HRANT BAGRATYAN: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ARMENIA CONSIDERABLY YIELDS TO THAT IN NEIGHBOR- STATES

arminfo
2007-09-04 14:23:00

ArmInfo. Armenia considerably yields to its neighbors by the level
of economic development, the former prime minister of Armenia Hrant
Bagratyan said during debates at Mirror Club, Tuesday.

The former prime minister explains this phenomenon not only by the
blockage of the country and lack of natural power resources, but also
with actual lack of an industrial development program. He compares the
growth of the state budget in 1995 when Armenia exceeded Azerbaijan
and Georgia and even was reaching Turkey and Iran and the budgetary
growth in 2005 when Armenia was left far behind these states. He is
sure that open violation of the country’s legislation and the Basic
Law is the main factor hindering economic development. In particular,
the law bans parliamentarians making business, while the reality is
quite the opposite.

As regards ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s possible running for
president in 2008, H. Bagratyan said he has no relevant information. In
case it happens, Ter-Petrosyan will be the only rival of Prime Minister
Serzh Sargsyan, which must be welcomed, H. Bargratyan said.

For his part, another debater, Leader of the National Democratic
Party Shavarsh Kocharyan said if the ex- president is elected,
NKR may lose independence. He shared H. Bagratyan’s opinion of the
economic development in the country and urged the authorities to pay
more attention to attraction of up-to-date technologies.