LILIT PIPOYAN

In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the transformation to a free market can practically be measured in days. Thirteen years after the end of the Soviet Union, high-end boutiques, fancy foreign restaurants and Internet cafes are among the more obvious signs of change. But these novelties are superficial. Just as the Soviet era failed to homogenize Yerevan — which, at 2,700 years, is one of the oldest cities on earth — the forces of the free market will have a tough time remaking it.