The knitwear factory owned by the company Tosp did not close even during the years of the energy crisis - when there was no electricity during the day.  In the years between 1992 and 1996 the seamstresses would start work at night and end in the morning. 

"It was difficult, of course, but at least we had work.  We didn't have to go looking for a job.  Our director fought to keep the plant alive and succeeded," said Asya Hakobyan, who has been sewing for 42 years using the same Singer sewing machine.

A majority of the seamstresses here had been working for 30, 40, or even 50 years - living an entire life sewing on the same machine. It is difficult to imagine something like that today - it seems more like a Soviet phenomenon.  Interestingly, the seamstresses continued to use Soviet technical jargon, when they showed their knitted shirts, like overlock, beika, raspashonka (a folded stitch), singer (a straight stitch) and so on.  The walls bear phrases like "Keep the corridor clear", "Brigade Leaders" and "Express Information for the Workers".  As a contrast, the billboard advertising the Javakhk supermarket could be seen through one of the windows of the plant.

There used to a small tailor’s shop in the place of this knitting plant.  After World War II, a knitwear factory was set up, in 1947.  The plant contains units for all the stages of processing the textile has to go through - knitting, washing, dyeing, and stitching.  The knitting unit has been closed for the past two years, since it did not make much business sense.  But everything that can be imagined, described and ordered is sewn here - children's wear, shirts, pajamas, underwear, uniforms, towels and so on.

Since Soviet times, the walls of the plant, machinery and hard-working people have all been preserved, but the working conditions have changed.

"The difficult period started in 1992 and is still going on," said Tosp director Suren Bekirski. "And the worst part is that I cannot predict even now what will happen next."  There are, however, some statistics in this regard.  In 1992, there were around 40 knitwear units operating in Armenia.  Today, there are less than 10.  The rest shut down, because in order to make a profit in this business one has to produce a lot - but where would it all be sold?

As the director noted, "It is easier to produce than to sell.  All right, suppose we bought cloth and sewed something to wear.  What should we do next? We need exports like we need oxygen.  Armenia is very small and we cannot sell enough domestically to make a profit based on volume," said the businessman.

Exports are complicated by the increasing appreciation of the dram.  The dollar was worth 367 drams at the start of the year, and has dropped to 306 drams by the year's end. In such conditions, exporting in order to make a profit does not make sense.

Tosp is now working with an Italian partner who is leasing the company's manpower and then exporting the products to Italy.  Their partnership with the Italians started when 1 Euro was worth 700 drams; it is now worth 450 drams.  "I can't hire laborers with the Euros they pay us.  I am forced to raise prices.  The last time we tried to raise the price by 5-6 percent we had to negotiate for two months.  The Italians see that I cannot guarantee stability in these conditions.  They are now openly looking for a new partner in Georgia," said Bekirski.

Due to the appreciation of the dram, the company lost 12 million drams in 6 months in its partnership with the Italians alone.

Production volume at the plant fell by 30 percent in this period, while the company's profitability declined by 5-6 percent.  This is a serious problem, because the interest on business loans is 13-14 percent.  The salary of workers at the plant has not changed since 2003 - 35,000-40,000 drams per month on average.  Of the 400 seamstresses, 200 work for the Italians.

The products manufactured by Tosp are exported to the United States, Canada, Russia and Italy.  However, the products sent to Italy do not mention their Armenian origin.  That means that the European market will remain open to Tosp only for as long as the partnership with the Italians lasts.  The company is also working with an American-Armenian in the USA.  The company is trying to introduce a wider variety of products in order to offset the price rise of Armenian-made clothing in those countries.  Cloth is imported from Central Asia, Turkey, Iran and China.

During its best years, only 15-20 percent of the company's products were consumed in the domestic market.  Thus, the survival of this knitwear factory and others depends only on exports.

"They want to look like the leaders of smart countries and speak of information technology and tourism, forgetting that there are 30-55 year old women living in urban regions of Armenia who cannot write programs or work in the tourism sector, but who can sew.  It is easy to create lots of jobs in light industries, but I cannot see or feel that this is a priority on the part of the government.  In 2004, I was forced to fire 140 people. But nobody came and asked me, 'Why did those people lose their jobs?'" said the businessman.