YEREVAN. - In 2017, the Finance Ministry of Armenia expects nearly 4-5 percent growth of transfers from Russia.

Finance Minister of Armenia Vardan Aramyan said the aforementioned at a final press-conference Friday.

In his words, 2016 was a year of stabilization in the Russian economy, no strong shocks having been observed. This inspires hope for 2017. But if the oil price rises more than expected, both the export income of Russia and its activity in the non-export sectors will grow (construction in services, where many season migrants are involved). ''Thus, we expect growth, although not a large one,'' Aramyan said.

In January-October 2016, the flow of private transfers from Russia to Armenia (expressed in dollars) dropped from $626,6 to 447,2 million, which is nearly 29 percent.

Nevertheless, recovery of Russian economy is expected in 2017. IMF and Moody's expect 1.1 and 1.5 percent GDP growth in Russia respectively. There are chances for growth also in dollar expression, since during 2016 Russian ruble gained ground against dollar.