Armenia, Artsakh to Remain ‘Single Territory’ in Customs Union

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Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian speaks to reporters. May 16, 2014. (Photo: Photolur)

\nYEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Armenia will continue to form a “single economic territory” with Nagorno-Karabakh even after joining the Russian-led Customs Union, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian insisted late on Thursday.\n

“We will remain a single territory, and I believe there can be no other formulations on this issue,” he told journalists before attending a meeting of the leadership President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).

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HHK spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov also made this clear after the late-night meeting. “No customs posts can be set up between the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” he said.

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“I reaffirm our government’s position that Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are part of a single economic territory,” added Sharmazanov.

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The ruling party officials were commenting on this week’s statement by a Russian official saying that Karabakh will not be part of the Customs Union or its free-trade regime. This presumably means that Armenia will have to open border checkpoints and start collecting import duties from products made in Karabakh.

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Sharmazanov said that while Yerevan has never demanded that Karabakh join the Russian-led bloc along with Armenia it will not apply the Customs Union’s uniform duties to imports from Karabakh.

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