The Russian Federation is Armenia's leading foreign trade partne, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk stated, speaking at the IX Russian-Armenian Interregional Forum in Yerevan.
According to him, the foreign trade turnover of the Russian Federation with the Republic of Armenia almost doubled from 2016 to 2021. "We should be aware that such serious dynamics became possible due to the membership of the Republic of Armenia in the Eurasian Economic Union, which opened new opportunities and new markets for the Armenian business in Eurasia with Russia's support.
In January-July 2022, the trade turnover between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia amounted to $ 2 billion, increasing by almost 50 percent against the same index in 2021. Russian exports to Armenia during the above period amounted to $ 1.4 billion, an increase of 40.5%. Imports to Russia from Armenia increased by 66.3%, amounting to $0.6 billion.
We are actively developing investment cooperation. The total volume of accumulated Russian investments accounts for almost 40% of the total volume of foreign investments in the Armenian economy and this is about 2 billion dollars. Over 40 big Russian companies are working in Armenia. Some of them are major taxpayers here. They are Gazprom Armenia CJSC, GeoProMining Gold LLC, MTS Armenia CJSC, Russian Railways Company and Rosatom," Overchuk said.
According to him, Russia intends to further increase Russian-Armenian cooperation in energy, including nuclear, mining, transport and logistics and high technologies. "We pay attention to the development of partnership between Russian and Armenian regional small and medium-sized enterprises, because small and medium-sized companies contribute greatly to the socio-economic stability in the country and provide employment. They are the drivers of economic growth.
Undoubtedly, an important aspect of the strategic partnership between Russia and Armenia is interregional cooperation. The Interregional Forum is a key platform for representatives of government agencies, business and the public to compare notes on a whole range of topics of mutual interest.
At the end of the plenary session we are planning to sign the Intergovernmental Program of Economic Cooperation till 2025, which will create new favorable conditions for the expansion of bilateral cooperation, taking into account current conditions and trends, and we will also sign the action plan pursuant to the Intergovernmental Program of Interregional Cooperation for 2022-2027. It covers both traditional areas of cooperation - agriculture, culture, trade and economic, and dynamically developing now - high technology and digital transformation," he concluded.
