either, the Russian side is trying to show both the domestic and foreign audiences that it still has interests in Armenia and is ready to protect them, and it sends a signal to the RA authorities that Moscow is not going to accept the narrowing of its influence as a new norm. For Armenia, this meeting is actually a proposal to clarify the choice. Yerevan has two options: to continue the multi-vector policy, which brings risks in the form of economic pressures, on the other hand, to return to a more predictable field, having a model of highly dependent relations with Russia. However, it is still a question whether Moscow will be able to advance its policies and positions, because it has announced one thing, and it is another thing to ensure results in real policy.

This Pashinyan-Putin meeting once again showed that Armenian-Russian relations have entered a new phase, a phase of less diplomatic, more calculated pressure and open impulses. Like Pashinyan’s government, Russia is no longer trying to hide its expectations and is ready to formulate them publicly.

This means that the “middle way” of foreign policy for Armenia is becoming narrower and more difficult to pass. This meeting was not just a dialogue, but an attempt to change the rules of the regional game. Time will tell if it will succeed or not.

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Once again at the session of the National Defense and Security Standing Committee discussed CP deputy Hayk Sargsyan’s legislative package related to the army.

The MP again insisted on the fact that the number of conscripts has decreased, and that the number of people renouncing RA citizenship has increased by about 40 percent.

The chairman of the commission, Andranik Kocharyan, informed that the expert and analytical department of the staff of the National Assembly presented a comprehensive conclusion, which states the unconstitutionality of a number of provisions in the legislative package presented by Hayk Sargsyan.

Deputy Minister of Defense Arman Sargsyan, who was present at the discussion, in his turn noted that the executive does not find it appropriate to accept the discussed issue and suggested refraining from giving a positive conclusion to this initiative, finding that the problem of increasing the number of conscripts will not be solved by such regulation.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense official countered the claims of the MP representing the ruling power and assured that the number of conscripts in the period between 2022-2026 increased by 25 percent compared to the 2022 draft.

However, Hayk Sargsyan’s legislative initiative received a negative conclusion as a result of the voting organized at the session of the National Defense and Security Standing Committee.

After this, CP deputy Hayk Sargsyan gave a briefing to journalists and made it clear that RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan violated the agreement.

“I worked with the Minister of Defense for two years, we came to an agreement, and after that only I circulated my project.”– stressed Hayk Sargsyan.

Still last year 168.amwithin the framework of this topic, addressed the role played by Suren Papikyan in the implementation of this project. Specifically, in one of the articles we wrote that the legislative package authored by Hayk Sargsyan was on the agenda of the Government session, it was even approved, and Suren Papikyan also presented and even expressed a certain position on behalf of the department he headed, introduced changes. In other words, maybe in some sense he entered into that political or Hayk Sargsyan-Nikol Pashinyan game, trying to solve certain problems related to the conscription process in its logic.

On the other hand, referring to our sources, we reported at that time that Suren Papikyan was more interested in the fight against the practice and statistics of renouncing RA citizenship in order to avoid mandatory military service. Therefore, at the last meeting of the Government objected Instead of amending the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On State Duties”, the Law of “Defence” should provide for a public legal monetary obligation of 15 million drams to the Republic of Armenia by male citizens before reaching the age of 16, which ceases by virtue of the fact of taking the male citizen into the military register or by payment to the state budget in case of leaving the RA citizenship.

Of course, there can be reservations here as well, if we take into account that the close circle of government officials also takes such a step.

Already in January 2026, at a meeting with journalists, Suren Papikyan announced that he fired those employees whose sons received citizenship of another country in order to be released from the army. Of course, specialists treat this topic with reservations from a legal point of view, and Suren Papikyan may see the issue more in the moral field, even if there are legal problems there. Anyway, this issue is a topic of separate discussion, and there will still be an occasion to address it with private cases.

And Hayk Sargsyan, taking into account the current relations with CP, Nikol Pashinyan and Suren Papikyan, told journalists some episodes from the closed meetings.

“For two years, I have been asking the Minister of Defense, saying: in the army, the troops bathe once a week, create an opportunity, let them bathe every day.

What caused the problem? In 2024, one of the deputies asked a question in the closed discussion, we had a case of death from pneumonia, probably he had bathed in cold water, but he said that it is not only in our army that they bathe once a week, it is like that in many armies. In many countries, soldiers bathe every day, in Armenia and in African or underdeveloped countries, they bathe once a week. Two years have passed and the situation is the same, of course we have some newly built places where people bathe every day, but it is a small percentage. But most of our boys bathe once a week, let the leadership of the Ministry of Defense also bathe once a week, I’ll see if they can.” KP deputy told reporters, adding that the number of troops decreased from 44,000 to 14,000.

And although it is not the first time that Hayk Sargsyan, following the example of Nikol Pashinyan, contains elements of secrecy information publishes, or publicizes internal problems in the army, considering it wrong to keep quiet about them, so that the Turk would not suddenly be happy, however, the journalists tried to find out from him once again whether it is correct to publish the number of troops, to publicize the problems within the army, to which the CP deputy replied noted. 

“In 2019, when I said that the number of our troops increased from 44,000 to 25, the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense said, “The enemy will soon know that our number has decreased. What is Hayk Sargsyan doing?” After a few months, what happened, the disastrous war of 2020 happened, and after the war, what did the former defense minister say, he said that During the entire war, Azerbaijan followed the entire movement on the coast, 24/7.

In other words, he found out where the commander of the defense army is, he shot him, where the deputies are, he shot him. In other words, not only did he know the absolute numbers, but he knew the locations of the commanders, the army leadership, and important units by name, and he made target hits. And the idea that the enemy will find out, it collapsed in 2020.

Both our troop locations, supply routes, positions, etc., have all been considered, are being considered, and will be considered. In other words, this idea that he is talking about the army, he thinks that our situation will get worse with secrecy… The critical situation has been badly fixed since 2020, and we also talked about it in the investigative commission of the 44-day war, that the enemy knew it well.”

I wonder if, during the closed interrogations of the Investigative Commission, Hayk Sargsyan tried to find out how the enemy managed to do this, after all, before the 44-day war, there was a different positional arrangement. In other words, we want to understand whether Hayk Sargsyan also possesses data on state treason, especially when he participated in the work of the Investigative Commission. Moreover, against hiding the reality and in favor of speaking openly about the problems, does Hayk Sargsyan want the 44-day report to be published so that we know who showed the location of the command and when they will be. In other words, not everything can be determined by observation and satellite photos. Of course, Hayk Sargsyan is silent about all this.

In this context, let us remind that in 2022 168.amthe wrote that The person who committed treason in 2018 appeared on the battlefield in 2020 and committed the same act again. He was the leader of the “Hayduk” detachment during the 44-day war Garun Babayan is about, which He is the brother of the legendary commander Mushegh Babayan (Hamo from Jermuk).

During these years, we have not been able to find out from the National Security Service how it was possible for a person who committed treason in 2018 to appear on the battlefield in 2020. That is, 2When was the state treason committed in 2018 revealed, or was it revealed only 2 years later, and if it was revealed before the war, then why was he not in the focus of the National Security Service and was able to participate in the 44-day war and perform the same treasonous actions? Court hearings in this case are closed, information is closed, we will try to understand if there is already a verdict and what verdict. And before that, let’s note that the NSS message was spread About Garun Babayan that he “2020 on September 27, in order to fulfill the new assignments given by the employees of the Azerbaijani special services during the military operations against the Republic of Artsakh, as the commander of the volunteer squad, under the pretext of participating in hostilities, went to the battlefield, self-defense region of Hadrut, Republic of Artsakh, and: until the end of October of the same year, he continued his treacherous practice of collecting information and passing it on to the special services of a hostile state.” In other words, G. Babayan, according to the National Security Service, took photos and videos with his mobile phones «transmitted information to the hostile state about anti-aircraft defenses, missile systems, armored vehicles, combat positions, their and other units that participated in the war, military units, their locations, etc. in the territory of Artsakh and Armenia.

Who knows, maybe the commanders who died during the 44-day war were targeted as a result of the treacherous actions of this person or group?

By the way, years ago, we tried to find out from the National Security Service if the murders of the best commanders in Hadrut, or whether the murders of the deputy commander of the Defense Forces Artur Sargsyan and hero of Artsakh Sergey Shakaryan at the Martuni command post in October 2020 were the result of betrayal, to which the National Security Service said that they did not have such data at that time.

Let’s return to Hayk Sargsyan and recall an episode in the context of the 44-day war of 2020, when information and facts circulated during the war that during the war, Nikol Pashinyan to Hayk Sargsyan’s (“Bottle Catcher”) brother, Nairi Sargsyan, authorized to purchase with cash from the state budget 5 million US dollars body armor, UAVs, thermal sighting devices.

In particular, Nairi Sargsyan, On behalf of the Republic of Armenia, he purchased 3,000 bulletproof vests at a cost of 240 USD each. In other words, for this purpose, 720,000 US dollars were provided to Sargsyan from the state budget. There are also others like this episodes. 

It is interesting that on August 1, 2023, during the questioning of the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Davit Tonoyan in the Investigative Commission, one of Hayk Sargsyan’s questions was about body armor and helmets, in particular, he considered it normal to use hunting body armor during the war, and claimed that many went to war in sports uniforms. This already speaks about Pashinyan’s power management system and failed mobilization, about which Hayk Sargsyan consistently spoke or did he still have friendly relations with Pashinyan at that time?

In other words, the question is whether Hayk Sargsyan would have made many of his declassifications if his project had been implemented, if Papikyan had “kept his word”, which he may have given.

As for spreading secret information on the grounds that Azerbaijan sees everything, it is absolutely not permissible, but it is an accepted rule for the ruling power, Pashinyan and his ministers. In other words, what is normal for the current government does not mean that it is actually normal and acceptable.

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The meeting of Nikol Pashinyan and Vladimir Putin on April 1st in the Kremlin was an important meeting with pre-election significance for Pashinyan. 168TVof Revue expressed such an opinion on the air of the program Former Foreign Minister of Artsakh, RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Arman Melikyanspeaking about the content and public effects of the Putin-Pashinyan talks that took place in Moscow last week.

What about during the public conversation between Putin and Pashinyan? QUESTION OF ARTSAKH to the discussion, the former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Artsakh explains it from the point of view that it is not at all desirable for the Kremlin for Russia to be perceived in Armenia as “the main superpower destroying Artsakh”, and that is the reason why Putin and Pashinyan mutually blamed each other for the destruction of Artsakh.

Arman Melikyan draws attention to the question of what effect the public part of the meeting between Putin and Pashinyan, which was also discussed behind closed doors and was more frank, had on the Armenian public and what comments it gave rise to in Russian professional circles.

“I think that, by and large, for the Russian public, with the exception of the Armenian community of Russia, this meeting did not have any significant significance. It was a meeting of intra-Armenian interest, and the effect, according to me, was that the pro-Russian forces of Armenia were excited, the pro-Pashinyan forces of Armenia were excited, and in that sense, it seems that everyone got what they wanted from Moscow and Putin’s lips. We should also keep in mind the context of the preceding events, keep in mind that since 2020, Russia’s credit in Armenia has significantly decreased, and the attitude towards Russia among ordinary citizens has acquired quite serious negative shades, and it is impossible for them not to know this in Moscow,” Arman Melikyan believes.

According to the diplomat, it is another matter that the Russian authorities are used to and have learned to use the attitude of others towards them based on their interests, be it negative or positive, and from this point of view, according to Arman Melikyan, Pashinyan’s rule in Armenia has never really caused any problems for Russia, either at the bilateral level or on international platforms.

“The rhetoric that is used, often accusations, often grievances, has in no way really reflected on the practical side of relations. Now, if Russia knows that the attitude towards it in Armenia, to put it mildly, has worsened during the last 5-6 years, it means that the attitude towards those people whom Russia will support will worsen in Armenia precisely because they are supported by Russia, and on the contrary, when it was visible that Russia is dissatisfied with Pashinyan with his words and even humiliates Pashinyan in front of everyone, this can increase the number of Pashinyan’s supporters in Armenia, if not to say, at least to practical supporters. number only because President Putin humiliates him,” commented Arman Melikyan.

He also added that in all cases, this “humiliation” was mutual, because Pashinyan’s supporters are also convinced that Pashinyan “put Putin’s belly in place” with his answer, so both Russia-lovers and Pashinyan-lovers were excited by this debate that took place in front of the cameras. These are, of course, mainly public perceptions, but it is a completely different question how far they are related to reality.

Turning to the issue of Artsakh during the Putin-Pashinyan conversation, the former Foreign Minister of Artsakh said the following. “In all cases, it is not at all desirable for the Russian side that Russia is perceived in Armenia as the main superpower destroying Artsakh, and that is the reason why they mutually put the blame for the destruction of Artsakh on each other, and both are right, because by and large, together they brought the Artsakh issue to this particular conclusion.”

According to Arman Melikyan, Putin and Pashinyan, by and large, were fooling us with accusations related to Karabakh, rather than each other.

“In reality, what does it matter whether Armenia recognized the independence of Artsakh or not?” It was Russia’s sovereign right to present its attitude towards Artsakh to the international community in a legal form at the political level. In fact, Artsakh was a small ally of Russia in the South Caucasus, and in that sense, Russia has repeatedly made hints about it through the lips of various political figures, therefore, to link the destruction of Artsakh with Armenia’s non-recognition of its independence is at least not correct, that is, it is Russia’s right to decide whether Artsakh is independent or not, and to condition the recognition of that independence on Armenia’s attitude is not correct at all.

The same applies to Pashinyan’s statement, that is, what does it have to do with what the Russian leader announced? If you have your own policy and you really want to recognize the independence of Artsakh, recognize it. Why do you condition that recognition or the protection of Artsakh’s rights with Russia’s attitude?” thinks the former Foreign Minister of Artsakh.

Speaking about the possible outcomes of the ongoing war against Iran, Arman Melikyan believes that there are only two options: either Iran will lose, or the United States and Israel.

Let’s remind that on April 1, the talks between Nikol Pashinyan and Vladimir Putin took place in the Kremlin in Moscow. At the beginning of the meeting, the President of the Russian Federation in his speech touched on a number of topics, including Armenian-Russian relations, the volume of bilateral trade turnover, which, according to Putin’s data, amounted to 6.4 billion US dollars in 2025 and 11 billion dollars in 2024, the price of Russian gas sold to Armenia compared to the price sold to European countries, the incompatibility of EAEU-EU membership, dissatisfaction with the CSTO and the issue of Artsakh. the internal political processes in Armenia and the parliamentary elections to be held in June. The head of the Kremlin hinted at the imprisonment of Russian citizen Samvel Karapetyan and expressed hope that all political parties of Armenia with a “pro-Russian attitude” will be able to participate in the elections.

Pashinyan had answered, that “there are no participants in political processes in our places of imprisonment”, and that according to the RA Constitution, only those citizens who have an exclusively Armenian passport can participate in the elections.

“Moscow. The Kremlin. In an interview with Pavel Zarubin in the format of the Russian TV program “Putin”, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson of the Russian President, informed that behind closed doors, the conversation between Putin and Pashinyan lasted for about two hours and was “sincere, useful, necessary”.

Full interview in the video.

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During and after Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Russia, the statements of Russian officials in Armenia had all kinds of reactions, including accusations of interfering in the internal life of Armenia, to speaking in the language of warning.

Economist Hayk Farmanyan, for example, does not think this is an intervention or a warning.

“This is an increase in objective reality, – 168․amIn a conversation with the economist mentioned and elaborated, leaving the EAEU means the collapse of our economy. And when they say: let the price of gas become 600 dollars, we will leave the EAEU, they probably hoped to get cheaper gas from Azerbaijan. Alen Simonyan also says that Azerbaijan is the guarantor of our security.

Naturally, Azerbaijan cannot be a guarantor of security, nor can buying gas from Azerbaijan be considered energy security by us.”

According to Hayk Farmanyan, at this moment, those circles that may be affected by these decisions in the future should have a say.

“There are economic statistics. 60 percent of our export volume is to EAEU countries. EAEU membership also means free movement of labor force and duty-free trade. Now what will happen when Armenia leaves that union? Russia will collect customs duties from us.

Let the trading entities that export their products to the Russian Federation think for themselves and make their voices heard. I have the impression that those business circles avoid speaking about the risks they face,” he emphasized.

The economist responded to the observation that they are still talking about the possibility of combining the two economic unions. “And the Russian authorities record the fact, they say: you cannot be in two unions. That is, if the European Union is hostile to Russia, and you go to the European Union, then… What does Overchuk say? you will not have an air border. In other words, this is just a record of a completely logical fact. This is neither blackmail, neither good nor bad, just the simple reality.

In other words, what the authorities of Armenia will say is their idea.

But, I repeat again, those economic subjects of the Republic of Armenia, which export to Russia, should already follow up and raise their voices.”

Hayk Farmanyan also emphasized that today the economic prospects for the EU are not realistic either.

“What are the Armenian authorities doing? They say we will direct our exports to the European Union. What do the numbers say? Let’s compare the 1st quarter of 2025 with the 1st quarter of 2026. compared to the same period of the previous year, we have a decline, and this is in the event that the Armenian authorities finance from the state budget all those economic entities that export to the EU member countries, in the amount of the customs duty that is payable in the given EU country.

Even in this case, when 2-4 billion dollars were financed from the budget of Armenia, that amount did not serve its purpose, because we have a decline in exports. Now, in this case, it is absurd to talk that the European Union will be seen as an alternative, that buying gas from Azerbaijan will be seen as an alternative, etc. I cannot comment.

The number one beneficiary of these realities is the businessman, the exporter. “When the exporter does not raise his voice, whatever the political forces say or not does not matter,” he concluded.

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