ArmInfo. Eurasian economic integration is an important direction for Armenia's policy, which occupies one of the key places in the development of the Armenian economy, and the country is obliged to more closely, deeply and proactively follow the processes within the framework of the EAEU.
On August 26 at a press conference in Yerevan, presenting the seventh economic study of the Eurasian Expert Club, Coordinator of the Club, head of the Integration and Development NGO Aram Safaryan expressed a similar opinion, regarding the Armenian economy in H1 2022 in the context of the country's membership in the EAEU,.
In this vein, he stated that H1 2022 was an unprecedented year for Armenia in terms of economic growth in the post-Soviet space. "Economic activity in H1 2022 increased by 10.5%. This is a very high, unexpected and surprising indicator. It was unexpected, since the largest international financial organizations, such as, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Eurasian Bank, forecasted much more modest forecasts for the first half of the year at the end of last year and at the beginning of the current year," Safaryan said, recalling that at the beginning of the year the Armenian government projected a possible economic growth of 7.5%, which was also expected last year.
According to the expert, the economic indicators of Armenia are supported by the dynamics of GDP, which increased by 8.5% compared to the same period last year. "But we state that the growth, which was mainly based on industry, construction and trade, gives rise not only to a sense of satisfaction, but also causes paradoxes and uncertainties," Safaryan noted.
At the same time, he stressed that the EAEU market is the most favorable for the sale of Armenian finished products. Moreover, according to him, the role of the Eurasian market in the context of the last three years has been growing for Armenia from year to year, with the exception of the pandemic one-year period. "With proper work and positioning itself, our country can reach even more favorable indicators, expand economic contacts with the integration Union, crossing the threshold of 30% by the end of the year," the expert added. At the same time, Safaryan stated that there is a specific situation when the unprecedented development and growth of the economy gave rise to parallel processes, the most dramatic of which is the growth of poverty.
"Yes, by the end of the year, the country will see some reduction in the level of extreme poverty. But, at the same time, the World Bank and rating agencies warn that, along with double-digit economic growth in Armenia, the level of poverty will also rise significantly by the end of the year. Thus, the poverty rate may reach 48% by the end of the year, from 27% at the beginning of the year. This is a key message to the Armenian authorities, the political field, public activists, in particular the research community, by joining efforts to try to mitigate the manifestations of these bad indicators as much as possible," Safaryan said.
As a positive light, the expert noted that in the first half of the year, compared to the same period last year, the volumes of exports and imports in the direction of the EAEU increased. "Russia continues to be the largest investor and economic partner of Armenia. The Russian market is the largest for Armenian finished products. Russia continues to be a country from which cheap gas is supplied to Armenia and wheat is imported. The presence of Russian companies in Armenia has increased many times, etc. Our trade and economic cooperation with the Russian side is the largest contribution to ensuring and strengthening the security of the Republic of Armenia," Safaryan noted, emphasizing this is due to the fact that anti-Russian propaganda has recently increased in the Armenian socio-political field.
According to him, opponents of the Armenian-Russian friendship and alliance are also trying to denigrate Armenia's membership in the EAEU, falsifying reality and spreading the news that Yerevan was forcibly thrown into the trap of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2013"We claim that this is not the case, moreover, we can confidently state that the EAEU market is indispensable for the Armenian economy, and the resources of this integration Union and the growth of trade not only with Russia, but also with Belarus and Kazakhstan (which are impressive) allow us to confidently notice that "this vector of cooperation will continue to be the most important not only for our trade and economic, but also political contacts and security issues," he concluded.