Tuesday, June 25 2019 13:12

ArmInfo. When I became president in 1998, many people persuaded me to give a political assessment to past authorities, to investigate the origin of their property, to start processes, like the current authorities, to make statements about "laying on asphalt", but I realized one thing if I dig in the past, it is possible to get stuck in it for a long time, to send energy not in a constructive direction - the development of the country and the economy, but destructive. The second President of Armenia Robert Kocharian stated this in an interview with the 5th TV channel.

According to him, if the time comes and the process of origin of the property of many people who have become rich in the 90s will be investigated, they will not be able to explain the origin of their capital, since this is a very dark process: <And I'm sure that this time will surely come, it will be then when this power is gone, and new forces and leaders will replace it. And then these people (enriched in the 90s, ed.) Just can not explain the origin of their capital. But I decided not to go this way, I decided to direct energy and strength in a constructive way, to build the future, to develop the economy, and I am sure that I was right, and now I don't regret it. If I hadn't done that way and not otherwise, I would not have succeeded in the years of my presidency. " And Kocharyan presented the following figures in the fact that he succeeded during his presidency: "I accepted the country with a budget of only $ 300 million - this is equal to the budget of an average European city, and foreign debt amounted to 44% of GDP. During the years of my presidency, the ratio of external debt to GDP has decreased to 13%. The level of extreme poverty fell from 21% to 4%. Were built hundreds of kilometers of roads, hundreds of schools, the concept of "disaster area" has practically disappeared.

It is remarkable, Kocharyan noted, that both then and now the world financial and economic trends were similar: "" And then the pace of development of the world economy ranged between 3.5-3.7%, and Armenia developed three times faster. That is, and all of the above, I will remain in history, and everything that is happening now will be just a shameful page>