YEREVAN. - April 18 to 20, Yerevan will host the 1st Russian-Armenian interregional forum “Toward new achievement of Russian-Armenian regional cooperation”.

The forum has been organized by the Rossotrudnichestvo organization, “Eurasian research institute” development fund, with the sponsorship of the Russian and Armenian presidential administrations.

The press service of the Rossotrudnichestvo office in Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that the plenary sitting is to be held at the Yerevan sports and concert complex on April 19. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Head of the Russian presidential administration Sergey Naryshkin will take part in the sitting.

The following discussions are on the forum agenda: “Role of regional ties in development of Russian-Armenian trade and economic relations”, “Developing economic infrastructure of regional ties: transport, communication, and telecommunications”, “Joint energy projects as a factor in consolidating bilateral regional ties”, “Consolidating Armenian-Russian regional humanitarian ties”, “Role of regional cooperation in tourism development.”

Intergovernmental and interregional, export-import agreements, as well as interregional contacts on opening new enterprises, will be signed. The most important of the documents is a Memorandum between the South Caucasus Railway and the Armenian Government on construction of a 32-kilometer long Vanadzor-Fioletovo railway section.

On April 18, on the margins of the forum, a Russian-Armenian interregional exhibition of industrial innovations will be held.

Among other events are the handover ceremony of the first Superjet 100 plane to Armavia Airlines, opening ceremonies of the Infrastructure Diagnostics Center of the South Caucasus Railway and of the Memorial to Russian warriors killed in the battle of Oshakan (Aug. 17, 1827). The memorial was renovated on the initiative of the Russian Embassy in Armenia.

The forum will be attended by the co-chairmen of the Russian-Armenian Economic Cooperation Commission, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, and Russian minister of Transport Igor Levitin. Overall, 500 people are expected to take part in the forum.