In early spring Turkish greenhouse vegetables appear on the Armenian market, including tomatoes, these successfully compete with local products, which in spite of the lack of transportation costs, are more expensive than Turkish goods. The situation causes dissatisfaction among local producers, who were forced to reduce prices, and are thus demanding a ban on the import of Turkish goods to Armenia.
According to Safaryan, a ban on the imports of Turkish vegetables could undermine competition allowing Armenian producers to raise prices, of tomatoes in particular. He noted that the imports of these products plays a stabilising role on prices.
''Until competition inside the country is not so high as to prevent artificial price hikes, it will be not possible to speak about any ban on such products,'' he said.
According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the volume of agricultural production amounted to 1,002 billion drams, having increased by 11.7% in 2015.
