Although the Armenia-EU economic agenda is regularly supplemented with new statements, in practice the influx of European investment into Armenia still remains low. Projects that are widely covered at the state level are often limited to meetings and photos, without delivering any real economic result.

In this context, the Czech initiative related to Stepanavan Airport is noteworthy: after years of discussions and negotiations, it has remained among the unrealized projects.

In response to a written inquiry from NEWS.am regarding the fate of the project, Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Armen Simonyan said that the Czech side has still not presented any concrete program for establishing small aircraft production in Stepanavan.

“The relevant bodies of the Republic of Armenia gave their approval to the project of the Czech company Balus Tech to establish production of small aircraft in Armenia, specifically in the city of Stepanavan. The Czech side was asked to present a concrete program, which has still not been submitted,” the response to the agency said.

It should be recalled that in 2021–2023 this project was repeatedly discussed at a high level, including during meetings between the prime ministers of Armenia and the Czech Republic and official delegations.

As early as July 2021, Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Armen Simonyan, met with representatives of the Czech company Balus Tech. During the meeting, the company’s director, Vladimir Nemez, presented an initiative concerning the reconstruction of Stepanavan Airport as well as the organization of small aircraft production on that territory.

In October of that same year, a delegation from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure visited the Czech Republic (the city of Olomouc) to discuss the project in more detail. Later, the issue was also discussed in May 2022 during a meeting between Minister Gnel Sanosyan and the Czech ambassador to Armenia, Bedřich Kopecký. And in May 2023, at a joint press conference in Prague with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, then Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated that Balus Tech was considering establishing production in Stepanavan.

In order to obtain information about the current status of the project, NEWS.am sent a written inquiry last month to the Czech Embassy in Armenia as well, to clarify whether the project remains viable or has been definitively removed from the agenda. However, no response has yet been received from the embassy.