Armenia’s Economics (1991-2014) And Future Perspectives After Independence

The economic policy of the Soviet Union was managed from a single center that implemented an economic system aimed at achieving economic growth, employment, and development. While on the one hand this central authority attempted to impose particular areas of specialization, it also required some of its constituents to depend on other countries that produced products that were themselves determined by the central economic authority. United to the other Soviet States under this system, Armenia, most of whose resources were in the hands of Moscow, was one of the members of the Soviet Union most affected by the economic dependency that was implemented. The Glasnost and Perestroika policies the Soviet Union adopted in the late 1980’s not only brought to an end the socialist power that had endured for seventy-two years after being established in the 1917 October Revolution; they also destroyed both the Soviet Union, one of the two main actors of the nearly forty-year “Cold War,” and ''The Eastern Bloc'', which had been pioneered by the Soviet Union. As a result, including countries of this block began to declare their independence. Armenia which is one of three countries along with Georgia and Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus Region, declared its independence in 1991 by getting involved in this process. Since independence, Armenia has seen the administration of a permanent war economy, as well as isolation from the international community, due to the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. These factors, in addition to corruption and structural problems in the country, have hampered the stable and sustained entry of foreign investment. These developments have also adversely affected the international trade upon which the economy depends. In the present study, an overview and assessment of the Armenian economy will be presented, along with a proposal for the economic future of the country. The authors cite comments on the subject by the Central Bank of Armenia and the official National Statistical Service, as well as by independent international economic institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF; The authors base their study on data from economic organizations that rely on the results of scientific research.