Armenia will do everything to avoid the knock-on effects of the sanctions imposed by the West against Russia over the Ukraine crisis, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters while on a working visit to the northeastern town of Dilijan, the head of the Armenian government emphasized that “the important thing is that we do our work and try to attract foreign investments for the development of our economy.”
Armenia has close political, military and economic ties with Russia and intends to sign a treaty later this year joining the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union that also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Economic experts and analysts find that the economic sanctions that have been imposed on Russia over its annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in February-March and continuing support for separatists in the southeast of Ukraine will also have repercussions for Moscow’s close allies, including Armenia.
Abrahamian did not reveal how exactly his government is going to cope with potential difficulties. “The wellbeing of the citizens of Armenia is directly connected with the development of our economy. We should do everything for our economy to grow and our success in all spheres depends on that,” he said.
The Armenian prime minister did not rule out that, for example, sanctions against Russia’s energy giant, Rosneft, may cause this oil company eventually to refuse to purchase Armenia’s large rubber producing plant, Nairit.
“Everything is possible, but we have no answer [from Rosneft] about its refusal,” he said. “The energy minister will discuss this issue and we will have an answer in late August or early September.”
“In any case we will spare no effort for these programs to be implemented in our country. Political and economic life will show how far the events taking place outside our country affect them,” Abrahamian concluded.