RIJKOVAMANIA

The unveiling of Nikolay Rijkov's bas-relief will take place in one of the gardens of Nor Nork district on 19 of May. This is Rijkov's third monument in Armenia. His bronze bust was placed in Spitak. And the granite memorial board was placed in Giumry in 2002. He, the cochairman of Armenian-Russian inter-Parliamentary commission of collaboration, the RF member of federal council Nikolay Rijkov said in the press interview yesterday: "First of all I'm still alive so it mustn't put a monument for me. A bust is put in Spitak in 1998. I was told that it is going to be replaced in the center of the city." But he also mentioned that he was grateful to that.

THE OFFICIALS DIDN'T COUNT WELL

Suddenly it was found out after the finished 9th progress session of Armenian-Russian inter-Parliamentary commission of collaboration that Russian businessmen seriously worried about liberation of the Armenian economy and its monopolization, consequently they don't dare investing in those establishments which Armenia has given to Russia instead of its debts. It seems nobody won from that deal. That's true Armenia paid its debts but the promises of the authorities that the investments will flow like river after that bargain was too optimistic. As regards the Russian side then its looses aren't less essential. Russian state officials and not businessmen took the Armenian establishments instead of debts. If the latter don't give investments and orders those establishments which have become the property of Russia will stay out of work.
If you remember some politicians complained against giving our establishments to Russia instead of debts. Though the arguments were other as if why give to the Russians those fine establishments for which they can find the same fine investors from the West and to work for the prosperity of Armenia. At any case this was a political demagogy as it was clear for everybody in Armenia that conversations about the economic good climate were only for the ears of naive Western businessmen. But there aren't naive businessmen among the serious businessmen of all nationalities. From the beginning a serious businessman will check how the economic field of Armenia is good for investments. Here the Russian businessmen have checked. Especially when they didn't have serious difficulties for it as the whole Russia is full of the citizens of Armenia who have run away from their own "free economic territory" for beginning their business in the foreign land.
At any case a thing is still obvious: this intergovernmental bargain wasn't succeeded. It was useful neither for Armenia nor for Russia whose officials in contrast with the Russian businessmen haven't checked if it is worth to hang a new stone on the neck of their own state. How it is paradoxically just the officials are less interested in the profits of their own state during the bargains like that. As they don't pay money from their own pockets.