Azerbaijan seeks to take over the Armenian market: Grigor Balasanyan

On April 29, the 13th meeting of the commissions on state border delimitation and border security, co-chaired by the deputy prime ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, was held in Aghveran. Several business representatives also attended the meeting. Alpha News spoke with Grigor Balasanyan, international relations expert, on this topic.

According to the expert, there is an attempt to use supermarket chains controlled by these business figures to distribute Azerbaijani products and gradually accustom society to the presence of the Azerbaijani flag in Armenian stores.

“Whether people will buy these products or not is another question. But I am confident they will. These goods will be cheaper, and people will choose them. As for gasoline, it should be noted that we will be cut off from traditional markets and supplied only with Azerbaijani fuel, sold at 540–550 drams. However, the calculations regarding gas turned out to be incorrect: Azerbaijan will not be able to supply liquefied gas to Armenia, as it simply does not have its own gas. Liquefied gas will still come from Russia, and in this regard, we have no alternative,” Balasanyan noted.

Responding to a question about the economic interests that brought Azerbaijani business figures to Armenia, the expert stressed that they intend to take over the Armenian market.

“They want to occupy the Armenian market, primarily the agricultural sector. They need to sell Azerbaijani agricultural products here as well, since they are facing difficulties in Russia and cannot fully market them there. Turkey and Iran have their own production, relations between Baku and Russia have recently deteriorated, and Armenia remains. To achieve this, the Armenian market must be filled with Azerbaijani agricultural goods so that local producers cannot withstand the competition and gradually cease production, ultimately ceding the market to Azerbaijan,” the expert emphasized.