Moscow accuses Armenia of targeting Russian businesses

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has accused Armenia of pursuing a course aimed at severing ties with Moscow and described the treatment of Russian-invested businesses in the country as a “raider takeover.”

Speaking at a meeting of the presidium of the Security Council’s Scientific and Expert Council, Shoigu said Russia would not finance Armenia’s integration with the European Union and warned that Yerevan’s moves in that direction would have “objective consequences.” His remarks were reported by Russian state media.

Shoigu said Armenia was seeking to expand cooperation with NATO while taking what he described as an “openly consumerist” approach to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

“Russia is neither ready nor willing to finance Armenia’s European integration, and every step in this direction has objective consequences,” Shoigu said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for Yerevan to determine its strategic course.

He also accused Armenian authorities of taking control of enterprises in which Russia had invested billions of dollars.

“An unfriendly policy and blatant double standards are evident in the treatment of Russian businesses operating in Armenia. What is happening with enterprises and entire industries in which Russia has invested billions is difficult to describe as anything other than a ‘raider takeover,’” Shoigu said.

The official claimed that Russia had helped Armenia avoid economic and energy collapse in the 1990s and said the Armenian economy had nearly tripled during its decade of EAEU membership.

He further criticized Yerevan’s arguments concerning Russian management of Armenia’s railway network, saying claims that continued Russian operation would limit Armenia’s integration into international railway networks were “absurd.”

By Vafa Guliyeva