Wednesday, August 4 2021 13:50

ArmInfo. A business mission from Russia is planned to visit Armenia in autumn with an eye to establishing contacts and forming joint projects in various fields. 

We are talking not only about interest in such areas as agriculture,  food industry, energy, but also in a number of interesting projects  that are being worked out in the field of high technologies and IT.  The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian  Federation to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin announced this in an interview  with the Public Television.  At the same time, he noted that economic  and investment relations between the countries have a solid  foundation. In this context, Kopyrkin stressed that the war and the  current situation did not have a tangible impact on Russia's interest  in Armenia, and the volume of cooperation. "Gazprom, the Tashir  group, South Caucasus Railways work here, as well as nuclear  scientists within the framework of the project to extend the life of  the Metsamor NPP. I call only the largest companies that relate to  the strategic aspects of our cooperation and the life of Armenia, "he  noted.  Speaking about specific examples of Russian investments, the  Ambassador recalled the supply of new SCR passenger cars, which now  run on the Yerevan-Batumi line, and soon will run on Yerevan-Tbilisi  route. At the same time, he said that a program of almost complete  replacement of the rolling stock of the South Caucasus Railway is  being implemented.

"If we talk about the basis of our cooperation, the interest of the  Russian side, then there are all the prerequisites for all these  positions to remain, which does not prevent Armenia from developing  investment cooperation with other countries and regions," the  diplomat added.

To note, according to the Statistical Committee, the foreign trade  turnover between Armenia and Russia in January- May 2021 increased by  11.9%, amounting to $ 879.8 million. At the same time, exports  provided a volume of $ 288.7 million, with an increase of 31.4% over  the year and imports - by 4.3% to $ 591.1 million.  According to  statistics, the primacy in the volume of foreign investments in  January-December 2020 remains with Russia, and both in terms of the  total volume of investments - $ 674.4 million (with a reversal of the  annual dynamics from 4.3% growth to 34% decline), and FDI volume - $  350.2 million (accelerating the annual decline from 7.6% to 9.3%).