Armenia and Russia increased their mutual trade by 1.6 times in 2024. This was announced by Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Volvach during the tenth Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum being held in Yerevan Friday.

Volvach explained that the aforesaid figure is close to $12 billion, and added that it was not even possible to plan this five years ago.

“Through bilateral ties, as well as cooperation within the framework of integration associations (CIS, EAEU), we use global changes as opportunities, and do not view them as challenges. The potential of our regional cooperation is still far from being realized,” the Russian official noted.

Volvach expressed confidence that the Russian delegation will leave the tenth Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum with additional ideas, contacts and, possibly, even contracts that will connect the economies of the two countries, including at the regional level.

The Russian official added that a considerable regulatory framework has been created for regional cooperation, and 21 agreements have been signed between seven provinces of Armenia and 16 regions of Russia.

Volvach said that today an agreement will be signed between the governments of the Rostov Region of Russia and the Ararat Province of Armenia, as well as an action plan within the framework of the agreement signed between the Arkhangelsk Region of Russia and the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia.

The Russian official assured that Russia is taking all measures to assist Armenian investors in investing in the regions, calling on them to actively use the relevant tools. He reminded that an interregional cooperation program exists between Russia and Armenia for 2022-2027.

According to Volvach, humanitarian cooperation between the two countries is developing very well. As an example, he noted the start of construction of a kindergarten in Fioletovo village—which is inhabited by the Russian national minority—of Armenia’s Lori Province. The coordinator of this project is Rossotrudnichestvo (Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation of the Russian Federation), and large Russian companies are participating in this project.