“Armenia imports one million eggs per month from Ukraine, which is delivered by a poultry company to the ministry of defense,” said deputy minister of agriculture Grisha Baghiyan at a press conference and added that 350,000 eggs had been sent back to the supplier because of unacceptable components had been found in them. Shortly the spokesman of the defense ministry Davit Karapetyan refuted that information by saying that the Armenian army consumes only local eggs. The problem is not a conflict between these two institutions but the fact that the data and calculations provided by the deputy minister are not consistent and are wrong not only the information concerning the defense ministry but other affairs as well. The problem is that according to the official information provided by the state customs services and statistics, during the first part of 2011 Armenia imported 15,100,000 eggs. This means that Armenia imports not one million eggs every month as stated by the deputy minister but 2,5 million eggs. Indeed nobody can find eggs in shops that would bear the sign showing that it was made in any other country. In addition, if we deduct the number of eggs consumed by the army, it means that approximately 1,5 million eggs disappear every month. Certainly these eggs do not disappear and are sold in the local market with the stamp of Armenian companies. By the way, Baghiyan says that the reason why egg production in Armenia is falling down is the fact that mature hens that produce egg are sold as meat. However, in fact the reason is the unfavorable conditions in the local market as the Armenian producers cannot survive the double-cheaper prices of eggs that are imported from third countries and sold under the local trademark. By the way, last year and this year the competition for exclusive supplier of eggs to the army was won by two companies that have almost monopolistic positions in the market – Khachik Khachikyan’s X-Group and Arax companies.
