Armenia’s social problems remain unresolved

By AzerNews

The Armenian government has been incapable to resolve the country's top social problems -unemployment and poverty over the last years.

In a recent survey, the Caucasus Research Resource Center said these problems still remain Armenians' most important challenges.

"Some 45 percent of respondents indicated unemployment as the main problem, while for 16 percent of respondents the poverty was the main challenge," the survey underlined.

The survey noted that unemployment and poverty have been listed as the two most important problems in Armenia for the last fourth year.

Poverty and unemployment are among main problems for Armenia as the country's economy has no ground for development. About one-third of the country's population - 32.4 percent of the 980,000 people - lived in poverty in 2012. Meanwhile, high unemployment rate estimated at 16.8 percent in 2013.

Armenians' unresolved problems have force many of them to leave the country. Russia is a final destination for 95-96 percent of the Armenian immigrants, which has recently simplified the process of getting Russian citizenship by Russian-speaking compatriots.

"Some 16,550 Armenian citizens got Russian citizenship in 2013," the State Migration Service reported.

The State Service believes that the simplified procedure of getting Russian citizenship will certainly have negative impact on Armenia. "This is a fact, which will promote emigration," the State Migration Service reported.

Armenia is still not able to stop mass immigration. About 30,000 to 35,000 people left their homes each year from 2008 to 2013.