“Pashinyan promised we’d sell it all, but the apricots are rotting here”: village resident

Farming operations in Armenia have once again run into serious problems. Difficulties selling agricultural produce and a buildup of trucks at the Verkhny Lars checkpoint have sparked a wave of serious discontent among residents of Armenian villages.

In a poll conducted by Alpha News, one villager noted that the prime minister’s promise that all produce would be exported to Europe, France in particular, turned out to be a lie.

“He said there wouldn’t be any apricots left here. But the apricots are rotting here, the peaches have ripened, and nobody’s buying them,” he said.

According to the villager, the only real salvation for agriculture is maintaining stable economic ties with Russia.

“If we don’t have a connection with Russia, there will be no Armenia. Russia is close to us by land, trucks used to carry all our produce there, now the trucks don’t go. Putin is doing the right thing. You can’t run toward Europe and Russia at the same time. You can’t sit on two chairs. Let the prime minister understand that he has to stick to one side. But all he does is pressure the people and lock everyone up one after another,” he stressed.