Robert Kocharyan

“ Accumulation of debts would simply mean that the country will not get enough gas to run its economy. For this reason, we have to be very strict in these issues, because if it is now some people who are unhappy with us, everyone is going to be unhappy in the future if we are not strict. Let me repeat, one or two months more, and we will be able to work in a more relaxed regime in the energy sector; we already know what reform program we are going to implement. ”

“ Yes, there are problems with the budget, but this does not mean that there is no economic development. Most importantly, I repeat, the banking capital has started to finance the economy, businesses have started looking at exports, because competition is very tough in the domestic market. It is also understandable that our market is small, and therefore, we will simply have no future if our industry, our economy does not export. There are many interesting phenomena, and we need to conduct such an economic policy that would encourage these phenomena, these tendencies. ”

“ When we were discussing the draft budget last year, we knew that we are going to lose more than 4 billion drams in income tax revenues as a result of the new law. The amount of broad money is a much more accurate indicator of economic growth and the size of the economy. Compared with the same period last year, the amount of broad money is 14.5 billion more today. The total amount including foreign currency has increase by about 30 billion. There is no inflation. It is lower than projected, about 1 percent. These numbers are for the first 9 months of the year. ”

“ It is a question of balance: there are no very good or very bad Constitutions. I am surprised by the debate about parliamentary, presidential, semi-presidential systems of government, simply surprised. There are very established presidential, semi-presidential or parliamentary countries. In this case, the people chose one system and try to improve that system, to achieve success. ”

“ Economy, job creation, constitutional reforms
ROBERT KOCHARIAN – Let me remind you that I first spoke about job creation on November 2, 2000, in my interview to National Television. Since then, we have turn on the meter and started counting. Today I will talk about a bit less than a year, about 11 months, since we will have to meet in February to sum up the results of the whole of 2001. I must say it was very difficult work: no administrative monitoring of job creation has ever been conducted in Armenia. ”

“ I do not rule out the possibility of making more active use of the capabilities of various entities in Armenia and of the employees of the energy sector itself.
QUESTION (Gayane Movsissian, “Caspian” news agency) – Mr. President, how do you see the future of energy distribution networks?
ROBERT KOCHARIAN – We couldn’t sell them. I have always been and I remain a supporter of their privatization. The economy that is functioning in Armenia is private. Any contact between government and private sector always ends negatively for the state-owned enterprise. ”

“ It is simply impossible to assign a policeman to everyone who sets his meter back. We need to introduce a private interest in the relations between consumers and the energy sector. What we have today cannot be tolerated. ”

“ Second, if Shavarsh Kocharian wants to have his own draft, he should at least try to become President and then become an agent for constitutional reforms and submit his own draft to the people. There is no second draft and there will not be any second draft. If the people want to talk about it, discuss it, they are very welcome to do so. There will be no second draft. Or the consent of at least two-thirds of the National Assembly is required, because if the President does not agree with a draft, then you need two-thirds of the National Assembly. ”

“ We have done everything to make the numbers presented by us credible and we have means of verifying them. One can say a lot of things just like that, without justification: one can even talk about 200 thousand. I must repeat that we did not take into consideration the numbers that have to do with seasonal jobs. For instance, 15 thousand people worked for the census for about 4 months on average. We could have easily divided that 15 thousand by three and say that we have created 5 thousand new jobs within the framework of that program alone. ”

“ It is not right to say whether one system is good or the other. In the so-called transition countries that are in risky conditions and where there is a need to show strong will, personalized responsibility and strong presidential powers give an advantage by offering much more precise solutions in cases of complications, emergency situations and wars. ”

“ It is understandable that everyone is a master of taking something away from a state-owned business – we have 70 years of Soviet experience and “creative” people... everyone knows about people setting their electric meters back. ”

“ We talk about risks, and there is a risk factor here as well. We have no oil and no large metallurgy complexes. In a number of countries, about 40-50 percent of the budget comes from these sectors, while tax administration and the activities of tax authorities usually have to do with large taxpayers that help solve all budget problems. Tax authorities are always tempted to use such laws that would lead to businesses becoming larger so that it is easier to work with them. ”

“ Private entrepreneurs do not keep that list hidden and they update it immediately as the need arises, while in this case the factory finds itself in a totally different status. About the shadow economy: a few different directions. For instance, we have passed the law on procurements and set up an appropriate agency, which means that a significant portion of budget expenditures will be carried out in a centralized fashion, according to the law. Practice has already shown that a lot of money can be saved that way. ”

“ If we were able to keep up this pace of job creation in the next two-three years, most of the population would feel a significant change in their daily lives. But 2003 is an election year, and I am not sure that the second half of 2002 will be very productive in that respect. ”

“ And the second question. When we talk about new jobs, we often neglect the issue of wages. For instance, wages in the light industry are very low – 10-15 thousand drams, which is not enough for prosperity. ”

“ The reconstruction was completed faster than expected. To work at full capacity, there is a problem of markets, there is a problem of ensuring the full cycle of work. Chemistry is, generally speaking, a very difficult area. ”