PRICES WENT DOWN FOR ECONOMIC REASONS
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
06 March 05
On March 2 the interim executive director of â~@~Stepanakert Bread
Factoryâ~@~] CJSC, shareholder of the company Movses Sahakian gave a
press conference. The executive director of the factory Ararat
Hayriyan was also present, he gave additional comments on certain
question. Movses Sahakian said that the reason to give a press
conference was the rumours which began to spread after the factory
had reduced the price for bread. The shareholder said that the
management of the factory wished to give answers to all the
questions. Ten months ago Movses Sahakian was appointed by the
shareholders of the company to clarify the direction of further
development of the two companies in Stepanakert â~@~S the bread
factory and the mill. In answer to the questions why the price for
bread went down, whether this was determined by political motives, in
particular, the upcoming parliamentary elections, and the decrease of
the price was intended to win over voters before the election to the
parliament Movses Sahakian emphasized that the reduction of the price
for bread had economic and not political reasons. The price for grain
and flour has gone down long time ago. Ararat Hayriyan said the
factory does not have to do additional expenses on flour which is
produced in their own mill. This also enables reducing the price for
bread. Secondly, according to Movses Sahakian, the factory is buying
new equipment, which allows reducing the price for bread even more.
â~@~A high price for bread in Artsakh which is rich in grain greatly
worries the Armenian businessmen of the Diaspora,â~@~] said the
shareholder. â~@~Last year the board of the holding â~@~Voske
Hatikâ~@~] (owning both the bread factory and the bill) decided to
leave the whole profit in Artsakh to develop the two companies. This
allowed us to buy new equipment for the factory which enables
producing bread at a lower cost and start production of other
products. Already lavash is baked in the factory; we also plan to
produce tonir bread, as well as open a chain of shops owned by us
where bread will be sold at factory prices. These innovations, by the
way, coupled with creating new jobs, will allow keeping the price for
bread low. As you see, politicizing the decrease in the bread price
is absolutely groundless. Especially that none of the shareholders
belongs to any of the political parties of Artsakh. We are only
thinking for the people of Artsakh who deserve a prosperous
life.â~@~] Movses Sahakian pointed out that each of the shareholders
donates money for charity in Artsakh. As recently the question of
absence of elevators in Karabakh has been raised quite often, the
journalists wanted to know about the capacities of the mill. Ararat
Hayriyan assured that after operating the two new granaries the mill
of Stepanakert can supply the annual demand for grain in Karabakh.
The journalists also inquired about the quality of yeast used in the
factory, as the yeast produced in Turkey widely sold in Karabakh is
known to be bad for health. The executive director assured that the
factory buys yeast in Yerevan where the production of yeast of Soviet
quality has not been stopped. Movses Hakobian added that the
shareholders keep to the strategy of not using any Turkish products
in their production. Another question referred to the standards of
bread production. The executive director said that the factory does
not ensure standards because the grain is not sorted either at buying
or storing. And if the grain is not sorted, it is impossible to have
standard quality of flour and bread; everything depends on the sort
and the quality of wheat. However, the director said that this year
it will be possible to keep to the standards owing to the new
laboratory and a greater number of granaries.
SUSANNA BALAYAN.
06-03-2005
–Boundary_(ID_SSMEqyFXv5zmnRJ1acu0YA)–