Iran is one of the principal neighbors of Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan stated in an interview with the Ukraine-based “Profil” magazine.

“It has turned out that we are communicating with the outer world through Georgia and Iran alone. In early 1990s, when the situation was trained in Georgia, goods would have risen in price four- or even five-fold in Armenia but for the Iranian road. Also, Iran is a country rich in energy carriers. Armenia has no energy carriers, and we are closely – and with pleasure – cooperating in this field,” the Armenian leader said.

The Armenian President said Iran demonstrates a most balanced approach to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. “You know, within the Organization of the Islamic Conference Azerbaijanis trying to present the conflict as a religious one. It is very easy to disprove, because Armenia has excellent relations with Iran. There are many other reasons for our cooperation with Teheran. It is mainly developing in the economic and humanitarian fields now,” the Armenian leader said.

The question is how Armenia, with its borders blocked, is coping with the crisis and what needs to be done for the economy to work efficiently. “Due to the consequences of the global crisis and panic, our economy received a heavy blow. We lost 14% of our GDP. But even under the circumstances we did not go back on any of the social programs or delay pensions, social allowances, wages. May be this factor, as well as the fact that market economy and a more or less favorable investment climate was formed in Armenia long ago, a stable banking system and Armenians’ enterprise help make up for last year’s losses,” the Armenian leader said.

“Not everything runs smoothly. With 12% industrial growth, we have a 25% decline in agriculture. We lost the apricots and other fruits, but we registered a nearly 7% growth in the first half of last year. I think we will end this year with good results, though we can hardly make up for last year’s losses one hundred percent,” the Armenian leader said.

No cent of the credits received from international institutions has been spent on wages or social allowances. “All the funds were channeled to the economy and stabilization fund. At present, our national debt is less than 50% of GDP. If we judge by the borrowed credits, it is about 40%. Under the signed agreements, it is 47-48 per cent. They are normal figures. I can name about 20 countries whose national debt exceeds 100% of GDP,” the Armenian President said.