ArmInfo. Monopolies still exist in the Armenian market and this is a fact. Economist Vahagn Khachatryan at a press conference expressed this opinion on May 6. He noted that the government has approaches to eradicate monopolies, but this will take a long time. At the same time, the economist pointed out the political will of the new government, but found it difficult to answer the question of how this will be reflected in economic matters.
Referring to the data of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition on reducing the market share of the oligarchic companies "Catherine Group" and "Alex Holding" in 2018 compared to 2017, in particular from 57% to 30% and from 95% to 78% respectively The economist stressed that there is no reliable information on whether new market players are in fact true or whether they are <dummy>. <I do not believe that there is such a businessman who wants to work at a loss. Or work in order for us to live better. No, they work so that they live better in the first place. And it is quite logical>, - he said. In addition, the economist expressed concern about new players. In particular, from the point of view of whether the latter will be able to work without entering into lucrative arrangements with existing monopolists.
"If we continue to lie, what we have been doing for many years, it only says that we don't want to change anything," he stressed.
Regarding <economic revolution>, Khachatryan noted that he believes that it nevertheless took place, referring in this context to the approaches of the government. "But the question is how prepared we are for this," he stressed. In continuation of the above, the economist added that in this respect there are both objective and subjective reasons. Speaking about the subjective factors, Khachatryan wondered if the customs officer who had worked for many years on different principles changed, did the approaches adopted by the new government become valuable for him? "I'm not sure," the economist replied. <We are talking about systemic corruption in all spheres reigning in Armenia and we demand from the government to change it. But here we must understand that for real change it will take a lot of time>, he concluded.