“I’ve sold the house and will probably move to Russia” Mkrtich Mkrtchyan, a resident of the village of Nor Armavir, in Armavir Marz, is one of the forty local families that now face a host of credit problems with the banks. Many of the cases have been sent to the courts for resolution. Mr. Mkrtchyan took out a five year $14,000 loan with ACBA Credit-Agricole Bank. He took out the loan for agricultural purposes but nothing has changed for the better. Rather things have gotten much worse for him. 2009 was a pretty poor year for residents on Nor Armavir in terms of agriculture. Hail damaged 90% of their crops and the villagers, not having any other means of income, couldn’t make their loan payments. The lending banks have taken them to court. Court bailiffs visit the village daily Local residents say that court bailiffs visit the village almost daily, demanding that they make the required payments. Today, many residents have been forced to sell the homes and land to get the money to pay before they are taken to court. However, since almost 90% of village residents are in the same boat, there are no buyers for either their lands or homes. Yeghishe Martoyan, Director of the Nor Armavir Municipality Office, confirmed that residents were in a no-win situation. “We went to the banks and requested more time to pay off the loans but they didn’t comply. Rather than assist us, the banks took us to court and demanded that we pay off the five year loans all at once,” said Mr. Mkrtchyan. When he took out his loan he put up his friend’s farm equipment as collateral. The court has already decided that he must pay off the entire loan amount and an additional $2,000 for fines and penalties. Bailiffs have shown up on several occasions to take possession of the property. Mr. Mkrtchyan has since sold his house so that court bailiffs don’t take possession of his friend’s farm equipment. He doesn’t want to return the kindness shown by his friend by having his assets seized. Mr. Mkrtchyan sold his house in December for what he says was a pretty cheap price, around $15,000. Just enough to pay off his debts. The rest of the family has moved to Russia “My two boys and their wives, plus the grandkids, has since moved to Russia. It’s just me and the wife left here. We’ll either go too or do something to get out from under this mess. The houses have already been sold. We’ll also move elsewhere, probably Russia,” said Mr. Mkrtchyan. He reached an agreement with the buyer of his house to allow him to stay there till the fall, with the possibility of getting it back. If he can get the money to buy back the house, the new owner will sell it to him. When we asked if he held out any real hope of getting the house back, Mr. Mkrtchyan replied, “What hope do I have in these conditions? The easiest thing one can do in this country is to pass over into the next life. Whatever hope do we have?” He pointed to the field nearby that no longer belongs to him. Even though Mkrtich realizes that the fruit trees he planted and nurtures are no longer his, he can’t pull himself away from the land. Every day, he goes and works in the field. When we visited his house, Mkrtich, true to form, was out working in the field. Mr. Mkrtchyan told us that for twelve years he had served as the president of the ACBA Credit Agricole’s Nor Armavir branch and that he took out a loan every year and always paid his debts on schedule. Mkrtich worked for ACBA Bank for 12 years What especially hurts Mkrtich is that after all this, neither the government nor ACBA Bank, in particular, never stood by him and his family to help him over these rough times. “You’re better off going borrowing money from a person, anyone, rather than from ACBA. At least you can deal with a person on human terms. You can’t with a bank. If you’re a bit late with the interest payment the guy would say, all right, pay me later. As a citizen of Armenia, I never felt the need for state assistance before. I’m a second degree physically disabled person, but I turned down the 11,000 AMD monthly pension I could have received. The paperwork and hassle were too much. Government money has never passed through our door; not even state aid,” Mr. Mkrtchyan explained. He blames the government for not providing for those in need and for allowing families in dire straits to break up and leave the country. “Just look at how other governments have helped their citizens. Take Russia for example. They have to give the people enough time to pay. I’m not at all suggesting that our debts be wiped clean. Just give us time to pay back what we owe. At the very least, the government must stand besides its citizens regarding such issues. If people have problems with the banks, the government should intervene and not allow its citizens to be forced to wander from country to country, for families to be split up,” Mr. Mkrtchyan added. Even we Armenians can only put up with so much He also noted that a given citizen of a country should be proud and happy to live on their native soil and to be willing to give one’s life for the nation. “But when they allow people to fall into such despair, all those nice sentiments go out the window. We are Armenian and we take much in stride. But there are limits to what we can put up with. What will happen in the end? We want nothing from the government, just to let us work and create in order to eat and live.” He said that in the villages loans were also given on a guarantor basis, when residents personally vouch for the credit worthiness of friends and neighbors. This approach, he said, could lead to even worse consequences for local residents living side by side in relative harmony for years. “People become enemies over 200,000 or 300,000 AMD. If the person who took the loan can’t pay then the guarantor must make amends. It can get rather nasty. They are both hauled off to court and whatever assets they have, the whole kit and caboodle, are seized. Are we expected to sell off everything? Where do we go from here?” concluded Mr. Mkrtchyan. He too looked perplexed and a bit despondent regarding the answer. P.S. After the article was written, I was informed that Mkrtich Mkrtchyan died from a heart attack.