Who Should I Gift My Flowers To? Former Minister Expresses Concerns

Ashot Hakobyan, who specializes in flower cultivation, is facing a serious issue. Yesterday, he had to dump a truckload of flowers that were intended for export. Today, he plans to do the same again. Hakobyan shared a photo on his Facebook page, addressing the Armenian government and pleading, "Who should I gift my flowers to? They’ve been dumped without the Lars crossing."

It is noteworthy that Ashot Hakobyan served as Armenia's former Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies, having been appointed to this position in 2018. ArmLur.am reached out to Hakobyan to inquire about the reasons for his inability to export the flowers.

"The roads are closed. There are agreements regarding the export of fruits and vegetables, but flowers have been excluded from these arrangements. The issue with flower exports remains unresolved. I don't know, perhaps it's due to the incomplete agreements with the Georgian side. There is an arrangement to send 60-70 trucks of fruits and vegetables from Armenia per day; if they are allowed to enter Georgia unhindered, then they must go through the Upper Lars checkpoint. But flowers have been left out," remarked Hakobyan.

The media outlet's interlocutor also mentioned that he has not formally applied to any governmental agency but has reached out to acquaintances through his internal connections, receiving no response.

"I have incurred damages of $200,000, and I will incur the same amount in losses until August. In the case of flowers, there is a degree of openness in the bud; you need to harvest and market them. We harvest, store them, and after 3 days, on the 4th or 5th day, you already know that they are no longer suitable for export, while 90% of our production is exported. We are forced to pay the sorters and workers for packaging again; we have to call trucks, transport them, dump them so that there is space in the refrigerator to be able to harvest again," Ashot Hakobyan explained.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Economy has not responded to the entrepreneur's alert.