National Assembly deputy: while the authorities negotiate to find new markets, Armenian businessmen are suffering huge losses.

ArmInfo. From June 1 to 18, exports of fruits and vegetables from the Republic of Armenia to EU member countries were not carried out. This was reported on his Facebook page by National Assembly deputy from the opposition "Armenia" faction Garnik Danielyan. "In response to my inquiry, the Ministry of Economy informed me of this, citing data from the Food Safety Inspection Body.

For the same period, according to the Ministry of Economy, flower exports amounted to 1,996.3 thousand pieces (or 17.2 tons). Flower export volumes by country are as follows: Georgia – 15.6 tons, Bulgaria – 0.2 tons, the Netherlands – 0.1 tons, Romania – 0.7 tons, Iran – 0.6 tons. The same information shows that only 2,000 flowers were exported to Austria and 2,900 to France. The letter also reports active work on exporting to EU member states," the deputy noted. He added that while the authorities moving towards the EU negotiate searching for new markets, Armenian businessmen are bearing huge losses.

"Flower producers report that they are forced to throw away thousands of flowers every day because they are not selling either on the domestic or foreign markets. Recently we see flower promotions in various supermarkets that, according to producers, represent only flowers from large greenhouses. By the way, in response to a written request from Yerkir.am, the Prime Minister’s office reported that the expenses related to organizing and holding the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Armenia amounted to 54,360,539 drams. Large sums were also allocated from the budget for the 8th summit of the European Political Community and the Armenia–EU summit.

According to calculations, they total about 5 million dollars, and that is not all; part of the expenses is not disclosed under the pretext of confidentiality. After all this the question arises: is this really the price Armenian farmers must pay for your anti-Russian shows? Anyone with basic knowledge understands that gaining new markets is a matter of years, not days. Meanwhile, having been in power for 8 years, they have not taken any steps to diversify exports. For at least 5 years we have been demanding this. Finally say what alternative markets you are looking for to sell Armenian products. You cannot pull the wool over our citizens’ eyes. Armenian producers feel the catastrophic consequences of your short-sighted, incompetent policy every day," the parliamentarian said.