'Armenia lost 2 million 300 thousand people during independence years’

“2 million 300 thousand people are our greatest loss during the years of independence. 5 million would live in Armenia today, but only 2 million 700 thousand currently live here,” sociologist Aharon Adibekian told reporters today.

In his words, most of the Armenian economy was based on ‘sovietization’, but “after gaining independence, we lost it”. “Besides, our population has halved. If 5 million people lived here, we would have a serious market and a large workforce,” Adibekian noted.

According to him, independence is not the most important thing for the country. “It is important that people have jobs and live a life of dignity in their country,” the sociologist said.

“While gaining independence, we lost our powerful economy, and in that case at least we should have maintained close cooperation with Russia. So I believe that the decision on entry into the Customs Union has been the most correct one in the history of independent Armenia,” Adibekian said.