April 27, 2007 - 18:25 AMT
Serge Sargsyan: Armenia never wished to live at the expense of other
Conveyance of Armenian enterprises to Russia within Property for Debt Treaty is not a bargain between two people when one of them is cheating, Armenian Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan said in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "The idea to sign such treaty wasn't caused by Armenia's debt. Being the Co-chair of the intergovernmental commission I had a goal to attract Russian capital to Armenia. It's very important for us, since investments are the only way to restore Armenia's economy. The other aspect is that even progressive enterprises need constant modernization. If no single ruble was invested in them during the recent years, so how could they be modern? These enterprises were tied with the Russian ones and fulfilled serious tasks for providing security," he said.

"I am convinced these enterprises can yield profit and the Armenian government is ready to offer conveniences. Armenia never wished to live at the expense of others. We want to develop relations with Russia. We discussed the issue with Sergey Ivanov during his recent visit to Yerevan," the PM resumed.