Kazakh Citizens Return Cars and Demand Money: Armenian Automotive Market in Disarray

«Hraparak» newspaper reports that alarming news has been coming from Kazakhstan since last month regarding individuals and organizations engaged in the import of vehicles. Kazakh citizens were the primary buyers of vehicles imported from the United States to Armenia in 2019.

According to the Kazakh Ministry of Internal Affairs, around 95,000 vehicles were imported into their country last year, with the vast majority coming from Armenia. Currently, Kazakhstan asserts that existing and upcoming thousands of transactions need to be conducted under different conditions. In short, this means that Kazakhs will no longer purchase the enormous number of vehicles accumulated in Armenia, and it is also possible that some of the already purchased vehicles will be returned to Armenia.

One of our sources involved in car importation mentioned that some have begun to bring their cars back to Armenia and are attempting to demand money from the Armenian citizens to whom they sold the vehicles. The automotive market is in a disastrous state; as the time to pay property tax arrives, people are forced to sell their imported vehicles at ridiculously low prices to pay off loans and debts.

Sources of the newspaper assert that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan bears part of the blame for the situation, as he is not perceived as a reliable person by the leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union. His requests are dealt with superficially, and the letter of the law is often disregarded, as Pashinyan himself tends to do.

The issue is certainly profound, and real politics is not about drafting status reports. Genuine political engagement requires closed discussions with other leaders, which Pashinyan is unable to conduct, and as a result, thousands of Armenians are suffering due to his behavior. Of course, as often happens, according to the letter of the law, Nikol bears no guilt.

For more details, refer to the newspaper's latest issue.