The economy of the tariff Maidan in Yerevan: poverty and disappointed expectations
Protests in Yerevan are commonplace, and Russia would not have noticed them if not for the events in Ukraine, Armenian experts say. Armenians really have reasons for dissatisfaction. And it’s not just the poverty of the population: people were first told that after joining the Eurasian Union they would live better, but then it turned out that they only became poorer.
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Student Anahit does not work and lives with her mother, whose salary is about 120 thousand drams (less than $300) - this amount is barely enough for both of them. “We hardly use electricity - we’ve been saving for a week now,” says Anait
The issue of electricity supply is traditionally a painful one for Armenians. Those who are older remember well how in the 1990s there was no light at all. Or electricity was provided for a few hours a week.
The issue of electricity again became acute in 2013, when the cost of one kilowatt rose from 30 to 38 drams for the daytime tariff and from 20 to 28 drams for the night tariff. There was another increase in 2014. And from August 1, the third is expected - by about 16,7%. Each time the price increase caused dissatisfaction, but now, as local residents admit, “people’s patience has simply snapped.”
There is no unified heating system in Armenia, so many families use heating devices. As a result, electricity bills turn out to be quite substantial. According to official data for 2013, 32% of the country's population is considered poor - this category includes those families where the average income per adult per month is less than $100. At the same time, 17,6% of citizens are unemployed. In large cities this figure reaches 25-30%. Among young people, about 50% are unemployed.
People fear that they will feel the announced tariff increase most strongly in winter. Taking into account the new tariffs, in the cold season, Armenians will have to pay about $60 a month - by local standards this is a lot of money, especially for low-income families.
At the same time, according to interlocutors "Kommersant", the poor population in Armenia is “politically passive.” The protests in Yerevan were not attended by the most disadvantaged, but mainly by representatives of the middle class. “This is a new generation that wants to be heard,” says Grant Mikaelyan, political scientist and researcher at the Caucasus Institute.
“If it weren’t for the events in Ukraine, no one would have paid attention to what is happening now in Armenia,” Grant Mikaelyan is convinced. “Protests in our country are not a new phenomenon; they happen often. And, of course, this is not Maidan. People are dissatisfied with the authorities, especially after the 2008 crisis: then the economy began to decline, but the population’s expectations remained at the same, high level.”
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