In this case the benefit of the EEU membership is obvious: Vache Gabrielyan

The past two years haven’t been easy times for Armenia’s economy, however the economic difficulties were not associated with Armenia’s membership to the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia’s Vice-Prime Minister Vache Gabrielyan said during the Valdai international dialogue club’s visiting session in Yerevan.

“There were interesting developments in our economy during the past two years. 2015-2016 weren’t easy times for us from an economic point of view. That period also coincided with Armenia’s membership with the Eurasian Economic Union, and the issue whether the reason of the difficult economic situation was the membership to the Eurasian Economic Union was largely discussed in our society.

Different assessments were made, however the main thing is that we always tried to explain that it is necessary to separate the difficulties of our country’s economy from developments in the Eurasian Economic Union,” Gabrielyan said.

He stressed that the Government of Armenia has carried out research, and the results showed Russia’s difficult economic situation would have had a more difficult impact on Armenia’s economy if it didn’t join the Eurasian Economic Union.

“The possibility of free movement of labor force, services, products and capital has very important significance for us, which the Eurasian Economic Union provides,” he said. Gabrielyan reminded that recently the gas tariffs were reduced for consumers in Armenia, stressing Armenia is buying gas from Russia on lower prices than other countries which aren’t EEU members.

“In this case the benefit of the EEU membership is obvious,” he said. He said imports from Russia to Armenia have increased significantly since Armenia’s membership to the EEU.

“This means now our businessmen bring various products from Russia, rather from third countries, because it is more profitable. We see the progress and trade for our businesses with EEU member states has become easier,” he said.

In his assessment, the Eurasian integration project has very big prospects, which has already had some successes. In the end, Gabrielyan said Armenia can become a platform for dialogue and economic cooperation between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.