Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharyan, described discussions surrounding the reported $9 billion nuclear deal as exaggerated.
“This was a storm in a teacup,” he said on air on 5th Channel.
According to him, the information presented to the public does not correspond to reality.
“It is merely a bilateral statement about concluding negotiations on joining a peaceful nuclear energy agreement. It is an additional agreement we are becoming a party to, but that does not mean there is any investment or promise that a nuclear power plant will be built in Armenia. The United States is simply promoting its technology, and it is normal for a leader to try to advance their country’s technologies in other markets,” Kocharyan said, as reported by Panorama.am .
Kocharyan added that the United States has no experience in building such a nuclear power plant in another country, noting that only Russia is currently constructing five or six such plants abroad. Moreover, he said, the last nuclear power plant built in the United States proved very costly for the country. If a $9 billion investment were to materialize, he argued, it would amount to debt borne by Armenian citizens and would also affect electricity tariffs.
“This is business, not charity. If you can build a nuclear plant of the same quality five times cheaper, you place five times less burden on citizens. The minister says nuclear electricity will allow adjustment of day and night regimes. If you think a nuclear plant can be used to regulate day and night regimes, you will blow up that nuclear plant,” he said.
