Finance minister sees no direct link between possible EAEU membership suspension and decline in remittances

Remittances to Armenia were made even before the country joined the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan said.

Speaking at a meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, Hovhannisyan was responding to a question from opposition Strong Armenia faction MP Hayk Farmanyan.

Farmanyan asked about the social consequences of a possible decline in remittances if Armenia’s EAEU membership were suspended. The MP emphasized that many residents of Armenia live on money sent by relatives working abroad.

“To answer that question, we first need to say the following: When Armenia was not a member of the EAEU, were there no remittances? Did people not go abroad to work? Moreover, let me tell you that more people from Armenia were going and sending more money. What does EAEU membership have to do with sending money to Armenia? It is not right to attribute the country's economic developments and remittances exclusively to this membership,” Hovhannisyan responded.

The minister noted that it is necessary to analyze the benefits of membership and its impact on the country's development. He said the Government had conducted this work and disagreed with the conclusions of the report mentioned during the discussion, which attributed Armenia's achievements solely to its EAEU membership.

In response, Farmanyan said his question also concerned possible political decisions and sanctions. In the scenario he presented, suspension of membership could be accompanied by restrictions, including a reduction in remittances.

Hovhannisyan described such possible sanctions as a “hostile act.”

“The scenario you are describing, for example, sanctions by the EAEU, I believe would be hostile acts. I don't know why we should have hostile relations with our partners for them to impose sanctions on us,” the minister said.