“Closed borders are absurd in modern world, which is an impediment to natural economic processes. The states applying this regime first of all cause damage to their own economies. Both they in Turkey and we in Armenia are well aware of this,” RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan stated at a meeting with a number of TV channels.

“We are interested in the reopening of borders today because improving our political relations with Turkey will contribute to a fair settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, not the opposite, which is claimed by our opponents,” the Premier said.

After the border has been reopened, Armenia will start direct trade with Turkey, not through Georgia, which will reduce transaction costs by 15%. “This means new opportunities for our businessmen as the industries that cannot develop when borders are closed will start operating at a profit. Rail communication with the Mediterranean region will bring about a radical change in the economic structure,” the Armenian Premier said. Of course, it is a step-by-step process, Sargsyan said.

Asked about the impact of the economic crisis, he said: “The crisis has once more showed the defects of our economy – first of all a low diversification level, which makes Armenia especially vulnerable. The reopening of borders will be a serious occasion for the country to diversify its economy. The second problem is monopolies, and open borders will facilitate the elimination of this drawback. Besides subjective factors, we have drawbacks in tax and customs administration, which facilitates the formation of monopolies. As to objective reasons, it is the only transit way for importing and exporting, which is most expensive,” Sargsyan said.