RUSSIAN BUSINESSMEN RELUCTANT TO INVEST IN ARMENIAN ECONOMY
Armenpress
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian cochairman of an
Armenian-Russian inter-parliamentary commission Vahan Hovhanesian,
who is also deputy parliament chairman, told a news conference today
that Russian businessmen are reluctant to invest into Armenian economy
concerned about the extent of Armenian economy’s freedom and its
monopolization by domestic business groups. Speaking at a joint news
conference with his Russian counterpart Nikolay Ryzhkov after the
end of a regular meeting of the commission in Yerevan, Hovhanesian
promised to provide the Russians with a full relevant information.
The Russian delegation comprised 7 parliament members, 4 senators
and a delegation of businessmen. Resumption of operation of several
Armenian enterprises which Yerevan handed over to Moscow to write off
its almost $100 million debt was high on the meeting’s agenda. Ryzhkov
argued that the Russian-Armenian deal, christened as Assets for Debt,
was a political deal rather. He added that an array of legal problems
should be resolved to remove obstacles for their effective resumption.
Speaking about Russian-Georgian relations, Ryzhkov, a Soviet prime
minister of Mikhail Gorbachev, described Georgia’s president Mikhail
Saakashvili as “very young and too emotional,” saying also that
Russian-Georgian problems should be solved through political means
and that “punishment measures’ would hardly be effective. ;Ryzhkov
said he is against imposing economic sanctions on Georgia as the
move would first of all hit Armenia, since Georgia is Armenia’s sole
conduit to the outer world.
Ryzhkov argued that the life would teach Saakashvili to avoid making
drastic mistakes and unpredictable moves which he said provoke
Russia’s tough reaction. “US president George W. Bush comes and goes
while Georgia stands where it is. Georgia and Russia are neighbors
and should live in peace,” he said