It Is Unclear How Cognac Can Be Armenia's National Treasure - Pashinyan

Cognac, according to international standards, is a French beverage, and it is unclear how it can be considered a national treasure of Armenia. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a session of the National Assembly on August 24, while discussing the Government's program for a five-year term.

In response to a statement by opposition 'Strong Armenia' alliance member Andranik Gevorgyan, who noted that the government has not yet established a network of modern laboratories for quality control of products, Pashinyan acknowledged that work needs to be done in that direction. However, he asserted that many issues can and should be resolved even without the help of laboratories.

'There is no laboratory in the world that will conclude about our alcohol. For example, that this is cognac. Because 'cognac' means alcohol produced in the corresponding region of France from local grapes. So should we give up that name or not? When I talk about this in the Government, our opposition circles start to claim that the authorities supposedly want to give up yet another national treasure. I don’t understand this,' said the head of the government.

According to the Prime Minister, he would be willing to develop a bill that would prohibit the use of the term 'cognac' for the corresponding Armenian alcohol with the agreement of the opposition.