ArmInfo.Involvement of Russian investments to Armenia is one of the priority tasks of Armenian foreign entity. This was stated by Vardan Toghanyan, the newly assigned Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Russian Federation.
According to him, the work in this respect is pretty large. "The establishment of Armenian-Russian investment fund is one of the steps in this respect. To my information, a pretty reputable delegation of the Agency of Strategic Development is expected to arrive in Armenia tomorrow, comprising more than 30 representatives of medium business. The delegation will be led by Artyom Avetisyan. Visits to different entities and enterprises in Armenia, as well as the review of different investment programs are planned.
There is an active work implemented in respect to the involvement of investments with the Ministries of Economy and Agriculture. I hope that by the end of this year new investment projects will be already launched," Toghanyan summarized.
The Russian Fund of direct investments and Armenian Universal Loan Project "SME Investments" on March 14 signed an Agreement on the establishment of Armenian-Russian Investment Fund, within the framework of which parties will develop investment projects supporting the eurointegration of Armenia. At that, the Fund became the first joint venture of Russian Direct Investments Fund at the territory of CIS. That will allow to improve the cooperation in the sector of agriculture, industries, transportation and logistics infrastructures.
The National Statistical Service of Armenia says that in 2016 the Armenian-Russian foreign trade turnover increased by 15.1% to $1.3 bln. Exports rose by 51.5% to $371 mln, and imports - by 5.7% to $996 mln.
According to ArmInfo's Ranking of Credit Companies of Armenia, SME Investments UCO is among the top 10 UCOs in Armenia by its balance sheet indicators. As of 1 Jan 2017, the company's lending totaled 8.02 bln AMD ($16.6 mln), assets - 12.4 bln AMD ($25.6 mln), net profit - 283.7 mln AMD ($586.2 thsd). SME Investments UCO has been operating in Armenian market since August 2009. Its sole shareholder is the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center.