A year and a half ago, Ms Armine Panosean-Ghazarean decided to leave Lebanon and settled down in Armenia with the help of the Repat Armenia foundation.

At a meeting with reporters on Thursday, she told reporters that her husband, Hayk Nazaryan, joined her two months ago. They opened an English-language center ‘A+ Limbibe Skills’ in Yerevan.

“I have taken part in a forum organized by the foundation. We are not permanent residents here and I have found a job as an English language teacher. But I’ve establish my own language center and I am progressing,” she said.

Canada-born Shant Tchakmak, management team member, Homeland Development Initiative Foundation, decided to settle down in Armenia after he came to Armenia as a volunteer last summer.

“I had no intention to settle down here. I had not come to Armenia for eight years and I was an active member of the Armenian community and had different information on Armenia at my disposal, but the reality was different. I came and decided to settle down here. I am working for an organization
dealing with marketing and export of products made by women.”
Tchakmak attended the news conference with his company’s products: teddy bears, jugs and cups and letters of the Armenian alphabet cut by Syrian-Armenians.
“We have for now hired 200 women who manufacture goods for us. Our customers are mostly from abroad, so we sell our products across the globe, especially in the diaspora,” he added.
Tadevosyan, who resided in Moscow for 10 years, said he decided to return to homeland to launch a dried fruit procession industry.
“We organize the manufacturing in the village Bambakashat (Armavir region); our high-quality dried fruit is for the Russian market,” he said.
The repatriated businessman said he is skeptical to all kinds of rumors over poor legislation in Armenia.

 

“I have been exporting [goods] since 2012, and had ever since no problem at all with the tax or customs authorities. We have invited specialists and done everything within the law over the period. We had problems in other areas where we did not have specialists and had to develop the technologies on our own,” he said.

Vardan Marashlyan, the Repat Armenia foundation’s executive director also attending the news conference, said the Diaspora Armenians who pursue different methods of work, do not normally encounter problems in business.

“The problem has to do with the domestic market; we have monopolies and competition-related problems. But the market is problematic too; the repatriated [Armenians] do have advantages. There are areas in which it is impossible to work, so the repatriates who are from foreign countries can create opportunities by working faultlessly to rule out problems in export,” he added.