Last year was unsuccessful. The economic decline in 2020 was 7.8%, this year the growth will be 5-5.5% at best—if there will be, of course—, and the growth is mainly due to the mining and gaming. And what these authorities were complaining about, they now have become the drivers of economic growth in Armenia. Former PM, chairman of the opposition Freedom Party, and economist Hrant Bagratyan told about this to Armenian News-NEWS.am—referring to the 2021 economic indicators of the country.
"As a result of the four years of [incumbent PM Nikol] Pashinyan's rule, the gross economic growth will make 9-9.5%. We have a 7.2% growth, a 5.8 [%], then a 7.8% decline, and a 5% growth. If we divide this by four years, we will get only 2.35-2.4% growth annually. This is the worst indicator during the last seven four years; there is nothing to talk about here.
Not to mention that the mining industry, which has become 20% in industry, whereas 5% in the GDP balance, should be excluded from that growth. The mines [of Armenia] are being looted, mined without oversight, the prices of copper are relatively high, and the miners are constantly extracting and taking the ore, paying only pennies to the state budget, which I simply call looting.
And not counting that the sphere of gaming should be removed from that growth, the growth of which in the GDP made 30%, when the annual GDP grows on average 2.4%, the sphere of gaming—30%. The share of gaming in the GDP [of Armenia] is higher than in the healthcare, education sectors—which is unacceptable. People close to the prime minister control the sphere of gaming, and, sadly, this field is flourishing in Armenia (…).
When 4-5 years ago the sphere of gaming was nothing in the GDP, now it has surpassed a number of important branches, and this structural change is a consequence of poor economic policy. Even during [preceding] Serzh Sargsyan's rule, when it was the worst, too, his average annual growth was 2.7[%], whereas in the last four years—2.4[%].
The construction sector has grown by about 6% this year, and those who say that construction is one of the drivers of economic growth [in Armenia] are lying. Compared to that, the mining industry is growing by 20%, the gaming—by 30%," said the former premier.