“When 30 per cent of the economic incomes are received from one sector, specifically from the sector of construction, and 40 per cent of the export capacity is provided by the mining sector, it means the economy is undermined,” said the head of the World Bank Armenian office Aristomene Varudakis in his interview given to the radio Liberty. “If Armenia wants to return to the same growth as before, it should diversify the economy. It is not done spontaneously and it needs improvement and serious investments in the sectors of transport and information technologies, as well as qualified labor,” he said. It is not news for us because it is a long time that the opposition speaks of that too. It is very surprising that this sharp statement was done by this institution, which has been supporting “the economic policy and reforms” of the incumbent government so far. It is worth mentioning that one month ago the IMF representative in Armenia came up with sharp statements and critics as well. By surprising coincidence this activation of international organizations happened in the same period when there were rumors about Tigran Sargsyan’s recruitment in the RPA. Before being inspired by the ideology of Nzhdeh the latter used to be one of the most liberal officials in Armenia and many people say the reason why he stayed in office so long was the government’s wish to maintain good relations with the West. Today Tigran Sargsyan will be officially declared a member of the RPA and will replace his liberal image with a party ticket. In a word, definitely yesterday’s announcement of Varudakis was the WB’s opinion about the prime minister’s decision to become a party member.
