Russians left Armenia because of high house rents – Karapet Hovhannisyan  

It is obvious that the number of Russians in Armenia has decreased, independent expert Karapet Hovhannisyan said in an interview with Alpha News.

“After the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, many Russians came to Armenia. A year later, they began renting out their homes and leaving, citing the deterioration of Armenian-Russian relations as the reason as well as the security factor and high rental prices for apartments. Real estate prices skyrocketed, and today, according to these rates, you can go and live in more suitable countries. It is obvious that the number of Russians in Armenia has decreased,” the expert said.

According to Hovhannisyan, it is necessary to create conditions for a smooth reduction in real estate prices in order to avoid a chaotic situation.

“The Central Bank notes that after the adoption of the Law on Income Tax, real estate prices increased four times. Then the well-known events of 2018 happened, and the Prime Minister from the street announced that a 30% increase in prices was recorded in Armenia, when prices were already high. After that, people started buying houses, and then the arrival of Russians in Armenia followed.

Our people got the impression that the Russian-Ukrainian war would last forever, and tourists would stay here forever.

The government seems to have the opposite approach: the Cadastre Committee says that everything is fine, then the Central Bank does the same. In my opinion, conditions need to be created for a stable, smooth reduction in prices. If this is not done, there will be a chaotic decline, which will lead to collapse,” Karapet Hovhannisyan concluded.