October 27, 2001 - 20:49 AMT
REFUSAL OF "HOLSIM" SWISS COMPANY OF ACQUISITION OF "ARARATCEMENT" MAYBE DUE TO PRESSURE FROM OUTSIDE
President of Armenia Robert Kocharian supposed refusal of "Holsim" Swiss company of acquisition of "Araratcement" enterprise could be caused by someone's interference. "We will have to find out who put pressure on the investor, as this deal was a very profitable deal," - the President said. As reported by "Arminfo" agency, the press exaggerates the opinion that the pressure was put on the investor by the close circles of the present manager of "Araratcement" plant Aram Sargsian, who is one of the leaders of "Republic" opposition party. It is known that Sargsian was against that deal and counted on the opportunity to privatize the plant by its staff. Sargsian himself called the version not serious as it was not possible to put pressure on a company, the annual turnover of which makes six billion dollars. The manager considers the actions of the company are first of all due to introduction of Euro in Europe beginning with January 1, 2000. In his opinion, Switzerland intends to retain financial resources inside the country to increase the exchange value of the dollar with respect to that of the franc.