Robert Kocharyan's Office Responds to Ruben Rubinyan

During the presidency of the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, the difference between the military budgets of Armenia and Azerbaijan was about three times, not five. This was stated by Bagrat Mikoyan, the head of Kocharyan's office, in response to the remarks made by Ruben Rubinyan, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia.

Rubinyan had today accused Kocharyan of maintaining a military budget balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan with a ratio of 1 to 5 during his tenure. He claimed that the increase was not in Armenia's military budget, but rather in the personal budgets of Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan.

“Of course, they are lying,” said Mikoyan, noting that the data can also be found in open sources, such as the Military Balance publication. He added that during Kocharyan’s presidency, Armenia was acquiring weaponry from its allies either under very preferential terms or as gifts.

According to Mikoyan, this allowed Armenia to maintain military balance with Azerbaijan, the most vivid expression of which was a decade of complete and dignified peace. “It is a fact that Azerbaijan is about three times larger than Armenia in both territory and population, and this fact may be a revelation for anyone who has worked in a high state position for the first time at the age of thirty,” he stated.

“For instance, during their time, in 2020, the difference between the military budgets was already 3.5 times. They were wasting their budget on aircraft that were bought for hundreds of millions of dollars and used only for selfies, and on rusty and pointless air defense systems purchased for tens of millions of dollars,” Mikoyan noted.

In rebuttal to Rubinyan, Mikoyan also posed several questions to the government: 1. If Azerbaijan was stronger than us during the years 1998-2008, why did they not start a war at that time, considering that President Kocharyan’s years were absolutely peaceful? Under the following government, from 2018-2025, when they claim to have been strong, Azerbaijan defeated us multiple times. 2. If during one government (1998-2008) the number of impoverished people was reduced by more than two times, while the extreme poor reduced by more than four times, yet under another government (2018-2025) the number of the poor has not decreased, then which of these governments is involved in filling their personal family budgets? 3. Which administration actually gifted Azerbaijan ammunition and military equipment that was double the size of Azerbaijan's military budget, most of which was acquired during 1998-2008 at the expense of our state and people?

It should be noted that Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan had previously stated during a briefing with reporters that the imbalance of forces is the main reason for the war.