Armenia posts record increase in jewelry imports: Traces of covert operations?

Armenia's import of large quantities of jewelry products indicates its covert operations, Fikrat Yusifov, Chairman of the Ekonomiks International Public Union for Economic Research, stated at a briefing on the economic analysis of Armenia's suspicious import-export operations, Report informs.

According to Yusifov, after the international sanctions imposed on Russia in connection with the Ukraine war, a sudden "displacement and surge" is being recorded in Armenia's foreign trade turnover:

"Analysis of the information disclosed by the Armenian State Statistical Committee and other official structures reveals that in the past 5 years, Armenia's foreign trade turnover has increased 4.2 times, from $7.101 billion to 30.202 billion.

The volume of a country's imports can primarily be increased to meet domestic demand. But how could Armenia increase its import volume so much? Based on the data from Armenia's official state statistics, it is possible to see that compared to 2021, natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals and related products increased the most in Armenia's imports in 2024," he explained.

The chairman also pointed out that while the volume of imports of these products was only $248.4 million in 2021, this figure exceeded $7.4 billion in 2024: "In other words, the volume of their imports has increased 30 times in 4 years. The fact that a country that suffered a heavy defeat in the 44-day war and whose population has fallen into an even more miserable social situation imports so many jewelry products indicates the conduct of covert operations."