MOSCOW (Azatutyun) — Russian companies see no future in Armenia and trade between the two countries is already shrinking rapidly as a result of Yerevan’s plans to seek to eventually join the European Union, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said on Friday, June 20.
Overchuk stepped up Moscow’s warnings about economic consequences of that geopolitical choice for Armenia during a panel discussion with his Armenian opposite number, Mher Grigoryan, held as part of an annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg.
“Under the conditions formed between the Russian Federation and the European Union, Russian business understands that it has no prospects in Armenia because as things stand now, we have no prospect of interaction with the European Union,” he said. “It’s a fact. And this explains the ongoing drop in commercial exchange [between Russia and Armenia.]”
Overchuk said that Russian-Armenian trade, which has skyrocketed since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, is now on track to contract by almost half, to less than $7 billion, this year.
Russia accounted for over 41 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade last year, compared with the EU’s 7.7 percent share.
Earlier this year, the Armenian government pushed through the parliament a bill declaring the “start of a process of Armenia’s accession to the European Union.” Moscow has warned that the South Caucasus nation risks losing its tariff-free access to Russia’s vast market and having to pay much more for Russian natural gas and foodstuffs.
