Video: Badassian Denies Financial Times – Armenia's Car Exports to Russia Have Not Increased

The Armenian authorities maintain daily communication with both European Union and US partners, working and collaborating openly and transparently. This was stated today, on July 20, by the head of the Armenian State Revenue Committee, Rustam Badassian, during a briefing after the government meeting, in response to a publication by the Financial Times.

Earlier, it was reported that according to the Financial Times, car exports from Armenia to Russia increased 200-fold in January 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, amounting to $180 million. The publication examined this in the context of Western sanctions against Russia.

“I don’t know which media was affected by what lobbying or influence to print such materials; nevertheless, we have cooperated openly and transparently with our partners. That media outlet initially reached out to us, but our responses, our comments, or our figures were not included in that publication. For instance, we pointed out that there was also a significant influx of cars into Armenia in 2019, which was unrelated to sanctions,” Badassian emphasized.

He also added that not all cars are subject to sanctions, and there are certain inconsistencies in the publication.

It is worth noting that on November 18, 2022, during a press conference, the president of the association of official representatives of Armenian car manufacturers, Artyom Petrosyan, stated that Armenia ranked fourth after Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Georgia in car exports to Russia. In the last six months of 2022, Armenia’s share in car exports to Russia constituted 6.5%.