ArmInfo.. Russian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volynkin thinks that sanctions cannot frighten Russia. "On the one hand, sanctions imply certain restrictions, but on the other hand they encourage the Russian manufacturers to develop directions that the Russian economy currently lacks and borrows from Western countries," Volynkin said at a press conference on October 25, when commenting on the information about the upcoming sanctions against Russia.
The Russian ambassador said that the process of import substitution, including from Armenia, is actively developing. "The export of agricultural products from Armenia has significantly grown," Volynkin said, stressing that he has witnessed in Moscow a considerable growth in the number of stores with Armenian products - vegetables, fruit, meat, and dairy. Export of Armenian cheese to Russia has risen 7-8-fold. So, the close cooperation between the partner countries is expanding. When speaking of the western sanctions, he stressed: "Let them think what to do when they lift the sanctions, because all the niches will be occupied with commodities from other countries. It will be their problem how to enter this market again".
To recall, following Crimea's unification with Russia and the outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, political and economic restrictive measures were imposed on Russia and a number of Russian and Ukrainian persons and organizations as early as in 2014. The initiator of the sanctions was the US. The EU countries joined the sanctions. The partners of the US and EU supported the sanctions.
According to the preliminary data of the Armenian National Statistical Service, in Jan-Sept 2016 the foreign trade turnover of Armenia amounted to 1724.7 bln AMD ($3588.1 mln). Export totaled 621.4 bln AMD ($1293.1 mln), import - 1103.3 bln AMD ($2295 mln), and the unfavorable balance of foreign trade amounted to 481.9 bln AMD ($1001.9 mln). The Statistical Service experts say that the 18% decline in exports to Russia in 2015 was due to the crisis phenomena in the Russian economy, particularly, over 50% fall in the Russian ruble. In H1 2016 versus H1 2015, Armenia's foreign trade turnover with Russia grew by 12.4% to 599.6 mln USD. Russia's share in Armenia's total foreign trade rose from 24.1% to 26.4%. Armenia mainly exports brandy and agricultural products (fruit, vegetables, fish, cheese) to Russia.