ArmInfo.Amid the sanctions against Russia, Armenian exporters, supported by the government and with the available groundwork, should start searching for new sales markets with a view to diversifying their deliveries, Emil Stepanyan, co-founder of the Export Armenia platform.
Citing the example of Georgia, when that state signed a free trade agreement with China 13 years ago, when Russia banned imports from Georgia.
"And now Georgia is exporting its products to China on more favorable terms than Armenia is. For example, the exports of Georgian wines to China are ten times as much as those of Armenian wines. The point is that Georgia got serious preferences from China - low taxes, customs duties, and so on," he said.
In this context, he points out an unsatisfactory work of Armenia's foreign office, which is not in any way promoting exports.
"Armenian diplomacy must open new markets for our exporters, get preferences for our products, simplified permit and licence issuance procedures," Mr Stepanyan said. Referring to research by the Armenian Center for Socio-Economic Studies (ACSES), he said that 60.7% of Armenia's exports to Russia are in terms of Russian rubles, which is about $480mln.
"To compare with this January, we can see the heavy losses our exporters sustained because of the rapid ruble depreciation," Mr Stepanyan said. The most deplorable fact is that 70% of Armenia's exports to Russia are finished products.
The losses Armenian exporters are sustaining now are a good lesson for both the government and exporters themselves. "Export market diversification requires government incentives, such as tax benefits in market exploration," Mr Stepanyan said. And it is the government that to a great extent bears responsibility for the prospective losses.
Rapid ruble depreciation reduced affected the competitiveness of products imported by Russia, which will seriously affect sales. So many Armenian suppliers have taken a break. The problem is that Russian importers cannot pay in US dollars, while Armenian exporters are unwilling to sell their products for Russian rubles.
In 2021, Russia's share in Armenia's foreign trade totaled 32.7%. The mutual trade totaled $2.6bln, with exports totaling $847.2mln and imports, $1.8bln.
Russia remained the leader in terms of foreign investments in Armenia in 2021 ($975.1mln), with its direct investments totaling $371.1mln.
