211 Million USD Transferred from Azerbaijan to Armenia, Lawmaker Details

Earlier this year, information circulated on the internet indicating that in 2018, according to World Bank reports, 211 million USD was transferred from Azerbaijan to Armenia. This was stated by Armen Yeghiazaryan, a member of the 'Enlightened Armenia' faction during a session in the National Assembly.

He noted that it was strange that this news did not attract attention, but he has conducted some research. "I can confirm that the news and the report were indeed available on the official website of the World Bank. According to the World Bank's October 2019 report, 211 million USD was transferred from Azerbaijan to Armenia in 2018. For comparison, I would like to note that according to the 2018 report, in 2017, 7 million USD was transferred from Azerbaijan to Armenia," said the lawmaker.

He informed that he has sent an inquiry to the Central Bank of Armenia, expecting clarifications on the matter. "I quote part of the CB response: The information circulating on the internet regarding money transfers between Armenia and Azerbaijan is based not on actual transfer data but on the assumptions of World Bank experts. According to the comments in the publication by the World Bank, data on migrants is incomplete across different countries, and the calculations are based on available data on the number of migrants and their incomes. Thus, according to World Bank data, there are 87,000 migrants from Azerbaijan in Armenia, while 146,000 migrants from Armenia are in Azerbaijan," stated the MP.

He also noted that the Central Bank of Armenia's clarification is unacceptable to him. "Because if we rely on their logic, these figures should always be the same, considering that the baseline numbers for the calculations are unchanging; however, in this case, the 17 million from 2017 increased nearly 30 times to 211 million in 2018," said the lawmaker. He also mentioned that he has sent an inquiry to the World Bank on the same logic.

"Let me present part of that clarification. Bilateral money transfers are estimated using data published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs on bilateral migration, which is based on census data and projections. Currently, since February 24, the data on bilateral money transfers between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been removed from the database," he quoted the lawmaker.

In conclusion, he stated that it was never made clear what resulted in such a significant increase in the amount of transfers from Azerbaijan to Armenia in 2018.