YEREVAN. – The dependence on the Russian economy may deal a blow to Armenian authorities, ahead of the parliamentary election in 2017.

Founder and Director of the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs, political analyst Stiopa Safaryan, stated the aforesaid at a press conference on Monday.

“We see how the drop in [world] oil prices and exchange rate of the [Russian] ruble impacts Armenia’s economy,” Safaryan said. “And imagine if the same thing happens in the run-up to the elections. This will mean a total public aversion toward the RPA [i.e. the ruling Republican Party of Armenia]. And this means the makeup of the [Armenian] government needs to be reviewed, since the current team of oligarchs never changes the rules of the game.

“Stemming from this, it can be assumed that the [Armenian] authorities may change the unwanted government members, to satisfy the public.”