YEREVAN. – Stepan Mnatsakanyan, President of National Statistical Service (NSS) of Armenia, was unable to comment exactly on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement—which he made on Wednesday in Moscow after his talk with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan—that after joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a 10-percent growth in the GDP was recorded in Armenia

When asked by reporters where Putin had gotten that number from, Mnatsakanyan responded, in particular: “I assume that is the GDP indicator growth rate for the years 2014 and 2015. I also assume that someone has made some calculations of the first quarter [of 2016].”

Armenia officially joined the EAEU—which also comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan—on January 2, 2015. According to the NSS, however, solely a 3-percent GDP growth was recorded in the country.