MP Khachatryan to minister of economy: Are your plans based on Amulsar?

The draft state budget for 2022 is being discussed at the joint sittings of the NA standing committees. Artur Khachatryan, a member of the Armenia faction of the National Assembly, asked Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan what the government’s 7% economic growth prediction was based on.

“Where does that 7% come from? Do you expect Amulsar to be exploited, or do you expect economic growth as a result of the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border? If it is the second, please indicate whether you have made an assessment of the economic impact of the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border or not,” he asked.

Vahan Kerobyan answered that the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border is not included in the 2022 state budget and their economic growth forecasts.

“We do not expect to be able to open the Armenian-Turkish border next year with an adequate level of protection of the Armenian citizens’ rights. That forecast is not in our draft budget,” the minister said. “According to the government’s program, we plan to increase the share of investments to 25% of GDP in the next years. It would be wrong to say that our country is able to smoothly absorb all investment programs. We have many programs that face many obstacles. So we have a lot of work to do here.”

Kerobyan mentioned that one of the most important things that should lead to economic growth is the unprecedented amount of capital expenditures.

“There has never been so large capital expenditures in the history of Armenia. If we do it successfully, our economic growth will be more than realistic,” the minister said.

As for Amulsar, Kerobyan said that even if all the issues are resolved at this moment and the mine returns to working mode, the mine will start working, at best, in 12 months.

“We are now waiting for the resolution of the criminal case to see what the results of that criminal case are and the further discussions on Amulsar will depend on it,” the minister said.