Armenia left the GSP+ system last year because it became a middle-income country. This means that it was deprived of exports to the EU, the USA and Japan on favorable terms, said Tatul Manaseryan, Director of Alternative Research Center, Member of Eurasia Expert Club, at the press conference of Eurasia Expert Club in Yerevan, today, when summing up the results of the seventh economic survey.

According to him, this has already affected the indicators of Armenian exports. In particular, it has especially decreased on the European continent.

"In this situation, the EAEU market has become a kind of safety cushion, providing Armenia with ample export opportunities. To all the critics who have a negative attitude toward Armenia's membership in the EEU, I would like to ask a counter question. Let them kindly name an alternative: what market can replace EEU market, whether there is any malice in their propaganda, and whether we are not pushed into an economic abyss when they say "give up Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh markets"," Manaseryan said.

He is convinced that refusal of cooperation with the EEU would be tantamount to economic suicide for Armenia.

The Economist noticed that even at the stage of Western restrictions a number of European countries, including some banks, don't refuse the Russian market and, having broken through the sanctions, continue cooperating with Russia.