“168 hours”: “What was the reason for you selling your stock of the “Grand Tobacco” company?
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “The price was good, so I sold it.”
“168 hours”: “Is it true that the authorities interfered in selling the stocks?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “They sell the stocks when there are more profitable stocks available.”
“168 hours”: “There are rumors going around that a new cigarette producing factory is being constructed. How accurate is that?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “Yes, there is construction going on. We are going
to produce 45 brand name cigarettes, brand new and with high quality.
The material will be brought from the foreign countries. Armenia’s
tutun is only found in low-quality cigarettes, such as “Prima”,
“Astra”, “Chibukh”…. The raw material will be imported from Bulgaria,
Norway, Holland, England and the U.S.”
“168 hours”: “Rumor has it that Serj Sargsyan’s brother and National
Assembly deputy Alexander Sargsyan has bought the “Harsnakar” factory.
Also, they say that there has been a conflict between you two.”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “I have not only sold “Harsnakar”, but we are also
making way for new constructions. The recreational services are being
enlarged by 2 hectors of land. There will be new cottages, new swimming
pools, and a horse track. There has been no conflict. That’s just
gossip, which I think is spreading from Nalbandyan street and hurting a
lot of people’s reputations.”
“168 hours”: “What made you sell your stock from the “Grand Tobacco”?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “A good price was offered, so I sold it.”
“168 hours:” “Is it true that the authorities interfered in selling the stock?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “People sell stocks when there are more profitable stocks.”
“168 hours”: “You are starting construction on a new cigarette production factory. Is that true?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “Yes, that is true. We are going to be producing 45
brand name and high quality cigarettes with tobacco being imported from
the foreign market. Armenia’s tobacco is only used for low quality
cigarettes, including “Prima”, “Astra”, “Chibukh”….The raw material is
going to be imported from Bulgaria, Norway, Holland, England and the
U.S.”
“168 hours”: “How can we explain the fact that business and economy in
Armenia today are in the hands of a certain group of people? Does this
have to do with the authorities, or is this part of politics?”
Ruben Hayrapteyan: “I don’t think that this has anything to do with
politics. The thing is that whoever gets an accumulated amount of money
opens up a new business. Armenia is a small country, the market is not
very large and you can take over the entire market with just $5 million
dollars. What does the government have to do with it? The businessman
does business for himself.”
“168 hours”: “Is it possible for someone to come and, let’s say, enter the sugar production? Won’t they interfere?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “Of course not.”
“168 hours”: “So, is there a monopoly in that area of business?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “I don’t think so. In general, there are monopolies
in our economy but that is not created by the government. Businessmen
themselves provide themselves with the opportunities. You can have a
whole business under your control with just having $5 million dollars.
The market is small, Armenia has small businesses and it is possible to
invade the market with a huge amount of money. One time, a Swedish
businessman suggested starting a sugar production here. The president
had agreed to help, but then we started to check out the finances. We
found out that at least 70-80 million dollars must be spent for
building the factory. Again, the market is not big enough to sell the
product, and the amounts of products are so large that there can be no
market. So, it was certainly not profitable to start that production.”
“168 hours”: “Basically, we can say the same for the cigarette
business. I mean that the “Grand Tobacco” production is normal for our
market.”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “Of course it is.”
“168 hours”: “In that case, why are you starting a new factory?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “So that I can have one local market under control and then make my way to foreign markets.”
“168 hours”: “It is safe to say that the sugar factory is taking the same route.”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “Not exactly. It is very expensive to import the raw
material for sugar through these routes. We have no railway….As soon as
the border between Turkey and Armenia opens up, then it will be much
cheaper to import and export products. In regard to cigarettes, the
amounts of raw material imports are very few. You import 100 tons of
tobacco with which you produce for six months. For example, how come
some businesses produce water and yet there is no monopoly there? How
many petrol stations import fuel? It is not one, but 7-8 importers.
Each company begs us to buy petrol from them. If someone has a lot of
money and imports with a lot of money, then he or she can take over
that field of business by lowering the prices.”
“168 hours”: “The authorities are making businessmen get involved in politics and are using politics as a way of supervision.”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “A majority of the businessmen are deputies of the
National Assembly, thus, they are already politicized. We all became
deputies, however now, as I reflect upon that, I consider that a
mistake because we didn’t think that we could have this kind of a
parliament. If the National Assembly was professional, then businessmen
could make huge economic reforms in the country. There are many blanks
needed to be filled in the fields of internal revenue and development
of middle businesses.”
“168 hours”: “How do the authorities control businessmen?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “They do that through the means of revenue and
customs. There is control in all countries, but they do that in a
civilized manner. The thing is that we Armenians turn everything
two-fold.”
“168 hours”: “What we are trying to do now is fight against corruption. Is that possible?”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “The representatives of the opposition must also be
enlisted in the board fighting against corruption. That is something
which exists in all fields. It has been instilled step by step.”
“168 hours”: “You have built some buildings in Armenia, in particular
Yerevan. Aren’t you concerned about the total view of the urbanization
of Yerevan? Construction makes its way from the center of Yerevan all
the way to Avan, Arinj and Masiv.”
Ruben Hayrapetyan: “I think the problems concerning Yerevan’s
urbanization are very important. The problem is that everyone builds
whatever he or she wants. Yerevan is getting polluted and nobody cares
about that. It is good that the city is being constructed, but the city
council must follow up on the issues concerning urbanization and
architecture. No matter what gets built, the one doing the construction
spends a lot of money. The correct thing to do would be for the city
council to control everything. As of now, the city council supports the
WEFA soccer federation with $1 million dollars for constructing small
stadiums in the condensed residencies of Armenia. Of the stadiums, 20
wlll be built in Yerevan. Where can we build them? I have appealed to
the city council and only one place has been offered by the Central
District Chief. The only things being constructed are the garages in
the yards or high floored buildings. The illegal construction of
garages gets legalized through cadastres. I am building beautiful
playgrounds for children in Avan and then someone comes along and
builds an illegal garage and has recently legalized it through the
cadastre. Of course, I can take that garage out of the playground, but
I am leaving that up to the city council. The district councils have
turned into something else nowadays. There was a time when the district
chiefs were highly respected in their districts, they used to gather
around and do projects for the city. Who cares about the district chief
now? Everything is in the hands of the city council. All the district
council does is confirm what the city council plans. The city council
is the one who decides. The district chief has no powers.