Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor, author of the book "Rebellious Karabakh" Viktor Krivopuskov, who headed the Russian organization Rossotrudnichestvo for relations with Armenia, is now among the undesirable persons for the current Armenian authorities.
In 2023, he, like many other Russian figures, was banned from entering Armenia.
Nevertheless, Krivopuskov continues to maintain contacts with Armenian public figures and closely follows the events in the country, the newspaper reports Hraparak.am and asks the expert a few questions.— How do you assess what is happening? The man was actually arrested for one sentence in which he expressed his opinion.
— I am surprised that you are surprised. Samvel Karapetyan is far from the first person Pashinyan detains or arrests. But, you must admit, he doesn't really punish anyone. Do you know someone who actually served time by his decision? We say: "he will wash, he will take away the money, they will pay off — and he will let them go." Now it's Karapetyan's turn.
I don't know if he supported Is Pashinyan financially on his way to power? I think so. According to my feelings, not a single major Russian businessman then refused to support — directly or through Anna (Anna Hakobyan is Pashinyan's roommate).
— But it seems that Karapetyan has been seriously pressured — they want to take away the "Power Grid" from him.
— Yes, they take away the "Nets", but then they will let them go. Pashinyan does it skillfully, but the most important thing is that your public is not particularly tense.
— No, he's straining. We don't like all this. The society is holding protest actions, people have come to Karapetyan's house, to the courthouse.
— So what? This has already happened, and not only went to the houses, and further. How Moses led the Jews for 40 years in the desert, you also had 40 days of action, you remember, right? And then what? Do you know what it's like? It's like a punctured wheel, pumped up — and drove on. I wanted to ask, are there rallies and protests now too?
— People express dissatisfaction, constantly talk about it, discuss it, organize processions — in defense of the Church, the Catholicos. But we do not think that Pashinyan is demanding a payoff. It is more widely believed that he just wants to "put in place" those who disagree with his decisions.
— In any case, this is a good reason to press the well-known oligarch a little, to aggravate the situation, to let off steam once again. Now, if the outrage would be large-scale and strong… Of course, this will outrage people for some time, but in my opinion, we should not expect significant changes. For example, if they had heard earlier that Pashinyan was meeting with Erdogan, what a storm of indignation would have been! And now no one is even surprised.
— Armenians are depressed now. Recently, so many different and incredible events have happened that people have even lost the ability to be surprised and protest somewhere.
— And the opposition, as they say, "everyone wants to hammer their own pile." There is no unity, there is no cohesion. There is a pun, and it's sad. To put it mildly, I don't recognize our Armenian brothers, who, if you listen, want changes, but do nothing for it. Now there is a choice between The EU and the EAEU. And it is obvious where Armenia is going, but again they will blame Russia — they say, they didn't say, they didn't do it. But there are things you have to do yourself.
— Let's talk about the fate of the "Electric Networks of Armenia", which, it seems, want to nationalize, actually removing from the influence of Russia. You have lived here for a long time, you have been following economic processes, in particular, economic cooperation with the Russian Federation. How do you see the further development of events? Will the state be able to manage the "Networks"?
— The "networks" are not so colossal that government agencies could not cope with them. A little bit, as they say, "they will throw and throw", they will give it to some oligarch, a new model, who will buy it out and privatize it. This is a well-known mechanism. Electricity will be coming in, and nothing new. Who owns the nuclear power plant?
— Managed by a Russian company.
— Yes, but the state-owned company is doing this. Another thing is that you have distribution networks that may be in private hands. If they take it away from one, they will sell it at auction to another. The people will not resist this. Another thing is the rejection of the EAEU. That's when the real nightmare will begin, because everything will collapse: both customs and the sales market.
The EAEU is a system of free movement of resources and people, and this will not happen in Europe. Where will you go? How? Who's waiting for you there? Europe does not need you — in any form. And then there will be a crash. In the meantime, your people are silent, do not give voice, dreaming that they will go to Europe as to their home.
— It is unlikely that this is believed in Armenia. Even if they believe, then ten percent, no more.
— No matter what they say, Pashinyan's caravan is coming.