Monday, April 14 2014

The appointment of Hovik Abrahamyan as Prime Minister of Armenia is intended to ease the political and social tension in the country rather than deepen the reforms, Gagik Makaryan, Head of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia, told ArmInfo.     

Makaryan said that Abrahamyan, who was previously the Speaker of Armenian Parliament, has a big experience of work in legislative and executive branches of power. He also held the positions of minister of territorial administration and deputy prime minister. "The ex-premier resigned not because the economic indices were poor, but because he failed to consolidate all political forces and thereby caused tension. In this context, Abrahamyan will be able to first of all consolidate all the political forces and to reduce the political and social tension in the country due to joint efforts. Only after that he should think about reforms", said Makaryan. He added that over the past few years the social problems have become even more acute and that they should be resolved immediately.

Among the most important problems, Makaryan pointed out the development of small and medium-sized business, creation of jobs and prevention of migration. "For instance, nearly 4,000 families in Gyumri have no homes of their own. To settle these problems, the Prime Minister should apply to the oligarchs for financing.

There are technologies, by which construction of 1 square meter costs $400-450. 12 mln USD is needed to resolve this housing problem", said Makaryan. He added that the new Prime Minister should freeze the pension reform and should not amend the law on accumulative pension. "Armenia's accession to the Customs Union should be put off till October and Armenia should see how the Russian-Ukrainian relationship is developing", he said.