ARMENIAN BUSINESSMEN CONCERNED ABOUT DOMESTIC POLITICAL SITUATION

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
29 Mar 04

(Presenter) Armenian entrepreneurs issued a statement today. They
noted that the recent political events posed a threat to the county’s
development. (President of the Armenian Union of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs Arsen Kazaryan, captioned) Only political stability can
create an opportunity to implement economic programmes. We are sure
that the reconstruction of factories and the construction of new ones
are possible only in the conditions of domestic political
stability. The Karabakh problem cannot be settled in Armenia’s favour
without stable economic growth. Only political stability can ensure
the implementation of planned economic programmes. We express our
readiness to stand in defence of the state and people and to prevent
any political steps aimed at the destabilization of the country’s
positions in the region and the world.

(Correspondent) Armenian entrepreneurs made this statement today at
the end of their working meeting. They announced that the ongoing
domestic political events should not destroy the country’s developing
economic system. The businessmen noted that they did not think that
after a power change their businesses could be nationalized or
privatized. They are mainly concerned about the country’s image in the
eyes of foreign investors, which depends on political stability inside
the country.

(Passage omitted: reiteration of previous ideas)

Hermine Bagdasaryan, Aylur.