“If the gas price goes up, you will be responsible”: Manukyan to Papoyan

In the National Assembly, Mesrop Manukyan, an MP from the Armenia parliamentary faction, addressed Gevorg Papoyan, the Minister of Economy, criticizing the government’s economic policy and raising relations with Russia, agricultural exports, the problems of rural residents and the price of gas.

“More than anyone, you and your government have claimed to be close to Russia, and you call Putin more often than anyone else. If these relations are good and gas doesn’t get more expensive, the credit is yours. If gas gets more expensive, you must answer for that too. Right now agricultural products are not being exported, and that is also your responsibility. Who are you shifting the blame onto? I just can’t understand it,” Manukyan said.

In response, the minister said that before Armenia joined the EAEU, its trade balance with Russia stood at about $700 million, while the deficit has now reached about $1 billion.

He also noted that when joining the EU, a number of countries received far more support than they contributed to the union, stressing that by the same principle Armenia should also have received greater economic benefits from the EAEU.

“For me, it should be acceptable to pay for any product with money, not with sovereignty. If something costs 100 drams, you should pay 100 drams, not 80 drams plus sovereignty in exchange for 20 drams,” Papoyan said.