Expert sheds some light on US sanctioned Armenian companies, says Armenia may encounter sanctions by West

Armenia's messing with all affairs such as being involved in dark businesses in the world is not something new to public. However, Armenia's facing the wrath of the US after being caught on dirty and secret affairs was of some serious surprise.

Given the violation of the US imposed sanctions against Russia, 28 companies belonging to China, Malta, Singapore, UAE, and so on got restricted to carry on export. The most important point is that Armenia, which owns 10 of the 28 companies, ranked on the top among the above-mentioned countries. And the most interesting point is that Armenia, which has no domestic production other than mines, increased its exports to Russia amid the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Speaking to Azernews, Economist Natig Jafarly has commented on the recent sanctions on Armenian companies and Armenian-Russian economic cooperation. The expert said that it is obvious that some countries aid to Russia for circumventing the sanctions.

According to International media outlets these issues have several times been highlighted and the expert says that Armenia ranks into second place after Belorussia among countries helping Russia.

“It is no longer possible to hide Armenia's assistance to Russia in order to avoid sanctions. The successive bans on those companies are related to this activity in Armenia. However, the problem is that almost 70 percent of Armenia's economy depends on Russia. In other words, most of the sanctioned companies are subsidiaries of Russia registered in Armenia. Armenia is so dependent on Russia that it is unable to refuse to Russia,” Jafarli said.

However, the Azerbaijani economist considers that the situation may become increasingly difficult for Armenia because the officials of the West have voiced to tighten the control of the sanctions imposed on Russia. In addition, given that Armenia increases cooperation with Iran, the expert says even sanctions can be imposed not only on Armenian companies but also on the Armenian state as well.

“Obviously, the Western media outlets, the officials of the G7 and G20 countries, and the EU countries are envisaging tightening the control of sanctions. As the restrictions become solid, of course, the number of bans on Armenian companies will be reinfosed. There is also the possibility of imposing some sanctions on Armenia. Considering the recent expansion of cooperation between Iran and Armenia, these possibilities are quite high,” the expert opined.

The interesting point is that Pashinyan has created a pro-Western image with the support of the Russian and Armenian mass media. According to Natig Jafarli, the image of Pashinyan's pro-Western rule is surreal, and he notes that since Armenia-Russia relations are deep, it is impossible for Pashinyan to be pro-Western.

“The fact that Pashinyan's government is west-oriented reflects myth more than reality. Because Armenia is a member of all organizations headed by Russia, including the CIS. Together with the CIS, CSTO, Eurasian Economic Union, etc. In addition, Armenia is one of those countries that has a Russian military base in its territory.

As I mentioned before, Armenia's dependence on Russia is at the highest level among the CIS countries. It is still the second country after Belarus in terms of dependence on Russia. Armenia's Western-oriented policy is a rhetoric, a policy for receiving more support from the West. In other words, it is a political game created by the Pashinyan government. Therefore, I do not think that Armenia will succeed in selling the pro-Western Pashinyan story,” added Natig Jafarly.