Yerevan's appeal to Armenian diaspora backfires

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The Armenian authorities started a new campaign to heal ill relations with Armenian diaspora, hoping it will be able to convince its runaway nationals to invest their hard-earned cash into Armenian banks to revive the economy.

The latest call by Armenia's diaspora minister to Armenians worldwide to open accounts at Armenian banks and thus help their historical homeland's financial system created much controversy - both in the country and abroad.

Many believe that the lack of confidence between Yerevan and the diaspora will likely mean no Armenian abroad will commit their money to enabling the authorities.

Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobyan said if high-paid Armenians living abroad help Armenia's economy to develop, the people will not have to leave the country.

"Let each of these gentlemen in the diaspora open accounts at Armenian banks, each depositing $1,000. We don’t want this money, let them deposit it in the banks. The banks will become stronger, the economy will develop and they’ll get their interests paid. We don't want charity from them," she said.

Hakobyan's address came in response to ethnic Armenian rocker in the U.S., Serzh Tankian's call on Armenia's political leadership in Yerevan on April 23 to "finally start getting rid of the institutional injustice in the country" and "curb the outflow of its citizens".

The minister's remark became the subject of many heated discussions on social media, mostly due to its responsive nature to Tankian's criticism.

Over the last few years the Armenian diaspora has periodically voiced its dissatisfaction with the level of corruption and monopolies in Armenia, arguing the oligarchy was strangling the country's economy. It is important to note that many of those Armenians who fled the country did so after the state prove discriminatory against their businesses in the first place - thus trust is not exactly running high.

For instance, French-Armenian businesswoman Valerie Gortsunian, founder of Le Café de Paris, a popular outdoor coffeehouse in downtown Yerevan, made investments in her Armenia-based business for years. But finally left the country empty handed after experiencing problems with the local tax authorities in 2011. She lost nearly her entire business in Yerevan following an oppression campaign against her financial interests by tax officials.

"The Diaspora is well aware of recent unjust situation in Armenia. It is very well aware of how many investors have left Armenia offended and robbed. I personally wait every day for Armenia to become a just state, but, unfortunately, I see every day how many people emigrate from Armenia, how much poverty there is, how oligarchs feel unrestrained and how much injustice there is," Gortsunian said.

Unlike the diaspora, the Union of Banks of Armenia welcomed the minister's approach, promising high profitability to diaspora Armenians against their investments in "reliable Armenian banks".

Last December, the U.S.-based Armenian diaspora in Los Angeles, one of the major sources of financing for Armenia, protested the charity dinner of the All-Armenia Fund Hayastan - organized to collect donations for the post-Soviet country suffering from high poverty and an ill economy. They said the Armenian government should bring all oligarchs and government officials to tax rules, instead of organizing such fundraiser.

Following their American colleagues boycott of the charity campaign, another diaspora group, the Armenian Renaissance movement's Prague office said the Armenian Diaspora was distrustful of the current Armenian government.

It stated that the diaspora did not recognize Armenia's leadership as it ruined the country.

Economist Vilen Khachatryan, believes that Yerevan first needs to raise people's trust, before it can envision to attract a fair amount of investments from abroad, including from diaspora Armenians.