What Solutions Are Needed When Russia Has Banned Armenian Imports
Panelists:
- Vilen Khachatryan — Head of the Management Department, Public Administration Academy of Armenia; economist
- Aghasi Tavadyan — economist, tvyal.com
Russia’s ban on fresh produce laid bare the problems Armenian agriculture had been storing up for years. More than 90% of apricots, tomatoes, and cut flowers go to the Russian market alone, and a fast-perishing harvest has nowhere else to turn. The sector has been shrinking since 2018, its share of GDP has fallen sharply, and the farmer is left on his own with bank loans, a chain of middlemen, and produce that does not meet European standards. The way out is not to push fresh harvests toward Europe, where they spoil before they arrive. It is to move toward low-weight, high-value goods such as dried fruit, asparagus, and wine sold under an Armenian brand. That shift only pays off alongside cold storage, processing, and state support for drip irrigation and anti-hail systems.
Further reading on these topics
- A Harvest With Nowhere to Go: How Armenia’s Economy Got Stuck at the Russian Border
- Exports Growth, Shrinking Fields: The Decline of Armenia’s Agriculture
SHANT TV Armenia · 51 min