AMD revaluation has become one of the most popular issues of the society. However, the continuous process of revaluation has become to a certain extent threaten the economic security of the country. The economy of Armenia may be deprived not only from the local producers but also foreign investors. At present one of the greatest foreign investors in Armenia, “Synopsis” has started to lose a lot of finances because of this process.
“Any respected company, which has a strategic plan, makes its annual expenses and plans in advance. And if during the year certain deflections are noticed it definitely creates inadequate situation of the company and the product quality also suffers,” mentioned general director of “Synopsis Armenia”, Hovik Musaelyan. In his words USD devaluation is a global issue. During the past years, especially the last year the USD has greatly receded its positions all over the world. In Armenia during the past year USD was devaluated by 20%. “Companies like “Synopsis”, which mostly rely on exportation and don’t provide services in the local market, plan all their contractual obligations and projects based on USD but the expenses are realized in USD. It turns out that the annual expenses planned by the company increase by 20%,” says Musaelyan. It means that “Synopsis” must start to send 20% more USD to Armenia. And it’s a lot of money. An overwhelming part of the net cost of the product of the company occupy the salaries. “Synopsis” has 400 employees and the average salary in the company is 800 USD. Synopsis realizes numerous programs with universities of Armenia, conducts lots of charity. It means that the continuous devaluation of USD causes monetary loss for the company. “If our company keeps losing 20% during its operation then a question originates, whether it’s expedient for us to say in Armenia,” says the director. In his words Synopsis has its reserves. “If more is pent in any country of the world the headquarters of the company blocks the activity of Synopsis in the given country. And if they consider Armenia an unfavorable country to work in, who will benefit from this? No one,” Musaelyan said.
He believes that the access of Synopsis in our country has brought positive image for our country as the company constantly advertises Armenia. Musaelyan is sure that after the entrance of Synopsis in Armenia many foreign companies became interested in investing here. However, now he’s concerned that this aggressive development that the country had over the past two years will stop. “In the service sector of information technologies each engineer brings with him 7-8 new workplaces. If the company loses one million USD it’s worth 70-80 engineers in Armenia, who’d themselves bring about 500 workplaces,” mentioned Musaelyan. But Synopsis is only one example. If we take into account that there are many companies, which face these problems we’ll understand that we are losing numerous workplaces. Musaelyan thinks that perhaps AMD revaluation wouldn’t be that great of a deal if the prices lowered or stayed the same in Armenia. However the opposite happens. Instead of low prices they sift up.
“I really don’t know who to blame. The CB, government, EU or Pope of Rome? I don’t know. But I’m sure that there are culprits both inside and outside the country. When we speak about this they think we are sick. They say, “go raise your productivity level” (let’s remind that the authors of such a diagnosis are both the CB and many “independent” economists-K.T.). When they advise such things to companies, which are 20-30 years more forward with their business styles and experience then Armenia’s business history overall, it seems really strange,” says Musaelyan. He thinks that despite the fact that USD has been devaluated in Russia as well the RF government is doing its best to resist this process. This also creates certain inflation processes but had less negative influence on investors. “I don’t support the fixed rate option, however am categorically against the policy adopted by the CB. I wouldn’t like to label people, who don’t accept criticism,” mentioned Musaelyan without knowing, ho he should receive this answer from.
In his words, both the President and the government of Armenia always listen to their concerns, however now Synopsis thinks that this process cannot keep going on. “Perhaps there’s a group of radical economists, who want to win dividends in this process. They sit and count and think that the higher the percentage is the more proud they will be of the AMD revaluation. Maybe there are certain forces outside and inside the country, who wish this process go on,” says Musaelyan.