Economy minister: Diamond exports have increased dramatically in Armenia

Diamond exports have increased dramatically as a result of our good work. Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan told this to reporters at the National Assembly of Armenia Monday.

Reflecting on the problems that arose recently in connection with Armenian trucks at the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Georgian-Russian border, as well as their solution, the minister said that the problems related to the legal regulations have been resolved for now.

"At the moment there is a [winter] weather problem. But considering the fact that the capacity has been considerably expanded [at this checkpoint], these are short-term problems and will not have a particular impact on our trade regime," Kerobyan said.

To the question whether the problems related to the export standards of goods were resolved, the Armenian economy minister responded: "I can't say that these problems have been fully addressed, and Armenian products have become in line with the world's highest standards overnight. But we ourselves have considerably tightened the inspection of our exports; that is, the border inspection of agricultural products being exported, which was not mandatory before. This year, we have completely reformed the entire legislative package related to quality infrastructure, which we have developed with our European partners. The objective is for Armenia's quality infrastructure to be in line with the European Regulation 765, as well as with the relevant regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union [(EAEU)].”

Asked whether the aforementioned Armenian products were now being exported to Russia, Kerobyan answered: "These agricultural products are produced every day. The working style, the work processes have also changed in order to export products of a higher standard."

According to Kerobyan, Upper Lars was open more days than ever this year.

"Before, due to [winter] weather or other problems, Upper Lars was closed for 30 to 40 days a year. But this year—only for one week, plus one or two days due to weather conditions," he said.

When asked if the Upper Lars checkpoint’s closure for Armenian trucks had a political context, Vahan Kerobyan responded: "I cannot say that there is a political context. For me, it is important that the Armenian product be good enough to have access to many markets, and that we do not have any dependence on the market of any country."

The economy minister said that Armenia’s trade with the other EAEU member countries increased by 41 percent compared to last year.

"It reached approximately 5.7 billion dollars, which is a considerably high number," he added.

And when asked whether Armenia should participate in the EAEU intergovernmental meeting, the economy minister said that the Armenian side should form a practical policy with all countries, and based on its interests.

"From that point of view, naturally, the relations with the main trading partners [of Armenia] should be at a proper level," Vahan Kerobyan concluded.