ARMENIA MAY BECOME WORLD LEADER BY REPLACEMENT OF OIL AND GAS RESOURCES

ArmInfo
2010-04-01 16:49:00

ArmInfo. Armenia may get an image of a world leader by replacement of
oil and gas resources, i.e. a country with big surplus of electric
power, said Abel Aghanbekyan, a member of the Russian Academy of
Science, during the official presentation of his new book "Economy
of Russia on the Crossroad. Selection of the Post-Crisis Area."

Academician Aghanbekyan believes that there are all the necessary
and quite favorable conditions for power engineering development in
Armenia. The country has significant hydro resources. In addition,
he said that such a leading country as Russia has an opportunity and
desire to build a big power unit in Armenia. The project planning is
underway. The energy resources generated in the country will be in
demand by neighbor Turkey, Iran and even Iraq where electric power
tariff are rather high, he said. The academician recalled that 8
small power stations have already been built in Armenia and another 70
stations will be built in future. "Armenia have favorable conditions
to produce bio-fuel, and first of all, topinambur. In addition,
Armenia has an energy ministry with highly qualified staff," the
academician said. He considers himself among few people who visited
all the big enterprises in the country to get first hand view of
their potential. Thus, he believes that collective work revealed 11
so-called clusters that may become a locomotive for development of
Armenia. The academician believes that these clusters may help the
country progress, increase economic and social level.

Aghanbekyan thinks that Armenia is the only country in the world
where the share of industry in GDP is lower than the share of trade,
agriculture and construction. Export makes up just 13% of GDP, unlike
other countries of the same scale where this indicator is at least 30%
of GDP. Armenia is a very peculiar country. It is a country of one
city – Yerevan, where 80% of housing construction and the greatest
part of retail trade are concentrated. In the meanwhile, only 44% of
the total population resides in Yerevan. Such a gap between the city
and the periphery is inadmissible, the academician said. Therefore,
he said, clusters must be created also in the regions.