Why Increase in Price of Cheese When What Armenians are Really Eating is Salt?

The increase in the price of cheese in Armenia is not due to the increase in the price of milk, said Armenia’s former prime minister, economist Hrant Bagratyan at a press conference today in Yerevan.

On the plains of Ararat (on Armenia’s side), according to the economist, the price of milk has gone up by 10 drams and is now 110 drams a liter (about $0.31), but in the northern part of the country, the price hasn’t changed: it remains at 95 drams (about $0.26). 

“Our analysis of the global market didn’t find [any] drastic changes to the price of milk; however, in Armenia the price of cheese has gone up by 45–60%,” he said. 

Bagratyan stressed that the the cheese products manufactured in Armenia are of a very poor quality:

“There is an exorbitant amount of salt and water added to our cheese — more than 30%. That’s why people suffer from [ailments as a result of] salt accumulation. Basically, we’re eating salt. Unlike, for example, parmesan, which requires up to 30 liters of milk for one kilogram, Armenian cheese requires 7 liters of milk. That means that in the case of a 20 dram increase in [the price of] milk, [the price of] cheese will increase by 140 drams [about $0.38].”

Citing sugar and oil as examples, Armenia’s former prime minister explained the developments in the milk market by the sector being turned into a monopoly and with the government’s desire to concentrate it in one man’s hands.