Karabakh problems

Azeri political analyst Elkhan Shahinoglu mentioned that the Armenian government plans to increase the country’s foreign debt up to USD 4.4 bln which will be more than 50% of the country’s GDP. In 2013 Armenia has to pay up to USD 500 mln to service foreign loans. As Armenia's state budget is only USD 2.5 mln the country could face serious difficulties in paying back these loans. Shahinoglu thinks that if the Karabakh issue is resolved and it is given wide autonomy inside Azerbaijan, Armenia-Azerbaijan and Armenian-Turkish relations will be calmer and cooperation between these countries plus Georgia could provide economic and political benefits. Shahinoglu mentioned that without the conflict in Armenia-Azerbaijan many big projects like Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum could have been passing through Armenia. All benefits which currently go to Georgia could have gone to Armenia, thinks Shahinglu.