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Aravot: Azerbaijan exercises great economic influence on Georgia
11:01 * 02.08.14
The paper has talked to Arsen Kharatyan, an Armenian civic activist
who moved to Georgia for a five-year residence earlier this year.
Below is an excerpt from the report in which the activist shared his
views on the Georgia-Azerbaijan relations and Azerbaijan's economic
influence on the country.
As an especially important issue, Arsen Kharatyan emphasized Georgia's
unproportionate economic dependence on Turkey and Azerbaijan, a
situation which the expert said would make any tension or increased
tension in the Armenia-Georgia relations more than improvident and
disadvantageous for both the Georgian-Armenians and the Republic of
Armenia. "This is my opinion. I just want to bring one example: when
the re-opening of the Abkhazian railway was under discussion - and
Ivanishvili addressed the issue in Yerevan - several [branches of the
oil company] Sokar began closing down here. Azerbaijan later imposed
an import tax on cars produced before 2004, whereas cars sold to
Azerbaijan account for 25 percent of Georgia's Gross Domestic Product...
I don't know to what extent all those things are interconnected, but
one thing is definitely obvious: Azerbaijan's economic influence on
Georgia reaches such large scales that the country maintains economic
levers over Georgia.
"From that point of view, I think, the right thing for the
Georgian-Armenian relations would be to rely on the traditionally
established warm ties, instead of succumbing to the tensions or
deepening them. Yes, there are scores of problems which nobody denies,
but why not remember and concentrate on the positive?" the paper
quotes the activist as saying.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/08/02/aravot3/
11:01 * 02.08.14
The paper has talked to Arsen Kharatyan, an Armenian civic activist
who moved to Georgia for a five-year residence earlier this year.
Below is an excerpt from the report in which the activist shared his
views on the Georgia-Azerbaijan relations and Azerbaijan's economic
influence on the country.
As an especially important issue, Arsen Kharatyan emphasized Georgia's
unproportionate economic dependence on Turkey and Azerbaijan, a
situation which the expert said would make any tension or increased
tension in the Armenia-Georgia relations more than improvident and
disadvantageous for both the Georgian-Armenians and the Republic of
Armenia. "This is my opinion. I just want to bring one example: when
the re-opening of the Abkhazian railway was under discussion - and
Ivanishvili addressed the issue in Yerevan - several [branches of the
oil company] Sokar began closing down here. Azerbaijan later imposed
an import tax on cars produced before 2004, whereas cars sold to
Azerbaijan account for 25 percent of Georgia's Gross Domestic Product...
I don't know to what extent all those things are interconnected, but
one thing is definitely obvious: Azerbaijan's economic influence on
Georgia reaches such large scales that the country maintains economic
levers over Georgia.
"From that point of view, I think, the right thing for the
Georgian-Armenian relations would be to rely on the traditionally
established warm ties, instead of succumbing to the tensions or
deepening them. Yes, there are scores of problems which nobody denies,
but why not remember and concentrate on the positive?" the paper
quotes the activist as saying.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/08/02/aravot3/